Are you sitting comfortably? Welcome to my series of podcasts that will help you navigate some of the difficulties you might come up against when you’re a business owner. Today, I want to talk about how to stop worrying about money and work with your team to achieve business growth. 

When you started your own business, did you envisage it would bring you a nice lifestyle and a secure future? 

But over time, your costs have spiralled and your profits have taken a hit. You know you need to grow your business, but you’re not sure where to start. 

So instead of feeling inspired and secure about the future, you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. And on top of all of that, your team is losing motivation, and faith in you, fast.

Is this a familiar picture? 

If you’re feeling unhappy and unfulfilled, and your hunger to achieve success has been replaced by fears about a lack of money and growth, it’s time to start asking why your business has stopped growing. Here are some of the common reasons why business growth can slow or come to a grinding halt. 

The first thing to think about is did you build your business on someone else’s model, whether it was a competitor in your industry or a blueprint you took from a business ‘guru?’

If you did, maybe it just doesn’t suit your vision for your business anymore, and maybe it never did. You’re not on the inside of another company. You don’t know why a particular strategy works for them, and how they even came up with their strategy.  You need to get back on a path that’s going to take you closer to your vision, not somebody else’s. Your business strategies should be based on the clients you want to attract and what will feasibly work for your business. If growth has slowed or stopped, your current strategy isn’t working, 

It’s great to have big dreams and lots of ideas, but they have to be combined into a clear and practical strategy otherwise they don’t really mean anything. Without a clear strategy, you can end up with a situation where you and your team are always busy and working hard, but not much is really being achieved. Eventually, your team will get fed up of the lack of clear direction, and they’ll become disengaged. 

You will also become disengaged as a business owner if the trivial things are taking up your precious time every day. Do you really need to do the mountains of admin that land on your desk or can you delegate or outsource it? These are the kind of things that are stopping you from working on the things that are going to take your business forward. You need to lose the inner control freak and let go of some tasks, even if the idea scares you. 

Speaking of things that take up a lot of precious time, look at your current clients. Are all of them your ideal clients? Even if they’re not, and if you’re afraid that you don’t have enough money coming into the business, it can be tempting to cater to their every whim, often at the expense of your best clients. Do you end up giving discounts to nightmare clients who complain about everything because you’re afraid of losing money if they stop working with you? Your business won’t grow if you continue to work like this, so firming up your strategy to help you both attract the clients you want and work with them in a way that suits both parties is essential going forward. 

Taking an honest look at why your business isn’t growing takes a lot of guts. Especially because it could be you that’s contributing to the situation. 

Have you built a business that relies on you far too much? Do you often feel that you don’t run the business, but that it’s like an unstoppable juggernaut that keeps on going, and runs you, and your life? 

Changing things is scary, I get it. But fear of change will trap you in a cycle of doing what you’ve always done and expecting different results-which was insanity, according to Einstein!

You have to find the courage to let go of what’s not working, and to embrace using the most valuable asset you have at your disposal to help your business grow-your team. 

A great team is not only important for the successful day to day running of the business, it’s important for business growth too. Here’s why;

Having a great team creates an atmosphere of trust, and a sense of ‘we’re all in this together.’ This motivates people to work together, support each other, and work harder towards common goals. 

A harmonious working environment where everyone feels valued and supported is one where innovation happens. Every member of the team brings different ideas and perspectives to the table, and they aren’t afraid to share their opinions on how things could be improved. This allows for better problem-solving and innovative ideas that will give your business an edge and move it forward. 

So there’s this sense of people with different abilities, experience, skills, and perspectives all motivated to work together towards business goals. Productivity increases, job satisfaction increases, and your peace of mind increases-all of which makes business growth and success far more likely. 

It’s vital that you work with your team, and help them appreciate how their individual roles contribute to the overall picture. Support them to develop and trust them with responsibility, and they’ll eventually take ownership of their part in achieving growth and success for the business. 

If a lack of growth, fears about money, and dissatisfaction in your team is the current story in your business, it doesn’t have to be. 

You can change it, and I can help. 

 I work with you and your team to remove fears about money, improve engagement and motivation, and get everyone pulling in the same direction to steer the business to success. 

Book a call with me.