How to Create a Thriving Business?

What does it mean to thrive in business? For me, it means having the balance of something that is profitable and gives you freedom, but also something that makes you feel good and is aligned with your long-term goals.

If you want to create a business that you can see yourself in for the long-term, it is important you do something you enjoy and which gives you a return on your happiness, not just your bottom line.

The first tip I want to share with you is all about passion…

PASSION

I really do believe that profit follows passion. Spending time getting to know what you enjoy, what energises you and brings you fulfillment, is the best way of finding your passion.

When it comes to the traditional career path, our motivation behind the reason we came to our chosen job, is usually born from a need to find a job, rather than a passion to do that job. Although the passion might be there in the beginning, as you progress and grow, that passion can become a little thin.

It can often feel impossible to be able to create something that you love, and that will also be profitable. However, I truly believe that if you tap into what brings you joy, you can easily find even the smallest thing to sprinkle into your day, each and every day, which will make you feel fulfilled in your business, bringing you a sense of happiness and joy.

It shouldn’t have to be about choosing one or the other, something that will bring you happiness, against something that will bring in an income. There is a way to achieve both. This is how…

You need to create a business around your personality, beliefs, your passion, and the things that bring energy to your life. Take time to think about what really gets you going, and how you can bring that into your business every single day. As I said, it doesn’t have to be all or nothing, a business that’s only full of enjoyment with no income coming in, or a business that makes you lots of money but brings you no fulfillment. All you need is a sprinkling of either motivation combined to create yourself a business you will want to show up for each and every day.

So, what is the second element of creating a balanced and thriving business? the second element is your process…

PROCESS

I know that processes sound a little bit boring and not remotely sexy, but genuinely, if we have processes in place it gives us an element of freedom and flexibility.

When we first start out in business it can get a little messy. We often run away with ourselves, a bit like a hamster running furiously on a wheel but getting absolutely nowhere. We start taking on clients and end up doing so much, we have very little time left to take a breath, and create a solid structure.

Creating processes and implementing solid foundations in your business will help it run a lot smoother, which in turn, will allow you to be able to flex your business as and when you need to. Processes help create a sense of organisation, and aid you in scaling much easier because you don’t have to think about how to do something each and every time.

When you onboard a new client, with a process in place, you know the journey that they are going to go on, you know what needs to happen, and this allows you to outsource it more easily. As well as that, a process allows a great experience for your customer because no matter how many times you work with them, or the number of different clients you bring through the door, you are giving them all a consistent experience.

Having a process isn’t just good for you because it keeps you organised, but also for your clients, ensuring a great experience each and every time.

Finally, we have persistence…

PERSISTENCE

There is so much noise on the internet right now, about making X amount of money in so many months, making £10k, and creating six-figure businesses, that it can create a real pressure culture, leaving business owners feeling like they need to achieve these figures quickly. When they get to six months or twelve months down the line and they haven’t achieved those figures, quite often, business owners feel a sense of failure.

Creating a business that stands the test of time doesn’t happen overnight. You have to give things time to work, making sure you’re testing and tweaking as you go. You shouldn’t be trying new things all in one go one week, before moving on to trying something else just a few weeks later.

It is important that you make a commitment to yourself and your business that you are going to show up consistently and do the work to achieve whatever it is you set out to achieve. Creating a business that stands the test of time takes time.

Be kind to yourself, give yourself a break, and allow yourself time. If things happen really quickly, great! If they don’t, that’s ok too. There are downsides to growing too quickly, so being committed, consistent and persistent with your business, can create a solid foundation, which means you shouldn’t be disheartened if you aren’t hitting six-figures six months down the line.

The thriving, profitable business owner has to intentionally create their business. Are you intentionally creating your business? Don’t settle on a business you kind of fell into. Take a step back and ask yourself those fundamental questions. Are you fulfilled? Are you getting joy and energy from your business? If the answer is no, what needs to change?

Look at your processes. What have you got in place that makes the organisation easier? What can you do to make it run better? Are you showing up consistently every day?

When I talk about Passion, Process, and Persistence, I’m talking from experience. I’ve been in a position where I haven’t been fulfilled in what I have been doing. It’s a really draining feeling and you just end up in a monotonous cycle of chasing that dream of being impassioned and excited.

If you implement just a sprinkling of that excitement into your business every day, it will make a huge difference, making things a lot smoother and the ride a whole lot easier.

I come from a background in business processes and internal controls so I have seen the benefit of having them in place, and the impact of not creating proper controls and processes, which eventually lead to finding yourself in that messy start-up phase that prevents you from growing and scaling your business with ease.

Think about your journey as you go along, avoid running down the rabbit hole of trying to make X amount of money in X amount of time, whether or not that’s fashionable right now. Remember, you are building a solid foundation that will hold a business that stands the test of time.

Come and hang out with me on LinkedIn, please say Hi! I would love to hear from you!