Donna: When you think about the word momentum, you might have flashbacks to your day in science class, but momentum is often something that we can relate to business as well. It's defined as a mass in motion. So it doesn't just have to be in the science room that we think about this. It's got a place in business too.
When you have business momentum, tasks get done, goals get accomplished but when you lose that momentum, your business can begin to really slow down and lose focus on the big, big job.
So think of your business like a big mass in motion. Is it keeping the momentum or is it slowly starting to lose steam and spade?
Are you as the business owner, losing steam, that's what we're gonna be digging to today.
Keeping the momentum going in business can be difficult at times, especially when you or your team is tired and running out of motivation, maybe you struggle to say, no, this is a really common thing, especially for female business owners because we want to serve our clients and our customers at a really high level and saying yes is one way to do that.
But it's not the only way to do that. Maybe you don't know how to delegate or perhaps you don't have a team that you can delegate too. Perhaps you're easily distracted, maybe you've lost some of your passion or maybe you're a procrastinator. To sustain your business momentum and to keep it moving along.
I've got a few tips for you today. Five, in fact that I'm going to walk you through.
The first one is to remember why you started to sustain your businesses momentum. Think back to why you started your business in the first place because chances are you had and hopefully you still have a passion for your business and a passion for helping others with what it is that you offer.
Focus on this as your why and use it as motivation to keep your business moving forward. Think about your vision and where you want your business to go in the next few years. Sometimes just thinking back to when you started and reflecting on how for you, how far have you come in that time? Can really give you momentum a bit of a boost and keep you going.
It'll help you to reach those goals that you've planned for the few years ahead of where you are right now. If you look back to where you started and appreciate how far you've come.
My second tip for you today is to set reachable goals. So to keep your business moving forward, you need to set business goals to work towards.
The thing is just want to set any type of business goal and you don't want to set goals that are impossible to reach any time soon. Instead, what I want to encourage you to do, is to set reachable goals for you and you business. Reachable goals can be both short and long-term, and there's a few examples I've got for you that can be attainable within your business goals.
Perhaps you could increase your customer count to a certain amount by the end of this year, perhaps you could reduce your expenses by a particular percentage. Maybe you could increase your website conversion by a particular percentage or maybe hire that new employee by the end of the year.
To reach goals and to keep the momentum going, you need to commit to them and you need to keep yourself accountable and sometimes that means setting hard deadlines.
My third one for you today is to celebrate small and big successes. What's the point of setting goals, if you don't actually take the time to celebrate your achievements and hard work, to keep your momentum going and to keep your team's drive going to celebrate small and big victories.
And look, it doesn't need to be elaborate celebrations. Maybe you can send out a newsletter, spotlighting a few of the goals that you and your team have achieved over the last few months. Maybe you want to take a celebration up a notch and treat yourself to a coffee or a lunch out.
However it is that you decide to celebrate yourself and your business, make sure that the successes don't go unnoticed and once you hit a few of those small business milestones, make sure you keep the momentum going by setting those additional reachable goals.
One of the things that I have found really helpful is to actually record my wins on a list. The reason why I find that so helpful is if each week I'm just spending a couple of minutes to reflect on the week and the wins that I've had and I write them down on that list.
By the end of the year, there's so many things that I can hang my hat on and say, gee, I did really well this year. I did actually move my business forward because there are some times where you think, oh, I'm doing all this work and nothing's actually working. Well, I challenge you to create a list of all of the wins that you're achieving within your business.
Once a week, sit down and throw some things on that list. They'll always be something that you can add. If you want a template for that, I've got one for you. If you go to donnahann.com/wins there's a template that you can download and start to do that for yourself straight away.
One of the most powerful things you can do for yourself and your business is to surround yourself with like-minded women who will support you, inspire you and celebrate with you when you reach your goal.
I'm creating a community of savvy women in business and I'd like to invite you to join my free Facebook group. In the group I share free templates, I check in with the members of the group on a regular basis, and I jump in live every week for coffee and coaching and that's where I share some extra businesses tips.
I answer any burning business questions you might have and help to connect you with other members of the group. It's free to join and I'd love to see you there. Use the group search function in Facebook typing She's In Business with Donna Hann and you'll be sure to find it
That before that I want to share with you is showing recognition and appreciation. A big part of your business's momentum is to do with your customers, without them your business wouldn't be where it is today and this goes for your team as well, if you have one.
So along with celebrating victories, make sure you're showing your customers and your team some love too.
Here's an interesting fact for you. Nearly 70% of employees say that they would work harder if they felt that their efforts were more appreciated. So to sustain that momentum, to show your team that you recognize and appreciate their hard work, give them shout outs, treat them to a surprise and most importantly, say thank you.
A little bit can go a really long way when it comes to recognizing what your team does when they do a really great job and the same goes for you, recognize yourself in that as well, and give your customers some love.
If you've got a customer that's been with you for a while, why not send them a surprise in the mail or why not send them a DM or give them a phone call and just say, Hey, we've really appreciate your custom and just wanted to say, thanks.
That can go a really low way.
Number five, my last one for you today, actually. I said it was going to be my last one, but I've actually got a bonus for you. So hold on in there, expect some hurdles along the way. Challenges are a part of being in business, right? And you knew when you signed up for this whole starting a business thing, that there would be hurdles along the way.
And it's how you react to those challenges that impacts your business's success and also the momentum that you will feel as the business owner to keep going. So instead of letting challenges stop you in your tracks, I'd like you to reframe that as an opportunity to learn and to grow as a business owner, take those challenges one step at a time.
The more challenges you face and overcome, the stronger your business will get. And the more motivation your business will have to keep that momentum going because of the confidence that it brings, every time you overcome one of those tricky challenges.
So those are my five ways to find momentum as a business owner. When you feel like it's just all too much and you want to give up, when you need a boost of momentum, you've got those five tips to get you going.
The things is, owning a business isn't easy, if it was everybody would be doing it and it's not for everybody, but if you are smart enough to be looking for ways to continually improve your business and your mindset, just like listening to this podcast.
I reckon you, uh, a moment that's made for more. It's just about looking for ways to up-skill to turn yourself around, to support yourself with great people around you and to encourage find a way that you can find inspiration.
Remind yourself that you've got this because you do you. You absolutely have got this and that was my final tip.
Ciao for now. I'll catch you next week.
