Let’s get (and stay) motivated

Meta4 Business Coaching

Aside from the all-important question of, “is it OK to market?”, the second most frequent plight from business owners during these times has been, “how do I stay motivated?”. Every single business across the land has been affected one way or another, from major staffing challenges through to establishing new ways of continuing delivering to customers within serious limitations, whilst simultaneously managing children at home or vulnerable family members with their own pressing needs. No easy feat!

This has seen an uprise in a rollercoaster of emotions to which I am sure you can relate. A positive mindset should never be underestimated in business and the need for it has never been more prevalent. This is likely to continue for the next few months at least, when different challenges are going to be sent the small business owners’ way; team members coming back to work – when and how, services resuming to a new kind of normal, and a nations’ mindset and how we interact with one another shaken.

“When the vision is clear, the results will appear. Keep your mindset positive as you work your plan, flourish, and always remember why you started.” Germany Kent

Here’s how you can keep yourself (and your team) motivated and able to continue to deliver a service and business you can be proud of.

Set new goals

This time has likely brought up all kinds of issues, such as training needs, perhaps around technology and confidence for both team and those managing them. Or maybe there are team members no longer able to do the job they were brought in to do due to changes in ways of working. Perhaps you have noticed that your marketing wasn’t able to react quickly enough to the changing conditions and when new business is still being done, it’s not been the case in your small business.

We’ve heard talk about this being a time to press the reset button. So, get it pressed and bring in revised targets and objectives. Check out a recent webinar for the Sutton Coldfield Chamber of Commerce I co-hosted with fellow business contact, Naeem Arif, where motivation and customer experience tips were top of the agenda.

Get clear on your costs

The huge shift to reliance on technology will have had a huge impact on your business and how you (can) deliver to your customers, handle a more flexible approach to working for your team and just how many in person meetings you need to attend. Therefore, in the long run potentially alleviating more time and resource to handle business in a more efficient and effective way.

With this in mind, now is the time to work out your cost to serve and if you’ve never done this exercise before, it can be seriously illuminating. For each of your services, what is delivered to the client and what is the associated cost? This exercise had recently been done with a business owner working through a business coaching programme, let’s call her Jane, who found that she was undercharging her services by around 50%. Time for change.

Alleviate the minor frustrations

Ever heard of the Halo and the Horn effect? It’s a type of cognitive bias where a person’s impression of a situation, service or person can substantially influence one’s thoughts and feelings about that. For example, you walk into an office and you get offered a cup of tea and the tea is lovely. Your impression of that business from that moment forward is a positive one.

Look around you and where and how you work, sort out your minor daily frustrations and life and business will become a lot sweeter and easier. Do this for your team too (thinking PPE and more flexible working) and watch for the positive changes in your small business.

Lost your motivation or need some guidance on how to keep business moving? Book in for a free 1-hour business kickstart session and get some clarity, focus and direction for the best next steps in your business.