1. Set Small Goals
2. Stop Comparing
3. Dedicate time to Growth
4. Set Deadlines
5. Don't Expect it to Happen Overnight!
6. Rest!
Whether you’re about to start your own business or you’ve been self-employed for a little while now, it’s only natural that you have ideas for growth already!
Having plans to make your business the biggest and the best is a very normal part of an entrepreneurial mindset - it’s one of the things that sets you apart - but how can we ensure steady business growth, without burning out or becoming discouraged? Lucky for you, we’ve put together a few of our top tips for helping you get your business off the ground and growing sustainably!
SET SMALLER GOALS
Hands up if you’ve thought to yourself ‘I want to earn 6 figures a year, have a million Instagram followers and go on holiday to Bali every year!’, I mean it’s kind of the dream, isn’t it? Dreaming big is never a bad idea - it’s what keeps us hopeful and what gets us out of bed in the morning - but dreaming and goal setting are two entirely different things, which we need to be super clear about if we’re ever going to get our business off the ground and keep it moving!
When it comes to setting goals, rather than setting HUGE goals that are overwhelming and, frankly, unattainable try to set smaller goals which are challenging, but still within reach. That way, if you fall short you’re only falling a little short of the goal you set, and if you surpass it then you’ll be super motivated to smash your next goal!
Running a business isn’t easy, but we don’t need to make it harder by adding undue pressure to ourselves! Smaller goals add up and eventually you’ll be soaring to heights that seemed impossible when you were just starting out.
STOP COMPARING
We’re all guilty of looking at other businesses, lash techs, and influencers and drawing comparisons between them and ourselves. A little bit of friendly competition is good, a bit of motivation is always great! But if you find that you’re looking over at the next lash tech and feeling down about yourself, STOP! The only person you need to be comparing yourself to is past you - have you grown? Do you have more followers now? Do you have a larger client base? If yes, great! Keep doing what you’re doing. If not, think about why not - could you be doing more on your social media or website to entice new clients, could you set up a little welcome offer or loyalty scheme?
Constantly checking out what others are doing usually isn’t going to make you or your business any better, it’ll more than likely be demotivating and can even conjure up some resentment!
DEDICATE TIME TO GROWTH
This might sound like a very obvious one but think about HOW you are going to achieve these goals. Don’t stop the sentence at ‘I want to gain 100 new followers on Instagram this month’ - get in the habit of following that up with ‘...by using area specific hashtags so that it is easy for clients to find me. I will also look at how I can make my feed more visually appealing and exciting to potential clients.’
If your goal is 'grow my instagram following by 100 followers each month' set aside time to do that! Put an hour a week in your calendar where you work on content, like client selfies, look into which hashtags will get clients through your door. Have a really critical look at the content you're posting and think about whether it's exciting for clients.
Never underestimate the power of ‘I will achieve X by doing Y’ statements - they’re the key to achievable growth!
SET YOURSELF DEADLINES
A goal without a deadline is just a statement without any real meaning - between your ‘I want to achieve X’ and your ‘I will do this by doing Y’, throw in a ‘by the end of March’ or ‘over the next six weeks’. This ensures you don’t become complacent with achieving the goals you set for yourself!
This deadline can be short-term, or can be a longer-term goal if it’s something a bit bigger - just make sure you have a clear idea of WHEN you expect to see this play out, otherwise it’s very easy to become complacent and end up not achieving any goals at all.
DON’T EXPECT IT TO HAPPEN OVERNIGHT
One aspect that can disappoint and demotivate a lot of business owners is how long it can take to really get the business off the ground - we hear stories about businesses that reach incredible heights very quickly but what we don’t hear about are the hundreds of little businesses that take a while to pick up. Remember, slow and steady - lots of little wins add up to huge successes!
This comes back to the first point about settling little goals rather than huge tasks - all those little milestones that you reach will be what adds up to your business really being what you hope it will be some day.
REST
I can't stress this enough - in order to be effective at anything, you need to take time to rest from time to time! I know it feels like you're wasting time you could be using to go over your numbers again but trust me on this, resting is one of the most effective things you can do for productivity!
Whether it's taking a week's holiday or taking the day off to get brunch with friends you need to take breaks every now and then. At the very least, go phone free after 6pm so that you have a few hours of quiet time before going back to the life of a business owner again in the morning.
Whatever you do when it comes to growing your business, make sure you congratulate yourself and celebrate every win! Good luck, lash babe - we can’t wait to see where you go!
