Business owners partner with me to help them structure their business plans. They want to develop key priorities and focuses in their business and then to be held accountable for their progress. They want a clear understanding of their business vision and to feel confident in their decision-making process. Many of them believe that by having well-developed business strategies in place, they will be successful. Most of the time they are right, but from experience I have seen many business owners, who only focus on business strategy, struggle.
Why does this happen? Well, societal norms have shaped how we determine what success means. What makes a business successful, what makes you as a business owner successful? Society dictates the majority of the time that power, money, job titles and position are what makes you successful or worthy in the business world. When actually, we should be widening the scope and considering other factors when determining success.
Think about what supports you in your business? What helps you keep your head above water in your business? Is it your marketing strategy? Is it your financial forecast and cashflow projection? Maybe, but here are a few other factors I would like you to consider.
1. Business Strategy consists of 3 key pillars
When building your strategy, broaden your thoughts beyond just business and incorporate self-care and self-development in your planning. By incorporating these factors into the plan, we start to introduce balance, we start to introduce support systems. Without these two essential factors, self-care and self-development we end up with burnout, increased stress levels and being overwhelmed. None of which have a positive influence on your business.
When was the last time you took yourself out of the business and took part in some exercise? How did it make you feel? How did you approach your “busy” day after you had released some stress and tension through exercise? Now, what would happen to your business if you had a regular exercise or self-care programme in place?
2. Personal goals vs. Business goals
When a business owner shares their business vision with me, there are 2 questions that I always ask. Firstly, is the vision they have just shared their own vision or a vision that someone else wants for their business? Secondly, have their considered their personal goals when they drafted the vision? Do their personal goals fit in with the business vision?
As hard as we can try, we cannot separate our personal goals from our business goals. Sooner or later there will be a clash, if there is no alignment. This is also true when hiring people for your business. How do their personal goals fit into the business goals? A key question to ask and clarify before bringing a new team member on board. If there is a barrier to all members working towards a common goal, then the team can suffer, which directly influences your business.
Some advice, never live someones else’s dreams or goals. Clarify what your goals are, acknowledge them, own them, live them and be proud of them.
3. Learn to say no
One of my favourite sayings in business. “Don’t be a Jack of all trades and a master of nothing” .
Learn to say no and be comfortable with saying no. I often hear business owners saying that they hate to say no. They don’t want to get into a conflict situation or hurt someone’s feelings. So they say yes to keep the peace and to not feel uncomfortable. The problem with saying yes to everything and everyone, is that we fill our lives and businesses with mediocrity. We fill our lives with unnecessary tasks and actions. We fill our lives with stress and we miss out on the greatness, which gets lost in the overwhelm of it all.
So, clarify your priorities by considering factors from all 3 pillars (business, self-care and self-development). Make all three as important as each other. Limit the focuses to a manageable number and start saying no.
The secret to a successful business is not hard to achieve. Take the blinkers off and stop trying to pursue other people’s goals. Clarify what your own success means to you and never compromise on your personal goals.
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