Small Business Revitalization Blog

"Help!  My plans for growing my business aren't working!"

Every entrepreneur has moments like these when no matter what you do, nothing seems to work and you are going round in circles.  You have two choices.  You can get frustrated.  Or you can start to create from a totally different space.  So many times when things haven't worked for me, I have realised that there were other possibilities that actually would create the business even more dynamically than I had imagined.  I just needed to be willing to be flexible and change my plans.

Here are three 'get moving fast' strategies to explore:

1.  WHAT is it EXACTLY that is not working?

We often assume that we know what it is that's not working.  And mostly the root cause is something else entirely.  Ask a lot of questions to discover what is actually going on.  Have you been trying to fix the 'wrong' problem?  For example: If you are not winning enough business, look at the entire process - where exactly is it not working? 

Ask questions of your sales team, your clients and potential clients.  What is the system, process or relationship that is not delivering the results you desire? (This is not a head-hunt for poor performing staff!!  In most cases there is another reason - that is just the lazy business owner's assumption.)

2.  WHAT could you do DIFFERENT that would create a different result?

 

What worked 2 or 5 or 20 years ago may no longer be relevant.  What has changed inside and outside of your business?  What do you need to change in response that would change the results you are creating?  What are the new possibilities that you haven't even considered yet?  When we take off the blinkers and start to be creative, new choices arrive. We must be willing to change.

In one of my businesses, I recently went from being fully booked for the next two months, to having almost nothing going on.  The causes were diverse and beyond my control.  I gave myself ten seconds to be frustrated and then I was asking 'what's next?'.  

I realised this situation had created the possibility for something new that I have desired to do for a long time, that I just never get to.  The new strategy will also create the future situation where it won't matter if people don't do what they say.  My revenue streams will be diversified enough to make their choices irrelevant!!    And what else is possible that I haven't imagined yet?

 3. Make your business FLEXIBLE!

Whatever systems, processes, products or services your business has, you need to be aware of how you can be flexible with what you have.  There is a lot of chaos in the world right now, and will be for the foreseeable future.  When you explore future scenarios for your business, take note of what can be changed quickly, and where you are locked in.  If you are agreeing to new contracts, look for the flexibility.  If you are employing staff, engage people who are flexible and willing to do whatever it takes.

I was called into a client's business to work out what was not working with their processes.  I had been there less than 5 minutes when the new office manager sat down (uninvited!) and told me how she was being asked to do things that weren't her job and that she wasn't going to do.  There was no willingness to contribute to the success of the business, there was no interest in being flexible. There was no interest in ensuring that clients were attended to quickly.  Her attitude was all about 'I'm not going to....'. She was first on my list of what needed to change.

So what is it that would make your business way more flexible and responsive to change than it is now?  Cross-skilling staff?  Space for a change in attitude?  Simpler processes and systems that people will actually be willing to follow? 

These three strategies can change things quickly.  Ask enough questions and you will become aware of exactly what else is needed for your business to move forward again.  Staying stuck is a choice. 

If you are really really really stuck, you can always ask an external coach or mentor to assist.  That independent point of view truly does bring a fresh perspective.

What can you change to make your business more profitable!  (What if you could enjoy making the changes??)

Lisa

 

 

I’m not known for my patience, or a willingness to wait, and so have created many a business project that was before it’s time!

And you know what that often creates? Over-enthusiasm, a lot of people who are not exactly clear about what is being offered, or not in a position to engage with you, and often overwhelm, disappointment or disillusionment when it doesn’t work out as desired.

This comes from placing a significance upon the timing. Whether it is for goal-setting or strategic planning, we have been taught that timing is significant and that we must create as much as possible as quickly as possible, and no matter what, we must meet the timing set.  

Does this truly work?  Or is it a way of forcing ourselves into action prematurely, without the support of the many underlying energies that can actually allow us to create with ease.

For me personally, it’s now come to the space where I know that around 95% of the ideas I come up with are a little more than the world is ready for right now!  So, what to do with a dilemma like that?

Flexibility seems to be the word for the year. The timing on everything is shifting and changing rather dynamically for all of my projects and I am learning to surf those waves in surprising ways.

I’m becoming more willing to create things in their ‘right timing’ as I’ve seen how much time and energy goes into forcing an idea into existence before it is ready!

We always have a choice when timing shows up differently to what we expect.  We can force things to be how we have planned, or we can allow for a flow that may lead to something greater!  

I have been playing with the idea of working with ‘what is’ (ie what is available right now), rather than trying to make my ideas and plans fit the schedules I would like to create!  I am onto my 48th version of my travel schedule for this year, and only now am I seeing that mostly I can’t schedule more than a couple of months ahead - there is much that is yet to fall together for the ease and flow to show up!

Which raises the question of ‘right timing’.  Is there such a thing?  Here’s what I am discovering...  Right timing simply means that everything that is required is in place.  That there are no huge mountains blocking the way, no deep valley’s to plunge into, nothing that would make the project disappear or crash.  

The changes required in the universe have been made.  The connections required are set-up and will show up exactly as needed.  There is a sense of flow.  Right timing means the people that are required are available, the information you need is available, the energies that support the project coming to fruition are in place, there is an underlying sense of possibility that feels light and expansive.

Almost everything will flow with more ease if you are willing to wait for the point of right timing.  Sometimes you’ll receive an idea or start a project where you have already passed the point of right timing... so everything is available immediately. That’s why not everything has a sense of having to wait for ‘right timing’.  The timing arrived before you were even aware of the choices you could make!

Sometimes we become immobilized by the idea of ‘right timing’.  We’d like to do something but we’re not sure.  We become the bunny frozen in the headlights, wondering if we should turn right or left.  

What if it’s not procrastination?  What if it’s an awareness around timing?  I have had so many moments of this and a little later discovered exactly the reasons I was hesitating.  Sometimes it was after I forced myself to act (leading to situations I did not have ease with), other times I was smart enough to wait and ask some more questions!

How do you know if you are waiting for ‘right timing’?  If you have an idea but it has a heaviness or a slowness to it, or it doesn’t have clarity, you’ll know that timing could be an issue.

And here’s the cool thing. Somewhere inside of us we always know.  So ask some questions... ‘Is now the time for this project?’  ‘Is there something else required for this project to come to fruition?’  ‘If I create this now, will it create a flow for something greater or will it be creating through force?’  Go with whatever feels light!

Once you have reached the point of ‘right timing’ the changes required have been made and all of the little bunnies are lined up ready to run,  your project has it’s green lights and the exact timing becomes a choice.

How much more ease could you have if you are willing to have an awareness of whether your project or idea is in it’s right timing?

So the other thing to know here is if you have tried something before, and it didn’t work, instead of going straight to the conclusion that the idea was wrong or that you were a failure, what if you ask ‘Was the timing incorrect?’.  And ask the universe to show you when the timing will work.  

What if your ideas are a lot more brilliant than you have ever given yourself credit for?   If you are wondering what I am talking about, read about Nikola Tesla... he’s a perfect example of bringing great ideas through in the ‘wrong’ timing.  What else would be possible if you were willing to allow ‘right timing’ to contribute to your business and your projects?

Photo Credit: h.koppdelaney via Compfight cc

 

This time of year is flush with people posting their ‘year in review’ thoughts, dissecting everything that went right or wrong with the year before, and promising themselves they’ll do better.  Because I am always seeking a greater return on the energies I invest in my businesses, my personal ‘planning’ strategy is to explore the energies that are going to make the greatest difference in the upcoming year.

Why don’t I look at the previous year?  I review where I’m at about 25,000 times a year… my choices are made daily, based on what is possible in that particular moment, not on what was possible last week, last month or last year.  Have you noticed how fast the world is changing?  Is it time for our planning processes to catch up with the space we actually are operating from?

This radical difference in my ‘planning process’ led me to create these Ten Commandments for Dynamic Business Growth.   So, #1 became “Treat your business as an asset – create FOR the future, not FROM the past.”  What does this mean in practical terms? Lots of change and lots of choices!

Firstly, what I don’t do…

• I don’t assume that just because I did something in a particular way in 2012 (or before!) that it will create the same result in 2013.
• I don’t assume that products I have created before will continue to produce results.
• I don’t assume that previous ideas that I haven’t got to yet are the ones for this year.
• I don’t assume that I must build on what I did previously.
• I don’t assume that anything will be the same, including me!  (I did over 60 days of training in tools and techniques to create change during 2012… I use the tools daily and constantly create from a different space as my awareness expands!)

Instead of doing business from the ‘rinse and repeat’ cycle, I do business from a universe of possibilities – I ask lots of questions about what will allow me to ‘outcreate and grow’.  Which one is more fun for you?  Do you love creating more and more and greater?  Or do you love doing the same thing over and over and over, with ever-diminishing results, as your competitors catch on and copy you?  It’s just a choice.

And that choice is how you build your business assets from future possibilities rather than past performance.   To build your business assets you need to be present with your business.  Aware of everything connected to your business performance.  Willing to change any of it in any moment.  

Most businesses are so committed to the past that the present disappears in the overwhelm of keeping up.  What if you never had to keep up?  What if you could just keep choosing whatever would create the greatest possibilities for the future?

That’s what commandment #1 offers… a choice to build the future from the now, not the past.

Curious?  Want some more examples and practical tools so you can use these commandments in your business?

Download your free poster and find out more at www.revivecoaching.com/growth

And one more thing…these commandments are a moveable feast… they are what’s working right now!   I’d love to know what YOUR commandments for growing your business are… do you have a favourite you can share?    Lisa

 

 In the ever-expanding adventure that is my life, a 92 year old ex-horse breeder and his trainer have started teaching me to ride a horse.  Brave move on their part - the last time I was on a horse was 25 years ago, and I’ve pretty much fallen off every horse I’ve ever been on!  

On my fourth lesson they had forgotten to get Blaze (the gorgeous horse above) up from the paddock.  Bright-eyed and ever-enthusiastic, I volunteered to go get him.  They agreed, although I figured from the looks on their faces they did not expect me to come back with him any time soon.  

Ten minutes later I emerged from the far paddock with Blaze - bridled up and walking happily beside me.  And no, it wasn’t a fluke - I managed to repeat this stellar performance the following day too!  I have to admit I receive a lot of pleasure from confounding people’s expectations!!

So what has this got to do with business?  The adorable Blaze and your business have way more in common than you imagine. If you know what questions to ask, when to sweet-talk, how to listen when it’s giving you information, when to feed it carrots and when a firm hand is required, you can create your business exactly the way you would like it to be!

One of the capacities I work on expanding daily is that extra-sensory awareness that allows me to know exactly what is required and when in a business.  I was able to get Blaze to do exactly what I required by using the same tools I use in business... asking questions and following the energy and my awareness of what’s possible.  

Because I asked him to, in language he knows, Blaze trotted up to me and put his head down so I could slip the bridle on...total flow and absolutely no swearing involved! He doesn’t do that for his trainer, and given his size and my height, there would have been no bridling up without his contribution!  YES!!  My unconventional strategy worked! (***happy dance***)  

What unconventional capacities do you have in business that you don’t use or recognize? Most of us have things we do naturally, that are easy and fun, that we totally forget to apply in business, because we are so busy doing business how you ‘should’ do business.  What if the rules don’t apply anymore?  Could you do business your way with a lot more ease, joy and abundance?

If you would like to know more about how this magic could be possible for you in business and beyond, there’s lots to discover at Creativity Lab LIVE! (16-18 November) and the ‘5 Days of Change’ live-stream program which I am hosting on the Sunshine Coast (8 - 12 November).

And if you aren’t sure, I have been playing with a new question for making choices lately:  “If I choose this, will my life be more expansive or less expansive in 5 years?”   When I get the energy of the future, making choices becomes simple and fast!  (And it stops me making it about the money or the time – excuses be gone!) 

What are your unconventional business strategies?  I would love to know!

 

I have a mentor who sees the world totally different to almost anyone on the planet.  His unique views on business make a lot of sense and he creates his businesses from an energy that is all about out-creating rather than problem-solving.  Why?  Because it works!

“Problem-solver” is a label much touted as a good thing in most businesses. The funny thing is, if you are a problem-solver, then you are always going to be creating problems to solve.  Oops!!  How is that working for your business?  Are you a little tired of fixing the problems in your business that you are creating? (Truly, if they are there, you are creating them somehow!)  Is it time to create a greater possibility?  One that could be fun for you?

A business truly focused on growth will create from an energy of out-creating, rather than problem-solving.  Look at how Apple began – they weren’t solving a problem, they were creating something totally different.  Richard Branson doesn’t solve problems; he out-creates the really average stuff that is on offer by his ‘competition’.

Two weeks ago I asked my mentor a few questions about people copying me (there seemed to be a  trend on that!) and he showed me an energy of out-creation that was far beyond what I have been playing with.  Out-creation is ALWAYS a more generative strategy than copying or competing (just in case you were wondering!!)

This week I came up with a new business model for one of my businesses that has the potential to make it into everything I have been asking it to be!  On a much larger scale… with a lot less of my time… that no-one else is doing… and in a way that would be way more fun for me!  How does it get better than that?

Here’s how it gets even better… I come up with another 10 business models that are game changers.  It really is that simple.  I became aware that the only ‘problem’ I had been creating in this business was not allowing it to be big enough… or amazing enough... or creative enough… or DIFFERENT enough!  Cute… not bright.  Changes are afoot!  

So, you could ask your business this question… and be willing for inspiration to come from anywhere…

“What could I be or do today that would allow me to outcreate myself right away?”

 And if you would like to know more about how to create a whole lot of this in your business, here are some choices:

• A free 30 minute business coaching session.
• Join us for the Business Beyond Limits telecall each month.
• Come to Creativity Lab LIVE!™ and outcreate everything you thought possible.

If you have been thinking too small, now is the time to outcreate everything you have ever dreamed of.  Go Play!

 

I love working for myself.  It allows me to change anything instantaneously.  And being just a little ADD/ADHD, that desire for constant change is rather well fed!  The funny thing is, I thought about working for myself for 20 years before I finally took the leap!  And while I value the interesting experiences I created in the corporate world, it would have been much kinder to me to have made that change a lot sooner! 

Most of us have learned to fear change and especially change in business.  The media has fed us a lot of stories about how bad and wrong change is.  What if it is just change?  Some of the best changes I have ever made have come from the places in my life that weren’t working.  And one of the biggest and most amazing changes came when I was willing to totally change something I loved, that was working well!  What is it you are unwilling to change because you think you have the answer?  What if there could be a greater possibility?

When we embrace change in business, we open up to grander and  more abundant choices.  When we are cutting out all of the possibilities for change, we put ourselves into smaller and smaller boxes.  I don’t fix anything, but I change a lot of things, everyday!  And that brings a sense of peace, ease and joy into my business.

Australia has one of the most robust economies in the world right now, but we are too busy complaining about what has changed 'for the worse' to even notice how fortunate we are.  What if you asked ‘How else could I take advantage of this?’ rather than worrying about what used to be?  

Would you be willing to start each day looking at what you could create different, rather than how you could keep everything the same as it was?  When we operate from a space of possibility, choice and awareness, everything can become greater.  When we operate from a space of stuckness and limitation we simply create more of the same.   Oops – we’re cute, but not always bright.

Can you see why I love change so much?

Over the past 4 years I have learned so much about creating change with ease.  The tools I use come from Access Consciousness™ - these tools are pragmatic and they create the possibility of instant change – with anything!  I have just enjoyed three luscious days of Access bodywork and WOW!  My body feels beyond amazing... and that is creating a flow in my work that is also far beyond what I have ever had before! If I had not been willing to find out what else would make my body feel good beyond massage, I wouldn't have the space, presence and joy that is in my body right now... it's just another change!

Interestingly bodywork creates just as much change for me in my business as the verbal tools that I teach my business coaching clients! This morning I am seeing everything in my business with fresh eyes.  There is even more ease than before and I am totally excited about what else I can create!   How does it get even better than that?

If you would like to explore the magic of change for you, your life and business, I am offering introductory Access Consciousness™ classes in a couple of weeks.  One of my business loves is facilitating these classes as I see how much more can become possible when we change the points of view that keep us stuck.  These processes are so simple and they work!  What are you choosing?  More of the same or a whole lot more ease and joy?

If you are choosing something different, you may want to come to class!  What if you could change anything and everything with ease?  Would that make your business a whole lot more blissful?

 Image Credit

 

Many successful people come to a stage where they feel tired, unmotivated and missing that energy that made them successful in the first place.  Sometimes it is a result of a specific incident, more often it shows up out of the blue - the combination of a thousand small moments that weren't quite what our inner being truly desired!

Sound familiar?  Here's 10 quick, easy changes you can make that will give your mojo a boost:

1. Do your work differently.  Look at it as if you have never done this task before and ask yourself how else could you do this to create a greater possibility?
2. Start in the middle of a project instead of the beginning and see where it leads.  (Sometimes the unplanned leads to the greater possibility!!)
3. Re-energise by having fun in your 10 minute breaks.  If you can't remember what is fun for you, the first thing to do is make a list of possibilities... add at least 3 things in each break until you have 50 ways to enjoy yourself in the moment.  (Hint:  more work should not be on the list!)
4. Pretend you are six and see what you are doing as a six year old would - what could be different?
5. Be or do something unexpected every day, so that the people around you get to see another side of you.  It keep's them on their toes (and keeps you entertained!)
6. Stop meeting people's expectations unless it is joyful for you to make this contribution.
7. See everything as an interesting point of view (rather than buying people's ideas as facts) and look at what YOU would like to choose.
8. Ask the universe to show you catalysts for creating your work anew.
9. Talk to people in different industries that inspire you.
10. Be you!  So often we lose our mojo when we are busy being everything to everyone.  When you start to choose for you the magic can show up more often!

Having been through burnout a couple too many times, I am an expert in helping people get their mojo back...the ideas above represent some options on the practical side.  Each person is different and  I can also work with your energy. If you need a one-off energy-based session to get you aback on track please contact me!   By phone, skype or in person... depending on where you are!

I woke up obsessed with taking a walk through Noosa National Park to Hells Gate.  When I got into the car it was raining (again!)  By the time I was halfway there the rain was coming down in sheets and visibility was pretty much zero.

I almost turned around, but I really, really, really wanted that walk! I could see the tiniest piece of blue sky to the south and I wasn’t allowing a bit of water to stop me.   Arriving at the National Park the rain stopped and midway to Hells Gate it was sunny again! I truly was one excited little bunny!

So what's a walk in the rain got to do with doing business consciously? 

Have you noticed how often we are tempted to give up when we are just a few moments from the thing we truly desire?  What is it you are almost about to give up on, that if you would keep going, would come to fruition faster and sooner than you can imagine?

It’s easy to give up in business.  Sometimes so much has to change beneath the surface before we can see our creations come to life…  That wait can be longer and harder than we desire if we are trying to force something into existence.  If, on the other hand, we go with the flow on the projects that are moving forward and we keep creating and generating lots of different possibilities, our choices expand exponentially.

If I had gone home this morning, I would have spent the whole day looking out the window, wishing I’d been for that walk.  Instead, my willingness to go with my instincts (despite gloomy surface appearances) gave my body some much needed creative impetus and I’m settling in to write for a while!  

And that’s the other part of moving forward to be conscious of… I’m once again working on my book The Mojo of Flow – which I thought would be out last year… but sometimes the flow just isn’t there… so I’ve done a few other projects in the meantime and the last pieces of information that I was ‘waiting’ for have shown up this week – how does it get better than that??

I could have beaten myself up for not finishing when I said I would… but really I always know there is a reason if something isn’t moving forward in the way I would like.  This last chapter will make it the book I knew it could be… that it wasn’t… until this topic came into my conscious awareness!! I am so grateful for consciously allowing the joy which made it all flow with ease (rather than going into the wrongness of me)!

So, let’s do something together…  Would you be willing to stop beating yourself up for anything that’s not working in your business right now… and start playing with whatever has some energy and some momentum? 

And would you put the 'stuck' or 'stopped' projects aside and keep contributing your energy to them, without a point of view as to what will happen next?  What if they could create and generate themselves with an ease you haven't experienced before?

As you do this, ask each project to let you know when it is time for you to play with it again… and know that everything happens with perfect timing.  

I see this ease of moving forward show up over and over with my business coaching clients.  We talk about a strategy, there’s no action, then all of a sudden everything falls magically into place, with an ease that is still astonishing each time it happens!  When we let go of our expectations and just keep moving forward, so much more becomes possible.

Are you willing to operate your business consciously?  Or would you rather do it by force?  How is that working for you?

Have you ever experienced how this flow creates such ease? Tell us about it below!  Or if you are wondering what the hell I am talking about... feel free to ask a question!! 

 Love your work! xox Lisa

For most of 2011 I found time and I to be on totally different calendars.  Time disappeared faster than I could keep up and I found that more than a little frustrating!  2012 dawned and I had the awareness I needed to create a different possibility – or I would be forever feeling ‘behind’ on everything.

When a challenge shows up, do you do what you have always done, go into ‘fix it’ mode, or do you take it as an invitation to create something way beyond what you’ve ever done before?  

What if your challenges are designed to stimulate you to a greater level of awareness of new possibilities?  What if you approached your challenges with a sense of curiosity and adventure instead of the usual sense of dread or despair?

This is how I’m playing with time right now… and I’m the most productive I’ve ever been – with more joy in my work than I’ve ever had!

So what has changed?

• I am having more time off to play which is creating space and clarity.
• I am only doing that which is bringing me joy.  No joy = later (or not at all!!)
• I am being way more creative.  The massive changes I have embraced in being more of me over the last few weeks are allowing solutions to show up faster and more intuitively.
• I am moving with what is moving – projects that feel stuck have been put aside for the moment (it’s that Mojo of Flow thing I like to talk about!)
• I am working in shorter, more intense and spontaneous bursts – more 20 minute blocks than 3 hours of being blocked!
• When I’m done, I’m done!  No suffering, no sticking it out just a little bit longer, nothing except the question ‘what else would be fun to play with right now?’ – And that is creating a sense of ease and speed across all of my businesses.
• I’m willing to change anything and everything… even approaches that have worked in the past… there are no sacred cows!!
• I’m saying YES to more and creating far more!  Strange how this works… but work it does!!

And in case you’re wondering… I’m running three businesses as well as producing a lot of specialist writing for a client.  So everywhere that you have decided you don’t have enough time, would you be willing to know that you can change it?  In an instant?  Just by making a different choice or discovering a different perspective??

I know it sounds way too simple… but sometimes the simplest solutions make the biggest difference!!

What if you could outcreate you?  What would that look like for your particular business challenge?