The Reason You Feel Spread Thin
Read time: 2.5 minutes
Companies that make it past the startup phase are afraid of the same thing.
They fear focus.
It’s understandable.
Think back to the beginning. You had an idea. You found your first client. It went well.
You found another who didn’t need exactly what you provided the first. So, you adjusted and made the sale.
Over time you grew and hired your first staff member.
Finally, you could take off a few of those 30 different hats you were wearing.
Demands increased from clients, on sales, on bookkeeping and other areas of the business.
Now you’re managing people, projects, sales, while continuing to drive forward to a future you see possible.
Cash flow is still vital.
You can see there’s a time in the future where your cash flow drops off.
So, you stay willing to be flexible and come up with other offerings to keep sales up.
It’s exciting and uncertain.
Sound familiar?
Fast forward to where you are today.
There is so much going on.
You are successful but it feels like every day there’s a new fire to put out.
You’re starting to have to deal with more breakdowns, ones you had avoided in the past.
Why?
The flexibility and inventiveness that has made you successful is also the same thing that’s limiting your growth and making it impossible to keep up.
Every different service, delivery approach, off-the-cuff sales meeting, customized proposal has a web of impacts across your business.
You need to spend more time, hire more people, and hold a lot in your head to make it all work. It’s exhausting.
The System
Here’s an exercise you can do to start getting some ease and control:
Make a list of the stressful areas of your business.
Add specific projects you think must be done or it will put the company at risk.
Next to each, write down what you think will happen if it doesn’t get done.
Then, put down what each will cost you if it doesn’t get done. It could be money, time, or other impacts.
Last, write down when that cost would happen.
When you’re done, take 30 minutes of uninterrupted time to review it and see what you notice.
Here’s an example:
Conclusion
These are some observations other executives have made:
“It feels like everything is going to sink the business if it doesn’t get done, but when I see it all laid out I can see that’s not really the case.”
“I’m always looking to the future for what we can do with the business. That means I want to do a lot of great things right now, but also means I want to prevent risks I see down the road… right now. We have more time to solve challenges and plan than I think.”
“When I really look at the impact of not doing some of the things I think are critical… it’s not that significant. There’s probably an opportunity to focus our resources on more important areas and do them really well.”
It sounds simple, and it is. It can give perspective to see what’s really important and begin to get out of the constant fire fight.
If you’re ready to dig in and want support, let’s talk. Schedule a call
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