Is your small business in rapid descent? Here’s how to pull the nose up.

Depending on how your day has gone, you may feel like you’re in rapid descent or outright free fall.

An Instagram post from financial coach Maggie Germano resonated for me:

Put your own financial oxygen mask on first.

Remember the instructions? I know, it’s been a minute since I’ve been on a plane, too. In case of loss of cabin pressure, put your own mask on first before helping others.

But how do you do that?

The last month has been an accidental nerd treasure trove of market research for me. I estimate I’ve met or gotten some business data from nearly 1,000 small business owners.

Here are some things I learned from helping you navigate small business stimulus:

  • You sort of know who your customer is.
  • The books get closed most of the time. You’re kinda sorta sure they’re accurate.
  • You don’t have an operating budget or a prediction for how much revenue you’ll make this year.
  • When it comes to paying yourself, you have more aspiration than expectation.
  • You wish you had taken a couple of business classes at some point. It weighs on your confidence.

I don’t say this to make you feel bad or weird. The reasons you started your business are that you were really good at something, or had a passion for it. Not because you loved time tracking or were fascinated by payroll tax administration.

But if we put your financial oxygen mask on right now and take that calming breath, I have some other questions:

  • Were you where you wanted to be before the coronavirus pandemic hit?
  • Were you happy with what you earned from your business?
  • Did it support the life you want to have?

If the business wasn’t working for you before, are you doing all of this fighting to go back to the way it was?

 

Finding your sustainable path

Of those 1,000 business owners, about 5% had a rock solid handle on their business. And that corresponds to my experience overall in running Sif Industries for the last five years:

You’re great with customers, products, and services.

You’re not quite sure how to run your business.

And by no means should that stop you from pursuing being a business owner!

But as you go, it gets harder and harder to stay afloat if you aren’t regularly addressing these questions. You might be able to make revenue, but you won’t be profitable in a sustained way. You will always wonder, can I afford this? Should I spend that money? Can I pay myself more?

Before COVID-19 happened, I was organizing a beta cohort for a new course that would guide you through how to answer these questions. Now, I feel like the universe is saying, “It’s time. You have to start doing this.” So, I’m going to get this going, starting in 3 weeks.

I am launching Keep More: A Fast Track to Making Your Business Work for You. 

Together, we’re going to get crystal-clear on how your business works, where you have opportunities, and what it will take to bring your vision for your business into the world.

Accelerators and small business programs take a few companies per year into their 3- to 6-month programs. I know you don’t have that kind of time, so I designed a set of essentials to get you on track in six weeks.

To get the ball rolling, I’m hosting an introductory webinar on Tuesday, April 28 at 12 PM Pacific / 3 PM Eastern. I’ve designed the webinar to give you an actionable starting point to answering this questions, whether or not you decide the course is for you. I’m going to give you a starter kit for how you tackle those questions. But, that means you have to register & show up. I will not be distributing the replay on this one.

Want to learn more? Sign up for a free Strategy Session here.

I am excited to help you get on the path to a financially successful, sustainable business future.

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