How do I know this? Because I’ve been there. A few years ago, I was dealing with a nasty business plateau. No matter what I did, I couldn’t earn more than $2500 in revenue. This lasted for almost two years until I finally busted through it.
I also have to help to coach clients deal with this all the time. The truth is things will be slower than you’d like them to be. There is no such thing as instant gratification when growing a business.
That being said, here’s how to continue focusing on growing your business even when you’re about to throw in the towel.
Focus on how far you have come.
Although I’m not considering quitting my business, I am dealing with some current setbacks that put me in a funk. I had two emergency expenses hit me back to back – a hurricane and having to purchase a new laptop. This is at the same time that a couple of annual subscriptions for my business renewed so my business credit card is through the roof.
At first, I was terrified because my savings took a dip. I said to myself, “Every time I think I’m making progress something happens.”
Then I snapped out of it by focusing on how far my business has come. Within two weeks, I was able to earn enough revenue from my business where I don’t need to pull out of my savings to cover the new computer. To put it in perspective, it used to take me four times as long to earn that much money.
As soon as I realized how far I’ve come, I was able to put the focus back on growing my business.
Challenge yourself to do better.
In my opinion, here’s what separates pros from amateurs:
Amateurs let setbacks derail them while pros use setbacks to challenge themselves.
I like to think I’m in the latter half. Take this hurricane/MacBook situation as an example. I can wallow in self-pity (and I did), or I can use it as an opportunity to challenge myself to earn more money.
The latter helps me in growing my business while the former just causes me to stop dead in my tracks. I’ve decided to do the latter, and as I already mentioned, I’ve already earned enough revenue to cover the unexpected expenses in just two weeks.
Seek guidance from mentors.
The last step in growing your business when you feel like giving up is to seek mentors. This is especially true if you’ve tried to figure something out on your own and you simply can’t.
I will use myself as an example again. This has been the year where I focused on creating more consistent revenue streams and systems. This came after feeling frustrated about the income rollercoaster that comes with freelancing.
I wasn’t sure what this would look like, so I spent thousands on a mentor this year. My $4,000 investment has yielded about $40,000 in revenue.
Final Thoughts
While growing a business is hard, there are things you can do to stay focused. By focusing on these three points, you’ll be able to overcome setbacks and come out the other side with a better business.
