“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change we seek.”
Barack Obama
It’s simple: If you LOVE where you’re heading, KEEP going, if you DON’T, CHANGE it!
When business owners make an SOS call for help and are ready, willing, and able to accept it and execute it, they understand that they cannot do the most important things for their business alone, even if they do not know what that is.
Here’s a quick story about a successful business owner, Rosalyn. Rosalyn started her non-medical home care agency a few years ago with only fifty-two dollars. Through perseverance, determination, and a lot of hard work, she grew her business to $300,000 in gross revenue in year one,$600,000 in year two and was on track to exceed that amount in year three. Although her company was growing fast, she was losing money just as quickly and knew she had to do something before she lost everything she had gained over the years.
Rosalyn was fortunate to be counted in the 80 percent of new businesses that make it past the first year. After surviving three years of going at it alone, taking bad advice from “fake” advisors, and leaving her with no cash and the IRS on her back, the future of her company was now uncertain. Rosalyn recognized that she did not know how to achieve the success that she believed was possible for her company. She knew that she needed help.
Not wanting to pretend that she had it all together, Roslyn decided to get the expertise she needed for her desired success. Her goal was to have a profitable business that would give her the freedom to enjoy her life. Business owners like Roslyn are my dream clients!
What about you? Just pause for a moment and imagine what your life would be if you could transform your business into a more efficiently operating one that will generate bigger success, profit, and freedom.
Below are some lessons I’ve learned from decades as an owner and a business financial strategist. I hope you will read on, gain more insightful knowledge, make wiser decisions, and take more purposeful action.
Stop Accepting Less If You Want More
Have you ever accepted mediocrity to avoid the discomfort or pain of change, even when you believed that changing might give you what you truly want?
I get it; people naturally resist change, especially if what they will give up is “not that bad.” It is easy to focus on the downside of change and miss the real benefits and opportunities you can experience by embracing change and having more of what you desire.
Success is challenging for those who want to play it safe or cannot deal with discomfort. You will need to “man up” or “woman up” and do what is necessary to get whatever results you seek. If you believe you have done everything you know to do and are still not happy with the results, you owe it to yourself to find another way. Maybe someone else’s way is the better way.
Don’t Let Limitations Sabotage Your Success.
More entrepreneurs need to accept their limitations. Many believe they can do everything their business needs or dismiss it as unimportant. When you defer getting help that is crucial to your success, you risk losing everything you’ve invested and earned.
Running your company successfully while handling all the other critical functions, such as finance, sales, and marketing, is nearly impossible. You will only keep yourself in the same place, getting the same results if you believe otherwise.
To grow a successful and profitable company, you must understand your limitations concerning your capacity and abilities; you will know where to focus your attention, what to delegate, and what resources you need. It’s how successful CEOs run their companies and enjoy the rewards. Leading does not mean always doing.
You Don’t Need to Have ALL of the Answers.
The success of your business depends on your ability to do the right things at the right time. Not only must you know what the right things are, but you must also know how to implement and execute them. If you cannot, maybe it’s time to hire the expertise you need and get the results that have been eluding you.
If you find yourself experiencing anxiety at the mere thought of giving up control to someone else, know that you are not alone—most people are. I do not know anyone who chooses discomfort just for the heck of it. However, they do it if they believe it’s temporary and will provide the freedom they seek. It is why we go see the dreaded dentist, not because it’s a happy place to be—that is before they give you the laughing gas—but because we know the pain they will inflict on us is temporary, unlike the nagging toothache that will only get worse.
By no means am I suggesting that you pay for everything! There is nothing wrong with some DIY work to save money, as long as you know what you are doing and can execute it timely and efficiently. If you believe that “time is money”, then wasting time is wasting money or opportunities to get more of it!
The Struggle Doesn’t Have to be Real For You.
The brutal fact is that some people will continue to struggle because they refuse to accept that they need help or believe they cannot afford it. Their hard work and determination will mean nothing unless they recognize that they cannot do it alone.
The reality is that business is a team undertaking, and accepting this will remove the uncertainties that lead to failure and set the stage for your desired success. To make money and be profitable, your company needs resources that include people, systems, and tools to handle the following:
- Leading to execute your vision
- Planning for the results you want
- Promoting to attract the right people
- Selling to get the revenue you need
- Fulfilling to deliver what you promised
- Operations to manage efficiently
- Finances to track & evaluate results
Many of us can claim mastery in a few areas, and if we’re honest, none of us can in all of them. We achieve better results when we DO NOT go at it alone!
You have the power to use what you’ve learned to take charge and transform your business so you can achieve higher levels of success. It involves change! What will you do differently in 2023?
“Envision + Plan + Execute = Results”
Donna McPherson, CPA–
Creator, The Profit & Prosperity Plan ™