Have you fallen out of love?

"You wake up and suddenly...you're in love" - Lionel Richie

The new business venture, business idea or plan is ready to go. Your business has finally "arrived" where you want it and you are living your best life and you find yourself head over heels in love...with your business.

This is "right where I belong". The birds are chirping. The skies are blue. The investors understand you. Your employees have "bought in" to the culture and values of your company and you start to see all the pieces come together.

FINALLY!

Over time, though, the misunderstandings with the investors or employees become bigger, more difficult discussions to have. Work stops getting done well. You aren't meeting production schedules or deadlines. The cohesion is nothing more than embers scattered here and there. The demand of your clients has become overwhelming.

All the efforts made. All the plans put into place. All the training. All the meetings. All the emails. All the motivation, gone, gone, gone and now...

"You've lost that loving feeling".

You can't remember how you even got here. The excitement for what your business was supposed to be is now a "how did we/I get here" bewilderment turned frustration, turned "do I even keep doing this"? "Is it even worth it anymore?" "What in the world has happened?"

It can be a tough road to face when the fire and passion and love with which you feel towards your business is no longer there.

So, what do you do?

1. Go back and identify what made you excited about your business/industry in the first place.

What's missing now in your business that had you excited when you first started?

Are you burned out? Do you need a vacation? (Who doesn't, right?)

Or could it be that what you wanted to build has been built and now your heart is screaming saying there's more - there's something more, something else to do now?

It could be as simple as the business has gotten away from you.

Reset. Refocus. Recalibrate.

That may be what's needed but maybe you don't have the time to do that or the energy. Maybe you need some outside help to bring you back to your first love - your business.

2. Ask your clients to tell you what they love about working with you, your business, and your team.

What's THEIR why? Why do they work with you? Why do they KEEP working with you?

It might help you find YOUR why again and find your way back to your love of your business.

3. Look within - what's happening with your employees?

Are you retaining them? Are you a revolving door of talent lately? Are you constantly feeling like you have to rebuild over and over again because your team keeps changing?

Maybe you need to look at your onboarding process.

WIIFT? What's In It For Them? Why do they stay? Why should they stay?

Let's face it - the world of work has changed.

The world of work used to be about having a certain lifestyle so that's why you worked. To get ahead. To show they company you were committed and dedicated. To have status. That big title...well...no mas!

Today the world of work for so many employees is about having a QUALITY of life. "What do I need to do in my job so I can have the quality of life I want without feeling like I am living to work"?

Employees work so they can live a life and explore all their capabilities in so many ways OUTSIDE of the workplace. (Great Resignation anyone?)

You may need to bring in someone from the outside to help you find the opportunities that lie within your current workforce. How objectively are you able to identify "upgrades" needed to the culture and working environment?

Perhaps you may need to consider letting someone help you walk back to your first love or learn how to set your business up for transition into something else or with someone else at the helm.

It's so easy to get lost in the business. It's imperative to stop and come back up for air and work ON your business. There is a difference. One is reactive. The other is proactive. Take a look at what your approach is to the business. Are you trying to stay afloat to keep investors and the accountant happy?

Or are you still as passionate about that business? Sure we all have those bad days, but overall - what is your personal outlook on your business?

You may need to make some adjustments now, before another year gets behind you and the business gets away from you.

Implementing these simple steps might just get you back to being "Reunited [with your business] and it feels so good" before you know it!