Business

Are Your Foundations Firmly In Place?

Building a business happens with ease when our foundations are in place, but can be a struggle when we are missing the basics. When did you last sit back and take a good look at the castle you have built? Did you check out the foundations while you were at it or did you just admire the shiny turrets and gorgeous environment you have built? Did you look to see if it is getting a little top heavy… are some bits quietly falling over?

As business people, we are often full of ideas and there is always the temptation to build castles in the air. In fact, many a great business starts off this way – with the outward facing structures. Sooner or later you will need to ensure your foundations are up to the job! Sometimes a little renovation is required!

A simple place to start is to look at where your business is right now and look at where the structures are crumbling, and where they are holding firm and contributing to your vision.

Sometimes it’s not easy to see that the marketing manager who was your answer to everything really isn’t working out because of their vile personality…. Or that much as you detest systems and processes, without them you just have a different variety of chaos everyday (entertaining for some, stress inducing for most!). And it’s even harder to acknowledge that just maybe it is you that is the bottleneck between your dream and the current reality.

2017 is a foundational year… what you set in place now will provide the base for your future growth. Are you standing on solid ground or do you still have a few castles floating about, waiting to be tethered and grounded in some sort of practical reality that will allow your business to grow? If something’s not right in your business, take a good hard look at the foundations. When you have the fundamentals in order, all else will follow with far more ease.

If your current essentials are in great order, imagine your business doubling in size and ask: ‘What foundations are required here for everything to flow with ease?’ Systems that work right now may not hold up under the pressure of growth. Now is the time to create new possibilities. In looking at your business in new ways, you open up doors for further growth.

Think of it like an upward spiral… you create an idea, generate the energy that moves it forward and then you institute the practicalities that allow it to flow with ease. If you keep all three processes in balance, your business grows up in an ever bigger spiral. If you miss one, it always feels like you are starting at the beginning – no growth is possible!

Make April the month where you strengthen your foundations. It will mean that May, June, July…. will all show up with greater ease and more capacity for profitability. Not sure what to do or what to look at? Consider arranging a free business coaching session, and see what it is you’re missing.