In my five-year quest for clarity about the next iteration of my business, I tried all sorts of strategies and formats and marketing tweaks to build my existing business while seeking my new direction.
I took “Build Your Business” courses.
I worked with a few successful coaches I still admire.
Bottom line...
Nothing.
Worked.
Period.
As I pondered why I was still in this seemingly endless eddy of confusion, I had a huge insight. One I had never seen in the 25 years I'd worked and lived with my transition model, the Seasons of Change.
Throughout the five years I had been trying to find my new idea based on "who-I-had-been" in my business. Every logical permutation I could imagine from that point of view was already a "NO" for me.
The fact that I ran into one dead-end after another, one less-than-stellar idea after another, one “been there, done that” idea after another had been driving this very point home.
My new work was NOT MEANT to be in the realm in which I'd been working, at least not in a form I could perceive in that moment. My work, in that iteration, had literally run its course!
Ironically, I already knew that.
Insight #1: One Pivot Opened Up New Possibilities
I had been feeling called to take my business in a new direction for five years at that point. However, the underlying story that surfaced as I examined my journey was essential for me to see:
I was hanging onto the business I had outgrown because I believed I had to make it successful before I could "graduate" to the next level.
In reality, I needed to do just the opposite. I needed to begin releasing what was no longer working and start seeing "who-I-was-becoming."
Rather than fixing the old, my focus became one of discovering what I was yearning for in my life and my work.
This one pivot opened new windows, doorways and vistas to opportunities I couldn't have imagined from "who-I-had-been."
Questions for You:
- Where are you holding onto "who-you-have-been?"
- What might open up if you shifted from fixing the old to seeing what you yearn for?
Deepening My Quest to Succeed
As I mentioned, I invested in business training and coaching to help me figure out how to grow my business.
- As a student I learned many valuable concepts and strategies.
- As a coachee I gained new insights about myself and new perspectives about what is possible as an entrepreneur.
- As an entrepreneur I was stymied. I wasn’t able to implement what I was learning. Try as I might I could not figure out what I was doing wrong.
As I attempted to move my business forward during those years, I would stop to assess the gaps in my business. When I saw a gap, I would look for a relevant course or coaching program to help me resolve that gap. Over the years I invested in learning marketing strategies, social media outreach, website strategies, launch sequences, sales conversations, leveraging my team, writing books, getting publicity, how to be a radio guest, etc.
When the pieces from one training program or coaching group didn't come together, I dug deeper to identify the next gap. And so it went. One investment after the next, always searching for what I needed to do to succeed with my business.
As I looked back at the courses I'd taken and the coaching I'd received, I had two major realizations.
Insight #2: Order Matters
Although no one really talks about this in the business coaching world, there’s an inherent order of tasks and milestones you must follow to succeed. Although the core of this discovery is true for all business owners, it is especially true for those who are taking their work in a new direction, as I was.
- You can't figure out your marketing niche until you are clear about the core focus of your work.
- You can't work effectively on your website until you know how to articulate your marketing message.
- You can't figure out your pricing until you know your offers.
- You can't create a launch sequence until you know how to reach out to your people.
When I took these tasks out of order, I struggled.
If you are investing in coaching support or training courses that are out of sequence, you’ll have a difficult time implementing what you learn as well.
Insight #3: Clarity First!
My biggest realization was that it was essential for me to have a clear sense of my new work BEFORE I tried to figure out how to market my work in any way.
Seems obvious now that I see it, but at the time, it wasn’t!
I suspect that it might not be all that obvious to you either. It’s so easy to think that this class or that coaching program is JUST what you need to make progress with your business. You want the benefits promised in the offers you are considering: more clients, more income, more reach.
Unfortunately, the unspoken assumption in these offers is that you are coming to the class with a clear sense of what you do!
If you sign up without clarity, as I did, over and over and over again, you’ll struggle to turn your investment into the results you think you are investing in.
When it comes right down to it: Until you have clarity about the core focus of your work, your business model, and your offers, you can't:
- identify your niche
- articulate your marketing message
- set up your social media profiles
- build your website
- create your marketing strategies
- define your sales strategies
- or decide on your growth strategies
Working your way through this list, in order, will provide you with the most grounded, thorough foundation for bringing your new work into the world.