Happy new year! I'm never quite sure at what point in January we stop saying that but I really wish you a year full of opportunities ahead. Maybe you're not reading this in January, it's still relevant if you want to make some bold business moves so stay with me.
January. You can smell the fresh enthusiasm and the ink drying on those goal cards all around us. To keep in with that, I want to talk about making big moves so that you can shake trees and take bananas (I said this to a client once, it absolutely cracked him up so it's become a thing now. I prefer it to taking names and kicking ass so it stays).
For my perfectionists out there, my PRINT 5s (if you know, you know) I want to share this quote with you.
If you put off everything until you’re sure of it you’ll never get anything done.
This is the year for taking action. To take imperfect action even if you're not entirely certain. Being in business is about taking a leap at times or trying something so that you can test it out, get some data back and enable growth. Shake trees and take bananas.
Trying something different, doing something you've not done before, attempting something you're not entirely sure how to do. Whatever the case may be, there's definitely some motivational quote out there that will tell you to get ‘comfortable being uncomfortable or ‘growth is just on the other side of your comfort zone. I really do believe in that advice, I'm not minimising it. But one of the most dangerous things you can ever say in business is "we do this that way because that's how we've always done it."
It's your time to take some bold action, make some moves. You know these things so it's time to grip it and rip it.
Here are five bold business moves for you to make this year
#1 Hire a coach
If you want to go fast, go alone but if you want to go far go together. A mentor, a coach, a mastermind, group coaching. Whatever feels right to you, get one or get in one.
Obviously, I’d say hire a coach eye roll. But back in 2016 when I was stuck on a very painful plateau in my agency business, I managed to find the cash to get on a flight and head over to West Palm Beach for Tony Robbins’ Business Mastery. That was a big move for me at that time but one of the best moves I’ve ever made.
Proximity is power and surrounding yourself with people who drive you to raise your game, raise your standards is exactly that, powerful. You don’t need to get on a plane but have a look around, find someone who’s doing what you want to do and get into their proximity.
And if you’re going to hire a coach, check out this blog first as I cover off what to look for when you’re hiring a coach.
#2 Do more video
Disclaimer! I literally hate myself on video, this is not up my tree. I'm ok (now) with my own voice so my podcast does it for me. I encourage you to do (and I might try to do myself), one thing it’s video.
I follow a few fellow coaches and consultants on Instagram and other social media channels. I'm in awe if not a little bit jealous of how confident they are at picking up their phones and doing lives. Sometimes they seem so spontaneous and natural. The thing is the consistency at which they do it means their followers are really getting to know them. They’re adding value so their audience starts to like them and trust them.
Whether it's on lives, in your ads, a YouTube channel or even tiktok, video is only getting bigger and bigger. This is a trend that’s not going away. Why not challenge yourself to do three days or five days of Instagram lives?
Who knows what could happen and what’s the worst that’ll happen? If you’ve tried at least you’ll know!
#3 Create some shock and awe
I was listening to a live talk with Rory Sutherland and there's something that came out of that talk which has stuck with me. He said, 'keep being crazy, be illogical, do things because no one has tried it.'
What I think that comes down to is that you're a small business (any business that has a turnover of less than £6.5 million is apparently a small business). That means you can be agile and try things that big businesses can't or won’t. You can surprise your audience, shock them, wow them. You can be really creative with this too.
Sometimes we think we need to give more of our services, have a better service, be cheaper, more competitive. We don't. We just need to find things to wow, to do something that people aren't expecting.
I can't tell you what the big idea could be for your business but you can look at where people first meet you, how they work with you, how you communicate with them, change things up, be more unedited. Be more random and keep looking for negatives that you can switch up.
In my own business when someone signs up to my Growth Code® coaching program, they receive a pack in the mail with goodies to set them up for success. It’s unexpected but it’s always well received.
#4 Simplify your business model
You have some level of proven success to be where you are now. That's cool. I also want you to experiment and most of all, simplify. Before I get to that bit, let me talk about taking action and doing some experimenting.
I had a client who wanted to move from selling one to one to selling one to many. We designed a runway together and a live webinar for a launch. With no ad spend, only organic marketing we grew his email list and made several sales in the multi-five figures in revenue off the back of this one live online event. This particular client might have said, "I loved that, let's do it again." And equally, he might have said, "running that was hard I'm not sure it was worth the effort."
Either way, one way or another, he experimented and now he knows. That's a good thing. I'm not going to tell you which one he went for because I don't want you to have any preconceptions if you're thinking about trying a new way of selling. The message is to try.
Now let me get back to simplifying. If you're going to experiment with anything, let it be simplifying your business model. There might be things that aren't working, that aren’t going as planned or aren't making you money. It's time to examine those things and simplify.
This is a big move and it's not an easy one. I have an agency client who is making bank but there's still this residual fear that things might get tight again so they are still trying to be a jack of all trades. Resist the temptation. Stick to what you want to do, what makes money and what is aligned to your clients' needs. It’s the fastest way to be more profitable and more fulfilled in your business.
It's a bold move simplifying and saying no to all the things. You will thank yourself for staying strong. Have a look at your services, your offers and examine what you can simplify.
I did this about a year ago in my coaching business. I was trying to provide all sorts of levels of support and levels of coaching to make everyone happy and fit everyone’s needs. I even designed one specific program because someone asked me to, madness I tell you, madness. Until I took my own advice and now I have a really simple business model. One signature one-to-one coaching program that's 12 months (and high ticket), a scaleable group coaching program that's 12 weeks and one continuation offer. Done. Nothing more and nothing fancy. Each offer has a promise and it makes selling a whole lot easier!
#5 Raise your prices
If you know me, pricing and charging more is a topic I’m hugely passionate about. If you don’t know me yet, there’s something you should know - my priority will be to help you find ways to ethically charge more, be more expensive than your competitors and still have clients lining up to work with you. (In fact, I helped one client have the confidence to raise her prices by £50,000 and that’s what I’m talking about!)
Being in the race to the bottom is no fun at all especially when you’re an agency, service-based business, coach or consultant. Trading time for money can be draining. If your invoice schedule doesn’t reflect how busy you are, your costs of doing business have increased, you provide massive value, great service but feel like a short-order cook. Then it’s time to raise your prices.
You see 80% of your revenue might come from 20% of your clients, or services or your efforts. One way or another the 80-20 rule will apply. That means that 80% of the time you’re not making that much profit so it’s time to adjust your pricing.
Freedom in your business is just on the other side of mastering your pricing strategy. It’s a bold move, a scary one for most business owners, but I hereby challenge you to raise your prices and give yourself a pay rise!
It’s not easy as I said but I have a ton to help you (including plug and play scripts to communicate your price increase to clients in a way that they’ll love and you’ll feel confident). Grab that freebie pricing playbook right here!
There you have it. Five moves you can make to shake trees and take bananas. What do you think? Which one are you going to take action on? Maybe all of them? Maybe there’s a big bold move you’re going to make that you’ve been thinking about and now is the time.
It’s January, we’ve got about 98 days left of the month so why not pick one of these to implement. Schedule some thinking time on how and then get it done. And remember, it doesn’t need to be perfect. Imperfect action is better than no action at all.
Movement creates momentum. So go on, get moving.
If you’ve been thinking about how to reach your goals this year, you’re stuck or not sure what to do next then let’s have a clarity call and see how to get you moving. DM me on social with the word CLARITY or email me hello@workwithsian.co.uk
