Not meeting your goals seems to be a familiar refrain this time of year. We start the new year with a lot of hope. And, then, life just starts getting in the way. This is especially true if you have a home-based business. You started your business because you wanted the flexibility to live your life. It seems a bit unfair when you end up working more than you ever did when you came into an office each day. On top of that, you aren't don't seem to be making progress.
The other day, I was reading an article in Entrepreneur Magazine on the airplane. It had some excellent tips on how to be more productive and successful in your business.
7 Tips for Business Success
1) Prepare for change – change is natural. If things aren't changing they are dying. The key is to be ready to adapt to changes in the industry as they happen. There are two ways to do this – the first is to listen to experts on what changes they expect. Here is what I'm expecting to change in the coaching industry 2016. The other way is to create flexibility in your processes. Be ready for things to change – because they will.
2) Avoid complacency – just beause you are successful this year, it doesn't mean you can stop working. I have seen so many coaches reach for the multi-six figure brass ring. They touch it, and then they stop working. Their business quickly dies on the vine. If you are not growing, you are dying.
3) Delegate Tasks – This is a biggie for most coaches. It is very easy to get lulled into the false belief that doing it yourself is going to save you time and money. It might in the beginning, but you are losing doubly for every moment you spend doing things that aren't part of your core mission. First, any time you spend messing with your website is time you aren't billing to clients. Second, every minute you aren't coaching, or creating products is time when you aren't getting better at what you do. You owe it to your clients to focus on what you do best.
4) Don't make it personal – As a coach, you have a big heart. You want to help people. The thing is, you can't help people if you don't have a functioning business. And,the point of business is to make money. Period. Don't let the personal stuff get in the way of that.
5) Look at the whole picture – I have a few clients who are very busy and they aren't making money. Lots of activity does not necessarily mean lots of success if it is not aligned with your short and long term goals. Spend some time looking at your goals and plan to make them happen.
6) Work AND Play – Yes, you need to work hard to succeed. But, you can only run full out for so long before you get burned out. Make sure that you schedule time to do the things the rejuvenate you so you have more energy to push hard when you need to. And, if you are reading this and don't remember what you enjoy, take some time to relax soon – you are already on the way to burn out.
7) Set do-able goals (and stretch goals) When I work with my team, I am very goal focused. I have tried setting stretch goals only. A stretch goal is a goal that you are 90% sure you can't hit. The problem with those is that the team is disapointed when they don't hit them. I have tried setting easy goals, but then I'm left with the feeling that we could have had just a bit more success if we were pushing harder. In the end, I've ended up setting two goals. One is the floor goal. That is the minimum I expect my team to achieve. I also set a stretch. The stretch is usually high enough that we rarely hit it, but it gives us something to work towards.
What are your best success tips?
