Would you be surprised to know that in the first year, 80% of small businesses close down?
That’s a HUGE number!
In a recent episode with Netflix co-founder, Marc Randolph, he talked about how to overcome the “that’ll never work” mindset and I think when small businesses don’t succeed, a lot of it is mindset and people allowing themselves to quit too early.
He also made the point, and I couldn’t agree more, that there is this glorification of the entrepreneur. There is this misconception that you wake up one day with a brilliant idea, you make it happen, and it’s a smashing success.
Have you found yourself falling into that trap?
Time for a reality check.
That couldn’t be further from the truth.
Sometimes we are expecting things to just be too easy.
But here’s the thing– it isn’t hard because you’re doing it wrong.
It just really is hard work.
Anything successful requires work. Building a successful business takes a lot of hard work.
Let me give you an example because I’m right there with you.
I assumed having two successful brick and mortar businesses, I was going to start my online business and crush it….
(Spoiler alert: it didn’t happen.)
I spent hours and hours learning from coaches like Amy Porterfield and Jasmine Star and honestly, they made it all look really easy.
I was overconfident and did have some incredible success right out the gate with a course launch. But, I didn’t repeat what had worked.
I thought, “Great! Now I’ll move onto the next offer and have the same results.”
Nope. Crickets.
Back to the drawing board.
But here’s what I want you to really understand.
Being okay with failure is probably the reason I'm here, coaching other entrepreneurs, just like you, on how to build profitable and sustainable small businesses.
I was determined to make it work and it came down to figuring out what brought in sales, what brought referrals, and perfecting and repeating those processes.
Systems are what saved my sanity and turned the dance studios into million dollar businesses. But they weren’t perfectly implemented overnight.
So first I want you to do whatever inner work you need to do to shift your mindset.
If you’re not seeing the results you want in your business, approach your next steps with determination and resilience.
Don’t just think, “Well, this isn’t working…I’m not cut out for this…”
Where do you need to pivot?
Where can you implement systems that allow you to continue generating leads and sales so you can focus on what your next best seller will be?
To help you continue on this journey, here are three strategies I teach business owners to implement and continue tweaking until they find what works best for them.
Delegate
- First consider if you need more time or if you simply need someone to do something for you. Maybe you need to delegate aspects of your personal life like meal prep or laundry so you have more time to focus on your business. Or maybe you need to outsource your funnel creation or managing your social media accounts. Do what it takes to free up the physical or mental space to do what needs to be done. Automation
- You know that thing that you keep saying, “Well, I’ll just real quickly do this?” Sending confirmation emails or promo for a new product or service…doing it yourself is NOT saving you time or energy. Where can you build automation into your business so you can focus on the next thing that will get you to the next level of generating revenue? Retention and referrals
- This may not seem related. But a solid understanding of what brings customer retention and referrals is a critical part of feeling successful in your business. When you know what works to keep people as customers and get them referring others, you can leverage that to really grow and scale your business.
These are all systems and strategies that I teach inside the FTF and other coaching programs I offer. If you’re interested in learning more about what high-performance business coaching can do for you, I encourage you to set up a time to chat with one of our incredible coaches.
But the one thing I really want you to take away from this, is the importance of your mindset and the willingness to work hard. You 100% have what it takes. If you’re ready to go one step further and start implementing, be sure to check out book, The Implementation Code, where I share even more actionable steps to get things done.
