Inspired Business Growth:

The last few weeks have been a big growing process - I have built a blogging business that I realized had not only plateaued in growth, but was becoming more of a liability than an asset. I don’t mean that I don’t love blogging, good God, I love it. But I had built it as a solopreneur - and to scale it to the next level, something had to give.

I considered my possibilities - realizing that all of them required some big shifts. Sure, I need to make some big shifts in strategy - but the bigger shifts I needed to make were in my own thinking…

#1 - I had to get my ego out of the way

As a popular author, the feedback and loyalty of readers is a great ego boost - could I put that aside in order to grow? Growing meant sharing the spotlight with others as I considered adding regular authors and writing less. I had to make the choice to let that go in order for the business to grow beyond what I am singly capable of doing.

#2 - I had to let go of the Do-It-Yourself mentality

This was exceptionally difficult at first as a solopreneur of 7 years. Sure, I had hired subcontractors before, but now I am considering not only replacing myself in some areas of the business, but also considering taking on a partner, something I never would have done before.

Part of my business mission is to empower others, but it’s not empowering to anyone to be a control freak. If I am to live up to that mission, that means I will have to ease the reigns and let others do some work, making their own mistakes and finding their own successes.

#3 - I had to be willing to ask for help

So many adults have a hard time with this - as a business coach, I should be able to easily do that which I help my clients to do - but plain and simple, it’s not easy.  Asking for help feels like it reveals our weaknesses. What I’ve found instead is that if kept in perspective, our vulnerabilities can actually be some of our greatest assets.

#4 - I had to be willing to risk. Again.

Over the last month, NO question or option was off limits - including some very risky approaches and changes. They have been scary to face - just as scary as starting a business. Perhaps even more so because now I’m risking my baby - the business I have built with my heart and soul.

Again, we as entrepreneurs should be used to risk by now… but I’m beginning to believe it is something that we will never ‘outgrow’. So we might as well get used to it so we can get on with things…

#5 - I had to grow a thicker skin

When I made some small announcements of future expansion, readers AND friends pushed back a bit. One person felt I was turning into a competitor. Others wanted things to be the same as they always were.

Both were very hard to hear. In the end, I had to remember that I can’t control what other people think of me or my business - I can only move forward with what is the right thing to do.  And as I grow and expand, I am guaranteed that even more people will not agree with me… so I had to take my own advice on rejection and take a deep breath as I moved on.

Although I’m not at the ‘next level’ just yet, already I am approaching everything differently through these realizations - and it’s given me a renewed determination to push this business farther than I have ever pushed a business before.

It’s scary. It’s frustrating. It’s challenging.

But it’s also exhilarating, exciting, and I know for a fact that no matter what happens I will be a better person, woman, and entrepreneur when I’m done.

Over the last few weeks, I have come to the conclusion that my work at home parents blog has somewhat plateaued in regards to growth potential. The blog started as a way for me to share my home business and internet marketing knowledge with other work at home moms - but as the site grew in popularity, I discovered a few (somewhat) startling things:

• That nearly half of my readers were dads
• That brand-building doesn’t necessarily immediately translate into cash flow
• That building more traffic and popularity is a very time-consuming job
• That writing for a living, though intensely satisfying, wasn’t the best business model for my goals

Many years ago, I read Michael Gerber’s The E-Myth Revisited (which, by the way, is a must read for every entrepreneur on the planet). The book explains the dilemma of the solopreneur or a business owner who bills their time hourly - basically, this is a difficult to scale business model that would die if anything ever happened to the entrepreneur.

I’ll admit, I understood the concepts perfectly when I read the book - but implementing the principles in real life proved to be far more difficult than I would have guessed - how do you take a business based on a person and basically ‘franchise’ it?

Difficult indeed.

Recently I have had to ‘revisit’ the E-Myth Revisited (oh, the irony of that statement!). Building a blog on my personality and business experience was an exceptional tool for brand-building - it landed me this gig writing for Entrepreneur.com, opened doors to multiple speaking opportunities, and created exceptional networking opportunities that quite literally landed in my lap.

But if I didn’t write every day, the business would sink. Fast.

So in the last few weeks I have taken a HUGE step back from everything. I can assure you this is no easy feat for any entrepreneur who loves what they do. And although I have some (dare I say it) brilliant ideas for business growth that do not require my own hours of work, I have found that the bigger struggle has been in my own mind.

I’ve been battling limiting beliefs, fears, excuses and judgments on what exactly I would have to do to take my business to the next level of success.

This shouldn’t be all that surprising to a business coach who knows that every client on the planet faces this stuff on a semi-regular basis. But this time it’s me - and it’s been humbling, exciting, and challenging all wrapped up into one perfect entrepreneurial storm.

So how am I making the graceful transition? Tune in next time to find out.

I recently experienced some rather public growing pains in my business - my home business blog outgrew it’s shared hosting plan and the site was up and down (mostly down) for a week. Email communications were interrupted, deadlines were missed, and I needed a very large glass of wine by the end of it all.

Were advertisers and clients upset? Did I lose readers? Did my numbers go down?

In fact, no.

• My advertisers and clients are thrilled that I have this problem.
• My readers offered their expensive technical expertise for free.
• And both traffic and advertising revenue stayed even for the week.

To be honest, I was a little surprised by this myself. But I have set a tone on my site in which I have been very transparent about how I build my business and how I manage and overcome my mistakes. I do this to help other entrepreneurs understand that running a business can get messy sometimes - and rather than getting upset about it and letting it slow you down, we must learn to take it in stride and turn it into an asset.

By setting this tone, my business and site visitors were able to take this technical problem in stride - and it even added to the experience as I shared information with site visitors to help them prevent their own server mishaps in the future.

Why should you care about being transparent with your business mistakes?

You may be thinking that this scenario doesn’t apply to your business - you probably don’t run a blog that is an educational resource for entrepreneurs. But the fact of the matter is that I could have still run this same business and covered up my past mistakes - and then when  public mistake occurred, I could have risked losing credibility.

Web 2.0 isn’t just about social media and user-generated content. Web 2.0 is a paradigm shift in how businesses interact with consumers online.

ConAgra is currently in a bit of a mess due to salmonella being found in Peter Pan Peanut Butter. For a time, consumers visiting their web site for more information simply couldn’t find it. Can you imagine being a frightened parent and finding that the company who put your child at risk isn’t even offering any information on the mistake they made?

Today there is a press relase in the middle of their home page - does it change the mistake? Of course not, but it does begin to break down the wall between the corporate giant and the consumers affected by the mishap.

Consumers are demanding to interact with companies and brands online on their own terms. They have been empowered, and they now both demand and expect to be communicated with as human beings, not as ‘Mid-Atlantic Soccer Moms with a household income of $75K’.

Probably the best analogy is one in a marraige - if you owed an apology to your spouse, what do you think would be the best approach: to ignore the problem and sweep it under the rug, or to offer an appology and work to solve the problem?

It’s an obvious answer in our personal relationships - it must also now be an obvious answer for our customer relationships.

The seeds of business growth aren’t found in the numbers, but in the innovation behind your plans and initiatives. For many entrepreneurs, we have so many good ideas that it is hard to decide which ones to pursue. Yet sometimes, a challenge can hold us back or complacency can plateau our growth.

Kickstarting innovation is easy when you take an innovative approach to business building. Here are 5 fast ways to break your mind out to get a fresh perspective on business development.

1. Ask a Different Question

   The questions that we ask ourselves largely determine the answers we are able to create. When I say, “Why can’t I get more sales?” the answer will be in direct response to what I would be assuming to be true: That I indeed “can’t” get more sales.

   A simple change in wording will allow us to get a better answer, such as - “How can I increase sales and enjoy the process?” Immediately the question creates a better feeling, which then creates a more resourceful mindset to come up with innovative answers.

2. Move Around

   When I get stuck on a business challenge, my body reflects what my mind is focused on. I actually physically freeze up when I am running up against a wall with a problem that has no solution in sight.

   This is the best time to let the body lead the mind. Stretch, get a drink of water, or if you can, get out of the office and exercise or go for a walk. It’s pretty hard to feel stuck when your body feels free. When you move around, your mind wanders - and it usually wanders to great answers and ideas.

3. Do Something you Love

   The monotony of running a business can become very frustrating at times. If it goes on for too long, it’s easy to lose sight of why we started in the first place. As entrepreneurs, we love the variety of running a business - it’s why we do what we do!

   When we get in a rut, it’s critical to get back to our entrepreneurial roots. Take some time to do what you love, whether it be getting out into the field or tweaking that pet project you’ve been wanting to get to. Reconnecting with the passion that we felt in startup mode renews our drive to take the business to the next level.

4. Ask for Help

   I find it surprising just how many entrepreneurs I know that solve business challenges by putting their nose to the grindstone. This is especially true of solopreneurs.

   Although this approach works wonders, it’s not the only way to get things done. By creating a support network with other entrepreneurs, you tap more resources than your company actually has. This can be done by hiring a coach, building a co-coaching relationship with a colleague, or forming a mastermind group focused on business growth.

5. Get Uncomfortable

   When we’re comfortable we aren’t stretching, and we’re not growing. Entrepreneurship is risky. If we’re resting or not challenging ourselves, our business will stagnate along with us. And we all know what’s the opposite of growth.

   I heard a great quote last week, “Leap and grow your wings on the way down”. We took a leap of faith to start our business - sometimes it takes the same act of courage to grow it.