Throughout the whole of August we are talking about how important it is for business owners to #pushforward. To extend their comfort zones and challenge themselves. To no longer accept things for what they have always been. Why? Because only by doing these things will you be able to take your business to the next level.
Earlier in the month, we talked about what happens when you don’t push forward and let things stay as they are. But this week we’re focusing on how to do it. So read on, push forward, and start focusing on how to take your business to the next level, moving towards whatever success looks and feels like to you.
How to take your business to the next level
But if you want to push forward, if you want to take your business to the next level, what do you need to do?
The specific details of this will of course be dependent on the nature and stage of your business, but there are areas that we all need to consider when preparing to level-up.
1) Check your foundations
Checking your foundations is a crucial activity for anyone with big ambitions! We can push forward on a reactive basis (ie. by responding to day to day opportunities), but if we don’t have solid foundations, that growth and development is built on shaky ground. In addition, if we don’t know where we’ve come from, how do we know where we’re going?
So instead of just diving in and chasing the ‘shiny things’, take time to review and consolidate what you already have. Understand where you are now, and once you’ve done that, you can plan how to go forward.
2) Set some goals
It’s absolutely true that growth can occur naturally and, as we mention above, reactively – and often with a good dose of good luck thrown in. But when you are considering how to take your business to the next level, you need to think about it in terms of sustainable growth. Essentially, creating strong building blocks to place on top of those strong foundations.
And this is where goal-setting comes in. When we set goals well, it sets our direction of travel in the short, medium and long term, with the time you attach to each of these intervals being dependent on what you want to achieve. For example, we might set goals for the growth of a business as a whole over 1, 3 and 5 years. But at a project-level (eg. revamp a website), it might be more like 1, 2 and 3 months.
3) Get control of your mindset
Especially if your plans to take your business to the next level rely on your mindset, getting yourself in the right headspace is crucial. For example, you might decide that you want to grow your Instagram following by a particular amount, as you know that it’s likely to result in more business. However, you don’t like to be visible on your channels yourself, do reels and videos etc. Even though you know that, to achieve your goal, these things are necessary. But the thing is, you have to want to do these things. If, in our heart of hearts, we don’t actually want things to change, they won’t. Regardless of what you do. But if you do want to push forward, you will achieve your goals – either through a healthy dose of determination on its own, or with some additional support if you need it.
4) Get your team around you
What you need to do to push forward in your business may be achievable completely on your own, or you may need people to help. For example, you may need a graphic designer to level-up your visual brand. Perhaps you might need a business coach to give you a fresh perspective and keep you on track. Or it may be enough to know that you have someone cheering you on when you venture outside of your comfort zone.
I myself am a great example of that last point. For a long time I have never been comfortable in front of the camera, and especially on video. So it has been easy for me to ‘hide’ behind Chloe in this respect. And it wasn’t until recently that I was ready to venture out on my own. But then one day, that changed and I have now done six reels, completely on my own, in six weeks! Why? Because I was ready to push forward. And because I knew I had Chloe, and a brand coach that we have been working with, in my corner!
5) Commit and be held accountable
This final point is closely linked to mindset, and it’s designed to control (and ideally remove!) the threat of procrastination! We may genuinely decide to push forward with something, knowing what we have to do and even how we’re going to do it. But even then, how often does that thing get pushed back and de-prioritised? Or even worse, not get done at all?
This is where commitment, and accountability comes in!
So instead of putting things off and telling ourselves that you’ll do it ‘next week’, how about now? Openly commit to pushing forward – ideally in front of others – and ask them to hold you accountable. Ask them to check in with your progress, and challenge you if you’re not moving forward much as you should. It really does help you to make things happen! One study, for example, found that you have a 65% chance of completing a goal if you commit to someone. But if you have an accountability appointment with that person, your chance of success increases to 95%!
How will you push forward?
So? How will you push forward and take your business to the next level? We love hearing from women about their plans for their businesses – and if we can become part of their journey and help them to move forward (holding them accountable along the way too, of course!), even better!
But whether you choose to push forward with us or not, don’t wait. Be brave. Challenge yourself. Push forward. You CAN do it!