You, as an entrepreneur, recognize the importance of working ON your business and not IN it. But, how often do you end up pushing this vital task aside because of your day-to-day (a.k.a. putting-out-fires) hands-on tasks?
“Too often” would be the most common answer to this question.
Let’s face it: We all tend to blame on getting caught up on imminent but unimportant tasks (in the big scheme of things) for not keeping up with our big vision sessions that can act as a leverage to grow your business exponentially. The truth is, that is not the real hold-up.
What’s standing in our way is not having a robust and sustainable system that we can stick with.
Just imagine having a simple system you can follow regularly to assess where your business is at and what is needed to get a few steps closer to where you envision your business to be without facing questions like:
What's your strategy to set some time aside to work ON your business?
How do you go about improving the overall performance of your business?
How often do you work ON your business?
How do you know what’s important in a long-run and what’s not?
If you find yourself feeling like having a "deer in the headlight" moment, you are not alone and don't worry, I got you covered.
Unlike my other posts I normally write, I made sure that this one is going to be very simple by just covering the basics. It's because I believe in taking the first step that is easy enough to get you in the groove so that you no longer have any excuses for putting this work off.
To make the deal even sweeter, my team and I have created a FREE self-assessment tool, “Show Up Like a True Entrepreneur Assessment,” that you can easily do. No "figuring-out" necessary. All you have to do is request the link and start answering just 15 questions.
The rest is on us to provide you with an assessment that is customized for your business.
Sounds good? So, let’s show up like a true entrepreneur. Shall we?
Request to Gain an Access to
Our FREE Self-Assessment Tool
"Show Up Like a True Entrepreneur"
*Special Bonus Materials Included.
6 Reasons Why Mastering How to Work ON Your Business with 5 Growth Drivers Can Make a Massive Difference
Simply, you “get to”:
1. Speed up your business growth by cutting out unnecessary tasks and skipping mistakes other entrepreneurs have already made.
2. Center yourself to identify & clarify business opportunities you should laser-focus on.
3. Spot stagnating areas of your business and systematically tackle them.
4. Eliminate "figuring out & testing-out" work a.k.a. guessing game and get right to work ON your business.
5. Allow yourself to spend more time on execution over planning.
6. Be attentive to customers who deserve your attention and care, which will generate more revenues as a result.
5 Growth Drivers (BBLTC Method) - The Relationship
This is exactly how I slice any given business. When all 5 of them are put together, no area of your business would be missing. In other words, you are already set up to work on your entire business without giving much thought to it!
Here are the 5 drivers:
Business Purpose
Business Model
Logistics
Team
Conversations
The acronym, BBLTC, is also known as "Big BLT with Cheese." It's easy to remember, right?
(C) 2018 Airtight Concepts Inc.
As you can see above, the first letter "B" for Business Purpose (Value & Vision) sits in the middle as this is the most crucial part that connects all other drivers. Business Value & Vision dictates all business decision that you and your team will make for the rest of the drivers.
Additionally, BBLTC is categorized into 2 groups. The first B for Business Vision and Value, as well as the last C for Conversation to be the house (front end of your business), sit on a solid foundation and the rest to be the foundation of your business (back end of your business).
(C) 2018 Airtight Concepts Inc.
I will share 2 examples to demonstrate how these drivers work.
When a business is "front-heavy," meaning it does a great job at branding, communicating and selling but lacks the back-end functionality, it would create issues like dissatisfied customers, burned-out employees, and lost business opportunities.
Why?
The business is unable to process all incoming orders creating an environment where this business does so-called OPUD (over-promise, under-deliver.)
(C) 2018 Airtight Concepts Inc.
Let's take a look at the opposite situation. What do you think happens if a business is "back-heavy"? It's great that this business has functioning systems in place and employees are self-sufficient and happy. But what happens if something happens to their current customers i.e. a significant dip in orders or a loss of a major customer?
All of a sudden, it finds itself suffering from a lack of business. It would massively impact its cash flow and the button line.
(C) 2018 Airtight Concepts Inc.
5 Growth Drivers (BBLTC Method) - Functions
Now that you have a good grasp on how these drivers work, we are going to cover what purpose each driver serves.
BUSINESS PURPOSE (BUSINESS VALUE & VISION)
This is the driver that makes you ask this question, "What is the sole purpose of the existence of your business?"
Value - This is to let your team, your suppliers, customers, and everyone else involved know what your business stands for and what your business is not willing to compromise. The importance here is for you and your team to know what your business would not do. This is the part most of the entrepreneurs overlook.
Vision – This describes what and how your business delivers to serve your customers and why your business is the best choice to achieve their desired outcomes.
Too often, when business owners work on their vision, they are too focused on what they want to achieve as a business and what they do. Most of them stop right here. Frankly, that is not good enough. Your vision should focus on who you serve first.
BUSINESS MODEL
There are 2 sections under this category:
1. Revenue & profitability by assessing your current offers.
2. Risk management (legal, insurance, and cash flow management.)
You may have an offering that you may enjoy providing but no good profit margin. Worse yet, you might be spending too much time on this specific offering. When we are too busy tending to our day-to-day tasks, these are the things we forget to dig deep.
Also, it is important to review how “future-proof” your business is by assessing the risk management area. Granted, this is not the most popular topic, but we all know these are important.
This is the driver we can go much, much deeper. But, I'm a firm believer in "keeping it simple enough to stick with it." Going over these is a great starting point.
LOGISTICS
Processes & System are the ones under logistics.
Don't let the term intimidate you. Getting this driver lean, mean and clean will provide you extra revenues and you can start small so long as you are consistent with it.
Ultimately, you want guidelines for everything to do with your business. These guidelines are also called SOP's (standard operating procedures).
I can see you making faces. I know what you are thinking.
"Sounds like I'm building an army with a bunch of rules and regulations!"
Not quite. Bear with me for one minute. Your team needs to know how to efficiently operate your business, preferably, with you being involved at every step of the way, correct?
Let me ask you this then, "Are you going to repeatedly train your team from scratch every time you hire a new person?"
I hope your answer is "no." I have not met anyone who loves manually training newcomers repeatedly from scratch. That's not a smart way to spend your time and energy, is it?
TEAM
Even if you have no full-time staff, do not skip this driver. If you think about it, no one runs a business by him(her)self. Your accountant, VA, graphic designer, copywriter/editor, web designer, interns, SEO strategist... they are all part of your team.
Moreover, creating a skeleton organizational chart is vital to identify where the void is and start thinking about how to go about filling it (or intentionally not filling it.)
You might say, it's too early for my business. My response to that would be, "Never."
Finding the right talent is a major challenge for many business operators. Thinking strategically about how you want to get help whether you take action now or a year from now is highly recommended.
CONVERSATIONS
Notice that you don't see drivers like Marketing and Sales as part of BBLTC. It's because, in this day and age, lines among branding, marketing and sales are blurred. Ultimately, they all fall under having a series of conversations with your customers, supporters (vendors & suppliers,) staff, sponsors, joint venture partners, etc. with a cohesive and consistent voice supported by anything visual such as graphic images, slides, video and so on.
What is your style?
What is your voice?
Is it aligned with your business value & vision?
Are you conversing with everyone in these 5 drivers and not just prospects? How often?
These are the questions you want to ask yourself and your team while working on this conversation driver.
The more cohesive your conversations are all across the board, the better your business becomes much more approachable and memorable. Ultimately, that is the first step before overthinking the mechanics of your sales funnel.
5 Growth Drivers (BBLTC Method) – Execution in 3 Steps
Now that you know what these 5 drivers are. Let’s get into how to implement your “Show Up Like a True Entrepreneur” Sessions.
Step #1:
Take My FREE “Show Up Like a True Entrepreneur” Assessment
This is designed in a way that it is as easy as taking someone’s survey. Once you go through the questionnaire, my team and I are going to provide you with an assessment in a simple, easy-to-understand format. You will see a snapshot of your business without having to read a cumbersome report.
Request to Gain an Access to
Our FREE Self-Assessment Tool
"Show Up Like a True Entrepreneur"
*Special Bonus Materials Included.
Step #2:
Sign-up for FREE Live Video Session,
“Show Up" Like a True Entrepreneur with 5 Simple Growth Drivers:
Master How to Work ON Your Business Systematically & Consistently to Make Massive Results in Your Business Without Burning Out”
With your assessment in hand, sign-up for a live video session where I will take you through the steps to master how to work ON your business by using “Show Up Like a True Entrepreneur” method.
The session is jam-packed with practical tips to ensure you are fully set up for success. Plus, you will be provided with worksheets to go with a session.
In a live video session, we are going to cover the following topics:
1. How to set aside & ruthlessly protect the time required to do “Show Up Like a True Entrepreneur” sessions every month.
2. How to prep for a successful session.
3. How to map out a strategic plan that will get your business closer to your target faster.
4. How to measure your progress.
5. What type of support systems you can take advantage of so that you will stick with this new routine.
We are going to keep a channel open for any questions you have during the session. A special invitation will be sent to you once you complete the self-assessment.
Step #3:
Apply for Show Up Like a True Entrepreneur Program (2 Months)
As you master how to take the first step towards regularly conducting your “Show Up Like a True Entrepreneur” sessions, you will find yourself needing more advanced options to perfect your system to work ON your business. Because you will achieve what you set out to do much faster by practicing your routine sessions, you will need a new set of tools, resources and targets that will further advance your long-term business goals.
To keep the momentum going, I will be there every step of the way for 6 months. There will be questions and decision-making points that you wish you could discuss with someone. That would be me. By taking advantage of this program, you can attain peace of mind that you are on the right path.
Additional options are only offered to entrepreneurs who complete Step #1 & #2 and invitation only (not open to the public.) The application process will be revealed at a later time.
Recap: How Does “Showing Up Like a True Entrepreneur” Mean to You?
To me, I would like you, as a thriving entrepreneur, to feel like the following when you think of “Showing Up Like a True Entrepreneur”:
You are:
- Confident in grasping where your business is currently at and where it's heading,
- Clear on your long-term objectives,
- In control of your strategies to build a “future-proof” business,
- Comfortable holding yourself accountable for your objectives,
- Onboarding your team with your vision and ensuring they are in the same page to support your mission.
By mastering how to work ON your business with the system you can rely on, you will be that entrepreneur who shows up time and time again for those who are needing your services.
Without any doubts, insecurity, and vagueness, you are going to have a runway clear of any obstacles so that you can take off with confidence.
You did not decide to become an entrepreneur so that you have more challenges and problems in your life; you became one to serve your customers with your superpowers a.k.a. your zone of genius. So, let’s get to work! I will be right beside you every step of the way!
Request to Gain an Access to
Our FREE Self-Assessment Tool
"Show Up Like a True Entrepreneur"
*Special Bonus Materials Included.