Donna Hann
What are the most essential ingredients to grow your business? I believe there are five different parts to this. And I'm going to share that with you today. This is what we're going to talk about, on this episode, the essential ingredients to grow your business.
Donna Hann
Hello, I'm Donna Hann, a business coach, and an online course creator. And this is the She's in Business Podcast. You can think of me as your business bestie, who's a few steps ahead of where you are right now. As a monk fueled with ambition and determination, I've created and sold three businesses. I've learned the lessons made mistakes, and I understand the daily juggle in the hustle. I also know what it's like when relationships fray and burnout taps you on the shoulder. That was my world until I reshaped and transformed the way I ran my six figure business. Today I help women to transform their businesses and go from being the overwhelmed entrepreneur to becoming the thriving entrepreneur feeling energized, empowered and fulfilled within their business lifestyle. I want to inspire your business journey and help you to stop spinning your wheels, because I want you to burn bright instead of burning out. And I'll invite other entrepreneurs to share their real life stories too, because I want you to know that you're not alone. You can be the savvy entrepreneur that you were born to be, and enjoy the freedom to do the things and be present with the people that mean the most to you. So if you're ready to rise to the next level, and build a business by design, this is the shears in business podcast for moms who are made for more.
Donna Hann
So welcome to the podcast, I am Donna Hann, your host. And I'm really looking forward to digging into this with you today I'm going to be sharing some things that have been really important to my growth, both personally and professionally in business. And I know that they could be equally important for you to, especially as at the moment, we're living in a really just really interesting times with everything going on in the world. And that can really test our mindset. And it can really test our you know, the strength of our business as well. So in order to grow our business, we actually really need to grow within ourselves first, to become more of who you truly are today than you were yesterday, to step into more of that potential that you know that you have inside of you. And to see what you couldn't see, to believe what you maybe didn't believe, and to do things that you never thought you could all of that takes a big shift in mindset growth. And so today in this episode, I'm going to share I guess, five parts, five ingredients for a recipe for growth. Now, before we dig in, I really want to acknowledge that being in business, you get to create the rules. And it is like a game, you get to experiment, you get to evolve, you get to change. And you get to do this in your business whenever you like.
Donna Hann
So I'm raising this, because it's important for you to know that the power is all yours. So let's go with recipe or ingredient number one. And that is it's important to keep score. Meaning that we need to have markers within our business that we measure things that you review each and every month each and every quarter things that you can really measure and see the tangible, gradual growth that happens within our business. Now, if you don't know what's working and what's not, if you don't know what areas of your business are growing, and maybe which areas of your business are really sort of stagnant. Then how do you know where you're at? It's really important to keep score like a sports game. It has a scoreboard so we can keep track of who's winning. You know what play is working. So I want to I want you to ask yourself, within your business, what play what strategy is working within your business. Where are you measuring things, markers that you can really see the growth. That's part one is making sure that you know what's working within your business and what's not everyone wants the results, everyone wants more followers more influence more money, you want to reach more people and make more of an impact. But are you willing to do the work to get those results, which brings me to part two, or the second ingredient to the recipe is that we need to know that work is what is really required to get the goods, we need to be open to working hard. And that can sometimes may mean being open to change being open to that growth. Because if you keep doing what you've always done, you'll keep getting what you've always got. People want that end result, right? You want that end result, I want that end result for you, and I want it for me within my business. And whatever that is for you. It's going to take work, it's going to take inner work, as well as rolling up your sleeves and you know, doing the other kinds of work within your business. But we've got to be okay with change. And we've got to be okay with evolution, and tweaking our business constantly. That's where the work is, and it never stops. It's, that's the action taking right is the constant reviewing of those, those markers within your business being open to change being open to an evolution of your business, and constantly tweaking all the time. And this is where sometimes, often, resistance will show up. The internal struggle starts to bubble up inside of us. And this is ingredient number three. Does it ever feel like within your business, you're driving with the park brake on? Have you ever felt like it? Have you ever felt that that resistance and that resistance could be a refusal of letting go of things that are no longer serving you, it could be that resistance to step out of your comfort zone and into the unknown. But if you want something that you've never had, we frame that as a goal, right? If you want something you've never had, that's another word. That's another way of describing your goal. And perhaps maybe you want to grow your business to $100,000 or 200k, or 300k. And maybe you haven't done that before, I'm going to assume that you haven't done that before. If that's one of your goals. How will you know how to do it. Like that alone can be a huge sticking point of resistance, the how. And I'm going to come back to this in a second.
Donna Hann
But what we need to wrap our head around is that the true teacher in life and in business is actually experience. It's doing stuff and learning from it. It's taking the lesson from whatever it is that you're going through in your business or in your personal life. And taking that lesson and learning and growing from it. And this is part number four ingredient number four. When we're in a stage of growth or a phase of growth within our business, we're doing lots of things that we've never done before. You know, and maybe you're really smart and savvy, and you've applied yourself to learning from an online course or a business coach, and that is great. I love that you're doing that. I love love, love that you're doing that. But have you actually taken action on the things that your learning? Now you guys, if you've been listening to the podcast before you know that I have been a dance teacher, I owned a dance studio for many years. So I could teach you how to dance right? I could record videos, I could create worksheets and PDFs, I could show you and teach you the theory of dance, the mechanics of movement, I could pass all of that on to you. And you could do the worksheets and you know, do the online lessons and pass with flying colors. But are you now a dancer? Would you now describe yourself that you're a dancer? Or would you need some studio practice? You know, not just watching and reading and listening to how to dance but actually taking the action and moving your body, honing the movements getting used to the beat and the timing, improving your strength improving your flexibility, getting really familiar with the sequence the order of the steps, right. You need the practice you need the experience to Go along with the theory of what you're learning. And it's the same in business, the growth, the true learning comes from the action of doing. And when we get it wrong, that's when we learn the most. We're so fearful of getting it wrong. But that's actually where the biggest lessons are the opportunities for improvement.
Donna Hann
Maya Angelou amazing lady has a quote, which is when you know better, you do better. And that's exactly why, you know, doing putting things into practice taking action is so important. Now, going back to ingredient number three, or point number three there was talking about that resistance, that stuck feeling. What that really is, is fear. It's our protection mode. It's our safety. Because when we know that we're doing something we've never done before, we know that there'll be moments of failure, we know that there'll be moments of setback. But we can flip that thinking and go into a state of the growth mindset, in acknowledging that it's all part of our learning. It's kind of like another example would be, if you wanted to go for a swim, but you didn't want to get wet. You know, I'm going to, if you like, I'm going to go and I'm going to become a brilliant swimmer, I'm going to do everything I need to do to be amazing swimmer, but I don't like getting wet in the pool. You can't go into business and grow and scale without also acknowledging that at times, you'll face judgment. At times, you'll receive feedback that maybe stings, or perhaps you'll make mistakes, that's going to cost you money.
Donna Hann
So subconsciously, we find reasons not to do that thing. We make it hard. And we feel that resistance in ourselves to say, Well, I'm not sure I should do this because of x, or I feel stuck because of why. And therefore I'm not going to do it. Therefore, in doing that if you stay safe, right, but you also don't grow and you don't evolve, and you don't change. Now I've got one more piece of advice. Another part another ingredient for the recipe of growth. And I'm going to share that with you. When we come back from this short break.
Donna Hann
I've got a question for you. Are you ready to reshape your business to be one that fills up your cup rather than drains it? I know what it's like to feel like you're spinning your wheels and working your butt off on all the things for your business, while also wearing all of the other hats. I know what it's like to be drenched in overwhelm. And I understand the feeling of mom guilt when you kick yourself for all the moments you miss with your kids, because you are so consumed in your business. And I know that it doesn't have to continue on that way. If you love the creativity, the challenge and the buzz of building your own business, but you wish there was some way that you could learn business skills and strategies to avoid burnout, then you need my framework. The Ready to Rise group coaching program will show you the path to integrating the three sides of you inspired smart businesswoman, the devoted present in the moment mum and the grounded, inspired and energized you. I'll teach you the step by step strategies that will take your business to the next level and pave the way for you becoming the savvy businesswoman that you know you have the potential to be. Starting on Tuesday, the 14th of February doors will open for the next intake of the group coaching program and I'll be celebrating the opening of the program by hosting a series of free mini sessions so that you can get a feel for how I run the program. And its many many benefits. So if you want to join me for the daily mini sessions, head over to my Insta or Facebook page. I'll be there showing up daily from the 14th of February onwards. And if you want to find out more about the ready to rise program and if you want to join the waitlist, then head to Donna hann.com forward slash course. Doors open Tuesday the 14th of Feb. So marketing your diary so you don't miss out.
Donna Hann
I've shared with you today. The first four components, the essential ingredients to growing your business. I talked about making sure you're keeping score whatever markers that you are constantly reviewing and making sure that you have got that growth that you know like a sports game, what's the score? Right? Then we talked about part two or ingredient number two, which is about doing the work to get the results that you want, not just rolling up your sleeves and doing the work within your business, but also doing the inner work that goes with it. Then I spoke about resistance and how that shows up. It's like that feeling of driving with the park brake on, and how the resistance to not letting go of not of what's not serving you anymore. To you know, step out of your comfort zone and into the unknown is really important. We need to acknowledge that if we're wanting to level up our businesses and hit those, you know, six figures that you that you're really going for, we need to acknowledge that, you know, it's something you've potentially never done before. And so because of that, the sticking points of resistance comes out of fear. I also talked about how we need to allow ourselves to get in there and do to actually take action on what we're learning. So that we open ourselves up to making mistakes, because within those moments of making mistakes, is where we learn the most. Right? The last piece of this is letting go. And the mantra that I use for this is let you need to let go before you can let in. And I'm going to use a, I guess an example to help make to help this make sense.
Donna Hann
So have you ever been in a relationship in the past, maybe you can think of an old boyfriend or an old girlfriend in the past where the relationship was unhappy. It wasn't working for you. You wish you were in a better relationship, but you were fearful to break up. Because you didn't want to have that icky conversation, you didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. You didn't want to go through that stage of loneliness. And you know, being back out on the market again. And maybe logistically, it was just easy to stay where you were, it was harder to, you know, break up the relationship and figure out where you're going to live and you know, all of that kind of stuff. But how can you meet your ideal partner, to find that relationship, that happiness, if you're unavailable, because you're staying with the wrong person. And eventually, when you did break up with them, and you let go, then you're able to let a new person out new opportunities to meet the perfect person. So this is the concept of letting go to let in. And it's the same concept with resistance and growth. Do you choose to make it hard? Or do you surrender and let go what you're resisting to allow it to flow. And I just want to kind of make a point here that letting go doesn't mean losing.
Donna Hann
So maybe you've realized from tracking your business measure, like those things that you're going to measure those metrics from tracking your business, you've realized that there's a service or a product that is running at a loss within your business. Or maybe there's an employee on your team, and it's just not working. Maybe you've identified that one of your clients isn't an ideal fit. And so, letting go doesn't mean losing. Letting Go can also mean opening your arms to receive more. So maybe you let go of that product or service that's not working and bringing you an income to your business. Maybe you let go of that employee that isn't representing your business to the level that you want it to be. Maybe you let go of that client that isn't the right fit for you and just causes issues and problems and you find yourself, you know, really focused on serving them, not serving the clients and customers that you know, pay their invoices on time and give you great reviews and feedback and they're happy. You know, by letting those ones go. You're opening your arms to receive more you're giving opportunities for other people to come into your business that are a bit of fear. But it takes courage. And it takes self belief and it takes trust and that can be challenging. And it's so worth it. It's work. It's intentional, and it's effortful, but it's about willing to be something you've never been before. And you've got to do things that you've never done before. In order to go to that next level of growth, and the more you resist, the harder it becomes. And I know this from personal experience. And I also want to acknowledge here, that this is something that never goes away. Unfortunately, although I'm giving you the recipe for growth, this is a recipe that you're gonna have to repeat time and time again. This is like the recipe for grandma's scones, that's been passed down. And you know, it's a, it's a recipe that that works, right. But it's a recipe that you repeat, this is one of those. So I've given you my five ingredients for growth.
Donna Hann
Now, I'm going to also give you five questions that will help you along with this process when it comes up for you. So the first question that you can ask yourself, when you're feeling that resistance, when it feels like you're driving your business with the handbrake on that it feels hard. Ask yourself, what's no longer working for me? What's no longer serving you anymore? That's the first question. The second question is, what have you been unwilling to let go of? What have you been unwilling to let go off? This is a great practice to do in a journal. The third question to ask yourself here is, what do you think will happen? If you do let go? Like, what's the worst thing that can happen? If you let go of whatever it is that you know you're hanging on to? The fourth question is, what will happen if you don't let go? What will happen if you don't let go? And the last question number five, is what would your life look like a year from now, when you let go, what's possible for you when you let go? So to recap, we had five ingredients, the first ingredient was keeping score, measuring markers within your business. The second one was be willing to do the work, both the inner work, as well as the rolling up your sleeves, pen to paper, pedal to the metal, that kind of work. The third one was resistance, acknowledging that resistance will show up as the internal struggle that driving with the park brake on, but what is it that's not serving us? What do we need to do to step out of that comfort zone and into the unknown to get the goals that you want? The fourth thing was making sure that we're not just learning, but we're also implementing that we're, that we're doing the work so that we can learn from the experience, because that's where the growth is, that's where the true opportunities for improvement lies. And then number five was letting go before you can let in. And then we had our five questions that you journal on, right? By doing that, this can then become a process for you, that you can work through every time, you want to go for that next level of growth. Because with every new level, there's a new devil. And this is why I said before, this is something that I work through consistently, like constantly, all the time. And it may be something that you've acknowledged that you've been feeling lately, and you're like, What is this? Well, this is part of business. And I, my hope for you is that these questions will help to bring awareness around what you need to do to take back your power. Because it is really powerful, that you hold the power, like it's your business, you do it how you want to do it. And that's why we start in business, right? Is you get to create the rules. And it is like a game you get to experiment, you get to evolve, you get to change, and do whatever you like within your business, the power is all yours. However, we need to make sure we're not holding ourselves back out of fear. Because fear is that thing that just keeps us safe. And if we want the growth, it's about stepping outside of your comfort zone.
Donna Hann
So I hope that this episode has been really impactful for you. And I'd love for you to DM me with your thoughts. I answer all of my DMs and I love hearing from the listeners of this podcast, with your thoughts about what landed for you what was helpful, and also what topics you would like me to cover in the future because this This topic was actually born from some suggestions that came through when I reached out a couple of weeks ago. So thank you to those people who did respond and send me through the things that you want me to speak about. This was one of them. So I hope it's been really helpful and have the absolute best day and go out there. Level up, go strong. And I hope that this has been really helpful in giving you the tools to grow your business. Bye for now.
Donna Hann
Thank you for listening to this episode of The She's in Business Podcast. If you enjoyed it, please share it on Instagram and Facebook and I'd be so grateful if you could leave me a review on iTunes. Be sure to include your business name and Insta handle so I can give you a shout out to if you want to know more about what I do the programs that I offer, then head over to www dot Donna hann.com and follow me on Instagram at Donna underscore Hann underscore SIB. I hope this podcast inspires you to be courageous and take action in carving out your very own business by design where you can avoid burnout and shine like the universe is yours.