New Year, New Business

by Dr. Vesna Grubacevic

Have you been wanting to start a new business or to grow your existing business with new products/services or enter into new markets?  Are you feeling overwhelmed by all the options before you?  Do you feel too scared to act for fear of failure/success/making the wrong decision?  Is it time for a change in attitude and strategy?

With almost one quarter of the calendar year almost over, now is the time to ensure you have the right strategies in place to achieve your business goals.  You may have already started to take action on your business goals, or perhaps stalled at some obstacles and didn’t know how to break through them.  Or perhaps you talked about doing things differently this year, yet this is not being reflected in your current behaviour.

Do you really want it?

Firstly, decide what you really want and what you are prepared to do to make it happen.  Are you determined or half-hearted about your new/existing business?  Do you want success, yet do nothing to achieve it?  Remember actions speak louder than words.  If you are not prepared to do whatever it takes to start or grow your business, then you will limit your success.  Doing whatever it takes means acting out of integrity and ethics, while stopping the excuses that get in the way of you taking action.

Here is a quick exercise to assist you.  On a piece of paper, draw a line down the middle.  On one side write down everything you are prepared to do to start/grow your business, and on the other side write down everything that you are NOT prepared to do.  Keep writing down your thoughts until you run out, then take a break, come back to the list and add additional thoughts.  Once you are complete, read the two lists and notice which one is longer and more compelling.

On which side do you have stronger items listed?  This may help explain why you are not taking enough action.  For example, if you are not prepared to get up half an hour earlier to secure a new quality customer who really needs your help, how committed are you to your business?  Or if you want to attract new customers, yet you keep making excuses for why you can’t attend networking events to meet new people, are you really committed to your business and to yourself?

New Attitude

Did you leave the old attitude behind or do you continue to doubt yourself, your ability, have fears, etc?  Having an ongoing attitude of success is the key to ongoing business success.  What do you need to do to create a new attitude for success?  Which fears and self doubts are limiting you in starting or growing your business?  What is keeping you stuck in your comfort zone – fear of rejection, fear of success, fear of failure, fear of being judged, not being good enough, etc.  Until these are addressed they will continue to limit you both as a person and as a business owner.  We have discussed how specific beliefs and fears can limit your success in past issues of our Business Transformations newsletters.

New Opportunities

Are you open to new opportunities and embracing the changing marketplace or do you stay in your comfort zone for fear of failure/success?  With an open attitude, you can attract more opportunities and more of the right opportunities.  It is important to be clear about exactly which opportunities you wish to attract.  For example, to achieve your business goals, are you seeking:

• New customers
• New business partner
• New team, employees
• New referrers, affiliates, joint ventures
• New suppliers
• New markets – local, interstate, international
• New products/services
• Nurturing existing customers
• Nurturing your existing employees/team
• Nurturing existing business relationships
• A combination of the above, and which combination
• etc

Then you need to be really specific as to the opportunities you are seeking.  For example, are you seeking a specific target market of customers of a certain age, demographic, interest group, etc?  How many of these new customers would you like and by when?  Or if you are seeking to nurture your existing team, what does that mean?  How specifically would you like to achieve that?  Which specific strategies will be the best result producing ones to maximise your return on time, effort and money to achieve your outcome?

Finally, action your selected strategies and enjoy the success.  Imagine how quickly you could be taking action on your business once you are prepared to do whatever it takes to succeed in your business, you develop an attitude of success and attract the opportunities you desire with the right strategies.

How we empower you to successfully start your own business, grow your business, attract more customers, lead and influence others successfully, and start/grow your business in helping others.

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