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What Got You Here Won’t Get You There

by Jun 30, 20160 comments

The success you’ve had in recent months is, of course, to be recognised and celebrated.

But the actions you took and the person you decided to be to get you here, won’t necessarily be the same actions and choices to make in the future.

Likewise, the failures and banging-head-against-brick-wall moments you’ve had over the years may actually be the right actions and choices to take in the future.

As each month goes by, your vision and goals expand, new target markets appear to you, your business grows (both up and down), external factors change (seasons, interest rates, even EU memberships!) … it’s impossible to stay in the same place because if you try, you run the risk of stagnating and losing business.

Your business is a ever growing, organic entity constantly buffeted by change and evolution. Thus, what got you here, won’t get you there.

This is not about zig zagging your plans; changing direction and jumping on the next bandwagon idea. When you flip flop from one marketing idea to the next, you’ll end up exhausted, demotivated, and probably very poor.

But it is important to take stock once in awhile and think strategically about you and your business. This is exactly what we did at our Academy Mastermind Day last Friday.

So it seemed fitting to share this with you today.

I want to know when the last time you took a few hours out of your day-to-day busyness to review your progress and identify what’s working … and what’s not. If it’s been more than 4 weeks, I want you to grab your diary and schedule in a 90 minute slot right now. You can have more, of course, but I find 90 minutes can be all that’s needed if you are strapped for time; especially if you do this on exercise on a regular basis.

These 90 minutes need to be away from your desk; either at a local coffee shop, up on a hillside somewhere if you prefer real-life blue sky thinking or even simply sitting a different chair with a different view in your home or office.

First, switch off your phones, close down Facebook and get away from your screens. Your busy mind will be looking for any excuse to keep being busy … and you need to step back, breathe and allow space for this reflection time.

Next, start the session off reminding yourself what your goals, business mission, or focus is right now. If you haven’t got anything specific or concrete set just yet, then spend the first 30 minutes re-connecting in with your “why”. Why are you doing what you doing? What is all the hard work you’re putting in going towards? Where are you hoping to end up in 6 months, 12 months or more?

Once you’ve re-connected with your business’ big picture, take the remaining time to do an audit of all the resources and systems you have in place. What you are looking for is all the cog wheels that make up the workings of your business; I want you to check in and see where the potential bottlenecks are.

1) Start with who’s in your team, for example. Do you contract out work or hire an accountant, for example? Have you got the right people doing the right things for you? Then move onto your products and offers.

2) What price points are you currently selling at? How are you delivering your programmes? Are your current offers going to help you reach your future goals?

3) Then check in with your sales and marketing systems. I’m going to dive into this in more detail in my next email to you later this week so if you want a simple way of breaking down the 5 core stages of your sales and marketing, keep an eye out for my next email.

4) What else is specific to your business? Do you need to consider your office space, website or supplier contracts?

5) Finally, I want you check in with YOU. One of the biggest bottlenecks (and often the toughest bottlenecks to get moving) is how you are getting in the way of your business. It’s particularly relevant to people who feel they can do everything themselves; afraid to delegate or just too much of a control freak to feel anyone could meet your standards.

If you’ve never done this before, it may feel tough at first. But believe me, this kind of thinking can move your business forward in leaps and bounds, very quickly.

Just think of this exercise as going up in your proverbial helicopter; away from your to-do-lists, bulging inbox and mad dashes from one call to the next and looking down on your business as one whole.

I’d love to know what you discover. Ping me an email back and tell me whether you did this exercise and what you found.

And I’ll be back in a couple of days to help you dive in to more detail with the 5 stages of your sales and marketing process. If you’ve never done that before, you’re going to love it!

Until then, have fun.

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