Trending
There is a dirty little secret nobody tells you when you start your own business.
You have to fight for it.
You are the chief warrior—the hero—for your vision.
Which means you decide which battles are worth fighting for.
The first battle: with yourself.
Take “Jack”—who decided to retool his practice and how he positioned his firm.
Jack had been riding a wave that had just about extinguished itself. He’d done transformative work, made good money, but he could feel that times were changing.
Fighting the part of him that wanted to hang on to what had been working, he started experimenting to see what might have the potential to be his next big thing.
After a few false starts, he hit on something with impressive early results. After some thoughtful interviews with his buyers, he decided to pivot his business and go all in.
The second battle: with the “experts”.
To update his website, he consulted his web developer (who was entrenched in his former specialty). Jack quickly realized they were stuck in an industry mindset and snarkily drop-kicked new ideas that didn’t fit their experience.
He decided it was time for a change and asked around for referrals (which BTW also gave him a chance to talk about his new vision and win over a few converts).
His VA—a long-time solid supporter of Jack and his business—wasn’t getting into the new vision. She seemed to take longer to do simple tasks and was dismissive of his desire for a more robust tech stack.
Yep, he made that change too. Reluctantly, but it was the right decision.
The third battle: with those you no longer serve.
Some existing clients had to go. It was painful and felt risky to Jack, but he was committed to making room for his pivot.
After a few client exits, he realized that narrowing down to his ideal clients and buyers—serving from his genius zone—was exhilarating. Not only that, but they took less time to serve and paid more.
His journey to the other side of his pivot (not to mention popping through a revenue plateau) didn’t come without a little testing, a little bloodshed.
Don’t shy away from a battle when it’s the push you need to reach your dream.
Related: You Hit the Finish Line on Your Big Project—Now What?