The Reason Your Business Might Be Growing Slower than You’d Like
I remember my first intensive session with a coach over 15 years ago. I had paid about $25,000 for the coaching and I walked in. Terrified.
I had my notes and numbers ready.
I had flown in the day before to make sure I was rested and on time.
I sat down at her table in her home and prepared to listen, hoping that I had not made a mistake.
And then something magical started to happen.
I heard myself saying things like “Well, I’ve thought about offering this program, but I haven’t yet. I wasn’t sure what to charge.” And “I really wanted to go to this event, but I just wasn’t sure if it was right for me.”
And then I heard her saying,
“Charge $5,000 and here’s why.”
“Launch the program in September and put 10 people in it so you’ll have enough people for your next event.”
“Go to this event in June because I know the host and I think you’ll learn a lot and meet great people.”
And suddenly I felt clear, excited, downright passionate.
Because — I was making decisions. Decisions that were validated by an expert. I even started to understand the strategy behind the decisions. And I had someone to lean on who knew more than I did. Someone who had done this stuff before!
Up until that moment, I had been circling in so much indecision, and I didn’t even realize it.
That’s where I see so many entrepreneurs stuck — in the decision process.
My guess is that you can relate.
If you are struggling to make decisions, it’s probably for a couple of reasons.
- You don’t know enough to make the decision — you need to talk to someone with more expertise on that topic.
- You don’t have the strategy behind the decision — what’s the difference between charging $497 and $997? Why should you launch something in June versus September? What makes a good title? If you don’t know the rationale behind the decisions, then how do you make choices?
- You’ve been burned in the past by your actions. A launch that flopped. A coach you hired that wasn’t your speed. So you don’t quite trust yourself making decisions now, especially when it comes to investing time or energy into your business.
While all these reasons are valid, the cost of indecision is slow progress. Inching forward instead of running.
It’s also exhausting, because indecision grates at your mind like nails on a chalkboard.
I notice far too many entrepreneurs mixing up decisions with skillsets and actions. Therefore they don’t understand why their progress is slower than they would like. Choosing what your program includes and how to price it is a decision. Learning to sell and market that program is an action and a skillset.
I see so many entrepreneurs spending months making decisions, and then getting super upset when their first talk (speaking is a skillset) doesn’t go well. Then they decide, “I’m not a good speaker.” When in reality it takes lots of talks to become an awesome speaker (skillset, skillset, skillset).
The best use of your time and energy is to give yourself the time to learn skillsets — while making fast decisions.
Besides, “wrong” decisions will fix themselves if you take enough actions (and by the way I don’t believe in “wrong” decisions — only learning moments that pave the way for the next decision).
The best thing I’ve ever done for my business was work with a smart business coach to help me make decisions. Because once the decisions are made the actions are easy. I’m seeing an epidemic of business owners stuck around making decisions, especially during the pandemic.
But even with the pandemic and future uncertainty, we can still make good decisions. We may just need to change them next week 🙂
This week, I invite you to take a moment and ask yourself — am I making decisions? Or am I postponing my actions because I’m not entirely sure what to do?
Then get support to make your decisions. I created my virtual Revenue Breakthrough Intensive Program for this very reason. It’s where I help entrepreneurs one on one to make decisions and then give them the tools to build their skillsets over time. To find out more about our upcoming virtual Revenue Breakthrough Intensives, click here (and use the code: save500 for $500 off — it’s my way of saying thank you for reading this article).
Photo: flickr, Yasmeen
