5 signs that you need help for your business

Are you a solopreneur or solo business owner who is doing everything by yourself? There comes a time when in order for your business to continue growing you have to get help. Knowing when that time is and knowing what help is best to get can be difficult, but don’t worry I’m here to help you. Keep on reading to find out the 5 signs that you need help for your business

 

 

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5 SIGNS THAT YOU NEED HELP IN YOUR BUSINESS

 

Sign 1: You are fully booked

 

For many service-based business owners the dream is to be fully booked and whether it has taken you months or years to reach that stage there is nothing quite like that feeling of realising you are fully booked. Until you release that also means you can’t make any more money.  

 

Now depending on your business model that isn’t entirely true. (You can find out how to make more money when you are fully booked here). If you run a service-based business where the service doesn’t last a very long time it may be that you are only momentarily fully booked and can still be signing up clients for the next week or month. And even if you offer a service where clients sign up for months, you can still take bookings for when you are next available (this approach is commonly used by designers for example). 

 

However, if you have become fully booked then you should definitely take a moment to look at everything you are doing in your business and assess whether you should be getting support. The likelihood is whilst you are fully booked all of your time isn’t being spent on working directly with clients. For everything non-client related you should ask yourself “Could someone else do this?”. Some areas that could be looked after by someone else are bookkeeping, accounting, social media, editing (podcast or video), inbox management, customer services, website, email marketing and so much more.  

 

If you are fully booked, then you definitely should be looking at the return on investment in relation to your time. If you can hire VA for £25 per hour and that frees you up to work with more clients at £100 per hour it is a no-brainer.  

 

The type of help that might be right for you 

At this stage you will predominately focusing on outsourcing and hiring people to perform roles like the following: Virtual Assistant (VA), Social Media Manager, Editor, Accountant, Bookkeeper, Graphic Designer, Web Designer

 

 

Sign 2: When you are spending hour Googling things 

Are you spending hours Googling how to do something for your business? Google is a wonderful tool and realistically you can learn how to do nearly everything for free online, but whilst the information is free (financially) it does cost you in something else (time).  

 

If you are just starting your business and money is tight then you might be willing to invest your time to hunt down the free information even if it takes you longer than it needs to do. However, there comes a time when you need to value your time, as much as money, and really look at if you are using your time wisely or whether you should be getting help in your business.  

 

The type of help that might be right for you: 

Option 1 – You might need to outsource (hire someone else) to do something for you. For example, rather than spending hours learning how to create your website you hire a website designer to do it for you. This is especially good for one off tasks (building a new website) and so there is very little value in you learning how to do it or tasks that require a specific software or technical skills. In that situation it is likely someone else will be able to do it much quicker and better.  

 

Option 2 – You might need to hire a professional (such as a Mentor / Strategist / Coach or Trainer) who will be able to save you hours and ensure that you are learning how to do things the right way for your business. This is usually a good option if it is something that you need to do as an ongoing basis in your business or something that directly impacts the growth of your business (such as marketing).

 

If you are ready to stop wasting hours Googling how to market your business or how to grow your business and instead work 1-to-1 with a professional then I’m here to help. Depending on what you are struggling with I have services that last from one hour to 6 months. You can see all of the ways I can help you here.

 

Sign 3: You are doing things you don’t love and resenting it 

 

The fact is in business some things have to be done, but it is important to realise that just because they have to be done, doesn’t mean you have to do them. All too often I come across service-based business owners who are great at what they do, but are struggling in their business because they are trying to do everything and they hate it.  

 

Deciding to start your own business is a massive decision and I truly believe that for all of the risk there is in running your own business the payoff has to be that you enjoy it. So if you are resenting some aspects of running a business and it is starting to get you down you need to look at getting help.  

 

The type of help that might be right for you: 

 

If you are at this stage, then outsourcing should become your best friend. List all of the things you don’t like doing and then identify which ones you can pay someone else to do.  

 

 

Sign 4: Your business growth is stagnant

 

Has your business been bringing in the same revenue month after month? If so, it might be a sign that you need help for your business. Firstly, you need to honestly ask yourself if you have been actively trying to grow your business. Sometimes the truth is a business is stagnant because the business owner hasn’t been doing the necessary sales and marketing activities to create growth. However, if you can honestly say you have been trying, but still not seen any growth then it is time to get support.  

 

 

The type of help that might be right for you:

If your business growth is stagnant and you genuinely don’t know when the best type of help you can get is 1-to-1 help from a business strategist, coach or mentor. Working 1-to-1 will allow someone to identify what they think the problem is and make recommendations specific to your business.  

 

One option is to work with someone on a one-off basis. For example, I offer Strategy Days where if you are an action-taker, but just need support to create their marketing strategy, I’ll create one with you in just one day.   

 

Another option is to work with someone on a longer basis. For example, my signature programme last 6 months. This is a better option for business owners who want to grow their business, but just having the strategy isn’t enough. When you working with me for an extended period of time you get more training (no more Googling everything), as well as being held accountable and having a cheerleader in your corner.  Find out more about my 1:1 Business and Marketing Mentoring programme here.

 

 

Sign 5: You aren’t following through on your intentions 

 

Do you have a to-do list filled with things you know you need to do in relation to your business, but you just keep on not doing them? If so, this is a sign that you need help for your business and you specifically need help being held accountable.

 

The fact is building a business requires you, as a business owner, to have to do things outside of your comfort zone and that is easy. Now it might be that the specific task pushes you outside of your comfort zone (for example creating live videos on a social media platform) or the result of the taking the action scares you (for example the action grows your business as you want it to, but you feel you want be able to cope with the work, money, fame pressure etc). 

 

Not following through on your intentions from time to time happens, but if week after week you realise you aren’t taking the necessary actions you know you need to get for your business you need to get help, and specifically accountability.  

 

The type of help that might be right for you: 

If you are in this situation you need to be held accountable. Depending on your personality and the type of actions you are trying to take it might be that accountability in a group format might work for you. You could consider joining a mastermind, a group programme or a membership group.  

 

The other option is to work 1-to-1 with a professional, like myself, who will hold you accountable, but also ensure that if the accountability isn’t working we get to the root of why you aren’t following through on your intentions to ensure you are start taking the actions you need to take to grow your business. .  

 

 

WORK WITH ME 1-TO-1
When you sign up for my 1:1 Business and Marketing Mentoring programme you get advice on the best strategies for your business, training to ensure you can successfully delivery the strategy and accountability to ensure you are following through on your intentions. I’ll be your marketing strategist, business coach, accountability partner and cheereleader all rolled into one. Find out more about my 1:1 Business and Marketing Mentoring programme here.

 

 

There you have it! You’ve now know the 5 signs that you need help for your business 

 

Knowing you need to get help and actually getting help are two very different things. Now I am not one of those people who encourages people to get help just for the sake of it. I’m proud to support solopreneurs and solo business owners, but sometimes, as I have shown above, it is the right thing for the business to get help (whether than be temporary or long-term).  

 

I urge you to properly think about what help could really make a difference to you and your business. Whether that be outsourcing something you hate, getting advice to grow your business quicker or getting the accountability you need.  

 

In the comments I would love to know what help you are going to consider getting having finished reading this blog post 

 

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WANT HELP TO IMPROVE YOUR MARKETING AND GROW YOUR BUSINESS? 

I’m a Chartered Marketer, with a decade of marketing experience who now specialising in supporting solopreneurs and (super) small service-based business owners to get clear on their business goals and then implement the right growth, marketing and sales strategies to achieve build a thriving business that supports the lifestyle they want.  

 

When you work with me I’m by your side every step of the way to ensure that you are only learning and applying the marketing, sales and busienss growth tactics that are relevant to your business (no more Googling for hours). And on top of that I will be holding you accountable every step of the way.  

 

If you are ready to stop playing small with your business and really go to the next level, you can find out more about how we can work together here.