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Thoughts

My musings and opinions on all the issues that tiny businesses face. From frequently asked questions I come across each week, to hot topics of the moment, if you have a question or issue, you’ll find the answers in this section.

How Do You Know You're Doing It Right?

This is asked many times, and it’s hard to explain how I see the answer, but I’ll try and get it out of my head and into words.

From bitter experience and learning the hard way (is there any other way?!) if you have to keep kicking down walls and fighting against the tide to get where you want to be, then you’re probably going in the wrong direction.
You probably didn’t expect to hear that. The ‘corporate’ train of thought, and how we’re all programmed to behave, is to try and try ,and try harder and more often, keep knocking on those doors to get one to open, to get to where you THINK you should be. But that’s the first mistake.

You have to FEEL where you’re going, and want to go there, know that it’s the right path for you.
Once you are on the right path for you, doors will open you didn’t even know existed.
You’ll be blown away by how easily everything flows to you.
Everything will just click into place and just feel and seem ‘right’.
That’s because it is. Every fibre of your being is trying to tell you these things, you just need to learn to listen. There will be signs and signals you’ve probably been oblivious to or in denial off. But they’re there.

If things aren’t meant for you, they won’t happen. What is meant for you, won’t pass you by. I truly believe that. Call it the Law of Attraction, call it listening to the Universe, it doesn’t really matter.
What does matter is that you start listening to your gut instincts with the choices and decisions you make.

I have seen this time and time again, enough times to prove that this actually works.
Clients come to me with a failing or struggling business. They’re busy but going nowhere, they’re baffled.
It’s always - and without exception - because they’re doing what was advised or expected, or what they thought they should be doing. They lose authenticity and it quickly becomes just another job and a reason to dread Mondays.

I’ve seen clients who had fallen into focusing on one side of their business because it ‘seemed’ to be the best idea, but when we sat down and discussed what they actually wanted to do, it was a different story.
With many clients, when we’re discussing the aspects of their business, they'll suddenly light up and come alive when we talk about about a certain area or product or service.
That, right there, where their heart is, and where their attention should be focused. More of that.
My job then is to make a plan to get them more of that and sustain it.

As a business owner, the main perk HAS to be that you are totally in love with what you’re doing and why. So to answer the original question, if things aren’t flowing easily, if you’re not singing and dancing your way into Monday each week, then you’re probably not doing it right just yet.
Go back to basics and think about what you actually want to do with your business.
If you need help, you know where I am.