The power of a small change in your business
I was talking to a friend the other day about business pivots. One thing in particular has stuck with me that they said — don’t underestimate the power of a small change. Particularly if you are starting to feel resentful to your business.
When I’m caught in the storm of things not feeling right or not going to plan, I tend to get into a spiral of thinking nothing is working. I start to plan big changes. Which could range from designing a new offering through to starting a new business. Changes that have significant work to implement!
I’m getting better at recognising when I’m doing this. Not perfect — I’ve got quite few unfinished offers sitting on my computer. I started them, realised they weren’t the panacea to the issues I was having and put them down. I’m getting quicker at stopping so that is a win. If you are struggling at the moment, what could a small change look like that would make a lot of difference to you now? Some areas in your business to think about include:
How you deliver your offer
I’m not talking here about ditching one on one work for a course or even a group program. Rather taking a current offer and making some adjustments so that you enjoy it more. I’m thinking here about the number of people I’ve seen switch from zoom calls to using voxer for coaching. Or is there a particularly element of your current offering that you don’t like doing?
When I was managing Facebook ads for people, I hated writing copy. If I had changed my offer so my clients wrote their own copy I could have removed a lot of stress. I thought I had to write the copy but I later found out that quite a few Facebook managers get their clients to do this.
Don’t get caught up in what you think you have to offer. Instead think about what you want to offer. Could you stop doing the part you don’t enjoy? These changes will still require work. Things like re-writing sales pages, explaining the changes and updating some of your systems). But it is much less work than a whole new offer.
Setting up better systems
Are there areas that are taking you longer than you would like? Or maybe there are activities you hate doing. Are there small changes you could make to reduce the burden of these activities? If you’re spending a lot of time chasing clients for information, can you put in place better systems to collect that information? Could you strengthen your contract and communication? So clients are aware that delays in information will mean that their project moves to the back of the queue.
I almost didn’t include this in the list and hiring someone long term isn’t what I would call a small change. But hiring someone short term to help you get over a particularly bump could be a small change. Is making some small changes to your website is taking you forever? Then hiring someone to make these one off changes could be just enough to reduce your stress. Getting you seeing clearly again and focused on what you love.
Clarifying who you work with
I’m not talking here about completing changing your niche. If you’ve been taking on clients who aren’t a best fit for you then saying no to these clients can make a significant shift in how you feel about your business. I get that it’s scary to say no to potential clients. I’ve worked with people I shouldn’t have. It’s a pretty natural thing to do if money is feeling tight. But if these clients are making you think about giving up anyway then there is much less to lose.
Think about those clients you loved working with. What were their green flags? For those you didn’t enjoy working with, what were their red flags?
Having a support network
I’ve been enjoying my business more since finding people to talk things through with. The conversations help with clarity. The ability to talk something through can make decision making much less onerous.
This doesn’t need to be a paid mastermind. Think about who you know in business and send them an invite to have a coffee chat. Ask them if they would be interested in having regular catch ups to share business challenges.
Are you starting to feel resentful to your clients because of the amount of work you are doing relative to the price you are charging? Then a price increase could lessen that resentment and get you enjoying working with clients again.
If you are worried about putting up prices then start small. Put them up by 10% and see how that goes. Its unlikely that a 10% increase will make a big difference if you’ve been seriously underpricing but this about starting to flex that muscle. You can also let your audience know that the price is going up and give them the opportunity to book with you before that happens.
Putting in place good boundaries
Similar to adjusting your prices, putting in place good boundaries can help make client relationships feel fun again. This might require you to put in place new contract terms or it could be just communicating and following through on your boundaries.
For me, I let clients know that I preferred if they emailed me rather than sent direct messages. I always felt pressure with direct messages to reply immediately no matter what time of day they were sent. Partly because my client can see I’ve read their message but I was also worried I would forget to reply. Whereas with email I can flag emails to make sure I follow them up.
For me, I find my business gets hard when I don’t have a clear plan. I get really stressed if I feel like I’ve got to reinvent the wheel every day. Knowing what is a priority for the next day/week/month makes me much happier in my business.
Some of these changes can take some work to implement like putting in new systems. Others like putting up your prices could just mean a quick update to your website and an email to let people know your prices are going up. But most are going to be much less work than making a major business change. They could be just what you need to get working in your business feeling good again.
What small change could make a big difference to how you feel about your business?
Originally published at https://quietlyextraordinary.com on May 5, 2024.
