by Julia Felton | Jan 17, 2019
During the
Christmas vacation the moles have come to live in my horses’s field. Every day I go up there and more mole hills have
appeared. At times it seems like they
are invading the field!
And their presence
has reminded me of a game I used to play when I was growing up called Whac-a-Mole. The aim of the game was it hit the lights on
the board every time they lit up and each time you did this successfully you
scored points. And whilst this was great
fun it never really solved the under-lying problem as the moles were still
there in the background.
And this
got me thinking about business. How
often are you playing Whac-A-Mole in your business? Dealing with all the
incidents that rear their ugly head and are front and foremost in your mind,
rather than looking at the under-lying problem that is causing this.
After all
the mole hills are a result of a mole infestation. Just whacking the mole hills has not
addressed the problem of the moles living under the field in the first place.
How often in business do we just focus on treating the symptom (in this case
the mole hills) rather than the symptom (the real reason the moles have come to
live in the field).
When I look
at my business and that of my clients I often see this. The business issues that take all our time
and attention are the ones that are front of mind and all too often we invest
valuable resources attempting to solve them, rather than looking at what caused
the issue in the first place.
Often when
I speak with business leaders they bemoan the fact that their team members are
not pulling their weight and are not operating productively. They try to solve this problem through team
building events when actually the underpinning problem is that the team members
are not engaged and the business culture is not supporting the team members to
grow and contribute.
So what
business issues are you playing whac-a-mole with? What can you do to really understand what the
underlying cause of the problem is and then go about “treating” this rather
than the symptom.
And if employee engagement is the real challenge in your business right now, why not grab yourself free access to this newly released video book, which contains ten lessons on how to improve employee engagement. You can get yourself a copy by signing up at https://www.engageandgrow.com.au/video-course/. If you use the code JF2 to access this Videobook course for FREE! (for a limited time).
by Julia Felton | Apr 26, 2017
Are you over-facing yourself? By that I mean are you setting goals for yourself that simply aren’t realistic. Now don’t get me wrong I am all for setting bold goals that stretch you and help you achieve more than you ever thought was possible. Your goals need to take you out of our comfort zone so that you can grow, but not be so big that they simply are not achievable or worst still put you into the fear zone.
Today’s post has been inspired by a client that I was having a strategy call with this week and it reflects that I have been noticing a lot with my clients recently. You see what happened is at the beginning of the year they set all these goals, and now with one third of the year gone, they are becoming disillusioned that they are not achieving all that they had hoped for.
There is a reason that goals are SMART and SMART stands for:
S – specific
M – measurable
A – achievable
R – realistic
T – timely
What you intend to achieve needs to expand your horizons but it shouldn’t be so audacious that it sends you into the fear zone, where terror sets in and leaves you paralysed, so you end up doing nothing.
I realized that is what has been happening with me and my pony Bracken training for the Wobbleberrries challenge. To believe I could teach my horse to jump 90cm from having no jumping experience at all, to teach her to canter and be balanced in the riding arena, to learn how to go to other venues and compete alongside horses she has never met, now that is a big ask. On reflection that is just too bold to achieve within 9 months. It was a step too far, and so what has happened is that I really haven’t moved forward. I’ve become paralysed by the enormity of the task and so I have not been taking action.
I’m sure you’ve all heard the adage “how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time” and this is the same approach we need to take to business and achieving goals. We need to take the first step. If we make that step too big then we won’t take any action but when we make the first step achievable and realistic and we are successful then our confidence grows. With renewed confidence we start gaining momentum and the second step seems easier, and then the third and fourth.
Little actions get results. So in the case of the work with Bracken, step one needs us to be able to master canter and get balanced, then I can add step two jumping, and then step three going to other venues. Broken down this way the goal seems achievable and realistic, something that I can do. So my goal for May is to master cantering in the arena. This is not something that is over-facing me and yet ensures that I am moving forward towards the ultimate goal. So my intention remains to complete the Wobbleberries challenge but realistically this year might not be possible, so next year it is. What is important is that I am moving forward towards that goal.
For the client who I was speaking with on that strategy call, what we established was that they needed some structure and accountability in their business. In fact because she had no structure she was procrastinating and going round in circles not moving her business forward. This was leading to a lack of confidence and self-esteem issues. Trust me I get this. When we get out of flow and start spiraling in a circle (I call this the tumble dryer effect where you are going round and round and going no where) it can be very demotivating.
So I’ve asked her to create her project list for May and share this with me so I can keep her accountable to achieving her goals. She was excited at this prospect and in the same moment I just knew she was going to over-face herself and create a massive list of goals would be nigh on impossible to achieve. Metaphorically, she was going to try and jump Beehers Brook (a large jump in the Grand National measuring nearly 5 foot) when in fact her first step was just to jump 50 cm!.
Sure should she set the intention of achieving a goal like jumping Becher’s Brook, hell yes, but just realise that to achieve this it takes many small steps. And the great thing about setting small goals and then achieving them is that it builds your confidence and self-esteem whilst also creating momentum. And we all know that the more momentum that we have the faster we will travel. When we are stuck in business taking the first few steps to move forward are always the toughest. Think an airplane. It uses 50% of its fuel simply to get off the runway! And it’s the same in business, the first few goals take time and energy as we need to put the groundwork in to make them happen, but once we have done that we can soar.
So today’s question is where are you over-facing yourself in life and business and what is just one small step that you can take to move forward? Trust me being in action and moving forward is way better that being in that tumble dryer going round and round in circles!!!
And if you need some help with your business then please reach out to me and secure one of the limited number of strategy sessions I offer each month.
by Julia Felton | Feb 22, 2017
If you who have been part of the Business HorsePower herd for a while you will know that I love learning and acquiring new knowledge. I am always looking for ways to improve myself and the information and services that I share with you, my valued clients.
That is why I have just come back from a four day retreat where I have been developing my speaking skills and learning new strategies to help grow and develop my business. It was a really intense four day experience where I learnt loads. In fact I have come away with nearly an entire notebook full of new information and ideas that I can implement in my business.
Now learning and gathering information is great but here’s the rub. That is not enough. The knowledge and information I have learnt is only of any good if I take action and implement it in my business. And that’s the irony of going on courses. Not only do you have to take time out of your business to go on them, you then need to schedule time when you get back to the office to implement and put all those ideas into action. And if you fail to take action then you have just wasted valuable, time, energy and money.
I will admit to being guilty and oftentimes not implementing what I have learnt, but when you take action, that is when the rubber hits the road and real change and transformation happens. Your business and life will never change by just learning about something. They only change when you take action. And speed is your friend here. The sooner you take action and start implementing what you have learnt, the sooner you will get results.
So have you been implementing all the ideas that I have been sharing with you this year about how to be more productive in order to achieve your goals? If not I suggest you go back and read some of the previous editions of Wednesday Wisdom and start taking small steps now to implement all that I have been sharing.
Taking action is something that I did earlier this year when I was presented with the opportunity to be part of the Purpose, Passion, Profit Summit. And today is the day that you can hear my interview with Helen Vandenburghe on how Entrepreneurial Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is impacting the results you are getting in your business. If you haven’t already signed up to the summit you can do so here. I am joined by over 30 other amazing women who have all been sharing great, actionable content on how to get into flow and grow your business. You won’t want to miss this. Grab a pen, listen to the recording, make notes and then take action. Start now by registering for the summit if you have not already done so. You’ll be glad you did
by Julia Felton | Jan 4, 2017
Happy Hew Year to you. I wish you a very prosperous 2017 and trust you had a joyful holiday season. I was fortunate enough to have some well deserved time off and managed to spend some quality time with my horses. This meant I’ve been fortunate to witness some amazing sunrises and sunsets, as well as the frosty mornings and a good dose of fog thrown in to.
Up here in Yorkshire the foggy mornings are surreal. On one particular morning the fog was so enveloping I could barely see past the front of my car. It was a strange experience because there was a comfort in that space, even though I had no idea where I was going and felt really disconnected from everything around me. However, of course the downside was I had no clarity. It was really difficult to get to the yard and find the horses, and everything took forever. I simply couldn’t get any momentum and speed as I had to be super cautious in everything I was doing. And this got me to thinking about business, and how often we experience our own fog.
Fog in business comes from having no focus and clarity. It comes form not being certain what we are doing and having no clear direction. Often I find the fog is worst with business owners who are have become disconnected from their purpose. They have forgotten why they went into business and the impact they wanted to make. They get easily distracted and suffer from what I call Entrepreneurial Attention Deficit Disorder. Everything new is exciting and they don’t stay committed to one thing. As a result they go round and round in circles as they can’t find their way out of the fog filled vacuum they are in.
When this occurs, when you are stuck in the fog haze, the only solution is get clarity. Get connected to your purpose and create an inspiring vision. Vision then becomes the focus button that propels you forward. Commit and then start taking small steps towards that vision. It won’t take long but soon the fog will begin to lift and then you are easily able to gather speed and go faster.
On that foggy morning the horses simply couldn’t see me. It meant we both stumbled around in the dark trying to find each other. Contrast that to yesterday morning which was bright and clear and so when the horses saw me they came galloping towards me. And isn’t that the same in business. When potential clients can’t see you they don’t know you are there, and so you stumble around in the dark looking for them. Contract that to a situation where you are embody clarity, everyone can see you and knows what you offer. It’s so much easier then for the clients to find you, just like my horses did.
If you feel you are lacking any focus in your business right now, stop and re-calibrate. Take some time to re-connect with the vision for your business and its purpose. Once you have done that then everything flows effortlessly from here. This is the reason that purpose and vision are at the heart of the business strategies that I help my clients create. We work together to create a living, actionable document on just one page that provides you with a road map of where you are going. This lifts the fog from your business and ensures you have focus and clarity, which means that each and every day you know exactly what to do, and so in the process it eliminates Entrepreneurial ADD.
So, if you’d like to explore how I can help you create your strategy on a page for 2017, please connect with me for a chat and let’s help you get focused so you can create the vision button for your business.
by Julia Felton | Dec 29, 2016
Wow, was that just Christmas. I don’t know about you but it seems to have just flown by. I hope you had a lovely and relaxing time with your family and friends.
Now I hate to be the bearer of bad news but if you haven’t started your planning for 2017 the next three days are critical. This is a great time of year to reflect on what happened during 2016 – both the successes and the failures. I encourage you to really spend some time on this.
Here are some questions to get you going:
- What were your biz accomplishments from the past year?
- What were some of the lessons you learned from the past year?
- What were your weak points? What do you think needs to improve?
- Were there any missed opportunities in the past year?
- Were there any ways to improve customer service in the past year?
- Were there any areas that felt out of alignment?
- What marketing worked the past year? What created wins?
- If there was one word that described your past year, what would that be?
Only by reflecting on these answers can you get some real insight into where your business is and what is working and what is not working. Then based on your findings you can then set some goals for 2017 based on solid facts.
I’ve been doing this exact process over the last few days and it has been so helpful. Usually I set goals with no reference to where I am and what has happened and when you set goals without this data you are ineffectively stabbing in the dark.
Measuring your business and tracking your performance is paramount if you are to succeed. Just think about it. An athlete measures and keeps track of their performance on every run and then uses this information to motivate themselves to do better the next time. Footballers review their matches to see how to improve their performance. They then focus on the small nuances and improve these. And incredibly a small improvement in just one area makes a massive impact on overall performance.
And it’s the same in your business too. Knowing where you have been and what worked and what didn’t means that you can more effectively plan for next year. I suggest you dream about what you would like 2017 to look like, what you would like to accomplish and then create a roadmap of the key milestones that you need to achieve in order to get you from point A to point B. These milestones will become your 2017 goals.
Next prioritize the order you need to complete the goals in and then create a detailed plan for the next 90 days of what you need to accomplish to in order to move forward. Break the plan down into bite sized projects and then commit to working on one of these projects every day until it is complete. Focus is the key here. It is amazing what happens when you stay focused on one project until it is completed. The level of satisfaction and accomplishment then motivates you to complete the next project. And then before you know it you have achieved that first milestone. Celebrate and then move on. Before you know it all the milestones will have been achieved and you will be witnessing the business success that you so deserve.
Now I have just three spaces available to work with me privately next year to really get your business strategy planned out and then to ensure you take massive action to achieve all your goals. As I know from personal experience running a business is not for the faint hearted and having a coach on your team can really help you see the blind-spots in your business and so avoid wasting valuable time, energy and resources on activities that are not going to help you really reach your goals.
So if you’d like me on your team to ensure your success in 2017 then let’s schedule a call to explore what’s possible. And rest assured that if I don’t think I’m the right coach for you I’ll let you know, and whatever you decide I promise you will walk away from the call with a clear plan of the next steps to take. Simply complete this short application form so I know a bit about you before the call and we’ll take it from there.
Happy planning for 2017.
by Julia Felton | Aug 31, 2016
Are you looking at the results in your business? I mean really tracking, monitoring and analyzing the results. Do you know which are your best performing product lines? Who are your most profitable customers? Which activities are not producing a return on investment?
For many of you I know tracking and analyzing the performance of your business is not high on the list of things to do. After all it’s a Steel activity and many entrepreneurs that I know are not big in this energy frequency. (You can learn more about the different energy frequencies and take your Talent Dynamics assessment here).
And the thing is that when an activity is not in your primary frequency there is the danger that you will procrastinate and not attend to it, as it is an activity that is out of flow. I get that as I have low Steel in my profile. However, this is not an excuse for not focusing on the numbers.
The numbers in your business are a great indicator of how successful your business is being. They can tell you where the blind spots are in your business. Where your current systems and processes aren’t working optimally and are not Joined Up. They can tell you if you are on track and where any discrepancies are. And yet many of us prefer to ignore these signs and stick our head in the sand. If we don’t look at the numbers then we won’t have to fully acknowledge how well or poor or business is performing.
I get it. I was guilty of this for a long time. I had a lovely business plan. I knew where I was going and what I wanted the business to achieve, so surely it would all happen. Incorrect. When I actually stopped and really looked at my business numbers I had to face the harsh reality that the business model I was using was fundamentally flawed. With all my travel and accommodation costs my workshops were barely breaking even, so although I was making some decent revenue my business was not profitable and I was suffering from a real cash flow issue.
That was a wake up call. This is why I love helping clients create their Strategy on a Page. It gives you a blueprint of where you want your business to go. We map out in detail not only the purpose and values of the business but also the business growth metrics for the five key business pillars of marketing, sales, operations, finance and talent. So not only do you have a beautiful strategy but you also have clear milestones of what you need to achieve. Then each month I hold you accountable to reporting on how your business is performing against the plan. This forces you to really examine the results and to identify any changes that need to take place in order to help you reach your goal.
Adopting this strategy changed my business and I know it can for you too, that’s why I’m offering a number of Unleash Your Profit Potential Strategy Sessions to get you started. During this session you will discover:
- Hidden opportunities to make more income in your business
- How your might be sabotaging your business success and break through these limitations
- How to create a clear plan that takes you from where you are to where you want to be.
Simply complete this short application form so I know something about you and your business and then I’ll contact you and get an appointment scheduled in the diary.
I so look forward to connecting with you, learning more about your business and helping you get focused on the results in your business.
by Julia Felton | Jun 29, 2016
As we reach the mid point of the year, this is a great time to reflect on whether your strategy is working. Have you accomplished all you wanted to during the first six months of the year? If not why not? What do you need to do differently during the next six months to meet your goals?. Do you even have a strategy or any idea of where you are on the journey.
When I start working with many of my clients I often discover they don’t have a strategy in place. They don’t know what success looks like for them and they certainly don’t have a road map of how to get there. Without a strategy and plan in place about what you want to achieve how will you ever know if you are on track and being successful. How will you stay motivated to get going when things get tough?
Personally I experienced the challenge of not having a plan in place this morning and I was shocked about the impact that it had on me. You see I was out doing my morning run and listening to my podcast on when to run and walk. Now for some reason I didn’t hear the piece that told me how long to run for, so when the audio track told me to run I did just that. I started running. The only problem was that I had no frame of reference. I didn’t know if I was running for 8,10, 15 or indeed 20 mins. I can’t explain how challenging I found it not knowing what I was trying to achieve. I was literally running blind, not sure how to conserve my energy as I didn’t know how far I was meant to go. During that run I experienced anxiety and frustration at not just knowing when I would be done.
And as I was running into that blind void I realised that this is the same feeling most business owners have each day. Maybe you can relate to that?. Without a roadmap and strategy you don’t know where you are going. You don’t know when you need to take corrective action, when you need to stop and when you need to push on and get the task completed. You don’t know when to celebrate because you don’t know that ave achieved all you set out to do. Without a strategy and plan you have no clarity and certainty on what is happening.
So if you are feeling off track and need some help getting focus and clarity for the remainder of the year, so that you can regain your confidence in the outcome, then please connect with me for a complimentary mentoring session during which we will identify the current challenges in your business and how you can overcome these. Just book into my diary here. I can’t wait to connect with you.
Have a great week
by Julia Felton | Jun 15, 2016
Wednesday Wisdom has come around again and I am delighted to welcome a bunch of new people to the Business HorsePower herd. These are all people that I have had the honour of meetings whilst I have been attending exhibitions, conferences and networking events over the last week. They are all people I have been sharing my purpose and vision for my company with.
So why is it imperative that you have a purpose in business? For me purpose is the rocket fuel that keeps my business going on the days I feel it stalling. It is what keeps me motivated and inspired to do my best. It is what drives the strategy of my business and helps me formulate the decisions I make.
When you are unclear on your purpose and become disconnected from the raison d’etre you went into business then your business can often feel like a rudderless ship, going round and round in circles. You don’t know which path to take because you don’t know where you are going.
After all we live in a world where we have so many choices – arguably way too many – and that is a problem. There is always some bright, new shiny object that you can pursue, some new business venture you can become involved it, some new product you can create. But none of those activities will move your business forwards and help you achieve and sustain success unless they are strategically aligned with where you want to go.
This is why every business needs a routemap (a strategy) of where they are going. Without this clarity who knows where you will end up. So what is a strategy?. It is a plan for obtaining a MAJOR result. It is a plan for enabling you to achieve a quantum leap in your business and it marks the milestones that need to happen to get you there. This is different from a business plan or a load of tactics and to do lists.
Now, if the thought of creating your strategy is bringing you out in a sweat, don’t worry, as I have an agile, innovative solution. Do you think you would be inspired if we could distill your strategy down to just one page – after all if it doesn’t fit on one page its clearly too complicated!. Plus, if you’re like me you will never look at it again.
Creating a single page strategy plan for your business success is a challenging task but one that will reward you 10 times over. It will force you to think differently about your business and prioritize the activities you do, because everything will be linked to your purpose. It will help you focus and stop you getting distracted by what I loving call Entrepreneurial ADD.
So if you a ready to roll your sleeves up and create your strategy on a page then give me a call, and let me help you. This one thing has transformed my business and my life more than anything else I have invested in. It is definitely the one thing that has made all the difference.
I’d love you to let me know if you have a business strategy and if not why not, maybe I can help you.
Wishing you another amazing week.
