Have you lost the passion that you used to have for your business? No one opens a small business without some kind of passion. Sadly, however, business owners often lose touch with that original passion as their businesses grow and they get bogged down in daily operation details.
The good news is that you can find your passion, reignite it, and make it burn brighter than ever before. As with all areas in life, there are cycles and seasons. The journey of owning a business has its peaks of great excitement and accomplishment, along with its valleys of dullness and day-to-day slogging. Your passion is what keeps you going.
Here are five tips for rekindling your business passion:
#1 Look for ways to stretch your skills and be creative with your assets. Too often, we fall into a rut, forgetting that our daily activities aren't everything we can do. When we're busy, we're content to stay in our comfort zone, but boredom sets in and we wonder if we've lost our original passion. Banish boredom and fire up your passion by challenging yourself with new "stretch goals." If you've been successful teaching small groups, stretch yourself and agree to speak to a large audience. Take on a client in an unusual industry. Re-examine your client list and ask yourself whether you're missing out on other types of ideal customers. When you stretch out of your comfort zone, you find the excitement and passion that first attracted you to your business.
#2 Take a second look. Have you ever seen yourself on video? It's a whole different perspective than seeing yourself in the bathroom mirror. Sometimes, it's difficult to believe you're the same person. What you've experienced is a change in viewpoint. When that happens, you notice new details, see things you've never seen before, and gain a new appreciation for your strengths and awareness of your flaws. You can do the same perspective shift with your business by asking two important questions: "Why?" and "What if?" What if you went after a new target market? What if you started selling products or services over the Internet? Why haven't you created an information product or a book? Why are you working with clients and on projects that you don't enjoy?
#3 Reframe to find new possibilities. I once talked with a woman who said that she wasn't interested in working with people who initially contacted her via the Internet. When I asked why, she explained that she distrusted the Internet and believed that "worthwhile" clients would contact her via phone. What she didn't realize was that for customers today, the Internet replaced the phone. She was missing out on the potential of great new prospects because of her feelings about the Internet. What would happen if she reframed those feelings? Instead of thinking, "I don't trust contacts from the Internet," suppose she began to think, "Younger customers use the Internet like a phone. I could broaden my clientele by accepting their 'calls' via my website." What changed? Just an attitude. Try it and see-reframing is magic!
#4 Reinvent and redesign. When you first started your business, you were passionate about wanting to provide a solution, solve a problem, and launch a product. Once your business got up and running, those things that first fueled your passion became ho-hum. Your passion began to fizzle. Kick your passion up a notch by finding some way in which your company needs reinvention. Do you need to launch an online sales strategy? Is your company represented on social media? Do you-or your employees-need some training to brush up on skills? Can you improve, refine or reinvent the way you deliver your product, meet new prospects, or follow up with existing customers? When you dive into a project to create something new or make something better, your passion shifts into high gear and everything feels new again.
#5 Try on a new role. What activities did you like best when you first started your company? Was it sales? Networking and meeting new people? Product design? Customer consultation? Physically providing the product or service? How much of that are you doing now that your company is more mature? Many entrepreneurs discover that as their businesses grow, they have less and less time to do the pieces they love because they're bogged down with daily operations. You're the boss, so reassign yourself to a new role! Take an inventory of what you do best and what you don't enjoy. Think of the skills needed to do the pieces you dislike, then look for places where those elements could present a growth opportunity for someone on your staff. Don't view it as pushing off something onto someone else; your baggage could be their big break. Done right, you free yourself to do what you're best at, while helping someone on your staff discover a new way to shine that suits their talents. You and your employee get a fresh burst of passion. It's a win-win situation!
Passion is the energy that fuels your business. When your passion runs dry, it's like having your car run out of gas. By rediscovering and rekindling your passion, you'll get a whole new lease on life and a fresh new approach to business. Best of all, you'll find a new level of enthusiasm about your business that will attract prospects, invigorate your employees and make you remember why you started this company in the first place.