I'M ALL OUT OF LOVE

Now, if you’re a true GenX’er, you should have immediately heard the words, “I’m so lost without you…” in your head after reading that title :)? This article will go live the day after Valentine’s Day, and while I am sure we are all a bit “over it” with the hearts, and cupids, and all of the other commercialization of romance, that truly isn’t what I’m talking about today…but it was fitting, so I played off of it.

What I am really talking about, is the fact that Generation X is now somewhere in the realm of their late 30’s to their mid 50’s.? That means that most of us have probably been working for almost 20 - 40 years at this point…? and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing at all…it is certainly enough life experience, work experience, experience with work / life balance…to at least have a general idea if what we are doing - is what we SHOULD be doing!

If you’re reading this newsletter, I’ll go ahead and assume that you’re an entrepreneur who is either running their own business or in the planning stages to start running their own business.? But for the sake of this article, I am going to assume myself into an even deeper hole and assume that you are definitely running your own business.? Maybe you’re running more than one?? Maybe this isn’t your first entrepreneurial adventure?? Whatever the business(es), I have one question for you:?

Do you love it still?? Or are you all out of love for your business?? Is it now just a daily grind, that you don’t run - it runs you, and it is just a means to an end…rather than being this really wonderful enterprise that you always intended it to be?? Business is work, for most of us - at least some part of running our business is HARD work.? For creatives (those whose business is around artistic expression of some form) and visionary entrepreneurs, the “business” side of doing what they love might be taxing and draining for them.? For great tech people or highly organized and efficient people, the sales and marketing might be overwhelming to them.? For introverted people, meetings of all kinds may sap the life out of them.? For people who just want to teach or coach and share their ideas, having the team necessary to keep their systems up and running, and having to manage them…might truly erase that feeling of euphoria they have when they’ve had a breakthrough or know that they’ve helped someone.? For highly labor intensive businesses - obviously that is a difficult kind of hard work - but may be a combination of several…all businesses might struggle in more than one way.

What does that do to us as the entrepreneur?

1. It can make us not look forward to “going to work” every day.
2. It can make us avoid a particular situation or meeting.
3. It can mean that many important tasks and follow-ups that need to be done, might fall through the cracks.
4. It can make us avoid that difficult client - and we all know that one unhappy client talks about you way more than 10 happy ones sadly.
5. It takes the joy from the business and allows the business to run you instead of you running your business.

So what is the solution?? How do we get back to the business of our dreams?

First - we need to assess what we’re doing.? Is it really the business you want to run?? At the core of what you’re doing…do you enjoy it?? Does it light you up?? We spend far too much time working, for it to be simply a way to pay the bills. Maybe your business is such a mess right now that you can’t see through to the other side…but if you could…is the service that you provide one that you enjoy and are passionate about?? Let’s assume…(ha - the theme for this article) that yes, this is the business that you are meant to run, but you have just lost control of it.? What can you do to make it WORK for you again?

Here are some ideas:

1.) Get your systems in place.? If you are currently doing “all the things”, then you will never be able to successfully outsource or hire help until you have your systems down.?

2.) Now that you have your systems in place - take a good look at your days.? Are you doing a bunch of items that you shouldn’t be doing?? Are they directly bringing in income for your business?? Are they items that you dread or are not really good at? Chances are, those items are not your high level tasks and should be assigned to someone else.??

3.) Now that you have your systems, and have decided whether or not you need to hire someone - we’re going to assume you do if you have been in business for over 2 years and are generating income in at least the high 5 Figures and into 6 Figures. Now it’s time to decide whether to hire employees or outsource to sub-contractors.??

4.) Now that you are set up for success - it’s time to choose your first team member.? This paragraph is short - the time that it takes to find just the right team member...probably won't be so short.

...in search of amazing person who knows my thoughts and processes just by being in the same hemisphere with me...  #NotGonnaHappen        

5.) Now that you have some money coming in and you are no longer doing the tasks that don’t serve you…now is the time to give yourself permission to think about where you would like your business to go next - how you see your role changing within your business, if at all.? Once you get to #5, this is where you really are starting to have the freedom to take the high-level overview of your business and plan how to make it work for you in a way that is fulfilling on both a financial and soulful level.

I hope this article will help you see that it is time to take some actionable steps to fall back in love with your business.? Future editions will go into these steps in more detail, as well as feature some experts to help you along the way.

Note: I am currently in the final stages of developing a Business Optimizer Assessment that I will be sharing with some of my current clients.? If you would like an opportunity to take it and get a customized report back based on your own business, please just DM me with? your name and email address to get on the waitlist and I will send you the link next week when it’s finalized.?(I will update this article with better instructions once released also...) OH - WAIT - if you haven't already subscribed to this newsletter - please do so now so that you don't miss out on what's around the corner ;) Thank you!