We’ve all been there! As an entrepreneur, we’ve all come to a point in our business where we feel stuck; where we feel that we aren’t moving forward fast enough; where we feel we’ve lost momentum or traction!
How about you? When was the last time you felt stuck or were lacking traction?
Well for me, it was earlier this summer. I had been working really hard in my business – launching, teaching and filling my group program. My group program was coming to an end, and I felt – blah. I was unsure of what to do next.
Then it struck me…. I was doing exactly what many entrepreneurs often do!
I was stuck on this hamster wheel of launch and teach; launch and teach; launch and teach. My business had stalled, and it had lost momentum!
So, what to do…first identify the mistakes and then find the remedy!
Here are the mistakes I was making…
1. My business activities weren’t in alignment with what I wanted for my life! YIKES!!! Everything seemed like hard work because it was!!! What I really wanted from my business was more time freedom and I certainly didn’t have that. So, I made a decision to make a change.
REMEDY: In order to get off the hamster wheel and feel in control of my business, I needed to stop … I needed to take a good hard look at what I wanted my life to look like and then align my business to fit into my lifestyle.
That exercise is what I call creating your Big Picture Vision – it’s investing the time and effort to be specific about what you want your business to give you. It’s also the best way to be able to lead your employees because it gives everyone direction!
Creating a Big Picture Vision allowed me to let go of some things and embrace others that would give me the momentum I was seeking.
When working with my clients, most of them have some vague, general idea of where they want to take their business but rarely do they have this Big Picture Vision written out so that they can lead their business from it.
Have you detailed your company’s Big Picture Vision in a written format?
2. The second mistake I was making was that I wasn’t working from my zone of genius … Yes, I was doing good work but there was more genius in me than I thought. It was time to narrow my focus even further.
Working from your zone of genius allows you to step into what I call your Authority Advantage – that thing that makes you an authority and gives you the advantage over others in your industry or field. It also makes you ‘the obvious choice’ for your clients!
REMEDY: In almost every case, entrepreneurs need to become super focused on their zone of genius – become more focused. Like my client Cynthia, a lawyer who only saw explosive growth after she shifted from being a generalist to a specialist. Like my manufacturing client who saw significant profit increases when she focused on ONE product instead of trying to manufacture custom products for every client.
And like myself – instead of coaching on marketing in general, I now focus on helping B2B clients become specialists so that they can stand out in their marketplace and then translating this messaging across their marketing platforms.
Are you making this mistake…being a generalist instead of drilling down to a specific narrow niche? Could you narrow your focus even more? (I bet you could!)
3. The third mistake I was making was with regards to my marketing roadmap – the strategy and tactics. After I made the decision to narrow my focus and shift into my zone of genius, I realized that my old marketing strategy & tactics would no longer be appropriate. No longer would my clients come from the Facebook group I created; no longer would Facebook be the primary social media platform for me. I had to let some things go!
REMEDY: It was time for me to re-evaluate and re-fresh my marketing roadmap so that it was in alignment with the business that I wanted to create. And so the process has begun. A new branding photoshoot has happened. Revisions will take place to my website and all my social media platforms.
When was the last time you re-evaluated the return on investment you are getting from your marketing strategy and tactics?
Is your website generating consistent clients?
Is the effort that you’re putting into social media actually generating engagement and prospects?
A marketing roadmap is not meant to be a one-time creation! It’s a dynamic and ever evolving process just as your business is ever evolving.
Getting stuck can be a sign that you might be making one or more of the above mistakes.
Getting stuck can simply indicate that it’s time for a change – for me, it was an opportunity to bring more joy into my life and more impact into other businesses!
What could it mean for you?
YOU CAN DO THIS
Diana
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