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Tips to kick start your business after the summer break

Wondering where the summer has gone and why your business is sluggish?

Beating yourself up for spending more time with the children than with your customers?

Hey, stop it! The school holidays are a time of fun and pleasure. Family time to savour and enjoy. I’m sure you’ve been keeping the business ticking over. It’s fine. Let’s look forwards not back 🙂

Ready to kick start your business?

If you’re anything like me, your business has taken a bit of a back seat amongst the juggling of the summer holidays. Even though my boys are teenagers, (eldest starts college next week), and I don’t have to “look after” them, they are still a distraction whilst they’re at home.

Whilst you’ve been keeping customers happy and doing some marketing over the summer, I’m sure that now it’s come to back to school time, you’re wanting to really grab your business by it’s business plan and focus focus focus. Am I right?

Here’s some tips to get you started back on track with growing your business:

  • Be clear about what you want to achieve. I know, you hear this all the time. But it’s still true! If you don’t know what you want, how can you achieve it? Your plans may have altered, so write things down so you’re clear about your new focus.
  • Write down clear goals for the next 6 months to focus on. How many products do you want to sell? How many clients a week are you wanting to serve? How many events do you want to attend?
  • Know how much time you’ve got to spend on your business. After school clubs may change. School times may be different if your children are moving to a new school. When’s half term? Are you taking holiday? What activities are you already committed to at weekends?
  • Do you have time limited events already committed to e.g. Christmas stalls, training days Ensure they’re in your schedule. Work backwards from each fixed date to ensure you get all the work done you need to make the most of that particular activity.
  • Tell your family and friends what you want to achieve. If you don’t have the right support, you’ll feel guilty for working in your business. If they know they will support you. Is there anything they can do to help you?
  • Book time out for you & having fun. Whilst the summer holidays may be behind us, you need to ensure you continue to have regular downtime to recharge your batteries. If you’ve learnt nothing else from the summer, taking time for you gives you space to think about what’s important.

What tips would you add? Leave a comment below.

Join the Free Kick Start your Business Challenge

Business Kick Start Challenge

In the Business Cheerleading Club this summer we supported each other with a Stay on Track Challenge. It really helped business owners keep their businesses moving, even though they were often busy and juggling lots of other commitments as well. So, we thought we’d do a quick challenge to get your business kick started.

Starting Monday 3rd September, each day you’ll need to commit 20 minutes to do one task each day. That’s it. I’m confident that this little 20 minute focus will give you and your business the kick start you need this autumn.

It’s free to join, and you’ll get all the support you need in the free online group to do whatever it is you need to do, or get help with, to take those first steps in September. No catch. Just commit, show up, do the tasks and ask for help. For 5 days. Sound like a plan?

Join us here for the Kick Start your Business Challenge: 

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Being happy in business isn’t always easy

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” Dalai Lama

being happy in businessAre you feeling overwhelmed with all the juggling you’re trying to do right now with family and business? Or are you just taking each day as it comes and not worrying about what’s not getting done from your plans?

Whichever one it is, (or somewhere in between), I’d like you to stop giving yourself a hard time. You can only do what you can do. If you’ve put your family first this summer, that’s great. So don’t feel guilty that you’ve put your business to one side! You only have 24 hours a day, and it’s your choice what you do with that time. It’s your own actions which you need to take responsibility for – no-one else can do that for you.

Mmm, was that harsher than usual? Well, I’ve spent time this week with some women who were beating themselves up about all the things they weren’t good at, or hadn’t done. It concerned me. Here were some amazing ladies, with so many skills and talents, yet they were focusing on things they hadn’t done, and seemed to have forgotten about all the wonderful things they had achieved! Once they started to see that they could only do so much each day, week and month, and that they had choices, they started to smile. It was a delight to see.

Whilst their actions were creating happiness for others, they were being so focused on those other people, they forgot to enjoy what they were doing. They were thinking that this “thing” on their list was all for someone else. Yet, if they didn’t have the skill or knowledge, they couldn’t support that other person or make them happy. What a gift! To make others happy with your skills and talents! Wow!

Being happy in business is your business

Do you embrace your skills and talents? Do they make you happy? Whilst you’re creating and supporting others, are you feeling happiness?

I believe if you’re happy in what you’re doing, those around you will share your happiness. Your happiness will spread into your work and your family, and your customers will be happier as you’re happier with the results/products you’re getting for them. Would you disagree with this? I’d love to hear your views. What a great conversation starter – is your happiness infectious 🙂

If you’re feeling a bit out of sorts at the moment, stop, breathe, and review what you’re doing. Take a bit of time to just see what you’re doing with your time, what makes you happy, and what’s important to you.

If you’d like help checking things out, feel free to book a 20 minute free Explore Call, or join the Business Cheerleading Club and get the help of other business owners to explore with you.

Is being happy in business a priority for you?

If you’d like Monday Motivation, and our weekly business tips delivered direct to your inbox, you can sign up here:

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Keep on keeping on

“I can, therefore I am.” Simone Weil

keep on keeping onAre you seeing all your hard work and efforts starting to pay off this year? I am. Both personally, for my family and my business.

None more so than for my eldest son this weekend. It was his national championships for his sport. He’s 16 years old and after some wobbles at the end of last year when he was working out if he even liked the sport any more, (as he’s been doing it for about 8 years now), he’s been focused on doing as well as he could in these championships.

He’s worked hard, and has stuck to his goal, through injury and recovery. Through his school work, which he put time and effort into as well. And he’s always listened to the advice his coaches have given him. He’s learnt, he’s tweaked, he’s put time in to his personal and physical development. The mantra “Keep on keeping on” has been very much in my mind watching and supporting him this year, with all the ups and downs.

His performance this weekend is what some may talk about as “solid”. There was nothing spectacular. Yes, he got some personal bests in a few of his 10 events (he does Decathlon), and he was close to his others. He had his highlights and some disappointments over the weekend. But he kept going. He focused on his own game rather than that of those he was competing against. We didn’t know it, but at the end of the 9th event he’d jumped from 7th to 4th, heading into the final 1500m. He didn’t know it either. That was interesting to me. He was so focused on his own personal performance that he didn’t need to know where he was or what others were doing around him. He concentrated on running his own race (the best he’s ever run it, not in time, just in technique), and finished the end of the weekend 4th in the UK. Wow. Just saying that makes me have goose bumps! Yes, I’m blown away by his talent.

But more importantly, what it showed was that his steady weekly tasks and progress all add up to something very special in the end. Yes, the other 19 boys who completed the event are all amazing. They have to learn and commit to practising 10 different events, whilst they do their school work, and have friends and other interests. But they focus on the end goal. And stick to it. They don’t let a little wobble in one event affect them overall (OK, some do, but that’s where those who get to the top manage this much better).

Just like our businesses are made up of many different moving parts, so a decathlete needs to manage their training, nutrition, rest, recovery, mental strength to get the result they want. If one part isn’t quite right it affects the rest of our business. If you’re not happy, or committed to what you’re doing it affects the whole thing!

Keep on keeping on – what does that mean for you?

Do you have one part of your business which isn’t working for you right now? Something which doesn’t feel quite right? What is it? Just be honest and say, “OK, this isn’t working right now, what are my options?” Do you feel that you’ve been keeping on yet nothing is working for you? Are you being consistent with your work, or are you jumping around all over the place trying different things out, and you’re not ready to keep on keeping on just yet?

If you’d like help exploring your options, feel free to book a 20 minute free Explore Call, or join the Business Cheerleading Club and get the help of other business owners to explore with you.

I’d love to hear how you Keep on Keeping on and what results you’ve seen personally, or professionally. Leave a comment below.

If you’d like Monday Thoughts, and our weekly business tips delivered direct to your inbox, you can sign up here:

 

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