When we start a new business, it’s a time of real excitement. We are gifted with boundless energy, as we take our dream of a great business and lifestyle, then set to work on making them real.
Then something happens
After a year or two, it’s common for business owners to find themselves in a rut. It may be a good rut. It may be a bad rut – but it’s a rut. The rut is born from a period where things start to settle down and become more familiar. There’s no longer anything new or big happening, which truly invigorates them and causes them to stretch and grow.
Whenever I speak with a business owner, who tells me they feel a little flat or demotivated about their business, I ask them a few questions. The questions change depending on their situation, but are based around the following examples:
- What’s the big idea, which is exciting you so much right now, that you’re finding it hard to sleep?
- What’s the exhilarating new product or service you’re developing?
- What’s the compelling story about your business, which is currently inspiring the marketplace to take notice of you, for all the right reasons?
Usually, I find that the reason they lack motivation (or inspiration) is that they are coasting. What used to be new, is now old. What used to cause them to stretch, is now comfortably within their abilities. They have become comfortable.
Comfort is great when we go to sleep at night, but we need to stretch and break out of our comfort zones, if we want a business that grows exponentially and continues to motivate and inspire us.
Reconnect
Reconnect with the motivation and energy you had when you started your business. Take it to a higher level. Stretch. Step out of your comfort zones. Demand the best from yourself.
Then, watch that rut disappear – as you and your business begin to grow again.