To ensure our long-term success, we really need to be making time to work on the strategic elements of our business. Whilst this may seem like an impossibility right now, what with the client work piling up, sick children and admin stuff to get through, it will be worth infinitely more to you in the long run if you make the time to step into your CEO shoes.
So, once you have a strategy in place, how do you know how long to stick with it? Should you continue with a strategy that doesn’t seem to be working? There are two reasons you should consider changing or tweaking your strategy:
- Your results are stagnating or decreasing. We’re always trying to improve, grow and move forward in our business so if you’re not getting the results that you set out to achieve then it’s time to revisit what you’re doing.
- You’re following an exact formula that a coach or expert uses but it doesn’t feel right. There’s a reason why formulas don’t always work. And that’s because they aren’t built with you and your ideal client in mind. It may be time to look at what pieces you can use of their strategy, and what pieces you need to discard.
If either of these two scenarios sound familiar and you’re ready to try a new strategy, then sit tight! There are two more things that I want you to check in with first before you make any drastic strategic changes. I want you to investigate:
- Are you bored? I see so many business owners falling into this trap. They feel as though they constantly want to change, even when things are going well, because they are bored with doing the same things over and over. They say that business owners get sick of their brand just as their ideal clients are finally starting to recognise and love it! So, my word of warning here is don’t change a good thing just because you’re bored.
- You feel as though something should change, but you can’t put your finger on exactly what it is. This will require some time to investigate. Consider journaling or spending some quiet time being very specific as to exactly what aspects of your strategy don’t sit well with you.
Once you’ve answered these questions and feel as though it’s time to do something different with your strategy, here are my tips on making it happen.
What’s working well?
Identify the parts of your strategy that you enjoy, that feels good and is helping you move towards your goals. Sometimes this may also be dependent on what your audience is saying. What feedback are you getting in your social media comments? What are your clients saying they love about working with you?
Pinpointing these aspects of your strategy will help you do more of what’s working well.
Gather feedback
The more you can understand what’s happening in the minds of your ideal client, the better equipped you’ll be for implementing strategies that will help grow your business. Whilst a formal survey or interviews with past clients would be great, seeking feedback can be as simple as asking in your Instagram Stories, or polls on your Facebook Page or asking in Facebook Groups where you know your ideal client hangs out.
Knowing what your audience wants will drive any changes to your strategy.
Modelling
Who are the entrepreneurs that you admire? What makes them stand out from the crowd? If you are drawn to a way that they create their content or market their products or services, why is that, and what can you learn from this? Remember you don’t want to replicate, you want to be inspired.
Review and decide
Making decisions can be difficult, unless you know exactly what your values are. Doing a values exercise makes it so much easier to evaluate all your options and choose the one that feels most in flow with you and your business.
The impact of a strategy that you’ve implemented can take time to produce results, but there comes a time when it’s time to mix things up. Just make sure that you’re changing your strategy for the right reason and researching exactly what aspects will make your life feel more in flow,
If you need help in taking that first step to find your financial flow, then my Start & Scale Simply Package will empower you to create your own pricing strategy, forecast your cash flow and understand the key financial drivers in your business. Find out more here.