How to take your business to the next level

Today’s post is all about how to take your business to the next level.  It starts with a simple exercise.

I want you to imagine something.  I want you to imagine that next year, you only need to generate 10% of your usual income from your business.  Now, while you are imagining that, answer this question and write your answer down in detail:

What would you do differently, if you knew you had the freedom to run your business for a whole year, with almost no pressure to generate income?

Thinking with freedom

Most small businesses reach a plateau or levelling point, beyond which they are unable to grow.  As our thoughts determine our actions, if we fail to think of ways to get our business to the next level, we also fail to take the actions required.

By regularly focusing on how to pay the bills next month, we get the short-term answers consistent with that kind of thinking and take short-term actions.  This starts a cycle that leads, at best, to stagnation!

That simple exercise at the start of this post, can help you identify a uniquely valuable product or service, which can take your business onto a whole new level of achievement and contribution.  It inspires next-level thinking, rather than the fearful thinking that is born from financial worries.

How it worked for me

When I did that exercise for the first time, I went one step further.  Rather than use it as a way to generate an idea, I used it as a way to build the blueprint of what is now my business!  I immediately set about doing work that mattered, rather than work that would pay me in a week or a month.  It changed how I worked forever and has given me the freedom, to help other business owners, do the same as me.

I’m not suggesting you take it as far as I did, though my experience has been 100% positive.  However, at the very least, this simple exercise can be used to uncover progressive, value-driven ideas.