Escape the Rut: 3 Ways to Think Differently About Your Business

Hey there.

As a business owner, you can feel like you’re in a rut when there are too many demands competing for your attention, or you feel like you’ve hit a place where you’re stuck, and what worked before just isn’t working anymore.

And you’re looking for a way to get out of the rut and to get your mojo back.

You might be in a rut because:

• Your business has grown and created issues you haven’t had to deal with before. And that’s really pushed you outside of your comfort zone.
• You’ve grown organically so far and you want to build a business with more consistent and reliable revenue.
• You’re not 100% clear on all the stepping stones between where you are now and where you want to go.
• You feel like you’ve reached your capacity, especially if you’re really hands-on and you’re the main salesperson in your business.
• You’ve lost focus and motivation, you’ve lost your mojo, and you want to find a way to get it back so that you can start to hit the targets and goals that you’ve set for your business.

And you need to find a way to get the growth you want because burnout can be a real risk at this point, and there can be growing pain as you transition away from doing everything yourself.

Here are three ways that I’ve supported myself to get out of ruts and think differently about my business:

Tip # 1 – Build a Support Team

Tip No. 1 is to build a support team around you because after a while it gets too hard to manage it all on your own.

Women who find a way to break through and go on to achieve the kind of growth and success they dreamed of when they started their business, are not being ‘the lone ranger’ or ‘flying solo’. They have a support system around them.

A mentor.
A coach.
A peer group.
A mastermind.
A business network.

When you start to think differently…

When you no longer run your business as a ‘lone ranger…

When you stop flying solo…

… you can make your way out of the rut.

And, if you feel afraid to ask for support… know that there is no shame in asking for support.

I ask for support every day. It’s why I’ve been part of peer-to-peer masterminds and why I’ve also belonged to a Mastermind out of North America for the last five years.

Tip #2 – Let Go More

Once you’ve got your business up and running and bringing in an income, there can still be trouble ahead because the things that help you grow in the first couple of years are not typically the same things that’ll carry you forward to the tipping point and beyond.

In fact, it’s quite common for businesses to show some early success with organic growth in the first year or so, and then find it difficult to keep that momentum going long-term.

So even after a period of growth upwards on this, grab a lack of systems or good financial management, or perhaps even hiring the wrong people or not getting enough support when you need it can all combine to sidetrack your business here into the decline point, left unresolved.

This can lead to declining results and sadly, even the demise of your business, as things get more and more chaotic.

What I know for sure is that you need to be really clear at this point about where to put your energy.

(If you’re a HerBusiness Member – dive into your library or call the office and get access to those resources because they are there for you to use to get out of the rut and really start to get momentum.)

You might say:

“Hey, Suzi. But I can’t let go of anything in my business.”
“I don’t know who to give the tasks to.”
“It will take as long to train someone as it would to do it myself.”
“I’m not sure if the business can afford it,”

I answer all three questions in this episode of the HerBusiness podcast.

This tip of ‘letting go’ is so essential because if you get burned out from being in a rut. If you don’t start to think differently bout your business. Then you can burn out, fall out of love with your business, and lose sight of your vision.

And that would be a bummer. Because you started this business because you have something to bring to the world.

Tip # 3 – Take Different Action

Tip No. 3 to Escape the Rut and think differently is to take some different action.

Right now perhaps you’ve reached a level of sales that you just can’t seem to break through to a higher level of income. You feel like you’re on a treadmill making just enough to keep things going, working hard, but not really getting ahead.

And no matter how hard you work or what you try, the only movement you seem to get is sideways and running a business at this stuck point can be exhausting, never, quite having enough resources, never quite hitting the potential, you know, is in your business.

It can leave you feeling frustrated, disappointed, and worse still, over time, you could end up resigned to staying in the rut and feeling powerless to change things. And I know many business owners find themselves there.

If you’re stuck and not sure what action to take it could be that:

1. You’re focused on too many things — I see this all the time. There are just too many things to do and not enough time. That’s why inside the HerBusiness Network we have 8 main areas of business that we focus on – and we can’t focus on all of them all the time, so we cycle through them depending on where you are now and where you want to be. Just last week we ran a members-only workshop called “From Stuck to Soaring” where members completed a diagnostic to identify where in their business they are stuck. And the progress they made in just a few hours was phenomenal because they could finally pull back the overwhelm and know clearly where to put their attention for the next 30 days, 90 days, etc.
2. You don’t have the space and time to make a plan — Take the time to get away from the day to day busyness and do some planning and get a clear picture of what the business is doing. I take myself away physically a few times a year to clear my head and to get some perspective on my business. One of our HerBusiness members just did 2 x 1-week retreats herself where she took herself away from her family and business to work on the business. Giving herself time and space to think was transformational for her and her mindset and her business.

This October we’re creating a space for you to flourish and work on the big picture of your business at the REACH Retreat, our retreat for women business owners.

You can learn more about the program at TheReachRetreat.com

“I knew I needed to think about things differently!”

“I knew I needed a change. I knew that I needed to do something different or think about things differently. So I was looking for a transformation.
The most important part of being at the REACH Retreat has been having space, a place to pause, being in a different location, and not being distracted by everything else that goes on in our day-to-day lives space.

I think it’s important to take yourself away, make the effort to get away, and travel because it’s more of a commitment you’re investing more into this process. And so you were so focused on what you’re going to get out of it.

I have been really challenged by this experience, but not in the way that I thought I would be. I have faced some fears. I’ve faced some uncomfortableness. Something happens over these five days that have you think a little bit differently and it doesn’t have to be the biggest change. It’s just that little tweak that micro-adjustment that sets you on a slightly different trajectory.”

Fiona Keary, Style Liberation

So many of us have become so used to being in a rut that we think it’s normal.

It’s not. You can be in the flow. You can be in momentum.

But it takes doing a few things differently.

1. Build a Support Team around you – network, peers, community
2. Let Go More – Get your CEO hat on and use your talent in a way that will benefit your business the most
3. Take Action – Stop doing what you’ve always done. Find the time and space to plan and get clarity on where to put your focus and effort.

I’d love to know your thoughts.

You can email me here.

Suzi Dafnis