See if this describes you: You started out as a solopreneur, but you decided to expand your business. You hired staff members, found a new workspace, expanded your marketing, and increased your sales. Now your business is bringing in many times more revenue than it was when it was just you. In short, business is booming.
So, everything’s going great, right?
Not quite. Because managing your staff has become more stressful and time-consuming than you ever expected. And now you have the extra pressure of meeting payroll and providing for your staff, which is sometimes touch and go. Even though you’re bringing in significantly more revenue than you were before, your profit hasn’t kept pace. (In fact, you might be making less profit than you were when you were working by yourself.)
You know that your business needs to be more profitable, but what’s the best way to get there? Expand your staff? Downsize your staff? Market your offerings exclusively to top-tier clients? Expand your potential clientele by offering more low-end products? Post on social media more? These questions are increasing your stress level, and you feel like they’re pulling you farther away from doing the actual work that you love. At this point, you realize that the path you’re on isn’t sustainable. Something has got to give.
If this description resonates with you, rest assured, you’re not alone. There are far too many small business owners who find themselves in exactly this position. And it’s really unfortunate, because owning a business can—and should—be a rewarding, fulfilling experience. As a business owner, you have the opportunity to provide for yourself and your family, to provide for your staff, and to do quality work that you can be proud of.
If stress is the primary emotion that you feel toward your business, you need to make some changes. Part of the change might involve changing your mindset. You might need to work on reframing elements of your business in a positive way, or incorporating a gratitude practice into your routine. Or maybe you need to work on mentally “letting go” of tasks that you delegate to your staff.
However, usually these mindset shifts are only part of the solution. More than likely, you will also need to make fundamental changes to the financial side of your business to get out of crisis mode. The key to making the right changes is to develop a clear vision for what you want from your business in the long term. And after you know where you want to go, you need to make a plan for shifting the different financial and logistical elements of your business to move toward that long term goal.
If you decide to enlist the help of a business coach (or consultant) to help you make these changes, it’s really important for you to find someone with actual expertise in the financial and logistical sides of business. There are many business coaches out there who focus exclusively on the mindset piece, but who don’t have actual expertise in things like business profitability, cash flow, return on investment, tax strategy, etc. In short, they don’t really understand the financial side of business. (And, alternatively, there are many financial professionals who focus solely on the metrics & numbers, and who don’t understand the emotional and mindset pieces of running a business—which is also less than ideal.)
Here’s the takeaway I want to leave you with. Running a business can be taxing, and it can be stressful. But if your overall feeling toward your business is more negative than positive, it’s time to make a change. You owe it to yourself and to your loved ones.
You deserve to be happy, and to feel good about your business.
Over to you…
Is stress the main emotion you feel toward your business? And does it seem like the path you’re on is not sustainable? If you’re ready to make a transition in your business, Business Coaching may be the help you need to get you and your business on track!
