Everyone gets stuck. UnStuck yourself.
As business leaders, it's important for us to get UNSTUCK if we're trying to make it to the next level in sales and in profits.
I look at business success as a financial puzzle.🧩Some are challenging. Some aren’t as hard. But I subscribe to the mantra that Marie Forleo made famous “Everything is Figureoutable!”
I understand your frustration with feeling like your business is in a rut & not able to move to the next level. But let’s take that FIGUREOUTABLE attitude & look into these 5 areas to get unstuck, my friend!
1. Systems & Processes
At some point, working more hours isn’t the solution to growth. You need to work on establishing systems & processes to run your business more efficiently.
Evaluate the processes & systems in the key areas of your business. Some to get you started thinking:
marketing
onboarding clients
onboarding & training team members
scheduling meetings
completing repetitive client work
creating & sending deliverables.
Let's learn from Chick-fil-A - they have their systems & processes down from a quick drive-through to memorable customer service ("my pleasure!"). It's standard every time in every location.
Are you making things too complicated? Do you have things written down so they're easy to understand & implement?
When we first start a business, the goal is to work as quickly as possible and get stuff done.
But now that you've hit some success, it's time to put systems & processes in place. It'll take a little upfront time, but will actually save time and allow easier growth. (Your fave fractional CFO says that's good ROI!)
ACTION TIP: Every time you do something that's repetitive (from customer service to marketing to financial), write out the steps in enough detail that they could be used as basic instructions by someone else. A Loom video is a great idea for this too.
2. Strong Team
To build a high performing team, entrepreneur & author Kelly Roach offers these 3 areas to focus on: hiring the right people, creating a culture that fosters growth and development, and investing in training and development to help your team perform at their best.
❓ What's the team member process like right now?
❓ Are you making good hires?
❓ If people are leaving, do you now why?
❓ Is your onboarding process good?
❓ Training?
❓ What motivates your team?
❓ What's the team culture like?
Research shows that people who feel valued and cared for are more productive & far more likely to stay in their jobs.
[And yes, with The Great Resignation, many are leaving for more pay right now. While you may not be able to compete on money alone, you CAN compete on caring, kindness and a great work environment.]
PRO TIP: In the hiring process, don’t exaggerate about the work being all rainbows & unicorns. None of us really think anything is going to be that way in life - so why set your new team member up to be disappointed?
3. Know your Numbers
❓ Are you accidentally profitable - or purposely profitable?
There’s a difference. You're leaving money on the table if you aren't in tune with your business numbers. They provide the golden insights to finding more profit.
Getting familiar with your numbers unlocks trends, variance analysis, and other metrics. Reviewing them & understanding the story they tell will allow you to make proactive decisions to help you achieve your vision of success.
ACTION TIP: Spend an hour a month (or 15 minutes a week is even better!) reviewing your business numbers to understand what they're telling you to do in your biz.
Financial literacy is learned. You don't know it unless you’ve been taught. DIY it by reading books, watching videos, listening to podcasts. Or take a shortcut to success by hiring expert help.
4. Marketing & Sales
❓ Are you marketing to the right audience for growth?
Perhaps your clients have always come from referrals. I get it - I love referrals too! But if you’re trying to grow and scale, it might not be enough to count on those alone.
Focus your energy and resources on those that are most likely to become a profitable client.
❓ Who is your ideal client for this growth? It may be different as you try to grow to the next level.
❓ What’s the pain point you can solve for them?
That saying of “if you speak to everyone, you are speaking to no one” really holds true. It feels scary to really hone in on who you can serve best, but it often leads to growth in sales and profit.
And once you know WHO you’re trying to target, your marketing should reflect it. According to Alex Hormozi, "Branding is the differentiator that allows you to win in a crowded market." (His book, $100M Offers is a great read.)
People care about how your offer benefits them far more than the features. For example, would you like me to explain about how cool my cash flow forecasting system is or would you like to talk about the peace of mind you’ll feel once you know you’ve taken control of cash flow in your business? Second one, right? Exactly. Focus on WIIFT (What’s In It For Them).
5. Strategy
Often, we focus too much on day-to-day operations & overlook strategic planning. Without a clear roadmap for achieving growth, it’s hard to identify and prioritize the action steps we need to take.
Breaking through to the next level is not a function of hard work and luck alone. Most businesses I’ve seen achieve their success goals have done so by taking intentional strategic action steps - and evaluating and revising them along the way.
❓ Do you have a strategic action plan?
❓ Is your plan broken into SMART actionable steps?
❓ Are you evaluating your progress & revising as needed?
ACTION TIP: Set 12 week goals and action steps - and then measure and evaluate your progress along the way. Hope is not a strategy. Planning is.
And even with a great strategy in place, give yourself some time to see the results.
"Patience is not a sexy word, but it is probably the most important word in success." - Gary Vaynerchuk
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TL;DR
Getting stuck in business is normal. But no one wants to stay stuck if you have growth in mind. Check these 5 areas to get unstuck:
1. Systems & processes
2. Team members
3. Know your business numbers
4. Marketing & sales
5. Strategy
There are lots of reasons why your business may not be growing, but it’s possible to get unstuck & achieve your goals.
By taking a close look at your business numbers, team, marketing, strategy and systems & processes, you can identify areas for improvement and develop a plan to address them.
As a fractional CFO, I've worked with many small businesses to help them overcome these challenges & achieve their growth goals. If you need help identifying and addressing the reasons why your business is stuck, let’s chat to see if we are a good fit to work together.
Remember - everything is figureoutable!
That’s all for this week, my friend. See ya next week!
Whenever you're ready for more:
1. Ready to increase profit & create more peace of mind in your biz by having a strategic partner with financial expertise? You may be ready for a fractional CFO.
Schedule a call to see if we'd be a good fit to work together.
2. Want to create your own Custom Roadmap to Success with my help? Let's talk about doing that. Schedule here.
3. Want more like this? I post on LinkedIn every weekday at 7:15a CST. I'd love to connect. Find me here!
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