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Get Back to Your Passion To Drive Your Business Upward
Thursday, March 18 2010
I had a couple meetings yesterday, with two very different types of businesses. One was a retailer called The Juicy Leaf. Felix, who owns the business creates a lot of the products that he sells, and is getting increasingly busy creating custom products for everyone from hotels to restaurants. Cliff has a company called LOCUS New Media, which is a web design and development firm that is increasingly busy with new projects from some very high profile clients.
So the news of their busy lives that both Cliff and Felix shared is great right? Who wouldn’t want their hands full of opportunities? Well, not everyone. And that’s because those opportunities are causing both of these guys to focus on running a business and being taken away from what they’re passionate about. For Felix, it’s about capitalizing on all of these other opportunities while also trying to run a retail store (and create his products which really are like works of art). For Cliff, it’s about designing amazing web experiences while having to spend more and more time managing the process, projects and people.
Cliff and Felix aren’t alone. In fact, it’s one of the biggest issues small business owners face – how to get back to doing what they started the business for in the first place.
So how do you deal with this?
THE REAL WORLD RETAILING TAKEAWAY
Like sandbags on a hot air balloon, releasing some weight will propel you upward.
There are two ways to get there:
Hire someone to run your business - If your business is doing well, then you hire someone to run you business. It’s as simple as that. Great creative people want to create. Are you one of them? Then don’t put yourself in a position where you’re being relegated to the position of business person. Use your creativity to figure out how to get yourself back to a place where you’re doing what you love to do. And that’s as simple as bringing someone in to take it off your hands, all in one swoop. In essence, you're releasing nearly every sandbag at once and doing so will quickly clear your mind and allow you focus on the things you want AND need to focus on.
Delegate more responsibility to your team - If you can’t afford to hire someone to run the business side of your business, then delegate some of the responsibilities to your team. So few business owners trust their employees. They simply feel they can do it better themselves. And that’s a big mistake. If that’s the case, then you’re just hiring clerks to perform tasks. Humans are thinking beings and need to exercise their brains. So why aren’t you allowing them to learn, to grow, to become an increasingly valued member of your team?
Still not so sure you’re comfortable delegating? Well, then start carving out a list of tasks that you hate doing (psst. They’re the ones that bog you down and rarely seem to get done). Then assign them to your employees – you just need to teach them how to perform the task. Before you know it, you've released sandbag after sandbag, freeing up some of your headroom to refocus your mind.
Whether you decide to hire someone to run your business or delegate more of the work [you’re hoarding] to your employees, either way you’ll find yourself freed up to get back to the things you’re most passionate about. And that was the whole reason you went into business in the first place, wasn’t it? After all, we all want to be one of those rare people who wake up excited to go to work.
As for Cliff, he’s a really smart guy and is at the point where he knows he needs some help. And Felix, he's a pretty intuitive guy and he’s already delegated responsibilities to employees and is increasingly giving more away.
No doubt both have started soaring skyward as a result.
How are you rediscovering the passion in your business?
For more great retail tips, trends and news, follow me on Twitter.
So the news of their busy lives that both Cliff and Felix shared is great right? Who wouldn’t want their hands full of opportunities? Well, not everyone. And that’s because those opportunities are causing both of these guys to focus on running a business and being taken away from what they’re passionate about. For Felix, it’s about capitalizing on all of these other opportunities while also trying to run a retail store (and create his products which really are like works of art). For Cliff, it’s about designing amazing web experiences while having to spend more and more time managing the process, projects and people.
Cliff and Felix aren’t alone. In fact, it’s one of the biggest issues small business owners face – how to get back to doing what they started the business for in the first place.
So how do you deal with this?
THE REAL WORLD RETAILING TAKEAWAY
Like sandbags on a hot air balloon, releasing some weight will propel you upward.
There are two ways to get there:
Hire someone to run your business - If your business is doing well, then you hire someone to run you business. It’s as simple as that. Great creative people want to create. Are you one of them? Then don’t put yourself in a position where you’re being relegated to the position of business person. Use your creativity to figure out how to get yourself back to a place where you’re doing what you love to do. And that’s as simple as bringing someone in to take it off your hands, all in one swoop. In essence, you're releasing nearly every sandbag at once and doing so will quickly clear your mind and allow you focus on the things you want AND need to focus on.
Delegate more responsibility to your team - If you can’t afford to hire someone to run the business side of your business, then delegate some of the responsibilities to your team. So few business owners trust their employees. They simply feel they can do it better themselves. And that’s a big mistake. If that’s the case, then you’re just hiring clerks to perform tasks. Humans are thinking beings and need to exercise their brains. So why aren’t you allowing them to learn, to grow, to become an increasingly valued member of your team?
Still not so sure you’re comfortable delegating? Well, then start carving out a list of tasks that you hate doing (psst. They’re the ones that bog you down and rarely seem to get done). Then assign them to your employees – you just need to teach them how to perform the task. Before you know it, you've released sandbag after sandbag, freeing up some of your headroom to refocus your mind.
Whether you decide to hire someone to run your business or delegate more of the work [you’re hoarding] to your employees, either way you’ll find yourself freed up to get back to the things you’re most passionate about. And that was the whole reason you went into business in the first place, wasn’t it? After all, we all want to be one of those rare people who wake up excited to go to work.
As for Cliff, he’s a really smart guy and is at the point where he knows he needs some help. And Felix, he's a pretty intuitive guy and he’s already delegated responsibilities to employees and is increasingly giving more away.
No doubt both have started soaring skyward as a result.
How are you rediscovering the passion in your business?
For more great retail tips, trends and news, follow me on Twitter.
