• What were your key aims when you entered the Fishbowl?
Go beyond the “make more money” which presumably lies somewhere in the aims for all of the businesses. What were the specific aims? Things like increasing a customer base by a certain amount in a certain area, or getting a bigger market share in particular markets, perhaps. Revisit your business plan and remind yourself.
• How close to meeting them have you got?
It can be easy to set goals and less easy to find the time or motivation to monitor them or learn from your progress. Take time to reflect on how things have turned out so far – what evidence have you got (or do you need) to assess how well things are going? What strategies have worked well?
• What are your revised aims, for the next six months?
Good business people will be flexible enough to change aims in the light of good evidence about changing markets, or new understanding about your business or sector. It’s impossible to know everything at the outset so being able to learn from your successes and your mistakes is very important. Once you are convinced of the value of a particular goal, be as persistent as possible to overcome any hurdles that might get in the way (see one of my previous posts, The Art and Science of Not Giving Up).
• When have you been a real roll?
This is otherwise known as “flow” – when you are working hard and absorbed in what you’re doing in a good way, in a way that is productive and rewarding. Try to identify what leads to those times. Is it when you’ve had time for preparation, or when you have a certain combination of people involved, or when you have a good balance of different activities? If you can identify the ingredients, then make efforts to nurture more of them so you can get on to a roll more often.
• Life in the circus
Running a business is a bit like running away to the circus: a bit crazy, and your mum will probably worry, but it’s exciting and you will spend your days walking a tightrope, juggling fire and taming lions. And a bit of clowning around thrown in too at times. Celebrate the successes of the past few months – and give yourself credit for ambitious attempts at things that may not have turned out quite as you’d wished. It’s all good learning and no experiences are wasted.
Sarah’s new book, Keeping Your Spirits Up, is out now.
