Getting Focused So You Can Grow

One of the greatest challenges that I faced in my business when I was first getting started was not focusing on what mattered most in my business, which was sales and generating an income.  I spent a lot of time educating myself, which is a great thing, but not implementing the things that I learned out of fear of making a mistake, the idea that I wasn’t worthy of charging my prices, and fear that noone would pay.

While I was in this season in my business, one of the greatest things my partner, better known as my Husbanger :-), told me is that I needed to spend more time getting focused in my business so I could grow.  Focused on the reason why I went into business, focused on my financial goals, and focused on the needs of the people that I wasn’t serving and think about the effect of me not operating in my gift would have on them.

Initially I took offense to the statement, because I felt like I was focused!  I was spending countless hours up and away from my kids and him, studying, reading, learning, but not applying.  I spent so much money on frivolous trainings, that I was running up a high education bill, but reaping none of the benefits.  All I could think about was how I was going to one day be great for my client, but let me tell you this, there is no better time than the present, you have to get focused now.

After cooling off for a bit, what I realized that he was trying to tell me was that I was doing a great job being prepared for the clients that I didn’t have, but I needed to be spending more time in creating a cash flow, by closing clients. I needed to get out of my own way, and allow my gift to lead me instead of my fear.

So I had to make the shift in my thought processes and practices and that’s what I want to talk with you about today.

Shifting, and getting focused so you can grow…

So how do you know if you are like me and not focused on the things that matter in your business, like customers?

Glad you asked, here’s the top 3 things that I would do, let me know if you can relate!

1. I would spend my money on trainings and education versus advertising and marketing expenses. – Before I would invest in my business for growth I would find a way to learn another skill that I thought I needed.  I would buy another tool, or another system to help me implement another skill that I had learned, without taking into consideration the capital that I would need to invest in generating leads for my business.
2. I wouldn’t ask for the business. – Everyone in the world knew about my business, but I wouldn’t ask anyone to allow me to work with them, I would always deflect to the idea that I wasn’t prepared and I would do my customers and injustice if I worked with them right now, I needed to spend more time preparing before I was ready.
3. I was terrified of having a sales conversation and charging an premium fee. – Now this one was a killer.  I knew that the services that I offered were worth thousands of dollars, but because I wasn’t focused, and I was afraid, I would back off of my prices and allow my customers to determine my worth.

Now that’s the small list, but you get the picture right.  There was always a reason why I couldn’t handle a customer or I wasn’t ready, and that my friends was leaving me poor, broke and hungry and that is not my I went into business.

So what did I do to change it?

First of all, I had to make a shift in the way that I saw myself and my business, I had to start reminding myself that I was not in this for me, but for the people that I was going to be serving.  So I started making a list of the things I wanted to accomplish everyday that would be revenue generating activities.  My list would look something like an outline but to give you an overview of what would be on my list I’ll list them below.

• Reach out to 3 prospects a day just to introduce myself and my service ( This would be social media, telephone, email, whatever, just reach out)
• Start looking for the real reason my services could fix their problems (I knew what I could do, but I didn’t fully understand the reasons behind why my audience was struggling, so I had to get that together.
• Schedule some time for my family. – Y’all don’t understand, I was away from them a lot so I had to get this in order
•  Research ways I could promote my business ( I was researching before how to operate my business, now I wanted to see how I could get it to my ideal clients)
• Take a risk and invest in advertisement (I wouldn’t do it before, I just wouldn’t, lol)

Now while that list may look elementary to you, it was a huge step for my transformation process.  I did that for about a month so it could become habit, and then I started reading books that were money driven versus educationally driven.  Some of my favorites were right from Amazon and they include:

Action Has No Season by JD Michael V. Roberts – This book is all about decision making, and boy did I need it, lol.  If you struggle with making a decision and sticking to it, you’ll really love this on. 

Now Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O Clifton – This one really helped me realize what my strengths and weakness were both professionally and personally, and why I would respond to certain situations like I would.  There’s a follow up book to this one as well that I’ll list below for your reference.

Go Put Your Strengths to Work by Marcus Buckingham – I knew where I was strong and weak so I decided that it might be a good idea if I knew how to put those things to good use, lol.

Successful Women Think Differently 9 Habits to Make You Happier, Healthier and More Resilient by Valorie Burton – I needed something that catered to women and this was a phenomenal read

So what’s the moral of the story?

I had to change the way I thought about myself and my services.  Instead of education myself of the systematic approach to the functions of my business, I had to learn how to overcome the fears that were holding me back, and be intentional about getting into plain site for my customers.

It wasn’t until I made the shift that I was able to see a change in my business and that’s what I’m challenging you to do today.

What is holding you back?  What has your focus that shouldn’t? And what are you going to do about it to change it?

Leave me a note or two in the comments I’d love to hear if you can relate!