4 Ways Entrepreneurs Spin

I’ve been hearing from many business owners lately that they’re feeling stuck, like they’re spinning their wheels and staying in one place instead of moving forward.

Several things are currently really standing out for me in terms of what may be contributing to the sense of frustration and overwhelm that seems to be prevalent at the moment for some, and especially newer, business owners.

Here are the top 4 ways that I see business owners staying stuck. See if you recognize yourself in any (or all) of these and if so, take the action step I give you to start to get unstuck and moving forward again.

1. Staying in the BS funnel

This was something my very first coach coined and is a place where lots of business owners stay to stay safe – for any number of reasons.

Basically what it means is that instead of spending time and energy in the marketing funnel (or HourGlass in my business model), they are spending time in the BS funnel – re–doing their website, working on their email signature, re-writing a sales page for the 100th time before posting it live, re-designing their business cards, making lists and getting organized, frittering on social media, etc.

Now there is a time and place for all of those things, but not if you’re concerned about cash flow. When you’re concerned about cash flow, you need to focus on making offers and getting clients/customers. Everything else can wait. Once you have your bread and butter cash flow (whatever your minimum is) then you can go rest in the BS funnel for a bit. 😉

ACTION STEP: Be honest and Identify whether or not you’re spinning because you’re in the BS funnel. If you are, commit to getting out of it and staying out of it by being consciously aware of when you are going forward. Make a ‘money list’ (it should be short) of only the tasks that will bring you money and focus on those instead.

2. Knowing they need to build their list but not doing anything consistently to build it

I know list-building is not that sexy or exciting, but it’s an absolute MUST, even more so today than even just a couple of years ago.

So if you’re saying, “I know I need to build my list but…” then you’re NOT building your list. You will not get responses to your offers – free or fee – if you don’t have a substantial audience to make that offer to.

Too many business owners base the success or failure of an offer based off not enough info – meaning not enough people to actually put your offer in front of to have substantial evidence on way or another if what you’re doing is ‘working’ or not.

Just as you want to have a solid number of responses to a survey before you use that information to make decisions, you have to have a decent-sized list before you can make a fact-based decision about whether or not your offers are resonating.

ACTION STEP: Pick two new list-building strategies to add to your consistent marketing calendar and implement them today. Add two new ones every month until you find your list-building has traction and its own momentum.

3. Getting distracted by too many new ideas instead of focusing on one project at a time

I have to admit that sometimes I get exhausted just listening to how many ‘new’ ideas, tools and tactics some business owners are implementing all at once.

You know what happens when your energy is scattered like that? Lots of nothing. Seriously.

ACTION STEP: Pick one project from your ‘money list’ and focus on that through completion. When you get distracted, and you will, ask yourself: “Is this related to my project?” You know what to do if the answer is no.

4. Not truly understanding that it takes time on and IN the business to start creating consistent income

I don’t mean the difference between working on and in your business ala Michael Gerber. What I mean is that it takes time both in terms of dedicated time towards building your business on a daily basis AS WELL AS time to allow the seeds you’re planting now to grow over the months and years to come.

It takes a lot of baby steps to get to where you want to go. We all have moments when it feels too hard, but the successful folks are the ones who continue to put one foot in front of the other no matter what.

“It’s not working” is only true if you quit.

I’d love to know which one of these resonates the most with you – share with me below…

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