One of the characters in Michael Grant’s Line of Duty novel states:
“A guy I fish with once told me a funny story. He’d just bought an anchor, and as he went forward to tie it to the anchor line, he slipped and fell overboard. Suddenly, he’s sitting on the bottom of the lake in 15 feet of water, cradling his brand new anchor. He didn’t want to let it go, but he was running out of breath. Realizing his choice was drowning or losing the anchor, he reluctantly let go and swam to the surface.”
The character goes on to say: “The Job has been my anchor and I’ve been holding on to it for 23 years, I don’t want to let go either, but I’ve run out of breath.”
You’re working hard, smart you hope and yet things just aren’t panning out.
You’re no longer sure if it’s the way you’ve gone about a project, or two, or if there’s a flaw deep within the business itself.
You know one thing: You’re running out of breath and something has to change, and quickly.
So what’s next?
Determine if this is a project failure or an inherent flaw in your business.
- Do you regularly meet your goals?
- Has your revenue/profits steadily increased or, if not, do you know why?
- Do you feel as if you’re constantly struggling?
- Do you generally have a steady stream of clients and customers?
- Are you spending more than an hour a day on social media?
Based on your answers to the above, you’ll know whether you’re facing a failing project (or two) or something much bigger.
If it’s a project, cut your losses, release the energy associated with it and move on with a clean slate. Get some help with how to plan/implement your next project. Don’t spend more time, energy and money trying to revive it.
If bigger, it may be time to hit the reset button on your business.
Hitting the reset button on your business
Just like your computer, phone or tablet, every once in a while, you may need to reset your business. Clear the cache. Start at the beginning and rebuild or at least realign. Give yourself the gift of a breath of fresh air.
- Are you talking to the right market? Do you have an ideal client profile that’s congruent with whom you currently serve or want to serve?
- What’s your message? Has it morphed over the years so that it’s no longer congruent with your website, your ideal clients or your content strategy?
- What media are you using to connect with your ideal clients? Are you taking advantage of both online and offline tools? Are you sending emails, spending time on social media and waiting for the phone to ring or the shopping cart to chime?
- Is your business model congruent with your current lifestyle, with future lifestyle goals and with your personality/way of being?
- What decisions do you need to make to treat your business as a business? What needs to change? Do you have office hours? Do you have deadlines that you adhere to? Are your actions congruent with your goals? Do you have systems in place?
It’s often faster and uses less energy and resources to reset than to keep futzing about, tweaking something that’s flawed at it’s most basic levels.
Is your business in need of a reset?
Not sure where to start? Take our complimentary Optimize & Monetize Business Assessment here.
Know you want support, an objective and fresh perspective and the tools to make it all happen? Set up a complimentary Get Acquainted Session here.