May 2024 Business Growth Happens Outside Your Comfort Zone
A time in your business when you were outside of your comfort zone
Think back to when you decided to start your business. You probably had feelings of anxiety, discomfort and excitement. And although you were somewhat afraid, what potentially lay ahead (freedom to pursue your passion, generate a greater income, and have autonomy) provided the strong reasons to help propel you forward.
During the first 12 – 24 months you would have been learning new tasks – selling, quoting, invoicing, admin tasks, recruiting, managing employees and the list goes on. It was a time of learning and growth, while being outside your comfort zone.
A time when you operated from within your comfort zone
But after some time, all these tasks became familiar, your employees became settled and income was regular, and being in the comfort zone was welcomed. You still had daily or weekly problems to solve, but they became manageable as your experience grew.
But after some time, you noticed that things were a little too mundane – same systems, same clients, same projects, and you started to feel a desire to improve and grow parts of your business.
What is a comfort zone and what are the advantages?
A comfort zone defines your habits, routines, challenges and business operations that are fundamentally comfortable. These things are familiar. You know what you’re doing, and you know what you can expect. There are plenty of advantages to staying in your comfort zone: there’s a sense of security and predictability, you’re in control of your schedule, and you feel capable, competent and confident to deal with the daily operations and service you provide.
What are the advantages of staying in your in your comfort zone?
It’s easy for you to stay in your comfort zone, but the problem can be as the world keeps growing and developing, that if you don’t keep up with new trends, innovations, systems, and opportunities, you can lose employees that feel bored by an idle and overly cautious approach. You can easily find that your business may be susceptible to losing revenue when changes in economic conditions like increases in interest rates occur. And you can feel flat and uninspired when you aren’t implementing new ideas into your business.
How to grow your business and move just beyond your comfort zone (but maintain stability)
There might be an opportunity to grow your income stream with one idea (like running a second project using subcontractors or installing ponds). You may have been thinking about buying a tipper, employing an experienced Team Leader, or implementing a new project management system. I think you get the picture. Perhaps you have been considering new opportunities, innovations or improvements over the past 12 months or longer, but you felt the time was not right.
If that’s the case, I would ask you, could that idea or improvement enhance your business? And if so, how could you utilise it while your core business remains stable?
The answer is below.
Here are the steps to utilise a new idea, opportunity or purchase.
Step 1 – Learn as much as you can about the new idea. If it means spending money on equipment, an employment, or a new income stream, add this expense to your financial plan. Your accountant can help or just do it in Xero.
Step 2 – Create a detailed step by step plan.
Step 3 – Hold yourself accountable to take the steps or tell someone else that this is what I am going to do and ask them to keep you accountable.
Step 4 – Take small steps but keep moving forward.
Take calculated decisions and lead with excitement going forward. Each new challenge is an opportunity for growth, learning, and moving forward with a growth mindset. You’ll be surprised what a small change can do for your business, so go on, get comfortable moving just beyond your comfort zone!