5 areas to audit to break through a plateau your business

Especially if you're stuck and considering quitting

I was on a call with an aspiring freelancer this week, he said something that struck a chord in me because it resonates so strongly with one of my core beliefs and the purpose behind my consulting business.

He said 'I’ve been stuck and struggling for about 18 months and I just got to the point where I thought you know what? Maybe this isn’t for me. Maybe I just need to go back and get a job.'

Have you ever felt this way?

Have you ever questioned your own merits, wondered if you were good enough or if you were cut out for this whole freelancing, entrepreneurship, own your own business thing?

Sure you have. We’ve all had periods of doubt, imposter syndrome, hesitation when we hit roadblocks.

But for me personally the most tragic thing is to see somebody with true talent, with a true passion, giving up on a dream because things just aren’t working in their business and they don’t know why.

It’s our instinct to think that we must be the problem. More often than not, however, there are just a few cogs in your business machine that aren’t aligned, that aren’t working correctly in your favor.

When this happens, a process that I run through with my clients is to do a quick audit of some key areas of their business operation as well as their mindset.

Here are five areas to audit your business if you are stuck, if you've hit a plateau, if you’ve hit a major slump and been there for a little while, and you are frustrated to the point of thinking about throwing in the towel.

1. Audit the market
2. Audit your output
3. Audit your message
4. Audit your circle
5. Audit your strategy

Before you throw your hands up in exasperation and give up, run through these five audits and see if you can identify, at a minimum, one that you can turn that dial up and get things moving again.

Audit 1: Audit the market.

I start here because so often when we are trying to build something on our own, it’s our own internal voice that starts to creep in with seeds of doubt and thoughts that we are the issue, we're just not cut out for this.

We start to believe that when things aren't going right, business is just not meant for us as individuals.

One of the best ways I've found to combat that is to take a step outside of your own business and look at what’s out there in the market.

Is there somebody else doing what you want to do and doing it successfully? Is there somebody else that has your dream business delivering your dream service?

Can you run a quick search and find examples of people having success doing what you want to do?

Now if you can, rather than consider that a sign that there's too much competition and you should throw in the towel, I want you to flip that mindset on its head and say 'if they can do it so can I. There is clearly a market case for the business I am trying to build.' All this means is that you need to dig into some other areas of your business and figure out how to do things differently.

Now if you don’t see anybody else doing what you want to do, that means there’s one of two possibilities. One- either there truly is not a market for what you are trying to do, and you might wanna go back to the drawing board of what you want to offer. Or two- you’re an innovator and potentially you creating a new solution to an existing problem. In which case, you might just have a longer launch path to getting success in reaching people with your new solution. There might be more education involved in your market strategy, but it doesn’t mean but you have to give up on it. If the problem you solve is being solved in other ways, then yours it’s just a different approach, proceed ahead.

More often than not, however, you will find there are plenty of other people doing what you want to do and having success. This is a good thing! This means you can too. So let’s reaffirm the belief that you are NOT the problem; your methods, strategies, and tactics are likely the problems. And let’s move onto audit number two.

Audit #2: Audit your output.

Take a really close look at your resources and how you're spending them. Specifically where are your time and money going? And of all the places they’re going, which ones are actually bringing your return, versus which ones are you just doing because you feel like you should be doing them, you’ve always been doing them, or you believe that’s what supposed to be done to run a business?

Many business owners continue investing time and money without ever checking if things are actually working. Sometimes we do this intentionally and we stick our heads in the sand because we don’t really wanna know the answer. Because knowing something isn't working means you’re gonna have to change or do something new or explore new avenues.

Totally understandable. This is part of the sunk costs fallacy, which is when we have invested so much time and energy and money into a certain course of action that we feel like it’s a waste if we stop or if we deviate, and so we just keep plodding ahead even if it’s not serving us because we’d rather do that than label it a failure.

This is something that can be really hard to accept. So get honest with yourself. You’re gonna have to pull your head out of the sand and really take a look at what services have you invested in, what technology have you invested in, what things are you paying for in your business?

Are they actually either 1: saving your time or 2: making your money?  

These are the only two possible reasons to be spending your precious time and money. And this is where you have to get really honest.

The same goes for your time. Take a look at the minutes in your day- where are you spending and where are you losing time? Which activities are you investing in and are they truly directly saving your time or making you money?

If not, this is the first thing to change your business.

Audit #3: Audit your message.

If you believe you have the right pieces in place but people are still not responding, or you’re not connecting with new potential clients even when you're in front of them, the problem might purely be communication.

This comes down to both knowing and believing in the value of what you have to offer, and then being able to very clearly communicate that in a way that resonates with your prospects.

Now, we often think we’re super clear on what we do, because we are technicians and experts in our area of specialty... But the challenge I've found is that we often don’t use the language that our prospects actually connect with and understand.

So double-check your assumptions on your message. Are you getting a positive response to what you’re saying? Are you getting head nodding, lightbulb moments, ah-hah's, reactions of clarity? Are you getting a lot of engagement when you’re putting your message out?

Or are you getting crickets? Are you getting no callbacks? Are you getting 'aw that’s nice…' and then people move on and change the topic of conversation?

If the latter is the case, your message needs work. And if you’re not sure where you stand, one quick tip would be to go ask some people in your circle to tell you what it is they think you do. This will very quickly shine a light on your opportunities to be more clear in describing your value.

Audit #4: Audit your circle

Take stock of who is in your immediate circle. What do I mean by that? You’ve heard the adage that you become like the five people you spend the most time around. Make a shortlist and evaluate if you actually want to be like your closest friends, associates, and confidants.

The hard question you have to ask yourself is are the people you spend the most time around, and are therefore influenced by, the kind of people who are helping you move forward in life and bring out the best side of you?

Are you around a circle of 'do-ers', or a circle of 'me too-ers?'

Do-ers are focused on achieving things, striving for more, making things happen. They are going places, and they believe you are too.

Me Too-ers are affirming your excuses, living in the misery-loves-company scenario, head-nodding whenever you present a problem, saying 'oh me too, I had that problem too. Isn't business hard? Maybe we shouldn't do this... Yeah I was thinking about quitting too.'

Are you in that circle? Because that circle is not gonna help you get to where you want to go in business. This could be a hard thing if you’ve been in the same circle for a long time- it honestly might be that you’ve outgrown your circle and need to put yourself into a new community of people who are ahead of where you want to be.

A circle of people who believe different things, of people who see the potential in both you and the opportunity to run and grow a business.

It’s such an overlooked aspect of success, but you’ll find the most successful people have put themselves deliberately in close acquaintance with not just mentors and coaches but also with people who tend to bring out their best, who support goals, dreams, and visions, and also don’t let them off the hook when they have a bad day.

Who you are around will tell you a lot about how far you will go in business. Is it time to upgrade your circle?

Audit #5: Audit your strategy

The final audit when you're stuck is to audit your strategy.

Do you have confidence that once these other four pieces are in place, you have clear action steps on what to do on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis to reach your goals?

Do you have a clear prospecting and sales funnel? Does your sales process convert at a predictable rate? Do you have clear ways to be growing your audience with your message? Do you have a clear process for onboarding clients? Do you have a process for getting referrals?

There’re so many pieces that fit into a well-thought-out and clear strategy. If you're unclear on these, that means its time for you to ask for help.

It’s time for you to shortcut doing it all yourself, even though that’s gotten you to where you’re at. Now it’s time to accept that there is a better way, and you can pay to have time knocked off how long it will take you to get there.

Find a coach, find a mentor, find an expert that you can reach out specifically and let them help you iron out the specific strategy you need to get from where you’re at to where you want to go. One that’s gonna work for you as an individual. Not just a cookie-cutter broad strokes piece of advice or some template you can download.

I’m talking about individualized help from an expert who will dive in with you and help you find the best path for you. I’m talking about a really personalize deep dive into you your business, your goals, your dreams, and the specific areas that you’re stuck on. Your message. Your strengths. Your vision for how you want this thing to grow.

There’s no such thing as one size fits all in business. And so if you are hitting that slump, hitting that plateau because you’ve been following all the general advice, then this is absolutely the perfect time to ask for help and to get really specific and get something really tailored for you. 

That’s it. Those are five critical areas of your business to do a deep audit of if you have hit a plateau. If you've hit a slump. If you’re thinking about throwing in the towel or doubt in your ability to actually get to where you want to in business.

I truly believe you can make this work but it’s gonna take a close and honest look at what’s happening currently. The great news is that once you find one, two, or even three or four of these levers to pull, you’re gonna have a game plan and you can move forward and do things differently to get a better result. 

Find some opportunities by identifying a problem in one or more of these 5 areas? Send me a message or comment here if you want some help figuring out what to change to fix it and get back to growing and thriving!