I know I am normally all about the marketing in my posts – because, without marketing, no one knows who you are, what you do or how or what they can buy from you!

BUT – today’s post will touch on something slightly different.

I’ll guide you through why ACCOUNTABILITY is the main thing you need, as the business owner, to ensure your business is successful.

If you’ve ever been on a webinar or heard me speak from stage, it’s almost the last thing I tell you/ask you/leave you with.

Accountability was brought to my attention yet again, when a client rang the other day to tell me they had hit their financial goal.

A financial goal they had been quietly working towards for a few years now and this week, they hit that goal.

They rang to celebrate with me and say thank you for my help in getting them there.

I knowledge that all the work was theirs, because my role in this was to help them stay the course.

And it’s helping them stay the course, that they said made all the difference to them getting to this goal, they’d never got to before.

I kept them accountable to:

• the goals they set
• the marketing strategies they have tested and measured
• the things they said they would do, month in, month out, to help them reach their goals (and not just this one, but all of them!)

Small business owners can swan through the day, answerable to no one, doing what they like, making decisions on what they are going to work on today, next week, next month.

And for some, it’s all on their shoulders.

No one holds them accountable.

No one checks in on them to say, “Hey you said you would do an email about the new product you are offering this month, did you do it?”

No one asks them if they reached their goal this month and if not, why not and if so, what worked and what could them improve for an even better result next month.

Accountability is what we ALL need – even coaches need coaches to keep them accountable!

It’s so easy to work in your business and never on it!

And, it’s even easier to do the easy stuff and leave the hard or “out of your comfort zone” stuff, putting up some weak excuse to yourself as to why you haven’t done it yet or aren’t going to do it at all.

But – if you have an accountability buddy, someone who:

• keeps you on the straight and narrow
• keeps you accountable and keeps you focussed on your goals

Well – if you have someone doing that you could achieve a lot more or you could achieve what you want, even quicker!

So, who keeps YOU accountable?

Do you have anyone?

Is it time for you to invest in a program or a coach to keep yourself accountable?

If you are feeling like you just can’t get going, or you can’t keep up the momentum going forward, then this could 100% be the solution!

If you feel like you already get enough advice from employees, family members etc – well that is exactly the reason why you need external help!

The lack of analysis of the goals you are setting and the things that you are doing is the weakness of so many small businesses.

There’s so much strength in being held accountable.

Having someone keep you accountable will push you, challenge you, help you – especially if that person is a few steps ahead of you or where you want to be or has the expertise you need to get to your goals!

I remember my first business mentor.  I joined a mastermind group in Melbourne, and we’d front up once a quarter.

The goals I set in that quarterly meeting, I 100% achieved.  There was NO way I was ever going to enter that room and declare I hadn’t done what I said I would.

I might have achieved some of them in the week before going to Melbourne, but by heck, I wasn’t going to see that look of disappointment of my not achieving in my mentor’s eyes!

Being held accountable in that room, helping me grow the massively successful business I did – that’s why when we sold the business, the deal was done in three days I guess!

Yes, all the hard work was mine, but the accountability pushed me.

So, again, I’ll ask:

Who keeps you accountable?

I have both a coach and business friends that do that for me very well.

They call me on my “bright shiny object chasing” expeditions that I go on, they call me on my weak excuses if I’m trying to use them, and they challenge me to think differently sometimes, in fact, in the exact times I need them too. (Thanks Jules and Michelle!)

So, to continue the success you are achieving right now (and remember success is subjective – everyone has a different idea of what success looks like) to keep achieving it you can do the following:

• Create space to be held accountable
• Getting yourself a mentor or business coach

Doing these things can offer you an eye-opening, incredibly helpful, cost effective alternative to being alone at the top as the business owner!

I know, personally, that I wouldn’t have achieved everything I have without people holding me to account and I know I won’t reach my goals for the future and enjoy more success without them challenging, pushing me and keeping me accountable in the future.

How can I help you?

Well, you can book in for a Discovery call with me and I can see how I might be able to help you achieve your goals.

If you’d like to book a call – get in touch – send me a message on any of the social platforms or book a call at http://bit.ly/Discoverwithjenn

There is also my Like Minded Business Owners Facebook group which is an awesome group of small business owners who have a wealth of knowledge to share – please join if you aren’t already a member! Every Monday we have a post for our community comment goals for the week and is a great way to people accountable! Or you can DM me on Instagram or shoot me an email jenn@jenndonovan.com.au

I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Yorta Yorta People, on which I conduct my business today and pay my respects to their Elders past and present. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples reading this blog post today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR!

Jenn Donovan is a marketing strategist and social media extraordinaire, coach and mentor to savvy business owners. Owner and Founder of Social Media & Marketing Australia.

With a passion for making business simple, because it’s isn’t easy but it should be simple or at least simpler, she’s built a reputation for helping other small business owners simplify their marketing and businesses so they can reach their goals, be more profitable and live the dream (finding the freedom they set out to achieve when they started … the illusive small business owner freedom dream …!)

Jenn believes in giving before asking and that’s why she’s the host of the popular Small Business Made Simple Podcast.