Hey there, my fabulous listener, welcome to episode 78 of the Small Business Made Simple Podcast.
Thank you for lending me your ears today โ I know you have lots of choices, so I sincerely appreciate me being one of them!
If youโre a first time listener, super super welcome, I am so pleased to have you here.ย I am your host Jenn Donovan, and, itโs my job, via this podcast, social media and everywhere else actually, to make your business life simpler.ย
Business can be lonely and hard and complicated and itโs hardly ever easy, but it should be simple or at least simpler, so thatโs my commitment you to on the Small Business Made Simple podcast!
One way I help to make your life simpler is by having a group of like-minded business owners all in one stop.ย To ask questions, get answers and enjoy the journey of business! If you havenโt joined the Like Minded Business Owners Facebook Group, then hope over there after this episode and join!ย Simply search Like Minded Business Owners in Facebook or come to the show notes for the like.ย Show notes are at www.socialmediaandmarketing.com.au/78
www.facebook.com/groups/LikeMindedBusinessOwners
Well we are officially, at the time of this recording, in week 26 of 2020 and what a wild ride itโs been!
Usually on a mid-year check in I would be asking you to ponder questions about the goals you set for yourself in 2020.ย Questions such as
- Did I achieve this goal?
- Am I working towards this goal still?
- Is this goal still important?
ย The first question to many is obsolete โ just not going to happen.
Fires, floods, drought, Covid19 โ the powers against that goal were not only too strong, but also completely out of our hands.
Question 3 however is still relevant.
The goals you did set, despite all thatโs been happening or not happening โ depending on your industry โ is it still an important goal?
If yes, thatโs fabulous โ what are you doing to work towards it, if NO, then thatโs ok โ but itโs time to set new goals.
Before you set new goals, or even if youโre still on the path you want to be, despite the crappy year so far in events on canโt control, consider these questions:
In the first 6 months of 2020,
- What did you absolutely love creating and working on?
- What did you hate working on?
- What was tough? What felt difficult?
- What was your biggest money maker?
- What was your least money maker?
- What do you never ever want to do again?
When I do planning at the beginning of the year with my clients, and we are reflecting on the year that was, itโs that last question โ what do you never ever want to do again โ thatโs trips them up.
Maybe itโs nothing.
Maybe itโs something that you just have to do because itโs part of your marketing strategy or business model โ BUT perhaps it could be outsourced?ย Maybe it has to be done โ but maybe you donโt have to do it.
Itโs without doubt that the first half of 2020 has made us all sit back and reflect on our businesses โ the good, the awesome, the bad and the darn right if I have to do that, Iโm simply going to quit.
But thereโs so much to learn from it all.
I truly hope that you take the time to reflect and make changes from what youโve experienced in the first half of this year.
I have clients, like Deb, whoโs enjoyed slowing down.ย Her and her hubby have made a pack to slow down and to nudge each other if things start to go beyond their new expectations when it comes to work.
Other clients have not only survived but thrived in different areas.ย My retail client, Shell, has had to really look at the brands she carries โ not only for margins but which ones have supported her through all this and which ones have been a-holes and letโs face it โ we never forget those ones. ย Karma โ thatโs all Iโll say.
Other clients have really started to realise that a great marketing strategy really does work!ย Strange hey!
But yes, if you put in the effort, it will come back to you 10 fold.ย If you step up โ it is noticed.
And lastly, but certainly not all, the power of the email list has been a huge learning for some of my clients.ย With people leaving social media at the beginning of Covid (before we were all SO bored), communicating with their prospects became harder โ it became more difficult to talk to those who needed to hear from them โ if only they had an email list โฆ..
What was your lesson?
I spoke about mine, in episode 71 โ Your Network is Your Net worth.
My business wouldnโt have been as profitable, it would have survived, just not as well, without my network.
I am going to be more willing, more than I already am, to invest in building my network.
Other lessons I have learnt from the first 26 weeks of the year.
Well, thereโs certainly going to be a lot of changes in my business coming into the second half of the year.ย Iโm tightening my goals, my funnels, my offerings โ Iโll admit I have spend 12 weeks in taking work and creating work that perhaps hasnโt been in direct line with my โend in mindโ โ so itโs time to get back on the path.
If youโre setting new goals for the second half of 2020 โ despite the unknown, the most important things to remember are:
- Knowing why you want to achieve that goal
- Whatโs the financial benefit for the goal?
- Whatโs itโs going to take to reach that goal, and
- Whatโs itโs going to mean to you and your business if you achieve it.
I cannot encourage you enough to take some mid-year time to reset your goals to help you refocus on whatโs important and what you want to achieve by the end of 2020.
And regardless of whether thatโs you or not, I have these pieces of advice for::
- Make marketing a priority in your business โ stop making it a โif Iโve got timeโ priority and make it a real priority every day.
- Take some time to look at your finances at the end of the financial year โ yep bat crap scary but look at them. Know whatโs earnt your money, what hasnโt and put more effort and energy, in the last half of 2020, into your money-making activities;
- Give your workplace a โMaree Kondoโ clean up. Clean and clear your workplace, invites a clean and clear mind to work with.ย Spend an hour or two reorganising your workplace, giving it a clean and throwing out those thousand sticky notes that have all your important things on them (get yourself a notebook)!ย Maybe cleaning your workspace also including cleaning out your inbox and computer files.ย Letโs give ourselves maximum chance to start again clear and clean!
- Put your goals where you can see them โ every day you can see where you need to go. Consider doing a vision board.
- Learn to delegate. Did you squirm just then or did your inner core shake?ย ย ย Delegation can be a learned skill so if you donโt do it or arenโt good at it โ take small steps to be a great delegator.ย Itโll give you more time to focus on the goals youโve now got in front of you.
- If you are finding it hard to keep yourself accountable โ find an โunreasonable friendโ or an accountability buddy. If you donโt know where to start, head into my Facebook Group โ Like Minded Business Owners and ask if anyone would like to pair up in there!ย I have no double youโll get a taker or two.ย Accountability is one of the fundamentals missing from so many small business owners and it can make a massive difference to your output and input every day!
If youโre completely stuck and you feel like your challenges are too much at this point, then Iโd love to invite you for a discovery call with me so that I can see how I might be able to help you.
Thereโs a link in the show notes for make an appointment with me or go to https://calendly.com/jenn-smm/discovery
We can have a chat about your goals, your struggles and roadblocks and whatโs holding you back and how I can help.
But, thatโs all for episode 78, Iโll be back next Thursday with another great episode to help you simplify your business in 2020.ย
If youโre enjoying this podcast, which if you have listened to here โ you hopefully are, donโt forget to subscribe, share this episode with another superstar business owner whoโs doing the daily grind and would appreciate someone making their business simpler, and leave a rating or review to show how much you are loving this free weekly content.
Massive love coming your way if you do!
See you next week on the podcast for episode 79.ย But in the meantime, letโs hang out on social and get social on social โ youโll find me on Instagram, Facebook and my fav LinkedIn.
But whatever you do,
โฆโฆ..remember small business peeps, as my opening song says, thereโs no point in dreaming small!
ย
Thanks Jenn. I found this episode very motivating and also gave me permission not to do everything and try and outsource stuff I hate doing.I am new to all this and feeling very overwhelmed.