Are you still in love with your business?

It could be so easy to think you have fallen out of love with your business, especially after the past two years. Who would blame you?

But as we come back from the summer holidays, do you still feel this way after a rest and reset?

Sometimes, we don’t want to make decisions because we are tired – especially when it’s the end of the year. We’ve had lots going on, we’ve dealt with COVID-19 for two years, and basically, we are just knackered from making decisions.

If you have come back from a break and have looked at your business and thought, “NOPE!” – then you may need to do something different.

What was your “why”?

Jenny was a client who had completely fallen out of love with her business. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to keep it going anymore. So, I asked Jenny to write a list of the things she loved to do; the activities in her business that gave her energy. I also got her to write a list of things she hated doing, tasks that sapped her energy. Then, I asked Jenny to rate (as a percentage) the amount of time she spent on each activity on her two lists. It looked something like this:

We worked out that Jenny was spending about 70% of her day on things she did not like to do nor had any strength in. That was way too much time!

As business owners, we know it’s hard to outsource everything (especially at the beginning). But the reality is that you can make life more enjoyable.

Why did you go into your own business in the first place? My guess is it had something to do with flexibility, financial freedom, being able to do things your way, not having a boss, being the boss – those sorts of things.

So, we went back to why Jenny started her business. Her reasons were flexibility and financial freedom, neither of which had been realised because she was doing the things she hated. Then, we looked at some different business models and ways for Jenny to get what she needed. We ditched all the things she hated doing relatively easily, but it meant she had some choices to make: increase her costs to get rid of the stuff she hated, or keep doing them and have her energy zapped?

We also created a new service with all the things she loved to do. Now, because this other service was in alignment with what Jenny wanted to do, she found it easy. But then we uncovered another problem: Jenny felt this service shouldn’t be as easy as it was. Almost as though she was “cheating”. But the truth is, when we use our strengths day in, day out and are engaged in the work, it DOES come easily. You have conviction in the service you are selling. So, we unpacked this and talked about what it meant for her to live with ease and flexibility and get the financial freedom she craved.

After some time, Jenny settled into her new service. She outsourced what she needed to, and the new service was so well aligned that it was easy to sell (well, Jenny didn’t even really need to sell it!). New people came to her. Existing clients loved the new service, and a lot of work came her way.

So, we had to make another decision: get rid of all the other services and focus on the ONE service, or hire people to provide the services Jenny didn’t want to do anymore? Jenny decided to get rid of all her other services. She found people to whom she could refer her current clients, so she could focus on the ONE service that aligned with her passions and strengths. It not only gave Jenny alignment; it gave her the flexibility she’d been craving. And within a year, she also had the financial freedom she had desperately wanted.

Now, I realise this sounds like it was an easy process. It was not. There was pain and a lot of tears to nut this out. But when we know our “why”, when you have a service that is perfectly aligned with you and brings you so much joy, well, you don’t look back!

How have you stepped back into the year? Is it time to review what you have been doing and get a bit of joy back into your life? Do you remember your “why”?

I’d love to know. Feel free to email me at emma@emmamcqueen.com.au