Mastering The Art Of Balance: Three Phases To Boost Your Solo Business Strategy

Neglect. It’s an uncomfortable word when it comes to business for many solo business owners, yet it’s something that creeps into our productivity if we’re not careful. 

I mean, it’s easily done, right? You pour all your efforts into completing a major project, only to find that something else has dropped off while your back was turned… talk about spinning plates!

When all the responsibility rests on your shoulders, it’s critical that you have a strong strategy that helps you to keep all your plates spinning, balls in the air, or however else you might like to describe keeping sight of every aspect of your business.

The Potent Productivity Method™ has three distinct phases to help you achieve exactly that:

1. Clarity

2. Balance

3. Direction

Clarity ensures you are building your business on super solid foundations. Without it, cracks will start to appear further down the line, which means that your business will encounter all kinds of symptomatic problems that all stem from a lack of clarity in these six areas of your business:

1. You - Who are you, and how are you credible and relevant?

2. Them - Who do you care about helping, and what problems are they struggling with?

3. USP - What is unique about your approach to solving these problems?

4. Offer - What is the core “thing” you want to be known for and how is it packaged?

5. Contact - How can people find out more about you and contact you?

6. Success - How will you measure and track your success?

When you are crystal clear on all five areas, you gain massive amounts of confidence, which allows you to ignore distractions and forge your path ahead towards meaningful impact. 

I come across solo business owners on a daily basis who have either been in business for years or are transitioning into a new season in their lives. If they don’t have clarity in all five areas described here, they feel overwhelmed, a little bit lost, or like they’re trying to push water uphill! If that’s you, you’re certainly not alone. Head to maximpactbusiness.com/foundations for support.

Balance is probably the most tricky thing to achieve in business when you’re on your own… but it doesn’t have to be! As a business owner, your business, no matter what the niche or size, can be broken down into five areas:

1. Your Goals - What do you want YOUR business to look like and impact YOUR life? 

2. Customer Care - How will you look after your customers, wow them, and show them your appreciation?

3. Add Value - How will you make a positive impact in your niche?

4. Spread The Word - How will you reach new people?

5. Deliver On Your Promises - How can you be sure that you’ll do what you said you would?

It’s my experience - especially with service-based solo business owners -  that most people struggle to achieve this balance because they’re unwittingly focusing on one or two areas at the expense of others. If you want to get a quick snapshot of how well you’re balancing your business across these areas, head to potentproductivity.com/assessment, where you can take my quick, free assessment and get your results instantly.

Direction is the final phase if you want to be sure that you’re not neglecting critical elements of your business. This is created through my 4R’s of Potent Productivity:

1. Recognize - What is the most important area for you to focus on?

2. Reality - What is it going to take to achieve in reality?

3. Roadmap - What are the exact actions you need to take?

4. Reassurance - How can you be sure that you’re taking the best actions?

I’ve had two conversations recently with separate business owners who both wanted a funnel building but didn’t realize the complexity of the process (the “goo-roos” make it sound so simple, don’t they?). Once I had shown them a visual outline of the entire project, walked them through a checklist of the individual tasks, and given them an estimate of how long it might take to complete each part, they were surprised at how intricate it was.

This understanding was critical for them to move forward, though, because then they had the information they needed to figure out what was most important, what it was going to take, and what they needed to do next, and they had the confidence to know that they could achieve their goals in a way that worked best for them.

If you could use a bit of help with the direction of your business, head on over to sjpbusinessdevelopment.com/services for more info.

While clarity, balance, and direction are all important pieces of the puzzle in their own right, you can achieve amazing results when you layer them up on top of each other. Many solo business owners are afraid to admit that there are gaps in their businesses. They are worried that if they revisit their foundations or scrutinize their habits, they’ll pile a whole load more work onto their already full plates. 

In my experience, that’s not what usually happens. In fact, in many cases, the turnaround from struggle to soaring is quick and painless. Don’t let fear win! Dive into the area of the Potent Productivity Method™ that meets you where you’re at right now, and let’s get stuff done, shall we?