Have you ever imagined what it would be like to restart your life and/or business from scratch, knowing everything you know now but with a completely blank slate? I’ve often dreamed about going back in time to specific stages in my life, armed with my current personal experiences and knowledge, imagining how I would approach circumstances differently if I knew what I know now.
Well, its tiring living in the past, but that doesn’t mean it can’t help with shaping our future. When your business falls on hard times it’s easy to bury your head in the sands. These 7 easy steps will help you get your head out of your pillow and start thinking more positively and productively.
- Firstly, ask yourself, “what would I do differently if I could start over now that I know what I know now?”. List the top 10 things you would do differently, or have differently around you, in both your company and person life, over the following three months. Do this by dividing a piece of paper into two columns, one labelled business/work and the other labelled personal, and numbering from 1 to 10 in each.
- Take some time to think about what you’ve written. Take a breather. Walk away from it, sleep on it, and come back to it in a few days.
- Next, ask yourself, what would happen if I made these decisions and established the necessities required to make this happen?
- Think on the outcome(s), whether it’s good, awful, or ugly. Can you live with the consequences if the worst-case scenario occurs? What about the most promising outcomes?
- At the very least, consider the prospect of doing things differently! You’ll get nowhere fast if you’re indecisive. Part of the fun of working for yourself is trying something new and changing it if it doesn’t work out.
- Examine and accept change. The market is rapidly changing these days. This is due to the rapid advancement of technology, which means that businesses must be willing to adapt and embrace change, especially when it comes to satisfying client wants and marketing strategies. Businesses that do not re-evaluate their procedures and operations on a regular basis are significantly more likely to fail than those who do so periodically and make required changes.
- Keep an eye out for trends and get involved in them. Be attentive so you can strike while the iron is still hot. It’s good idea to come up with unique ideas. For instance, printed slogans if your retail shop sells T-shirts. You may make a lot of profit here. But act quickly, or you’ll end up with tens of thousands of T-shirts that no one wants to buy once the craze has passed. You’ll get better at spotting them as time goes on.
You must learn from past mistakes and anticipate future changes that may pose a threat to your firm, just as you would in real life. I hope you found these steps to be helpful and that they presented you with a wealth of information. The most crucial thing you should remember is that 70% of new businesses fail every year. A business takes years to grow, therefore it all boils down to your willingness to fail again until you succeed. What’s most important is that you learn why a certain element led your firm to fail and build a solution as a result of this failure.
Toni is an Administrative Personal Assistant and Business Executive, who loves travelling, health and beauty, lifestyle and business. She regularly spends her time multitasking.
