small business tips

How to focus: part 1

If you’re a small business owner, and especially if you’re a one-woman-band / solopreneur, finding focus (and sticking to it) can feel impossible.

A single day can include fulfilling orders, answering emails, scheduling social media posts, ordering stock, trying to fix that thing on your website, wondering whether you should invest in advertising, uploading products, taking photos, and on and on and on.

Whew! Can you see why you feel exhausted?

A big part of my work with clients has been to cut through the noise and find the things they really need to focus on – and then prioritise them.

This week and next, I’m sharing focus tips, reminders, and to dos that will help you to focus and find more ease in your business.

Today: It’s part one, and we’re starting out with WHY a lot of small business owners don’t stay focused. (You may recognise yourself in this list)…

5 Top Reasons Creative Business Owners Don’t Stay Focused:

  • We overestimate what we can do in the short term. We think things will take 10 minutes when they really take half an hour. We think we can get a wide variety of things done in a single day, task-switching merrily. We are wrong.
  • We underestimate what we can do in the long term. We dream small because we’re really tired from all our overestimating in the short term. This is the twin sister of the point above, and they’re both brilliant observations by Gretchen Rubin.
  • We underestimate the effectiveness of focus. The biggest secret of business is that focus actually works. Going all in on one thing feels vulnerable because we think we have to do everything. But time and again, it pays off. Big time.
  • We don’t trust we’ll get to it later. We carry all the to dos over to our daily lists because we think we’ll forget. So we’re just thinking about a million things, all the time.
  • We don’t trust we’ll choose the RIGHT focus. OOOOOOOH, this is a big one. The vulnerability of committing to a thing. Let me tell you: you know what you really want to focus on. You know how to get resources and support if you’re not sure of specific steps.

Sound familiar? All the more reason to start seeing focus as the key that unlocks your potential…

And I’ve been there too! I like shiny things. I like ideas. I like creating. It is HARD to commit to one thing (more on that in a minute). But the last couple of years, and especially the last 12 months, have been more and more focused for my business – and it has massively paid off.

Plus I see this all the time with my clients. The focus of creating a new collection and working towards the launch. Focusing on a clear customer desire and meeting it. The clarity of working on a new website to completion before adding in any other projects.

It works.

Focus actually makes us MORE productive, profitable, and effective. Which leads to more success, happiness, and satisfaction.

By focusing, you get a sense of completion, you start trusting yourself more, and your confidence grows. You work on the things that uniquely right for you – and seriously, that’s just the best.

So here’s what you, dear one-woman-band, need to let go of…

You have to let go of comparison, distractions, and what other people are doing.

Choose two or three projects to focus on at a time and commit to them.

If (when) something else comes up, put it one a “to consider” list for when you have space to take on your next project.

Join me next week, when I’ll be sharing real-life examples of client projects and how to focus them. (And I have some exciting news!)

Do you need to change the journey or the destination?

If you’re a maker, solopreneur, or creative business founder, there’s a possibility that you’ve been reviewing your business and considering your goals for the year.

Chances are, you feel like there are a lot of possibilities, but you maybe haven’t really clarified your vision just yet.

I get it. There are lots of moving parts to business (and life), and 2021 isn’t exactly the most straightforward of times to be living in.

And as humans, we have this amazing ability for our monkey minds to be noisy chatter about all kinds of things that don’t really matter.

So let’s quieten down that voice and cut to the heart of things.

I have a metaphor (full disclosure: I love a metaphor!) that may just help you to see things differently…

The train metaphor

Imagine this year, or perhaps this phase, is a train journey. (Remember them?!)

You’ve got a ticket, you’ve found your seat, you’re ready to enjoy the ride.

Well, maybe you’re ready to enjoy it. Let’s just check in with that, shall we?

Are you headed to a destination you’ve been to before? Is this year looking pretty much like the last? Or are you headed somewhere new?

You can go to the same destination: reach more or less the same financial position, help the same customers, do the same things. For some of my clients, that’s actually really brilliant. For them, I invite them to buy a first class ticket, or maybe take the fast train with fewer stops. (Or even take the slow train and pause along the way…)

If that’s you, perhaps you can imagine how to upgrade your journey this year. Pack better snacks? First class seat? A welcome party when you get there?

And maybe you’re changing the destination…

The thing about trains is that there are a lot of them. You could go somewhere nearby, or you could board a train to another country and get halfway around the world.

Where will your ticket take you this year?

Is it close to where you’ve been before, or somewhere new?

Are you taking a stopping train through somewhere beautiful? Or a fast train to somewhere vibrant and exciting?

Where would you like to end up? And how can you make the journey smooth, enjoyable, and totally right for you?

The journey matters

We get caught up in the destination a lot – and that’s important. Especially when you have business goals that feed into the quality of your life.

But we spend a lot of time on metaphorical trains, moving from one place to another.

So my invitation for you today is to consider how you could make your journey work better for you.

You don’t have to take the same old train, sit in the same old seat, feel the same old weariness. We’re not commuters, worn in by habit and trying to get everything done as quickly as possible.

Instead, see the full possibility of what’s available to you. Trains headed in all kinds of directions. A ticket to platform 9 3/4. Trains through beautiful countryside with stunning views. Journeys that are just as much fun as the destination.

I can’t wait to hear if this helps you think differently about your business and plans for the year ahead! I’d love to know more about the train you’re on.

And if you enjoyed this metaphor, you might also like this one about cake, this one about cooking, and this one about movies.

I’m not great at following recipes, but here’s why it helps my business

I love to cook. Okay, the one-year-old and lockdown juggle might be holding me back a little right now, but mostly I enjoy the creativity of preparing meals.

And that’s just it for me: the creativity. Like a lot of things, I’m in it for the creative flair, and sometimes that doesn’t necessarily work out in my (husband’s) favour.

I want to be able to just throw in a dash of this and a dollop of that. I want to be able to sense when the souffles are done. (I’ve never actually made souffles, but you know what I mean.) And I want to be able to play around and produce something yummy that everyone enjoys.

Sometimes it works. There are dishes I can vary depending on my mood, like a risotto with a select combination from the fridge and cupboard, or a slow cooked casserole. Usually, I can play around with these meals because I’ve learned the recipes by heart and made them many times.

Because guess what I resist, literally and metaphorically, in the kitchen and in life? Recipes.

Friends, I do not like being told what to do.

Partly, hello, I’m a rebel. Partly, I want to be able to intuit the best formula for a dish.

But you know what helps me to learn how to cook and discover the best formula for a dish? Recipes.

So what do recipes have to do with business?

You might have guessed that – just like this recent post about cake – there’s a food-based metaphor going on here. (I just love a metaphor, especially a food one.)

Just like in cooking, there are recipes in business, too. Not in exactly the same way, but pretty close. Processes, structures, templates, tips, and step-by-step instructions. Using things is art and science, formula and instinct, logical and creative.

Just like in cooking, you can discover a process in business and once you’ve got the hang of it, you can play around and make it your own. (Or even write it from scratch in the first place.)

Let’s say you want to be able to create a delicious marketing offering. You can learn about how to create different types of content – photos, videos, written pieces – and schedule them. You can follow some suggested recipes and guides. And as you practice, you’ll learn your favourite flavours, and the ones your family (customers) love the best.

Maybe you’ll find some crowd pleasers. Maybe the first time you make a souffle, it won’t rise. (Chances are.) But maybe on the third attempt, it’s just right: perfectly light, gooey in the middle and a little crispy on top.

I love reading about marketing and business. It’s a bit like browsing Pinterest or a good cook book for foodie inspiration.

There are also times when I find a recipe I want to learn by heart, like a basis for making my own granola (that was a pre-baby obsession) that I can mix and match when I like.

My game-changing recipe realisation

Realising and accepting that recipes are in fact helpful and not something I need to rebel against has been GAME CHANGING for me. The structure they give me allows me to be at my creative best. (And yes, I’m kind of talking about business here, not just oat to raisin ratios…)

If you, like me, have realised the value of having a structure and a recipe, I think you’re going to like The Better Business Collective. It has a whole load of templates for sending email newsletters to your subscribers (a VERY worthwhile marketing endeavour), as well as a stunning, magical, easy-but-doesn’t-mean-we-do-it Game-Changing Success Ritual that has the power to level UP your business and your mindset.

You’re oh so welcome in The Better Business Collective if you:

  • Want to raise your business savvy up a level
  • Know that you want to work ON your business rather than IN it but struggle to actually make that happen on the regular
  • Love learning and implementing business and marketing strategy live and in community with other humans in business
  • Are a rebel, like yours truly, and want to get out of your own way 
  • Aren’t a rebel, but would love to unlock your potential and create your own version of success

Let’s get cooking, shall we?

optin-cup

Enter The Forge

Life's too damn short to chase someone else's definition of success. I'm here to give you the courage and tools to forge your own path.