Wednesday, November 10, 2021 – 19 minutes
Raise your hand if you’ve felt it — slow business growth; and you wanna know what to do about it!
We’ve all seen those posts about getting a gazillion followers in six weeks, or hitting six figures in the first year. And it’s hard not to get caught up in your own head trash with that stuff.
You are ALWAYS going to be able to find someone who’s accomplished what you want — and not only have they done it, but they’ve done it quicker, or they’re younger, or they just look so dang good doing it.
What we learn in this episode:
The businesses that are truly successful have good systems, absolute clarity, and say “no” to things that don’t serve their finite purpose.
Seanwes Podcast
Note: This transcript of the episode was machine generated and has not been edited for correctness. It’s provided for your convenience when searching. Please excuse any errors.
It’s been a few years, but it honestly feels like about… I don’t know, YESTERDAY that I was posting into the void on Instagram. Putting hours into a single post, only to get two likes (one of them was my best friend and the other one was a hot dog account) and needless to say, nothing in my piggy bank to show for it.
It’s okay, for a little while, right?
Kind of better that nobody’s watching, really. That way you can get your feet wet. Practice.
But then… it turns into a really big bummer.
Y’now
You dread showing up in the morning. You start thinking of throwing in the towel, maybe. You definitely start to second guess what you’re doing. Are you even qualified?
AHEM.
Nope, you’re not.
That’s right! You’re not.
But here’s the good news: NOBODY ELSE IS EITHER.
NOBODY IS QUALIFIED TO RUN A BUSINESS.
We’ve been showing up consistently for a couple of years and I’m happy to report that it was worth the hassle. We have a business now. Sometimes it’s bumpy and a lot of times it’s chaotic and messy but all in all it’s pretty dang awesome.
One of the (many) beautiful things about what’s happening here behind the scenes every day is that we get a front row seat to all varieties and levels of entrepreneurship — we have convos with everyone from baby businesses to six, seven figure business owners every day. We talk to everyone from nutritionists to travel agents to photographers to pole dance studio owners and everything in between. (It’s amazing. I love it so much.)
Here’s what they all have in common:
They’re just showing up, and doing the dang thing. Again and again and again. NOBODY has it all figured out. EVERYBODY has questions. And they’ve all been on a heck of a journey to get to where they are today. They’ve made embarrassing mistakes. Things are muddly in the middle. They’re always figuring out something new.
We’ve all seen those posts about getting one million followers in six weeks, or hitting six figures in the first year. And it’s hard not to get caught up in your own head trash with that stuff!
There are a bunch of problems with that type of content:
The reason you’re seeing so much of that content is because it’s so dang catchy. Who’s not going to click on that?! Of course you are!
You are ALWAYS going to be able to find someone who has accomplished what you want… and not only have they done it, but they’ve done it quicker, or they’re younger, or they just look so dang slick (in a good way)
That’s true. And then you feel like you’re behind.
Think about this though: you’re ALSO going to be able to find someone who’s older, or who’s taking longer, or who’s straight up not interested in blowing everything up. And that’s okay! Right? I promise you’re not at the very back of the pack, even though it can feel like you are.
Before I let you go, I want you to ask yourself two more questions. Ready?
I’m guessing most of you are in the first and second phases.
I’m guessing you’re also getting blasted with information about “passive income” and “scaling your business.” For my first couple of years in business, I listened to podcasts obsessively.
Here’s my advice on that: learn only what you need to learn right now. Stick to a couple of mentors that really align with your style and values. There’s always going to be more information out there. You’ll find it when you need it. And spend less time learning, and more time DOING.
YOU GOTTA DO THE FIRST STUFF FIRST. You can’t JUMP to the top of a ladder.
Remember earlier I told you to define what success looks like to you? Focus on THAT.
If you book out clients a little further in advance you have time to go pee before skulking to your desk at 4am… and it’s awesome.
If you show up consistently and well in your marketing, you can get a steady flow of clients and pay yourself… and it’s awesome.
What do you need your business to be, today?
Move at 1x speed instead of 5x speed. For those of you who are Enneagram 3’s, I just heard you cringe right through my super cool headphones. I get it. I do.
Right! The third phase!
Building a business is a marathon, not a sprint. Do you want this thing to last? If you’re serious about it, you’ll take your time. Slow growth = strong roots. Take a deep breath. And take your time. It’s okay.
There you have it, folks!
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