How This New Business Owner Threw Away The Rule Book Around Creating A Business Plan ...

...And Got Focused On Her Purpose, Values And Mission And?Created The Meaningful Business Of Her Dreams

Before you even think about a business plan you need to know an unpopular truth about your start-up business.

But first let’s meet my client Margaret…

“My business is such a mess, I don’t even know what I'm doing any more.?

I’ve spent an absolute fortune on experts who wanted me to do things their way and made me feel stupid when I couldn’t make it work.?

Owning my own business was my dream for as long as I can remember and being made redundant from my corporate job made it possible for me to take the leap.?

But I’m 6 months in and it’s a total nightmare.?

I do wonder if I’m really cut out for this. Part of me wants to give up but I’m not a quitter and I do know it’s a fantastic idea. I just don’t know what to do next.”? Margaret - Beauty Salon Owner

This was Margaret before we started working together. Exactly where you’d expect someone to be in the early stages of a new business (typically under 2 years).

Because the uncomfortable truth is starting a new business is a messy affair!

She was chasing her tail, taking advice from people who had no business giving her advice and rapidly losing all the clarity and enthusiasm she had had when she started up 6 months before.

She kept adding new products and services, hoping that this next one would be the key, but all it did was add more stress and chaos to her life.

?

Do you ever get fed up with feeling like you're running round in circles with your new business??

Because even though you’ve got years of experience and success behind you, you’ve never been out on your own before and it’s not quite as easy as you thought.?

And your family think you’re nuts and wish you’d go back to that nice safe corporate job (you know, that nice safe corporate job that made you redundant after you gave them your best years).

Plus you’re getting advice from everyone, most of whom have no idea what you’re trying to do. And some of it might be great advice but how do you know until you’ve tried it? But that takes time and energy and you're running out of both.

And your story might be very similar to Margaret’s. You might be experiencing depression, anxiety and shame that your new business isn’t flourishing the way you thought it would.?

You may also be feeling lonely and isolated and it was with this feeling that Margaret shared with me that she was at a crossroads wondering if she should just quit now before she lost any more of her redundancy money or keep pushing forward with her dream that she really believed in.

And I’ll come back to what she did in a moment but first I need to share a couple of things that can help you if you’re in a similar situation.

As a new business owner in your first few months or years, being able to get absolute clarity on your business can often seem like climbing a mountain, in the fog, without a map, with roller skates on, backwards. Oh and the mountain is moving.

It’s a bit of a nightmare and you sometimes think your family might be right.?

It would be so much easier to go back to being an employee.

But hold on, are you really prepared to let go of your dream??

So let me ask you a question, and I warn you it might seem like a really weird question but just go with me here and I promise you it will all make sense in the end!

If you were building your dream house, what would be the most important room for you, the one that gets you really excited thinking of it??

Just think about it for a minute.

For some people it might be the master bedroom, or maybe the living room or maybe even the garden.?

For me it would definitely be the kitchen.?

I know exactly how it’s going to look, from the size to the colour scheme to the ridiculous number of fancy gadgets I will need, the bookshelves with my vast library of cookery books and the beautiful big dining table that will fit all my friends around it for the amazing parties we are going to have.?

And the swanky hi-tech oven and the wok burner and the huge wine fridge and and and….?

Well you can see, I’ve got a real clear vision for my wonderful dream kitchen in my beautiful new home and I can’t wait to get started on it.

So what do you think would happen if I started building the kitchen first?

Chaos, right?

It’s fantastic to have a really clear vision and loads of amazing ideas but there’s an order to things. You have to build the foundations first or there will just be chaos.?

Build them right and you can achieve anything you dream of AND better and faster than you would have believed possible.

So, over the course of my 25 year career coaching entrepreneurs I started to figure out what strategies led business owners to chaos and what led them to order…

…and, eventually I created my “Purpose Alignment” Method to help start-up businesses (under 2 years) do this easily and quickly.?

Using this simple 5 step framework helps startup businesses to create a rock solid foundation for their business so they can create something magnificent and beautiful that will stand the test of time because it will be rooted in their deepest core purpose and values.?

Now remember back to the story of Margaret. She started using this method and it ensured that she stopped creating chaos in her beauty salon business and go back to the core of what she really wanted to achieve.

Initially Margaret didn’t have enough clarity around her business purpose and as a result she was chasing after every opportunity that came her way.?

Pretty quickly her idea of a chilled out salon for women who wanted to be relaxed, pampered and nourished had turned into a jewellery store, a busy shoe shop and she was looking at adding on an accessories range and a whole new level of stress..?

She didn’t want to miss out on any opportunities, but the more she took on, the further she got from her original vision.?

The problem was not only was she exhausted and stressed, her clients didn’t know what she was doing either.

And confused clients don’t tend to hang around and become loyal customers.????

Once she got really connected to the purpose of her business and aligned her purpose with her values and vision she was able to get really clear on the decisions she was taking and the goals she was setting.?

Making it really easy for her to streamline all of her energy to creating the business she had dreamed of.

Knowing how to make aligned decisions quickly is critical to your success as a business owner.

If you're looking for a breakthrough with a start-up coach who can give you the right advice to help you create a rock solid foundation for your business plan and accelerate your progress

Message me with the word

“Purpose!”

And I’ll send you the details of exactly how to get started?

Speak soon,

Susan “On Purpose” Castle