We all have been in that position where we don’t know if continuing with our business is worth the effort. Some of us may be more than a few times, for those struggling I want to give a few words of encouragement and advice. I’m here to tell you what I have usually done to get myself and my business on track every time it gets difficult.
As soon as I picked up my pen to write, I remembered the old saying: “Quitters never win and winners never quit”. I tried not to relate the old saying with the article but I realized to surf through the waves during high tides, quitting is not an option.
It’s an undisputed fact that every entrepreneur (most especial mothers) will always encounter a tough time in business. This is because change is constant.
Sometimes you might not get positive results on what you have been working on but because quitting is not an option, you need to keep pushing.
Remember if you walk away or quit during the tough time, quitting will become the easiest step in your life.
You must have heard and read about successful and famous business owners and you want to run your business just like them. You tend to forget the fact that the person you admire didn’t get there without falling and failing. They got there because of the burning passion and desire to make a difference, provide a solution to problems and take risks on behalf of others.
If you ever think of quitting when going through tough times, think of the fact that; You are not a failure, and most importantly is ok to have those moments of doubts.
The successful and famous entrepreneurs are good mentors but don’t consider yourself a failure if you haven’t gone as far as expected. There is quite a number of factors that contribute to making you a successful person. They include but are not limited to resources, creativity, skill, timing, coincidence, relationship, and luck.
The last four factors stated above are very important to get through the tough times because they play a bigger role than you might think. This is why it is important to build healthy relationships with people. You never can tell where your next investor or customer might come. You never can tell who might connect you to the right person.
Look closely at the people you admire, almost all their success and achievements started as luck and coincidence.
Surrounding yourself with like-minded people
To survive tough times, it is important you surround yourself with others who understand and are ready to support you.
Having a strong focus
One thing every successful business owner have in common is the strong focus. When you start experiencing tough times in your business, have strategic plans on how you want to bounce back and ensure you work towards it. Have plans on how you wish to sell your product or service to the market.
How to get through the toughest time of your business
As a mother, getting through the tough time of business is much more difficult because you will have to manage the business stress and family stress all at the same time, working towards your goal while changing a dipper might not be the ideal business environment but believe me, it makes you even stronger to run a business and fulfill your mother role at the same time.
The tough time in every business relates to lack of business or when an important client goes broke or a combination of the two. In short, tough time in business is when you have money dramas.
As a VA I have been in that position several times, you always worry about :
1. What’s going to happen to my income
2. Is my client going to be ok ( because of course we become part of our client’s life and struggles and make them our own)
3. Will I get another good client on time to pay the bills?
While not everyone might have these concerns is the same to be afraid to lose your business, when this time comes to mind I always think this:
Don’t allow thing go worse by sitting back
The most important thing to do whenever you see disaster looming is to take actions. If you don’t take actions as soon as possible, the situation might get worse.
Forget fictions and deal with facts
During the toughest time of your business, it is very easy to start worrying about “what could be”. But the perfect line of action is to get all the information about what is going on with your business and deal with the facts. To get out through this, don’t let your imagination come before the reality.
Take advantage of the awkward situation to rethink your business
If only you see tough times in business as a crossroad to provide opportunities, the period is the perfect time for you to make hard decisions on what “will” and “will not” work. Reflect on your business during the hard times and make the right changes required.
Don’t spend your time with the wrong people
The popular English saying is that “birds of the same feather flocks together. It is very important to avoid negative people and find the positive, energetic business owners that will motivate you.
Maintain a good and strong relationship with existing customers
When most business owners, go through tough times, the depressed mood descends on the business and they stop servicing their existing and loyal customer. This is one of the reasons why you might lose more clients or customers during this period.
The way forward is to build a strong relationship with the existing and loyal customer. Communicate with them, engage them and try to serve them the best.
Keep developing your business
The same way most business owners stop servicing their customers, they also put development to a halt. As tough as the period might be, work harder towards developing your business. Win new projects and source for new clients.
Be ready to try new things
When you are going through this, it might be because your process is outdated or cannot give the desired result. It doesn’t sound logical to stick to the same thing, be prepared and take actions to try new thing and ideas outside your comfort zone.
Invest in yourself and your business
This is the best time to invest in your business. Use this period when you have less traffic to give the outside a coat of paint, train your staff, design new corporate images and make your business look more impressive.
The same way it is important to invest in your business, it is important to invest in yourself. Investing in yourself means attending seminars, workshops, and conference, learning new skills, honing previously learned skill, reading books etc.
Get a mentor
This situation is usually frustrating and challenging. If you are lucky to have someone you admire who has been through something similar, don’t hesitate to reach out and seek help.
Your mentor will not help you take on your problem but talking with your mentor and seeking advice will help you survive the tough moments.
The toughest moment of your business can become the turning point if you are ready to face the challenge and follow the tips shared in this article. Additionally, it is important to learn from the experience and always pick up on the clues that helped you to ensure you don’t get yourself in such situations anymore.
What do you think of this article? What do you do while your business goes through these times? Let us know in the comments and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter!
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This post was proofread by Grammarly
