Are You Holding Your Business Back?

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the You Can Podcast. I'm your host Sarah Jolly Jarvis and today we are going to be talking around are you holding your business back? It's a big balance, it's a massive balancing act between your personal priorities and your business growth, particularly when you run your own business.
And so that's what we're going to be talking about. Are you expecting your business to fund your lifestyle before it's really fully grown and in a position where it can do that? So we're going to talk about personal priorities and whether they are out of sync, out of balance with where your business is and where you want to take it.
So what we'll cover is balancing those personal priorities, like renovations, like holidays,

like life, but also why it matters. So many early stage entrepreneurs unknowingly sabotage their progress because they take too much money out of the business and expect it to develop and grow on too little resources.
And so this all came about really because I was talking to a business owner who I was asking them, you know, how's it going?

They've been going now about just under a year.

And they were telling me that, you know what, I'm disappointed with the amount of leads that I'm getting.

My audience isn't a bad size, but I'm just not getting the conversions that I was expecting at this stage. And obviously it's sales i love sales so i was straight in there asking all the questions and what came up for me was when i asked them around what have they done so far to make changes with this and actually i saw a post out on linkedin this week about you know people when they want to do better at something than when they want to improve.
If you want to learn a musical instrument, you go out and you get lessons and that might not be formal lessons, but you'll go on the internet and you'll download YouTube and watch loads of videos and all that kind of stuff to kind of get an understanding of what you need to do. And that can be the same thing in your business is you can't expect your business to improve or your skill set around something to improve without doing some learning better understanding it or you know at least doing supported practice and so when I said to this person you know what what have you done and they were like well I haven't done anything because we've had a lot of costs we've been away on a big holiday and we've got another one coming up and we're in the middle of a house renovation that for me was really like whoa you know wait a minute what is your house renovation what has your holidays got to do with your business now I am like you know a big fan of going on holiday and taking a bit of time out and having that opportunity to kind of relook at things.
And so, you know, you could argue that a decent holiday will provide you with a new perspective on your business, et cetera, et cetera, help you come back energized. You know, you can't run on empty, et cetera, et cetera.
But when you start prioritizing multiple elements like that over your business and, you know, your business doesn't have the funds to invest in itself because it's supporting those activities where you know what I tend to call them whether you know it's a little bit too uh black and white but I you know I tend to say well actually activities like that activities which are non-revenue generating activities they're not going to help your business they're not going to help you move things forwards. So, you know, holiday, as harsh as it sounds, it's not a revenue generating activity.
You could argue with a holiday that, you know, it gives you a new perspective. You could argue with a house renovation that, you know, new doors and windows are going to help you feel better.
But in reality, they're probably not the best investment for you to make if you want your business to develop and grow. For example, if you're struggling with your sales, if you're not able to reach new audiences and really need to run paid ads, etc, etc, then spending your money on new windows is probably not going to be the best investment of your finances.
But people do it. And why do we do it? Well, a lot of the people that I work with, they come from a corporate background and they are used to a particular amount of income.
And obviously, you know, with that level of income that you have, you tend to live to that level. So, you know, you'll have a mortgage, which reflects that.
You'll have a lifestyle and tastes and preferences that reflect that and it is very difficult to kind of rein that in okay that becomes very easily human nature so weird isn't it but we tend to find our sort of baseline our minimum expectation and that just tends to go up that doesn't tend to to to be um at least subconsciously without a conscious effort we don't tend to sort of review and rein things back in we're just happily going about and kind of growing and developing all the time and spending that bit more and expecting that bit more and I don't think we're wrong to feel like that but it's understanding that in the early days your business might not be in a position where it can afford that wage on a consistent basis if you've come from a corporate job then you've had you know you've been with a business which has been around for some time and so with being around for some time it has more established ways of generating leads converting leads etc and so you know its income tends to be a little bit more reliable whereas when you are first starting out you know there's a massive learning curve with running your own business. But also there's a massive learning curve with your customer base, your lead generation, etc.
And so, you know, the likelihood is, is that you're not going to get consistent leads, you're potentially going to take on clients that are more time consuming, less ideal, etc, etc. And so you are that is likely to impact your income also as you are running between you

know wearing one hat and another in your business you can drop the ball somewhat and you can end upon that cycle of that feast and famine where you get clients on board and then you're delivering for them so you take the eye of the ball of marketing and then so that continues so then you'll put your focus into marketing and then you'll get those clients and so it is a real sort of up and down roller coaster and so with that comes that impact on on finances and at the end of the day you know if you don't have money to to keep things ticking over for example you know you have support you have to let support go you have to have somebody who's on a temporary basis like zero hours or whatever with you so that they're in a position where you can drop their hours down as and when you need to then things are going to you know move and develop forwards and then they're going to stagnate um if you have a gap in your skill set that you need to fill um either with an individual themselves or by upskilling yourself or another of your team then again you're going to have to fork out money in order to fill that gap and and and get that skills in house and so with that you're going to have to invest if you don't have the money to invest because you've bought your windows because you've bought your holidays then that's when you're going to have that struggle and so it is really important to remember you know you can't harvest fruit from a tree that hasn't matured yet. And so you're taking from it before it's in a position where, you know, you've really given it a chance to establish itself and be able to take that hit.
So I'm saying, oh, you can't do it, you shouldn't do it, it's going to stunt your growth. But how? How does it really do that? Well, you know, it can be in the form of missed opportunities your sales isn't up to scratch for example you know obviously I love sales but you haven't put the effort into learning you haven't invested in learning how best to go about securing people particularly those ideal clients or people when you know you really have to kind of you feel like you're taking a step up And so you haven't got those skills to secure those individuals.
And so those are missed opportunities. You've also got the fact that, you know, you just can't progress, like I said before, taking on a member of staff, and then, you know, not being able to have them all the time, having to let them go, or I know a lot of clients who've got VAs, and so have to increase and decrease the hours and so then they spend more time.

If you're not able to pay for your VA, for example, to do your admin for you, then you've got to do your admin, which means then that takes you off either the delivery or it takes you off the lead gen side of things.

Unless you've got somebody in on your marketing.

If you've got somebody in on your marketing and you can no longer afford them, then because, you know, they've generated the generated the money they've got the money into the business but you've taken it out for extracurricular activities then what can you do um you can't pay them so you're not going to be able to use their services and so that's where that growth can be really stunted and that in itself can put you into that kind of feast and famine scenario so you know you can get loads of money in and think oh yeah this is great but you spend and then you don't have the the minimum that you you need to kind of feast and famine scenario. So, you know, you can get loads of money in and think, oh yeah, this is great, but you spend and then you don't have the minimum that you need to kind of keep going and keep reinvesting.
So you're like, yeah, okay, Sarah, I get the problem. I can totally see where you're coming from.
What do I do about it? Well, you know, there are ways to navigate it to help you to better balance things. The first up, really, the sort of main thing that you can do is manage your expectations you know don't plan for a wedding a big holiday etc etc don't put that pressure on yourself but also on your business and its finances to come up with the goods for that instead you know pare things back a bit when you make the decision to work for yourself then be prepared to to just rein things in a bit not go

on that holiday not have those those new things or or that big christmas etc that you would normally

plan um that can sound a bit pants um absolutely it can but if actually you use forecasting and

revenue cash flow then you can have a realistic view of actually where your finances are at and

what you can therefore afford um at this stage you know it makes sense not to get yourself into debt

I don't know. then you can have a realistic view of actually where your finances are at and what you can therefore afford.
At this stage you know it makes sense not to get yourself into debt. I know people who have, I've been there with myself with using money and using credit to get yourself in a better position.
That can you know really seriously damage your business and put a lot of unnecessary pressure on yourself. So if you've got that better grip, and that's the thing is, is people put their head in the sands.
I must speak to people on a weekly basis who want to leave their job. And I get it.
You know, I was there. I didn't like being told what to do.
I was really conscious of how to balance the life that I wanted with having a job and so I totally understand the desire to leave a full-time job. The challenge is that that provides a consistent revenue and so if you're not going to be getting that revenue from there where are you going to be getting it from and so regularly with clients who are sort of leaving the corporate world and setting up their own business I'll encourage them to have kind of key milestones.
So milestones of the amount of a buffer in the bank. So how many months they are comfortable with having sat there waiting to be used if things don't go so well.
And the thing is, is we're not just talking about, oh, you know what, I always get leads, I always get clients. We're talking around like people being ill.
You know, I'm in a position now where I've got a young family but I've also got aging parents there are demands on me everywhere and so you know it's all right when the going's good but if something goes wrong then what so having that money there not wanting to be too doom and gloom but it can really help you to to sort of weather those storms a little bit better and with less financial stress so you know consider alternative revenue sources. Do you want to keep that full-time job a little bit longer? You know, yes, I totally get it.
It is really, really hard work to have a business on the side and a full-time job. I've been there.
And so I totally get you don't want to do that long term. But just understanding, okay, this is the consequence.
This is how much money I'm going to have to earn. I speak to people who need 15 to 20k a month coming through their business in order to be able to sort out their personal finances and continue with the income that they used to.
And that's the thing is I'll speak to people on a regular basis saying to them, you know, so what is your minimum? And they're like, yeah, you know, it's 10k. And I'm like, okay, but what actually is the minimum to cover your bills and to enable you to eat? And they're like, oh, yeah, you know, that's like half of that.
And so it is being honest with yourself. The more finances you expect out of your business, the quicker you're going to have to get going.
And, you know, I'm going to come on to this in a bit, but the more you actually need to invest in help, you know, it is, it is possible to do this all on your own and to get your business up and running really, really quickly generating loads of money. You hear success stories, you know, around people doing this, but the thing is, is they are success stories.
They are not the norm. You know, everyone knows the statistics on how many businesses fail within the first three years it is really high some quote as much as like 75 percent and so you know why is that that is because well you know they fail because of the financial side of stuff and it's like where does that come in and i think this expectation and you know that of unwillingness to compromise is a big thing.
You know, sometimes those holidays, those renovations, they just need to wait. You need to prioritize back into your business.
You need to fill those gaps. If you thought about your business and your skill set as a calendar and you need to fill those holes until those holes are filled.
you know you haven't got a complete unit you haven't got a complete option you are going to get loss of income and loss of clients um through through those those holes that those gaps in your skill set that you've got so how can you go about this how can you navigate this well yes you can be prepared you can be ready to compromise you can look at alternative incomes but when you're in that situation one of the best things that you can do is to budget for reinvestment, okay. So set aside a fund for business growth, okay.
So for coaching, for marketing, for software, for resources that means that your business will be able to get itself on its feet and stable and ideally in as shorter time as possible so that then you can start to expect more from it. What you need to do in order to do that budget is to identify the help you need so clarify on what support will drive your business forwards, how much that will cost, do your research okay, it's window shopping, it's fun window shopping so don't be afraid to do that.
The biggest leaps forward that I've made in my business is one that I've invested in a mentor. before that you know you're sort of bumbling along you're kind of second guessing yourself you're looking at different options you end up getting distracted by all these kind of low priced and free kind of insights into how different people work and you're literally all over the place which is wasting like really the most valuable thing, which is time.

And that's the thing is, is you only have 24 hours in a day.

You know, there is lots of money out there, but there isn't lots of time out there.

OK, so it's about spending that time wisely.

And that's where, particularly if you choose to stay in a side hustle, so have your business as sort of a side hustle and and have a full-time job still so that you keep those funds coming in you want to be spending that time really really wisely the amount of people who i've worked with who have still been in full-time jobs because they've wanted to make sure that the time they are spending on their business which is very very precious and very very small was the right activities to be doing so they're working smarter not harder and I think that's the main thing here is you know me using your time wisely to then get yourself in a position where your business can then generate money and lots of people I speak to is they're like if and that's another thing is is that I want to put in here is is about belief okay you look around you and try not to beat yourself up by where other people are because they're on a different timeline to you they're on a different journey and also what you see on social media isn't always true but look around you and look for the inspiration look at the people who are those few steps ahead of you look at what they're achieving look at what they're doing um and you know that can be a starting point as a mentor is even somebody you're not paying somebody who doesn't even know that you're that they're your mentor but somebody that you're looking to and you are looking at how they navigate things and you are mirroring that can have a real impact i talk often on um normally actually when i get interviewed on podcasts i talk around you know using podcasts as to to create that kind of environment that bubble around yourself there's um that um i was it five five steps of a highly effective person or whatever it was um you know they talk around in that and it's touched in so many different places that you are the sum of the five people you hang around with the most. And the thing is, is that, you know, it can cost a lot of money to hang around with the right people.
But with podcasts and things like that nowadays, podcasts just like this one, you can be surrounded by individuals who are doing really well. That's the point of this podcast is to support you on your journey and to help you feel not alone and to provide you with inspiration so use that inspiration surround yourself with individuals who are doing well who you admire and then that way you can feel more energized and you can believe it you stop saying maybe I can or if I do and you start saying about when and that in itself that massive shift in in your thought process can make a huge huge difference to your business to your performance to your self-belief and because of your self-belief enabling you to generate that income and get your business up there and being consistent okay no one grows a business alone sometimes the best investment is in yourself and your support network it is very very difficult to get here all by yourself without any help or any support whatsoever and so when you can make sure that you are investing wisely in the resources and the support that you need but don't try and figure it all out there it's it's crazy to think that we can just start a business and know straight off the bat exactly how we're supposed to be running it.
It is not, unless you are, you know, running a business, mentoring, business, coaching business, then you're not going to know all the things. And even then, most people have specialities.
So some people, they might come in from a financial perspective, but that doesn't mean that they've got the sales and marketing. That doesn't mean they can create the messaging.
There are so many hats to wear when you are running your own business that it is, you're kind of setting yourself up for failure if you expect yourself to know how to do all those things without any support or further training. So that's it for me this week, guys.
um do share. You can link with me on LinkedIn.
You can link with me on Facebook. Share with me the challenges that you've had over balancing your business growth.
I will probably more than likely put, I will put out a post in my You Can group on Facebook where you can share what's helped you navigate it where you've kind of found yourself going a bit wrong and how you've got yourself back on to focusing on your business and helping and supporting it as it needs so you know please do share those um and reach out if you do need help with um having more structure having more clarity in your business um you that is what I do, is I help people to

grow their business and create a business that works for them. So thanks very, very much for

listening. And as ever, please do subscribe, rate and share the podcast so that we can get more

listeners in. And that supports what I do.
So that's it for me guys this week. Bye for now.
Thank you. Thank you.