You Are Doing Too Much. Here’s How To Pare It Down and Grow Faster
I was speaking to a potential business coaching client at a recent conference who kept talking about his latest pet project. He was “bored” with his business and had begun to focus his time and attention elsewhere on new products and services to keep things interesting and exciting. And over the past year or so, he’d begun to notice that his core business was faltering a bit. What used to be a solid business was taken for granted and was now struggling. Does that sound familiar in your own company? I think many business owners can relate to the feeling that they are bored in their business and want to find new outlets, especially when you’ve made progress and things are otherwise going well in your business. But find that over time they lose traction. So today I wanted to talk about this normal but avoidable phase of being an entrepreneur and what you should do instead.
Step 1: Find your Core Value Creator
While every business is different, there is one common element that runs across industries and that is your core value creator. It’s the only thing you do for your customers and your marketplace. This comes before the products, the services, the pricing and all the little details. It’s the one thing you do better than everyone else and the reason you’re in business. Maybe you offer your customers a culinary experience. Perhaps you offer your customers home improvement products that they can trust and rely on. Whatever makes your business unique, it’s your core value creator and should be the first thing to look for when looking for a combination. What do you do that creates the most value? That’s what your customers really buy from you. And what to focus your business attention on.
Step 2: Profit Generators
The next thing to watch out for is your win generators. What is it that you do that brings the greatest profit to your business? Note that I didn’t say where most of your earnings will come from. Sales and profit are not the same. Where does most of your profit come from? For most of us, you can identify a small selection of products or services that will generate the greatest profit for your business. And chances are, these are the products that align closely with your core values from Step 1. You’ll likely find that many of your products aren’t hitting the mark here, which plays a big role in where to focus your attention going forward.
Step 3: Reduce it
The last step in the process is to put everything together. Now that you have a good idea of the value you are creating for your customers and which products or services will bring the most profit, it should be clear where you should be spending your time. Focus on projects that align with something you do great, something people value commercially and are willing to pay for, and something that brings you profit. You’ll experience the thrill of a new and exciting project but remain focused on growing your business.