How To Revive When Your Home Business Hits A Slump
It haunts your sleep, and eats at you during your waking hours. You can’t deny it. Your business isn’t growing. There are a number of reasons why it may have happened.
Maybe it’s because you’ve lost your passion.
Maybe you’re overwhelmed.
Maybe you just don’t have enough time.
Maybe you’re disorganized.
Maybe your staff is inefficient (or maybe you are)
Maybe you don’t know how to grow your business to the next level (or maybe you don’t want to do what it takes)
Regardless of the reason why your business isn’t growing, it’s time to stop making excuses and do something about it. You worked REALLY hard to get to this point. You spent time, money, and a lot of energy to build your business. Certainly you’re not going to let it fritter away.
Here’s how to stop making excuses for why your business isn’t growing:
Step 1. Figure out why it isn’t growing. Perhaps your product line is stagnant. Perhaps you’re only reaching 10% of your eligible prospects. Perhaps your sales page isn’t converting or your advertising campaign isn’t reaching the right people. The first step to figuring out how to stop making excuses is to honestly examine why it isn’t growing. The reason may reside completely in you – perhaps business got too big too fast and you don’t have time to catch up let alone build your business. This leads us to the next step.
Step 2. Decide if you want your business to grow and if so, by how much? In short, if you do want your business to grow then set goals. If you’re making $50,000 in sales then maybe you want to set a goal of $75,000 in sales. If you have a customer base of 100 regular customers maybe you want to double it. Set reasonable and attainable goals.
Step 3. Analyze what is working to help you attain your goals and what isn’t working. For example, if you want to attain $75,000 in sales but you’re spending 50% of your time on administrative duties then your time isn’t being well spent. Remember the 80/20 rule – that means you need to spend 80% of your time on the things that bring you money. Administrative duties are necessary, but they don’t bring in money. Prospecting for new customers and making sales, that makes money. Make sure you are spending about 80% of your time on income producing activities.
Step 4. Make a plan to eliminate what isn’t working. Using the example in step 3 if you’re spending 50% of your time on administrative tasks then outsourcing some or all of those tasks will free up a significant amount of time. Are you easily distracted by your kids? Try hiring a babysitter for a few hours a week so you can concentrate more effectively. The time you free up could be just the time you need to reach your new goals.
Step 5. This is the best part. Create a reward for attaining your goals. Part of the motivation to attain a goal, beyond self fulfillment and feeling very proud, is giving yourself a little pat on the back. Some may pat themselves on the back with a two week vacation to Hawaii, others prefer a new pair of shoes or a week off to go camping with their children. Whatever the reward, including it in your plan may be the extra motivation you need to get beyond excuses and into action.
Entrepreneurs tend to be goal oriented, action oriented people. However sometimes life gets a bit out of control and instead of action, excuses fill the void. To regain your entrepreneur spirit, eliminate the roadblocks and hurdles and set new goals. It’s the best way to stop making excuses about why your business isn’t growing and remember why you got into business in the first place.