A plan to take control of your business in the next 6 months
If life really comes down to a key few moments, then for me August of 2005 was one of them.
I was four years into running my business, Ian’s Pizza, and I was mega burnt out. The business was successful, but I couldn’t enjoy any of it.
I was tired, disillusioned and desperate for a new reality. I had reached a point where I needed to make a choice:
- Sell my business and go do something else
or….
- Retool my business so it would support my life instead of consuming it.
I’m writing these words today because I chose the latter. And because I worked with a business coach who helped me create a playbook to immediately start improving my situation.
I couldn’t have figured it out on my own, and I highly suggest you don’t try to either.
If your business isn’t helping you achieve the life you want, here’s how to start turning things around today.
Day 1: Figure out the root of the problem
When things aren’t going well it’s easy to point your finger at someone else and spread blame.
I sure did.
The first thing my coach did was to help me take responsibility for the situation I was in.
The painful truth was that my dysfunctional management of the business was the cause of my struggles.
I had become a control freak who also had a hard time holding people accountable and didn’t trust others to work as well as I could. Our operational systems boiled down to “ask Ian” which meant I worked all of the time. Days off were seldom and vacation time only happened if we temporarily shut down.
This was no way to run a business, but I didn’t know how to do it differently.
Fortunately, my coach did and she knew how to get me there.
I write all of this because if you can’t clearly and honestly identify the root of your problems, you won’t be able to implement a durable solution. I could have blamed my staff and even fired some of them.
That might have felt good in the short run but it wouldn’t have changed my relationship with my business.
No one wakes up in the morning and dreams of starting a business to end up overworked, and super stressed out. For many years this was all I knew.
In order to get the change I wanted, I had to change.
Some of you may read this and roll your eyes. Of course you know what your problem is! And it’s definitely not you, right?
My message to you is this:
Approach this process with an open mind and some humility.
Afterall, if you’re reading these words it’s probably because you don’t have it all figured out.
Day 10: Come up with a plan and start putting it into action.
Once you’ve identified the problem, it’s important to move quickly to create a game plan and make changes. Even small steps in the right direction can make a difference.
For me, there was urgency to make changes quickly, because I was so physically and mentally spent.
We created new supervisor positions and interviewed applicants right away. Within weeks supervisors were running busy shifts that were previously my responsibility.
This had an immediate impact on my schedule, reducing my hours from 70 to 50.
These changes also rocked the culture of our business. Most of our people understood and stepped up to the challenge. Others struggled with it, including me. On a weekly basis I had to fight the inclination to step in and take over when I felt someone wasn’t doing a good job.
To get the business to work for me, I had to learn how to get out of the way.
Let me pause here to recognize that having some financial resources makes a huge difference in getting your business to work for you. Despite my struggles, my business was a financial success. In other words, I had money to throw at the problem.
If you’re working all of the time and your business is sinking despite numerous attempts to turn things around, this post won’t help you.
Just last week I spoke with a friend whose situation is exactly what I’ve described above. He needs to shut down his business as soon as possible. Fortunately, his situation isn’t dire. He owns the property his business occupies and he also owns another business which is successful. He’s not rich, but he has enough resources to create some options.
Without knowing the specifics of your situation it’s hard for me to give tailored advice. Generally speaking though, a game plan at this stage could mean:
- Devise a new marketing campaign
- Take on a partner or buying out a partner
- Create a new management or sales person position to take things off of your plate
- Let go of staff that create unnecessary drama or stress
- Eliminate a problematic service or product line
- Create a new product or service that compliments your existing business
- Performing a deep dive financial analysis to eliminate waste
There are many other things you could do that I haven’t listed here. This is the time to be creative and resourceful. If you’ve achieved some successes in your business, my guess is that you have these qualities within you. Now is the time to tap into them.
Day 180: Creating a vision of success
By March of 2006 the “bleeding had stopped” and I was in a better place physically and mentally. Things were still plenty challenging but for the first time in a while I sensed the possibility of creating the kind of business that could enhance my life.
I began a series of conversations with our leadership team and talked about their own motivations and dreams.
I strongly believed I could achieve success in my journey if I could create a win/win situation.
Slowly a framework came together that incentivized our team to grow our business and created space for me to take a step back. That framework is still in place today and it’s what has allowed me to have the freedom I dreamed of all those years ago.
Your current circumstances may be very different from what mine were, but the methodology for achieving your goals is the same.
- Get help! Don’t try to take this on by yourself.
- Be clear on why your business isn’t working for you and what you want out of your business.
- Create a plan designed to have an immediate impact.
- Work on a longer term vision that describes lasting, positive change.
Need further help?
Let’s start a conversation and figure out how to get you to a better place.