Kill your sacred cows

To become successful your business will inevitably shift and adapt over time, influenced by changes in markets, trends, economic and social factors. Whilst your business is changing, you as a business owner will also be challenged to change; because running a business is as much an exercise in personal growth and development as it is in making a profit.?

Think back to the person you were when it all began… how have you changed? Do you process events and handle situations differently to the way you would have done in the early days?

In our ‘information heavy’ world the developing business owner has a plethora of knowledge available to them at the touch of a button. Self help and growth books, online courses, face to face networking, virtual meet-ups, mentors and business development advisors. All of these can provide support and guidance at various stages of your business journey.?

It is a natural instinct to look for reassurance from other people, comforting to think that we are making decisions that others agree with and, to some extent it allows us to apportion blame if things don’t work out (“but everyone said I was doing the right thing….”)?

There is also a great deal of value to be gained from learning from those who have gone before and many new business owners seek advice from mentors and their peers at various stages in their journey. Experts and leaders can help you to see things from a different perspective, or enable you to judge a situation with your head, rather than your heart. An important skill when personal growth is about understanding our motivators and making measured decisions based on our internal mindset.

A lot of business success is built on trusting when to plough on forward, combined with striking a balance between knowing when to ask for help and guidance as well as judging who to ask.?

But what makes a good mentor or guru? And how do you know when you may have outgrown them? When does it become time to ‘kill the sacred cow’??

There will come a point when you have some faith in the lessons learned and begin to trust your own intuition.

The right support network should present you with the tools to make the best decisions for your business as well as making you aware about how to better handle similar situations in the future, they should encourage belief in your own choices and decisions.

But just as your business and you as a person will grow and change so will the tools you need your business guru to provide you with. The owner of a new small business doesn’t need the same advice as someone with 6 years of trading and a million pound turnover and carefully choosing who will get the best out of you at the different stages of your journey is as important as choosing the price point of your products or the type of services you will offer.

Running a business is very much a journey, one that will require a degree of bravery and surrounding yourself with the right support network at the right time.

If you’d like to have a chat about your business, book a discovery call me by emailing [email protected].