How to Fall (BACK) in Love with Your Business

As an ActionCOACH Business Coach – I often meet business owners when they have come to an impasse, with their business. The conversation often starts with at least one of the following statements:  

• “After so many years and so much effort, I thought I would have been further along in my business by now”.  
• “The business is not as profitable as I had hoped it would be at this point”.   
• “I am exhausted from having to do it all – should I just sell, is it worth going on?”  

It always amazes me how similar these conversations are to those I have had with friends and family members who are at an impasse in their relationships. These usually sound like, “I don’t know what else to do to get the spark back” OR “I don’t know if it’s worth saving or if it’s time to move on.”   And in each scenario, I have the same three questions:  

1. What was your initial intention or goal with the relationship/business?  
2. Have you done everything possible to get it back on track?  
3. Have you sought professional help?  

Often, the initial goal or intention is forgotten, so much focus has been placed on managing the day-to-day of the business. When we lose focus we lose the love, the passion, the drive, and all the things that made the late nights, early mornings, less than market-related salary and so many other sacrifices worth it.     So… How do you fall back in love with your business?   When we seem to have been jaded by the many struggles that come with this journey called Entrepreneurship – you go back to basics, start with WHY.   Why did you start the business? What was the vision you had and how far off are you from that vision? Could get your business to that vision, or do you need help?   Immediately we start challenging our mindset, our language-ing, our sense of gratitude for how far we have come. As your business grows and evolves, so should your skills. Lifelong learning and development are key to long-term sustainable success. Not to mention, learning a new skill is empowering and inspiring. Don’t confuse this with having to be an expert at everything! You need to delegate.    Let’s breakdown the above-mentioned: Mindset  Positive leaders not only have higher success, but they also tend to have motivated workforces. Always remember that your response decides the outcome.    Language  Compile a list of positive affirmations to chase off negative thoughts. In ActionCOACH, we refer to this as “I am statements” – this helps to inspire and motivate you to act and think in a way that will align with your goals.  Gratitude  Acknowledge when you’ve achieved your goals – no matter how big or small the goal is. We often are too quick to move to the next thing on our list, without celebrating what we have achieved.    Delegation  Evaluate your to-do list and delegate those lower-level tasks to a team member or outsource them. This will free up more of your time so that you can focus on building a profitable business.   The key to falling back in love with your business is ensuring that the relationship with your business is mutual; you get back what you are putting in. This begs the question, are you investing to the same level as your ask, is this a reciprocal relationship, or are you simply just showing up?   

Natasha Swartz, ActionCOACH Business Coach
actioncoachignite.co.za | natashaswartz@actioncoach.com