What to do when things feel off in business
Not long ago, I started to feel like things were shifting in my business.
I began to feel like the fonts and colors I was using were not 100% in line with what I genuinely loved and wanted for my brand. I began to feel like the images I was using needed to be more fun and vibrant. I began to feel like my ideal client I had outlined was shifting… being refined as I grew and took steps forward in business.
I believe that with action comes clarity… and taking action in my business was giving me the clarity I needed. As I stepped out into business more and more, I gained a clearer picture of the direction I needed to go, the services I needed to provide, and who I needed to serve.
Has this happened to you? Have you ever found yourself in a spot where you can feel things shifting? You know things are off… but you maybe just can’t pinpoint where the issue is… or what to do about it!...
All you know is something feels "off" in your business!
I knew something was "off" but I wasn't able to pinpoint WHAT was off until I did a 3-day challenge in my group, The Impactful LadyBoss Movement. Then all of a sudden... it hit me!
I went live for 3 days in order to help my group members build a stronger brand… I asked them to get really clear on WHO they were meant to serve in business. I shared tips on how to stay consistent with their visual brand. And I asked them to think about what their next big, scary step in business was.
This was so easy for me to talk about because I help ladies work through these things ALL THE TIME. But for some reason, I left each live challenge session feeling defeated. Feeling heavy. Feeling uneasy.
WHAT WAS WRONG?
Here’s what I discovered…
First, I was feeling "off" about who I was meant to serve. I knew something needed to shift, but I hadn’t taken the time to sit down, journal it out, and define my revised ideal client.
Second, I was feeling off about MY visual brand. I had been shifting to using brighter colors, using different fonts, and experimenting with more vibrant images… but again, I hadn’t strategically defined what my new brand direction should be.
Third, I asked myself what the next big, scary step was for my business (because WE ALL have a next big, scary step we could be taking to move our business to new heights… we are usually just too scared to take that step!!). And you know what I realized??? I had been feeling called to transition my business to include different things besides JUST branding. I was so passionate about biz building and growth… but I hadn’t been taking that step to embrace that part of my biz. I had been sitting comfortably with the “branding” title and not embracing the other thing I was passionate about too… helping ladies strategically grow their business impact!
So what did I do???
I allowed myself to feel uneasy.
I got brutally honest with myself.
I asked myself the hard questions.
I got realigned.
I began to move forward in my new direction.
Today, I’m going to outline these 5 steps every entrepreneur needs to take when things start to feel “off” in business.
1. Allow yourself to feel uneasy.
I could have easily pushed the uneasy feeling aside and kept moving forward in my current direction. I could have written it off and said It doesn’t matter and moving forward will make me feel better.
The first step was allowing myself to realize that I felt uneasy.
Can you pinpoint what feels uneasy? If not, then work to assess it… if you still don’t know… then keep moving forward until you do!
2. Get brutally honest with yourself.
We get SO GOOD at showing the best version of ourselves that we can oftentimes trick ourselves in the process. Your mind is a powerful tool! It so important to make sure the things we are feeding our minds with is TRUTH.
In this step, you will agree to get brutally honest with yourself.
3. Ask yourself the hard questions.
Now that you have accepted this uneasy feeling and you have agreed to be brutally honest with yourself, I want you to begin to get to the bottom of these feelings.
Here are some great questions to start with…
- Does your business light you up inside?
- Does your business energize you or leave you feeling drained?
- Are you targeting and serving clients that you love working with or do you need to focus your attention on different people?
- Is your business easy for you to show up in each day, or does just showing up to your meetings, calls, and doing your daily tasks feel hard and heavy?
- Do you love your daily tasks? (i.e. doing Facebook lives, writing blog posts, posting on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter, taking client calls, etc. Assess how you are spending your days and think about whether or not you love the tasks you are doing!)
- Is your business (what you’re doing, how you’re showing up, how you are speaking, and who you are working with) in line with your integrity?
I believe that with action comes clarity… so even while you ask yourself these questions, continue to move forward in your business until you know what is out of alignment.
4. Get realigned.
Give yourself time to really pinpoint what is “off” in your business. But once you know… it will probably hit you like a ton of bricks.
Embrace it! Don’t shy away from what may seem like a really hard shift or change in your business.
It’s easy to think about everything that you’ve built and feel like you’re throwing it all out the window to make a shift… but trust me, being in alignment with your integrity, doing what you are passionate about, and working to do what you were created to do is totally worth it!
This is the only step where I recommend that you STOP moving forward.
Once you know what is out of alignment and “off” in your business, then I want you to allow yourself to really sit and think in this for a while.
Honestly, I would totally recommend that you take a day off at this point. You’ve done some tough mindset work and you deserve it. Plus, it’s WAY easier to move forward once you’ve cleared your brain a bit.
So, first, take a day off. Second, begin to journal and get it all out of your head.
This is the point where you will begin to think about what changes need to happen in your business in order for you to get back on track.
5. Begin to walk in your new direction.
Once you have outlined what changes need to happen in your business, then I want you to start implementing these changes! Allow yourself to start with what you know and not get overwhelmed with all the things that may need to happen in your business.
For me, I changed my ideal client, shifted my visual identity, AND changed what my signature program looked like… and let me tell you THERE WERE A TON OF THINGS THAT NEEDED TO CHANGE IN MY BUSINESS.
But here’s the thing. I made a list of all the changes I could think of that needed to happen. I figured out which ones were the highest priority. And then I began making these changes one by one.
Give yourself the freedom to make these changes over time and remember that done is better than perfect.
Begin moving forward in this new direction and let action bring even more clarity!
What do you think? Hopefully that was helpful for you and you will be able to move forward with more clarity in your business!
Always cheering you on,
