Is your business thriving or just surviving? 

That question can really get some emotions going.  If the answer comes to you immediately that it’s thriving, that can tell a lot of things about you AND your business.

  1. That you are committed to making it work;
  2. You wake up in the morning and are enthusiastic about going to “work”;
  3. You believe in yourself and your “product;”
  4. The glass is half full vs. half empty;
  5. Although you still worry about your business, you work through your issues;
  6. Your customers know that you love your work and are committed to helping them;
  7. That you are always looking for ways to make your business better and are open to advice.

 

Now, let’s talk about the other side of that….. are you just surviving?  You’ve got to ask yourself a lot of other questions if you answer yes to ‘you are just surviving’.  And this also tells a lot about your business.

  1. You wake up every day dreading going to work;
  2. You feel you have no other options, but are constantly wishing your situation would change;
  3. All you think about is how to get out of what you’re doing;
  4. Your customers are secondary to your concerns, worries and thoughts;
  5. When you talk about your business, there’s not very many positives you can think of and you’re happy to tell everyone about the negatives (ie, business isn’t good, if only I could….., what a terrible year I’ve had, etc.);
  6. You keep on repeating the same pattern everyday and getting the same results;
  7. You think you are working hard everyday and it’s just not working.  It’s everyone else’s fault. 

 

If the 2nd description fits you, I have to ask you – WHAT DO YOU INTEND TO DO ABOUT IT???   If you are just surviving in your business every day, what good are you doing for yourself, your health, your well-being and ultimately your financial reality?  What happened to your dream – your business?

 

My suggestion is to take a walk down memory lane (and it would help to actually write it down) and re-discover why you went into business in the first place.  If you mentally take your mind back to all the details of those months that led up to you opening your business, all the planning and excitement that went into it, the blood, sweat and tears (happily),  the relationships your developed, all the new things you learned and never did before and all the great things that were happening, it may help.  

 

I still remember, very vividly, the day my husband went away for a month of training before he opening the door to our very own accounting firm.  I remember missing him so much (we had never been apart that long) but I also remember lovingly setting up his
first home office in our little den on the second floor of our small duplex home in Perry Hall.  We bought a used desk, a filing cabinet, painted the room, set up our business phone with a voice message for our business.  Wow!  We were really going into business for ourselves and we had goals and dreams.  It stirs up a lot of emotions about why we did choose self employment over the good old W-2 job.

 

My 2nd piece of advice is - Don’t hold it all inside and think it’s going to change.  Look for a mentor, advisor or trusted friend that you can confide in.  Be prepared before you

talk to them and use the time wisely.  Don’t go to complain.  You ultimately have to make a choice to make your business thrive.  Make your current situation work and get your old enthusiasm back for your business, which requires that you stop doing the same thing that you’re doing now every single day and getting the same results.  Life is too short  Get moving!