Welcome to the third in a five-part series that will help you determine whether or not you’re making the most common traps moms make in growing their businesses — and the simple steps you can take to ensure you’re on the right path to business growth.
#3: Playing Small
I’ve heard all the excuses – I don’t have the money for marketing and business development, I don’t have the time to build business because I have kids, I don’t know what to do, I don’t know the right people to help me, I don’t have the ideas or knowledge to grow, this is not the right time for growth because of the economy… etc.
Here’s the truth: Behind every reason why you can’t accomplish something is a self-limiting belief. Behind every self-limiting belief is a fear. Whether it is a fear of success, or fear of failure, or fear of rejection, if you peel back the layers and take a look at why you can’t do something, it is likely that there is something you’re uncomfortable with. Today I’m not going to cover how you overcome the fear. That is a whole different topic and a whole field of study. I just want you to be aware of it.
If you imagine a mountain in front of you and you have to get to the other side, there are a few options:
- You can pick up a shovel and start moving the dirt to get rid of the mountain (remove the fear)
- You can climb over it (overcome the fear)
- You can go around it (work around the fear)
Be like water in a river. It gets to its destination by flowing around mountains and hills, picking the path of least resistance, meandering and changing course as required. Eventually it flows into the ocean, reaching its destination.
In many ways, you can grow your business using the analogy of a river.
Don’t have money? Don’t let that stop you from building your business. You can take someone out for coffee and build a referral source for $5. You can barter. You can expand your network by going to the plethora of free networking groups, some of them actually better than the paid ones (but it’s a bit like shopping at Winners – you have to dig). You can build an email list to communicate with potential clients for free. You can do a talk for free. You can leverage social media marketing for very little cost. Don’t worry about not having money, instead look at how you can invest in your business development without using a lot of money.
Don’t have time? Think about how you can outsource the non-revenue-generating tasks in your business. Here’s an example. I decided to hire a part-time virtual assistant about 4 months ago to take care of my admin tasks, including managing my calendar, scheduling appointments, sending reminder to clients, and keeping track of paperwork. I hire her for 3-4 hours per week. Result? In 4 months I doubled my client load. Doubled! Don’t underestimate what you can do in your business if you spend your time effectively (check out Part 2 of this series)
Don’t know what to do? Well, hello! We live in the information age. If you don’t know how to do something, someone else does. Follow blogs of experts on the internet, build relationships with professionals, attend public seminars, or email me (or whoever your favorite business coach is) and ask to go for coffee to talk about what keeps you up at night. Befriend a lawyer. Find out who in your network is an accountant. Connect with a graphics designer on twitter. The key here is to build a network of professionals you can interact with to learn things that are important to build your business.
Don’t think that you can’t grow your business because you’re a busy mom, or that your business needs to be small and limp along because you don’t have the right funds or resources or time. With the right mindset and the right tools in place, your business can flourish. After all, what do you tell your child if he says “Mommy I can’t do it because I’m small?”
Homework: In what areas of your business are you playing small, thinking that you can’t do something? Imagine a time in the future (1 month from now? 6 or 12 months from now?), if you were “like water” and moved around this obstacle, what would it be like?
One Comment »