Your Business from Survive to Thrive.

SOUL TV EPISODE 120

What will take our business from survive to thrive?

What will take our business from 'survive' to 'thrive'? Vicky has seen her business shrink by 80% due to changes around her. Our experts help her with clarity about her new ideas and the next steps they need to get out of survival mode. Watch 8pm Tues 2 June www.soultv.com.au

In business how do we suddenly find ourselves in survival mode rather thriving? Normally it occurs when we fail to adapt to the changes that we may or may not have seen happening around us, locally or globally. To keep going doing the same thing over and over expecting the result to change when everything around is changing, is not going to work unless you are willing to change to something that people want or are willing to travel for. The bottom line is things change, morph and vanish constantly and in this day and age, quicker than ever before. Businesses survive by being flexible. By moving with the changes, adapting to what is needed and being open to trying new things and moving on if it doesn’t work.

It is hard to think clearly when under constant stress, which may have and can eventually, if not controlled, create health problems, which will make everything seem worse. Business is always stressful on some level no matter how much you love doing what you are doing. There are aspects of business that will create stress unless we delegate that aspect out, take time for ourselves to step back and/or see things from a different perspective and/or change how we see ourselves in the situation. Remember a problem is a problem because we see it as a problem. Einstein said you cannot solve a problem with the same mindset that created it.

How we deal with the stress is the important thing. In Chinese the same character for crisis is the same character for opportunity. What is the one thing that you have now that you didn’t have when you were really busy, time? How are you going to use that time to recreate what YOU want and make it work for YOU and for your customers. See the quiet times as a chance for you to get together and sort out a strategy for moving forward. One step at a time. When we see what has to be done as one big hit, then it will push our stress levels through the roof. Never underestimate the ideas that will come to you when you get together to sort things out. Remember to write these things down and begin to implement them. Some will work better than others, keep those and toss the others, they take energy you could be using on the good things. Look after your health. Your health is your business insurance, without it you have nothing. When you are on top of your game health wise, things work better, because they are better. The stress won’t be stress just an opportunity to change something. Visualise your stress just as energy that needs to be channelled into something constructive. All emotions are simply energy that needs to be expressed in a way that works for us and gives us direction and purpose not stress.

We can change all the things we like within our business but if the people aren’t there or don’t want what you have to offer then it simply won’t work no matter how much we want it to.

Do your due diligence. Get out and about and ask people what they want. Do they want what you already have delivered differently or do they want a total change. If you are not going to follow the people, then you will need to look at what will bring people to you? I know we have travelled for miles for good food or a great therapist. Find something that is unique to you that you can offer that no-one else does and most of all instead of being stressed about change….GET EXCITED because it means EXCITING things are coming.

We have personally been in this situation many times and have then had to take a step back and recreate what we do and where we do it. So we have learnt to be flexible. Staying in the one place, doing the same thing can become comfortable and even when we see what we are doing reduce in customers and income many prefer to keep pushing at the same thing hoping that things will change and it can then go back to what it was before. It rarely ever does.

Be courageous and trust your intuition, it has probably already told you what to do. Also remember when stressed and in doubt do nothing until your mind quietens and your direction becomes clear. Then have the courage to follow it.

3 things to think about in business are 1:Location, location

2: Follow the money

3: Get what you do out there. Because people don’t know what they don’t know!

Phoebe Hoogendyk: Follow your heart and live your dreams.