This blog post has been authored by Stand Out Online Member Nathalie Pincham, Story Tonic LLC
I am willing to bet that when you started your business you couldn’t wait to get started. You’d be so happy you’d have a hard time pulling yourself away from the glowing screen. You believed “work” wouldn’t feel like work at all.
But after a while…
The reality becomes that some days you simply dread sitting down to work.
Maybe you feel like you’re forcing yourself to do things that don’t feel fun or enjoyable, and are just downright HARD.
Even worse, your business isn’t growing and, on your toughest days, you wonder if you should go back to your old job where you felt just as bad but at least got paid for it!
If you’ve been struggling, I want you to know that you CAN build a business that lights you up and inspires you…
But you have to answer these 3 things first:
1- What is your business’s purpose? Why do you do what you do?
The first thing you absolutely need to do to position your business for success is to get clear on who you are.
Knowing who you are, what makes you come alive, and what you value will set the foundation for all your business decisions. When you know these things about yourself, it becomes that much easier to decide what kind of business feels good for you.
What happens for many people starting out is that they look to model their businesses on other people’s. But, when you look to others to tell you what to offer and what marketing activities to do, you will end up feeling frustrated because you’re not prioritizing what you want. You’re effectively building a business based on someone else’s likes, dislikes – and even their mistakes!
Yes, of course you need to have a service or offer people will pay for. But if you don’t love what you do, you’ll never be truly successful.
REFLECT: Where have you thrived and felt like you were using your superpowers? How can you do more of this in your business?
2- Build the business around YOU
The biggest mistake I see business owners make is prioritizing everyone in their business except themselves.
They put all the emphasis on what the market says they want, what a Facebook ad told them to do, the latest strategy their favorite guru is promoting…
But they don’t give any thought to themselves—what they like, what’s fun for them, how they like to communicate, and how they want to spend their time.
If you start with YOU, and create a business model around you, it’s so much easier to build a business you truly love and enjoy.
REFLECT: Do you like your current business model? Does it align with your income goals?
3- Adopt a CEO Mindset
I believe this is the real secret to having a thriving business and creating success on your terms. If I’m honest, this tip is worth its weight in gold.
Many of the small business clients that I have worked with over the years have been solely focused on: how to get clients. Of course that makes sense- plus that’s what a lot of business advice is focused on. How you get clients is the whole business conversation.
However, there is a much bigger and more important conversation that you need to be a part of.
As a business owner you are a CEO. I use that term because as business owners that is what we need to be and that is how we need to act.
You may be an excellent coach or consultant or service provider but how good are you in the role of CEO of your business?
The CEO needs to make sure that the coach isn’t overworked or overtaxed, isn’t working with too many people. The CEO needs to have time to look at ways to streamline things and make marketing simpler. The CEO needs to be aware of all the branches of the business, from sales, marketing, outreach and customer service. A good CEO would never rely on having employees working 24/7 and getting burned out.
When you want to make an impact on people’s lives and you have that kind of desire and drive, then you will just learn the skills you need to learn to be that great CEO of your business.
That means you’ll start to recognize times when you need to ask for help, when you need to hire someone to support you, recognize that there are times when we need to rely on others for support, times when we need to contact an expert and get help. That is all part of running a business too.
And the best news is all of this is so expansive, it’s so personally rewarding. Entrepreneurship has just been the biggest gift in my life, not just because it’s brought me income and impact and all of those wonderful things. It’s also brought me into contact with some of the most amazing people that I have ever met in my life. And it’s allowed me to get to know myself in a way that I wouldn’t trade for anything. Which is why I want to see each and every one of my clients succeed too.
REFLECT: What can you do, starting today, to begin acting like the CEO of your business? What change do you already know that you need to make?
GO DEEPER: If you know it’s time to dive in deeper so you can reach a new level of success in your business, reach out to me. I’m a Success coach for ambitious entrepreneurs who know they’re meant for more. I offer a 3-session Success Accelerator to get started which starts at $497 and the people who buy it want to build profitable online businesses around their greatest strengths.
Nathalie Pincham is a Success and Business coach for driven entrepreneurs who want to get to the top of their game in life and business – and enjoy life a whole lot more. She helps vision-driven entrepreneurs and leaders build profitable online businesses around their greatest strengths, share their unique message, and start to feel unstoppable! In addition to being a business coach and trainer, she’s a Certified Professional Coach with the ICF and a StoryBrand Guide. She is also the host of “Your Success Tonic”, a podcast where she shares tips, research, and inspiring conversations around defining authentic success and how to find more freedom and abundance on the other side.