Why Playing Small Isn’t Helping Your Family or the Economy

Why playing small isn’t helping your family or the economy (and what YOU can do about it).

Life right now isn’t what any of us anticipated as we began this year. We look at the world through a different lens, which might cause us to hold back on making positive changes in our business. Our desire to keep the people and things we care about safe might be causing us to avoid taking risks, or we may feel too overwhelmed to take action.

I understand these feelings. I do. But… to not taking risks and not taking action I simply say, “No Bueno.”

As businesses + leaders in our communities, playing it safe isn’t going to get it done. Not for your company and not for families searching for signs of hope.

Your community needs you + your company to lead with confidence. Showing strength + confidence in challenging times gives comfort to those looking to you as they navigate their own way through uncertainty.

There are actions you can take right now to show strength + give hope to your family, your team, and your community.

1. Investing in professional development for yourself or your team

We’ve all been spending a lot more time at home over these past few months. I’ve loved seeing how people have used this unexpected downtime. Home improvements have been BIG – anything from painting + serious organizing, to updating kitchens and bathrooms. Some people have learned a new hobby – or rediscovered an old one. And the bread – so many people have been baking homemade bread. Yeast became almost as hard to find on grocery store shelves as toilet paper + disinfectant wipes.

What can we as businesses learn from the painters, knitters + bread bakers? Now is the perfect time to look around your business for things that need to be improved + skills that will add value. Now is the time to invest in yourself + your team. 

Here’s the thing – by building skills + improving our team culture or leadership, we prepare our business for continued change + uncertainty. More importantly, we increase our positive impact on the world.

For you + your company, being ready and able to take on this leadership role might mean up-leveling your team’s skills. Much like that messy linen closet you finally organized, there are processes + systems in your business that can be streamlined and improved. And while bread-baking is an awesome skill + I’m a huge fan, now is also the perfect time to add some new professional skills.

The great news is that there are nearly endless sources for professional development online. Your team can learn safely + comfortably from the office or from home. Don’t forget to make this learning FUN! If your team is working from home, add Zoom meetings to the training schedule to feel connected + learn from each other.

Consider empowering your team by challenging members to become “experts” in certain areas + then share their knowledge with the rest of the team. You could appoint a “Prime Minister of Processes” to deep-dive into your current systems and make recommendations to gain efficiency.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Sales training – make sure your team is ready to lead the way as customer buying behavior continues to change.
• New productivity systems – learn Trello or Asana + implement new systems in your business to streamline processes.
• Finish any courses you purchased + just never got around to finishing. No guilt – we all have them. 😏

2. Launching a new product or service

The world needs more of the amazing stuff you do – and so does your community. Think back to the beginning of 2020, before the world turned upside down. What were your goals for the year? What were the dreams you had for your business for this year + next?

Was this the year you planned to launch your new course? Were you going to expand to a new location or maybe get involved in a new market? Was growing your team on your list?

Maybe you decided to put those goals and dreams on hold. You might have even considered closing your doors, whether they’re physical or virtual, to wait things out.

I get it. But…here’s the thing.

The world needs you + your ideas – right now. Your community needs you to lead by example – to show them you believe in the future of business in your community and they should, too.

SO DUST OFF THOSE PLANS AND GET STARTED ON THOSE GOALS. TODAY.

3. Building and improving your brand

Now is the perfect time to dive deep and work on your brand. You’ve taken time to remember the goals and dreams you had earlier this year. Now imagine where you want your business to be in three years. What does that look like? Have you introduced new products or services? Are you in new markets? Have you grown your team? Has your stature in the community grown?

Once the picture of your future business is solid in your mind, turn your attention to your current brand. It’s a near certainty that your brand as it is today doesn’t match that future vision.

It’s time to pivot and refine.

Pivot your business and your brand to respond to the changing market around you.

Refine your brand to align it with where you want to go in the future, not where you are now or (yikes) where you’ve been in the past.

Wondering how to go about refining your brand?

I’ve got your back.

You see, strategy is my superpower.

When I work with you, I’ll share my strategy for elevating your brand and stepping into a bigger vision of your business, what I call Aspirational Design℠.  Click here to learn more about Aspirational Design℠ and why it needs to be part of your plans for your brand + website.

It’s time for you to play the part

Your business has a mission that goes beyond the work you do. You have a role to play in your community – helping all of us move from this point of crisis into a better + brighter future.

Got a vision for a better future? Let’s make sure your website is up to the challenge. 

BOOK A CALL