How to get outside the business comfort zone

Are you starting to feel like your business is at your limits? Maybe you feel like you just don’t have enough time or resources to do all the tasks you need to do. Feel stretched thin between supervising your employees and having trouble keeping everything organized? You might even feel as though you’re losing focus. Or struggling to maintain the business vision across your team? 

If that’s the case, it’s probable that you’re butting up against your business comfort zone. You’ve reached the limits of your knowledge, resources, energies or vision. So what now? 

When you reach your limits, the next stage isn’t assumed. You could try and press on, and exhaust yourself (and eventually burn out needing to close up business). This often is where you might find yourself caught in a loop of hiring and rehiring staff members. But your team needs you to have a strategy for business, if they’re going to give their best work. People are motivated by a vision, and feeling like the boss has a plan is reassuring. If your employees feel as though they’re confused about where you’d like the business to go, or are being given too many responsibilities the cycle may keep on going. Pressing on with a business model like this can be exhausting. Many business owners give up after a while when it feels too much like a grind. 

Alternatively, you could backslide. You decide it was easier when you didn’t have a big team. You downsize and end up back where you started. Just you and your skills, doing everything yourself. But that doesn’t solve your problem, because you still haven’t equipped yourself to do the things your employee handled for you. Perhaps you forgot how exhausting it was, juggling all the business aspects. But you’ll soon remember. The likelihood of businesses that downsize surviving is small. 

But there is a third option. If you’re able to equip yourself to go beyond your comforts, your business may become a more sustainable and mature company. How? It’s important to remember that we can learn from other businesses. Successful businesses have started with a good understanding of where they are now. And what it will take to get them where they want to be. 

Starting out with a strategy in mind gives you an advantage when it comes to reaching your endgame. 

But what if you’ve already started? It won’t be easy, but it’s not too late. Dedicate yourself to shifting your perspective. Gain the knowledge that will set yourself up better in business for the future. 
Take the time to develop a plan. Take stock of your resources and allow yourself to envision where you’d like your business to be. Then think about what it will take to get there. 

Going through this process is important. It allows you to know what the next step is when you begin to feel your business growing. Maintain your focus and lower your stress with a solid strategy for growth. Talk to people who have businesses that are where you’d like to be and consider how they got there. Focus particularly on sustainable models of business. Where owners aren’t burnt out or considering leaving as this could be a sign that they’re implementing poor business strategies.