You know what happens a lot at this time of the year?
Too many small business owners tell us:
- They don’t know how much money they made the just-ended year
- They know how much they made…and it wasn’t what they wanted
Neither warms my heart.
I have my fingers crossed neither happened to you (though, you know what, the first is really fixable…look at your P&L statement. Oh, don’t have one? Ask your accountant because you’re going to have to do your taxes at some point).
But it they did happen to you…if you don’t know how much you grossed in 2016 (maybe you’re afraid to find out?) or you didn’t make as much as you wanted, let’s pull back the curtain to figure out why so it doesn’t happen again in 2017.
Here’s the deal…I know in my gut you are talented. You’re a great CPA, dentist, restaurant owner, consultant, senior care manager, graphic designer, copywriter or whatever your special talent is.
You’re already capable of doing great things in this world. So if you didn’t “crush it” last year as you had planned, maybe it’s not your fault. At least not entirely.
Most of us fail not because our intentions are flawed.
We fail because our process is flawed.
Your process may be flawed because your customers changed…and you didn’t see it coming. Maybe you’ve lost touch with what motivates your customers…they don’t stay the same, you know.
Or perhaps your process is flawed because your sequence is out of alignment with how your customers think and act…and doing things out of sequence feels worse than driving a car seriously out of alignment.
Maybe your process is flawed because you believe customers will just come to you, return your calls and revisit your website when they say they will. Repeat after me “THEY WON’T.” Because even with the best of intentions they get sidetracked with other things (and who’s supposed to be the leader again??? Right. You).
Perhaps your process is flawed because you think you don’t have the money to buy systems and software. Well, most processes don’t cost a dime. They simply require some thoughtful thinking and documenting.
But happy day!
All of this can change.
Your process can change…and it can start right now.
Are you willing to reflect for a simple 10 minutes on your 2016 business?
Great. Here’s my question for you to ponder:
What is your biggest obstacle in 2017?
The one thing you believe stands between you and the money you want from your business.
Share your answer in the comments section.
We’ll discuss the most dominant issues in the weeks to come so you can fix things once and for all.
Ten minutes.
Go.