Make time to work ON your business

Between the conference and the launch of our new book Good Enough, I’ve been really busy working IN my business, knowing only too well, that I needed to spend time ON the business.

Where do I see the business going?  What’s our vision moving forward? How is the business evolving?  Do we need to change up what we are doing?   

Good questions for you to ask yourself too.

To help me I hired a consultant to walk and guide me through the process, and then held several planning sessions with the key members of my team as well as strong supporters who brought an objective perspective to the conversation.

But I still hadn’t really sat down to digest and reflect on all that’s been said and the recommendations in place.  Until today.

We were having work done at the farmhouse and I had to vacate the premises for four hours.  I didn’t have access to a computer, so I was back to paper and pen but I used that time to regroup, to think about what’s unfolded through all these planning sessions and what I  liked, wanted to continue, and what we could perhaps drop.

I highly recommend doing this because when you start to look at what you want to start, continue and stop – it makes your choices and direction much clearer.

 I have this tendency to keep adding to the menu, and in some ways, maybe I still am, but the key difference is the “stop” component. M y major conclusion is that I have to stop.  I have to stop being involved in every detail of what is offered.  I have to stop doing the admin behind the scenes (I suck at it) and I have to stop thinking it all relies on me, because it doesn’t.

I now have a great team, who all get what we are trying to achieve and why.  They are authentic, real and genuinely want to help women.  That makes a huge difference, as we are all on the same page, each bringing our unique talents to the organization.

I am excited about where we are heading.  Our new direction will, I believe, positively impact more women.  Stay tuned.

And take my advice, try to eke out time alone to reflect on your business. 

It’s worth it.  You’re worth it.

Ask yourself why?

“What’s your vision?”  I was asked.  And there was a silence as I pondered over the question.

Coming from the non-profit sector, a vision to me was often some lofty goal of saving the world, etc… And so I really hadn’t spent too much time figuring out what my vision was.  I was just too busy doing it.  

Plus … when I started Company of Women, beyond wanting to meet up with other like-minded business women, I really didn’t have a vision or a even a mission statement for that matter.  Basically I was finding it lonely working at home and craved the company of others who were in the same situation.  Nothing altruistic there.  My plans were quite self-serving.

Little did I know that a couple of years later I would be giving up my consulting practice to pursue this further.  But even then, I can’t say I was super- ambitious.  No, I preferred to grow the organization organically.  Quality was more important to me than quantity, so the thought of having chapters across Canada just seemed too unwieldy and hard to manage.  I chose to go deeper with my offerings rather than wider.

It does seem ironic however, that now, ten years later, I am actually moving in that direction, with a chapter opening up in Winnipeg this fall and discussions underway about Vancouver. 

Having still not answered the vision question, I turned the conversation around to why I do what I do.   This I could speak about passionately and from the heart. My whole career in fact has focused on women and their needs – from young mothers to abused women and now to business owners.

I am driven  to making a difference; to helping women achieve their potential.   Company of Women just happens to be the current vehicle through which I deliver my dream of women being successful on their own terms, believing and investing in themselves and others. 

And as I noodle this over, I realize I do have a vision.  It was just tough to articulate what it was. 

What about you?  If you are struggling with what you want or what your long term goals should be, ask yourself why are you doing what you are doing?  Because maybe then you will tap into your core reason for being. Maybe then you will have the big picture vision of your life before you.

Money Talks

Part of my homework in my new mastermind group was to spend time each week focusing ON the business, not working in it.

Easier said than done, especially when I am in essence, a solopreneur.  I mean when someone calls and asks for accounting, it’s me.  If a member has problems, logging into the website, she contacts me – which is ironic really – because I am no more techy than she is. Or if I have to chase up on tardy payments, that’s me too.

So eking out some time is not that simple and being the creative type, I have to be in the mood, which isn’t always slotted neatly into my diary as an appointment with myself. I am lucky in that I live on a farm and the isolation of the place does lend itself to some deeper thinking.  Although sometimes I find it is my time in the car driving there that allows me to focus my thoughts on the big picture.

And it is not that I don’t have a vision and a sense of direction in terms of where Company of Women is going.  It’s more that like my workouts, a necessary evil in my opinion, (sorry Angie) I tend to avoid what I don’t like doing, which in my case is the necessary number-crunching to determine whether what I am doing is actually generating income, or just covering costs.  

Oh I have a sense of what’s working, and what is more a “membership service” but in doing my homework, I realize I need to get a better handle on the numbers. 

I have a feeling that I am not alone in my aversion to drill down on the finances, but I also know that in order to make informed decisions about what we do, or don’t do in the future, we need to do the math.

Of course my husband, the businessman,  has been telling me this for years.  I do so hate it when he’s right, but we won’t let on will we.  This is our secret.