Change Your Thinking to Change Your Business
If you own it, you can change it. And as Einstein stated, we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them.
I have spent thirty years developing and implementing systems in companies of all sizes with twenty years of focus in the interior design industry. Using foundational business principles, I have guided hundreds of creative entrepreneurs to improve the three areas of their business that are crucial to creating and sustaining their company – people, process and profits. This has resulted in more freedom of their time, better understanding of their financials and working with less stress.
The Problem
But it wasn’t always this way. Coming from a large corporate background, I began my first business where I was so excited to do something different and creative, that I spent more of my time working in my business doing the design than I did building systems and repeatable processes or even focusing on the money or taxes that might be owed. Even with a business background, I missed the mark.
My company was growing, and I was working long days and nights around the family schedule, missing soccer practice with my kids all with the belief that I was building a great company. I was spinning plates and hoping nothing fell. I became exhausted, felt defeated and was really struggling – all while getting what I had hoped for – a growing business. And I was ready to quit. Surely, it did not have to be this difficult. It made no sense to be out of control with all this business coming in, not making the money I needed to all while serving wealthy clients in their fourth home. The madness had to stop.
Turning Point 1
There were two distinct turning points in my business journey which have allowed me to be where I am today. The first was doing my taxes in the beginning years and realizing that I was not making money and valuing my work properly – thereby not charging enough or managing my money well. The pain of having to relay this to my husband almost undid me. I called him from my kitchen table crying my eyes out. I was broken, embarrassed and angry with myself. In my prior career, I had run a large organization with million-dollar budgets, and I could not get it together for my own business. That is the day that I decided I was going to turn this business around and earn what I was worth, change my processes, and create some boundaries for my company. My thinking had to change drastically, or I was destined to repeat the year.
I started studying small businesses. What did they do and how did they do it – and what was missing in my company. It required me to take the basic business principles which I knew on a large company scale and to modify them to what would fit in a small creative business. Change began immediately – because I made myself and my family a promise – I would not put us in that financial position again. I took massive ownership of every decision in my company – the good, bad and ugly. All of it. And it was so freeing. This process opened my eyes and heart to the belief that what I really owned, I could change. And change happened that day at my kitchen table. First, my beliefs about myself changed, believing that I could run a business. Then my identity changed into a business owner who could take massive action. And then my actions followed. Believe it or not, it brought about ease and freedom.
Turning Point 2
The second pivot came at a time where my first business was growing, and I was also scaling a second business. Long days, long nights, travel, hiding in my closet in the middle of the night to work while everyone was asleep. Stress upon stress. My mind was trying to solve problems without proper nutrition or sleep and my body was giving out. I thought I had to do it all. This lack of personal care led to a medical crisis in which I almost died. Within a month I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and had to have a critical surgery to save my right arm due to no blood flow. I remember my cardiologist saying to me, “you did not get into this overnight, and you won’t get out overnight. But you can make a plan to get out of this stress.” Turning point two. I had not been taking care of me and my business in the best ways while working insane hours to meet the needs of my clients, and I was in trouble. Once again, my thinking had to change. Doing business the same way could not continue. Focusing on aligning my teams, igniting my processes and managing my money took center stage. I have clearer boundaries around my business and have the clarity and confidence in my decision making which puts me back in control. My business growth is now done with intention and a plan. The noise has cleared, the overwhelm has resolved, and I love my business again.
This focus on people, process and profits wasn’t easy – and like my cardiologist reminded me years ago, it takes time. But with a plan and consistency, it is possible.
Doing this work to own every aspect of your company and make decisions intentionally will remove stress and help you reclaim precious time – as well as renew the joy and passion for the company you have worked so hard to build. And let me tell you, it is a much better way to live and do business.
My Elite Coaching and The Designers’ Inner Circle help six and seven-figure businesses align their teams, ignite their process and manage their money so that they can have clarity, confidence, and control in their business. The stress relief and reclaimed time are amazing benefits of doing business better and with intention instead of just doing the same things over and over and hoping for a different result. Trust me (and my story above)….that way of thinking does not work. I am here to help you think differently.
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