Running your own business can be exhausting. Overwhelming. Too many, many things to do, all at once, and every one of them seems to be a critical linchpin to making sure you can make the mortgage payment on time.
Does it ever get easier?
It does. It does get easier. After ten years with this business, plus earlier endeavors, I can promise you that it does get easier. Much easier.
You may not believe me. Or that sure, *other* people can do it, but not you. Let me share with you why sometimes it doesn’t get easier. And then I’ll map out for you what does make it easier, and how long you can expect it to take.
Why It Doesn’t Get Easier
If you train to be a nutritionist, you go to school. They sit you down on day one and teach you the first thing you need to know. One or two or three years later (how long is nutritionist training?), they’ve taken you, asparagus to zucchini, all the way through and you know what you need to know.
When you start a business as a nutritionist, you’ve had maybe a few hours of class. You’ve read a book or two. You’ve spoken to a few people. Maybe you’ve taken a workshop.
You haven’t learned asparagus to zucchini. You’ve picked up cantaloupe, fennel, string bean, and watermelon. It’s a hodgepodge collection, it’s not in sequence, and the different pieces don’t seem to fit too well together.
Plus, looking around, the examples may not be inspiring or instructive. Friends may be struggling with their own businesses. The ones who seem to be doing well financially may be using tactics or strategies that seem really expensive, insane, or unethical. Or simply don’t fit your personality.
The hodgepodge approach can leave you in struggle for years, even though you are working on your business.
What Will Make It Easier
You know how you learned what you do? That asparagus to zucchini approach? You need something similar in building your business.
You don’t need to learn to the depth and extent that you learned your skill. There are things you do NOT have to master. But you do need familiarity with a cornucopia of different business topics and skills.
It would be overwhelming, if you had to learn it all at once, the same way becoming a nutritionist (or whatever you do) would be overwhelming if you had to learn everything by the end of the first week, instead of giving yourself a year or more.
Yes, a year or more. Be honest, how much in-depth, consistent business learning and development have you done? If it’s a lot, how far along are you? If it’s not so much, then ahhh…. breathe… you don’t have to learn it that quickly.
What to study? I created a 37 question assessment covering twelve different sections of business development. I use it to assess clients and participants in our Opening the Moneyflow course, so they can have an individualized course of study, and don’t have to dive into things they already know.
The Twelve Topics
Scan through these and see what you notice. And please be gentle and keep your heart open. There is an opportunity to become overwhelmed here. I recommend you not to take that opportunity, and instead, in gentleness and acceptance, see that your business can fly if you give it some loving attention in these areas over the next year or two.
1. Your Core Message, Branding, and Business Identity
2. First Journey Marketing- Reaching out to new people
3. Second Journey Marketing- Ongoing Contact with Potential Clients
4. Third Journey Marketing- Receiving Referrals from Raving Fans
5. Creating a Heart-Centered and Effective Website
6. Sales and Enrollment
7. Crafting Products and Services that Sell
8. Systems and Administration- let other things do stuff for you.
9. Letting Technology and the Internet Make Everything Easier
10. Delegation, Leadership and Teamwork- Stop Doing Everything Yourself
11. Money and Accounting
12. Spirituality- Having a business that is sacred.
Overwhelming, Isn’t It?
That’s a lot to master by next Friday. But, it’s totally do-able if you give yourself until next year. And it’s not like you’re in school waiting to graduate before you can do something. As you work through these different sections, you’ll be making actual progress on your business, making more money, connecting with more clients.
The trouble is, if you don’t face these topics, and just run in circles hoping for the best, your business won’t get easier. It won’t attain momentum.
Here’s my recommendation: just pick three of those topics and focus on them for the next two months. What kind of progress can you make?
And please share, any topics pop out at you in particular?
p.s. Tired of lugging your business around? Getting ready for 2012…
The first round of our six-month personalized support program, Opening the Moneyflow, is drawing to a close the end of June. Which means there will be openings for you to get a full six months of personalized support from us July through December, giving you the foundations to really launch into 2012.
It includes our full library of heart-centered content (some of our clients have been struck dumb upon seeing the full breadth and depth of it), as well as an in-depth assessment, a personalized business development plan, monthly spiritual teachings, and more, depending on the level of support you want.
No hype, no fluff. Just solid, heart-centered, spiritually-oriented, and practical-nitty gritty business support for the mature, discerning, small business owner: Opening the Moneyflow 2011, July-December.
23 Responses
Hey Mark,
Enjoyed this! All twelve topics make perfect sense.
It does get easier once you stop fighting with your natural strengths. Most difficulties in life and business arise when we fight our own inner current. Yet, that’s what a homogenized world encourages folks to do.
Thanks! G.
Glad you liked it, Giulietta. And yes, better to discover and play to our strengths.
I know for myself – it’s been an evolutionary process of “lightening up” over the years. As my clarity increased – I felt lighter, as I simplified and developed systems I felt I was able to “hold” all the little pieces.
I have to say, It’s still an evolutionary process and I notice I continue to cycling thru the 12 things.
It’s been like a spiral – and I see things more clearly each time thru the cycle.
Nice, Anne. And yes, it is an evolutionary process. It takes time, and we all continue cycling through them.
Mmm your post gets me hungry – I love asparagus and zucchini – we call it courgette here in the UK but that wouldn’t make your point so well… 😉
I’m constantly amazed (and saddened) by brilliant people spending huge amounts of time and money and energy on learning their healing art… and then chucking the towel in because the business-know-how wasn’t there.
In fact, it’s the raison-etre of my own business now.
Truth be told, without you, Mark, that’s where I would be. I’d have scurried back to teaching English and abandoned the coaching and holistic business mentoring that I REALLY wanted to do.
Thank you for giving me a map – which in turn has enabled me to give my own clients a map.
And for me, and for them, it’s making business a whole lot easier AND much more enjoyable.
With love and gratitude, as ever,
Corrina
But I thought the English and the French didn’t get along so well together, Corrina. 😉 I’m so happy you are sharing the map! So many people need it.
What a helpful list, Mark, thank you.
What strikes me as I read it is that I have been doing just that, since 2006 — jumping around, trying to find clients, trying to brand myself, trying, trying, trying.
Pam and Charlie’s Lift Off Retreat has helped me get a better grip and plan…this list completes it for me.
Thank you so much!
I’ve heard such wonderful things about LiftOff- and of course I love both Pam and Charlie. Glad this has helped!
Mark,
This is just what I needed to hear. Thank you for this excellent post and reminding me to breathe through the anxiety of, “I have to learn everything. right. now.”
Your post reminds me of Natalie Goldberg’s quote: “Stress is an ignorant state. It believes everything is an emergency.”
One place where my spiritual practice and business intersects is in sitting with and caring for the tender anxiety that easily spirals into overwhelm, stress and despair. It’s a beautiful practice that leads me right back to my heart….a path you so generously share here.
Thank you for your practical, heartfelt guidance – and encouragement. Sometimes all I need to hear, is “This too shall pass!” Smile.
Warmly, Karly
Hi Karly- so glad to hear this was a balm for the anxious heart! “This too shall pass!” 😉 We all are so tender, aren’t we?
It’s too easy to get overwhelmed, depressed, feel like giving up. Taking a longer term view with your 12 points has made me realise (all over again!) that I’m in this for a long time if I want to have the effect on the world that I desire. Aaah… now I can breathe again. Thank you!
Nice analogy… it’ll only get easy once you’ve undergone the hard part.
Mark,
In addition to your awesome posts, one of the things I love most about your blog are the wonderful people who comment here. Karly, this qoute:
Hello,
If you want a successful business/website/something, you need to sacrifice a lot of things like: time, fun, relaxing. If you want to be the best or one of the best, you need to learn a lot, constantly update and get better and better and always work work work. Being one of the best isn’t something easy, that’s why the ‘best’ are called.. the best.
Keep up the good work!
George
Yeah, running your own business is time and nerve taxing but also has a huge benefits, one of which is actually loving what you do and benefiting from it.
Thanks for the great tips, anything that helps streamline the process by not making mistakes that can be avoided is always a huge plus in my books!
Great post I have a company in Brazil and I am discouraged by the businesses will rethink everything again
OMG Mark! NOW I know what I have been doing and why I have been so stressed and overwhelmed. My urgency to get everything sorted is related to a total absense of money and an urgent need to create some, BUT I now realise that doing what I have been doing I am simply not going to achieve that.
So, I too will breathe! Take stock and make a plan.
Hi Mark, “The Twelve Topics” are great. With these topics, people can write winner business plans. Would be great if you can explain them with some details on other posts :).
I love your clarity Mark. I relate to the 12 areas as ‘structure’ and when I pay loving attention to the structure this allows for the flow in my business.
Both are necessary, structure and flow.
thank you
Fiona
An useful post.Thnks for your sharing,Mark
“The Twelve Topics” is great for business man to review and there are some their own plans to develop.
You’re right, it does get easier. However I found it went easy, hard, easy.
To begin with the energy and excitement can carry you through but as the novelty wears a bit then then it really gets hard – and this is before you build up your knowledge and skillset to make it all easier again.
So if you’re starting out on a business then prepare for the ‘hump’!
Very good post. Indeed many people end being something like enslaved by their own business.
I can say that becauseit was something that had happened to my dad through the years, he have many business but still trys to do the heavy work on all of then.
This 12 topics are a great start to build a business plan, something that I know is essential not only to have a healthy business but to have e healthy life.
Great post
Mark I really like the part about not doing everything yourself I really need to get better at this one, but sometime I find people can not do things to my standards then I still end up doing them myself so I have just opted to do myself the first time it saves me work later. 🙁