We cannot live without breathing. When inhalation and exhalation cease, so too does our existence.
The same goes for home-based business.
In order to survive, it must breathe in new experiences, ideas, systems, customers, referral sources, technologies, team members and centers of influence.
And it must exhale archaic habits, limiting beliefs, troublesome customers, outdated practices, expired technologies and equipment, and resources that have become obsolete.
According to the Law of Polarity, we are either growing or dying. Business is either growing or dying.
As soon as stagnation occurs, the atrophying process begins.
What does this mean to you as a business owner?
It means you must continually move in the direction of change and growth and you can accomplish this in several ways:
1. Commit to meeting new people every week -- to connecting, communicating, sharing and caring about those you meet.
2. Keep an open mind and keen interest in learning new technologies, systems, processes, practices and ways of thinking.
3. Be aware of the changing trends and economics. Subscribe to industry publications, read up on world events that impact business, ask your existing customers what they're looking for more of, less of, none of.
4. Surround yourself with people who challenge you to think outside the box, take new risks and operate outside of your comfort zone. It's not uncommon to form new mastermind groups every few years because existing ones eventually plateau.
5. Determine who has already accomplished what you want for yourself and model them or ask them to mentor you.
These are your inhalations.
Next, release those things that are causing you frustration, set-backs or simply no forward movement, such as:
1. Not initiating new contact with potential friends, clients, referral sources, mentors, team members, joint venture partners or suppliers.
2. Tolerating clients or customers who create stress, financial strain, and burden on the business. The simple act of firing a customer who takes the joy out of life and business, even though she pays well, can release the negative pull that keeps you from attracting better, more enjoyable customers who might pay even more.
3. Thinking you've learned enough. The world changes faster in 12 months than it has in entire decades. What you know today may be a history lesson in six months. If you're not learning, someone else is, and will be smoking past you in no time.
4. Getting too comfortable. Growth begins at the end of your comfort zone.
5. Staying in unproductive relationships and networks because unhappiness is easier to tolerate than venturing into the unknown.
These are your exhalations.
Measure your thoughts and actions according the the breath of business and determine where you must change.
Taking SOME of these steps is better than nothing, but taking ALL is your key to a healthy, long and prosperous business life.
2008 © Laurie Hayes - The HBB Source
Is Your Home Business Growing or Dying? - To learn more about this author, visit Laurie Hayes's Website.
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