What took one business owner from chaotically hitting a brick wall to calm and purposeful success?
Join us as we reflect back on our work with one client, J. He approached us for business growth support which we jumped on board with but like many of our clients, what he thanked us for in the end, was getting his life back.
‘I should have done what we did years ago’ he says.
When we met J, heading up a busy independent architectural practice, his order books were full and he had zero debt. What seemed like a good position on the surface hid the realities of what was going on underneath. Habits missing in J’s life were turning up in his business and it was telling.
What looked like success didn’t feel much like it to J.
Under the surface
It’s a problem we see with many business owners. Over the initial stages of setting up, they settle into a comfortable pattern of working but as they grow further, the complications get out of hand. At an awkward growing-up stage, we see problems associated with an enterprise no longer being in infancy but not yet mature enough to stand up on its own.
It’s the stage at which an exhausted and overwhelmed business owner should be able to let go of the reins and step back because the kind of energy required to get going in the first place isn’t sustainable over the long term.
J was losing interest in his business and his health was suffering. ‘It was a bit of a mess because I was a mess’, J confesses. ‘It was a bit of a sweetshop with no processes in place.’
The knock-on effect on his business
‘I thought I had to come in every day with my Superman pants on’ he reflects. Unable to hand anything over, he spent his time and energy on things that didn’t light him up and it was telling. Working six days a week, he got lost in the noise of having to control everything around him. Avoiding confrontation at all costs, he wasn’t working with an A-Team and he didn’t trust enough to hand things over.
As a result, J was struggling with:
- Low workplace morale.
- Staff overstepping the mark and running the show.
- Lots of work but not much to show for it.
- An air of stagnation.
- Time and energy lost to chaos and lack of structure.
- Feeling grouchy, resentful and negative most of the time.
Probably not things he went into business for.
So something had to change.
The mindset shifts
What J needed was a mindset uplift to set him back on the road to success:
- From doing it all to letting go – it wasn’t easy at first but by delegating the things that drained him he was able to put more of himself into what he enjoyed, like spending time nurturing client relationships.
- From fear of change to future-facing confidence – a new mindset gave him the tenacity he needed to employ more people thereby increasing his workload capacity and his turnover.
- From colleague to leader – he now sees his people as an asset and feels privileged when they choose to work for and with him. And when they go, he wishes them well, happy to have been an enriching part of their journey.From a limited mindset to one of abundance – ‘profit is no longer a dirty word’ he says and his financial success reflects this.
- From chaos to order – with time ringfenced for working on the business as well as in it, J was able to carry out a strategic action plan for growth. Efficient rhythms across the board meant everyone felt good about their part in the bigger picture.
But none of this could have been possible without the brave personal work J undertook. It involved asking searching questions and being honest with the answers. He has gone from:
- Neglecting his health to taking care of it – dialling back on six-day weeks and picking up a running habit, he feels more energetic, happy and able to sleep peacefully at night.
- Chasing balance to finding integration – it’s no longer a matter of either/or when it comes to work. Able to walk away from the one-man-band frame of mind, he’s now able to prosper in his personal life too.
- Being obsessed with control to letting it flow – he’s able to hand things over and take the time he deserves to enjoy his success.
How we got there
‘Where we were to where we are now is unrecognisable.’ J comments with relief.
- By encouraging him to re-visualise his role, he was able to see the value of stepping into leadership. It gave everyone the boundaries and parameters needed for success.
- Our practical tools allowed him to restructure and re-conceptualise his working week: visually and tangibly in a way that made sense to him. They were easily transferable to his diary and into his life.
- Close to losing his identity to the business, we reassured him that he had options and choices. This was hisbusiness.
- Every founder wants certainty as they grow because it can feel risky. By giving J a safe space to try out new ways of working and thinking, he gained the confidence to make the necessary changes.
- It took a brave mindset shift for J to hand things over to his team but we were with him every step of the way.
So if you see yourself in J, how do you grow your business and get your life back?
We understand what’s underneath: it’s about grasping the fact that personal development is key to business development. That’s why our tools and systems are about supporting the human organism as much as they are the organisation. It’s a symbiotic relationship: the pulse that goes through the functions of a business also moves through its people and vice versa.
When we work with one, we work with the other. In effect, you cannot grow your business effectively and sustainably without getting your life back.
If J’s journey has inspired you and you feel like it’s time to go on one of your own, we’re here for you. Please get in touch and we’ll schedule a chat.