Erika and her mom started a cleaning business, and like many entrepreneurs, they had an optimistic and excited outlook for the future. After a decade of working extremely hard, wearing all the hats and being exhausted and underpaid, they were almost ready to close their 6-figure business for good. Erika decided to get help, and engaged me to support her to take back control of her business.

Do you ever feel like your business is controlling you, rather than being in control of it?

With my help, we revisited Erika’s business plan and tweaked the things that were not working from the beginning. She was in fact overworking and was wasting a lot of time. Together, we reviewed the urgent problems, found solutions and created systems, templates and better communication tools for each step of the client sales-to-delivery process. We also created profitable pricing and marketing strategies specific to their needs and goals.

In the months since we started working together, the quality of Erika’s clients had shifted and her and her mom’s quality of life improved. They are in fact working less and making more. Erika says she has new freedom, flexibility and effective time saving tools thanks to the growth in income. She also has new courage and confidence in the way she speaks and deals with clients. Her newfound sense of security has positively impacted the way she does business and how they bill for their services. Plus, she now has a solid plan of action that she implements in her business on a daily basis, thanks to our work together.

There were five things that Erika and I worked on together that enabled her to work smarter, grow her income and improve her quality of life.

1. Embrace the Growing Pains. Know that every growth journey comes with its fair share of growing pains. Identifying and embracing them as nothing more than the natural by-product of the business growth journey is crucial. You will encounter growing pains at many different milestones along the road to reaching your goals, it’s something you can count on. It’s important to look at growing pains as your friend, rather than your foe, so you can tap into the wisdom and insight they hold for you. Have compassion for yourself and deep respect for the Entrepreneurial journey. It is one of the toughest journeys you will walk, and one of the most rewarding. We all go through it, you’re not alone.
2. Create Repeatable Systems and Leverage Strategies. Develop processes and set up procedures and systems in your business so that you can generate predictable, consistent and replicable results without having to reinvent the wheel every time. Take inventory of everything you do for marketing, sales, client delivery, etc. You know there are certain tasks and activities you repeat all the time. So, the key is to identify the ones that you do more than once and create a repeatable process you can follow each time, and then determine which ones should be automated or delegated to somebody else.
3. Adopt a Different Mindset. It might be time to upgrade how you approach your business. On the road to success, business owners and entrepreneurs follow a natural progression from being a DOER, to a MANAGER and then to becoming a LEADER. If you’re feeling the crunch in your business, that’s a sign that you’re getting ready to up-level. So, like a computer program, it’s time to upgrade to the newest software and reformat your beliefs and thoughts about who you are being in your organization. Your business will evolve and grow in relation to how you evolve and grow as a person.
4. Set Realistic Expectations. The reason why business owners feel frustrated and discouraged is because your expectations are not realistic. This leads to self-judgment, overwhelm, and feeling like you’re a hamster on a wheel that just can’t seem to get off no matter how hard you are running. Instead of beating yourself up for not moving fast enough, recognize that you’re only human and you can’t do everything all at once (or by yourself). Leadership expert John C. Maxwell says that human beings tend to exaggerate yesterday, overestimate tomorrow and ultimately underestimate today. Be sure to prioritize and distinguish what’s important from what is urgent, so you can create timelines and expectations that support you best.
5. Assemble Your A-Team. Nobody makes it alone, and those who try are fooling themselves. The secret of the super successful is to focus only on what you can do, and assemble an amazing team to support you in executing your vision. You are the face of the business, the salesperson, the visionary and the thought leader. Your job as a leader is not to have all of the answers, but rather to ask the right questions and then find great people who have the answers and expertise you need to make the best decisions you can.

As one of my mentors used to tell me, the CEO’s job is to keep the lights on in the business, not to count paperclips.

Are you ready to take back control of your business?

Drop me a comment in the box below with ONE action that you’re going to implement in your business today, to start taking back control. I’d love to know!

To your success,