It’s a rare business owner who—at some point—doesn’t feel stuck.
Either you experience burnout, you’re not reaching your goals or you can’t seem to get past the income plateau you’ve found yourself on.
These are all a normal part of being in business, but staying stuck isn’t. Successful business owners figure out how to overcome the hurdles and continue to grow their business. The first step is to determine what exactly is holding you back.
Lack of Clarity
When you don’t really know what it is you want from your business, you experience a lack of clarity. Maybe you aren’t clear on who you’re meant to serve, or can’t quite envision your product funnel. Or maybe you can’t picture your new course in its entirety.
These are symptoms of a lack of clarity, and they can stop a promising business in its tracks. If you’re suffering from a lack of clarity, take a step back and do some brainstorming (or a brain dump) to get everything out where you can see it. This alone can help you get clear on what your next step is.
Lack of Focus
If you’re clear on your goals but you’re having trouble moving forward consistently, then a lack of focus might be your trouble. You start work each morning with purpose, but by lunch it’s you haven’t accomplished what you set out to do.
You’re not a bad person, or even a poor business owner. You just have trouble focusing on next steps that need to take place to make your dreams come true.
Try this: With your end goal in mind, brainstorm the next physical action you need to take to achieve your goal. So if your goal is to build a 4-week ecourse, then your next step might be to poll your mailing list about what they need or want from you.
No Excitement
Bored? Lost interest in that business you once loved? This is, unfortunately, pretty common among solo-preneurs. That’s why so many of them jump from business to business. They never spend enough time in any one endeavor to see it through to success.
Staying excited about your business starts with having a dream that keeps you going even when you’re faced with the day-to-day drudgery that every small business owner encounters. Not everything is fun when you’re running a business, but if you keep your “why” in mind, it can help you get past the dull spots.
Want to know how to help fix these issues (and more)? There’s a simple trick that the world’s most successful entrepreneurs have been using for decades: vision boards. Vision boards are fun and colorful tools that can provide a visual of your dreams, help work out your next steps, and help you stay excited about your business.
Vision boards can be as simple as a few images clipped from a magazine and pinned to a corkboard, or as complex as a framed poster with hand-lettered quotes and personal inspiration. The choice is yours. It’s completely personal, super fun, and best of all, it works. Give it a try next time you’re feeling stuck in your business!