How can I get unstuck in my business?

6 Questions to get unstuck and escape the whirlpool of business

Overwhelm, frustration lift when you start to think differently about your business

Do you feel overwhelmed or stuck in your business? Are you operating in crisis management mode, running around from urgent problem to emergency all day long, extinguishing brush fires along the way? Do you feel like you will never reach your goals because your day is so chaotic that you don’t have time to think (let alone eat or sleep!)?

If so, you might be stuck, trying to paddle your way out of a violent business whirlpool without even realising it – a situation that is not only stressful but also unsustainable.

 Take the Big Whirlpool survey and find out if you are in fact stuck.

The 7 Big Questions of Small Business

This page is all about the first of the 7 Big Questions of Small Business about building a beautiful business and life. The Big Questions are:

1. How can I Grow my business? (this page)
2. How can I make more Money in my business?
3. How can I get Unstuck in my business?
4. How can I create a better Work-life-balance in my business?
5. How can I become a better Leader in my business?
6. How can make my Family Business work better?
7. How can find the right support in my business?

Getting unstuck (because stuck is unsustainable):

In the first few years of business, you accept that all this frenzy and stress is par for the course, but a few years on, when nothing much has changed, you start realising there’s a problem.

You’re still burning the candle at both ends. You’re still fixing everybody else’s problems. Even worse, the long-term strategy stuff you really want to work on keeps getting pushed back and back again, forever.

You’re not alone in this problem. Many small business owners feel frustrated, stuck and overwhelmed in business on a daily basis.

However, the secret to building a beautiful business and life is to find your way around this state of overwhelm and take control of your business.

The first step? Start thinking differently about your business, your priorities and your wellbeing. There are 6 Big Questions to consider to start thinking differently about your business and escape the whirlpool

6 Questions to help you get unstuck in business:

If you do feel stuck in your business and you want to get unstuck, lift your overwhelm,  and get out of the whirlpool, Start by asking yourself the following Questions:

1. Is my own mental health and wellbeing enough of a priority?
2. Why does your business exist? The Big Question of Small Business.
3. How much Fun did we have last week? The Fun in Business question.
4. Is this the best use of my time? The Time question.
5. Do we have the right people on board? The People question.
6. What support do I need in my business? The Support question.

1. Is my mental health enough of a priority?

It may not sound sexy, but the most valuable resource in your business is your mental health and wellbeing. Accepting that your own mental wellbeing and health deserve to be given the highest priority in your business, is the first step to avoid (or get out of) being overwhelmed in business and getting unstuck. If you want to build a beautiful business and life, then it’s critical you learn how to look after yourself, be kind to yourself and value your own time.

Mental health and wellbeing for business owners is a big focus for me in my work. I have created a large page full of great resources for business owners about mental wellbeing on this site.

2. Why does your business exist?

(More about the book here and more about the Conscious Capitalism global movement here), and in it, he says this:

“Thinking that the purpose of business is to make money is as silly as thinking that the purpose of human beings is to eat food. We need to eat food, eating food makes us feel good, but we eat food so that we can do what we need to do on this earth. It is the same with business and profit. Business needs to make profit, and plenty of it, but it needs to do so in order to fulfil its purpose, the reason it exists.”

There’s a big BUT:

So yes, a business must make money. It must generate profit and cash flow while working hard to maximise its return to shareholders because, as I say elsewhere on this website, “A business that doesn’t make profit is a hobby.”

BUT if your focus is only on making money:

1. There will never be enough. This year you might aim to make $10,000 profit, but as soon as you’ve made $100,000, you’ll want to make $200,000, then $500,000 and so on. You will eventually get overwhelmed in business, because there’s always more money to be chased.
2. It will all feel meaningless. Why pick $100K or $500K, why not $531,629,23 or $496,187.42? Any number you choose will be arbitrary.
3. Your brain won’t cooperate. To your subconscious brain, there is no difference between $100K or $150K. Your subconscious mind cannot think in concrete concepts, such as numbers, it can only be engaged by emotional concepts.
4. You’ll wonder what it’s all been about when you’re on your deathbed. Nobody has ever lain on their deathbed and thought, “I wish I’d made more money”. I guarantee you that much.

More about Purpose and Profit:

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All other articles about Purpose in business on this site:

All About Purpose elsewhere:

• More about Conscious Capitalism video in the economist
• Conscious Capitalism and John Mackey in Huffington Post

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3. How much Fun in Business did we have last week?

All that matters in business is Fun …

Fun (with a capital “F’) is the opposite of being overwhelmed and stuck in business. That’s important because when you’re overwhelmed, you’re not in control. The two are mutually exclusive.

When your business is Fun, it means everything is working:

• You’re making money.
• Your employees are engaged and doing great work.
• Your customers love you.
• You’re proud of the product or service you deliver.
• You’ve created a level of balance in your life that works towards your wellbeing.

That’s why “Fun in Business” ought to be a key focus to help you move from crisis management and overwhelm to taking control and building your own beautiful business and life.

I’ve also written a book about Fun in Business: The Ten Truths for Making Business Fun. You can download it for free as an Ebook or Audiobook here.

Fun is serious business (and the opposite of overwhelmed in business):

It may seem strange to make Fun the key focus in your business’ development. We’re generally told that the function and purpose of business is to make money. Hence, we should make “maximising shareholder value” (making a profit and generating cash) our top priority.

However, after many years doing this gig, I’ve come to believe that Fun is the opposite and the antidote to feeling overwhelmed in business and that we need to learn to think differently to the status quo if we want to build businesses that stand the test of time.

More about thinking differently here:

• The 10 Priorities for building a Great Business that Stands the Test of Time
• A Healthy business needs a healthy mind: Mental health and personal wellbeing for business owners
• Making Business Fun again

4. Is this the best use of my time?

To escape the whirlpool of business, to escape the clutches of crisis management and step out of overwhelm, you have to become a master of your time. It is an undeniable fact, that the most valuable resource in your business is your time. Everything else you can buy, hire, beg, borrow or steal more off, but your time is absolutely limited. What’s more, there are a range of things you need that time for in your business that can not be done by anyone else, and if you don’t do them (because you’re managing crises, juggling balls and dealing with other people’s problems), your business will be held back and you will start to feel stuck.

I have written extensively about time and prioritisation how to ensure that you do the staff that really matters in your business. Below are links to most of those articles and resources, as well as some useful links to resources available elsewhere on the web.

More about time management:

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All other articles and resources about time management on this site

Articles about time management elsewhere:

• 7 Simple time management techniques for business owners: Forbes
• 4000 weeks, time management for mortals, Oliver Burkeman (a favorite of mine)
• Time management tips for small business owners: moo blog

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5. Do we have the right people on board?

If you don’t have the right people on the bus, sitting in the right seats, facing the right direction and the wrong people off the bus, nothing you do will get you unstuck. Hiring the right people, training them, managing and coaching them and being prepared to make the tough decisions when necessary, will always provide your biggest challenges and equally your greatest opportunities in business. No business owner that ever lived has ever found people management in their business easy. A client of mine once said to me: “All I asked for was employees, but all they gave me was people”. But maybe that’s also as it should be because ultimately in most businesses, it’s also people that ultimately make it possible for you to make money.

I’ve written a lot about people and people management, hiring, firing and outsourcing on this website. Below are links to most of those resources, as well as some external links to further great materials by others.

More about getting the right people onboard

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All articles about people and employees on this site

Articles about people and employees elsewhere:

• 5 Ways to retain employees forever, Harvard Business Review
• First, break all the rules, Marcus Buckingham (one of my favourite books about people)
• The three secrets from “The one Minute Manager”, Ken Blanchard (an absolute classic)

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6. What support do I need in my business?

You can not do it all on your own. It’s become abundantly clear to me that one of the significant differences between successful and overwhelmed business owners is their readiness to look for support, to ask for help.

There are many forms of support available for small business owners, from government funded programs, industry specific support and mentoring organisations (some of it free or nearly so) to various people such as me, coaches, mentors, advisers and consultants. At different stages in your business journey, you’ll need different types of support. The kind of support that is right for you today, may not be right for you anymore in a year. But the simple fact is that you can not do it on your own. Contrary to how it may feel for you, asking for help is the mark of a great business owner.

I have lots of resources available on this site to help you work out what support is right for you right now. (If you happen to be based in Northern Tasmania you may want to check out some of the face-to-face business support groups I run from time to time)

• The 7 types of support for you and your business

More about business life coaching:

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All articles about finding the right business life coach

• Explanations of all other forms of business support here

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Your next steps for reducing stress, frustration and overwhelm (and getting unstuck):

It’s time to stop the mad paddling.

I have created a detailed self-analysis tool called “The Whirlpool Report”. You can go and complete the full Whirlpool survey now and you’ll be sent your report within the next 24 hrs, entirely for free.

Make yourself a cup of tea and take 10 minutes to complete the survey now. I think it will give you some useful food for thought about feeling overwhelmed and stuck in business.

More about the strategies for reducing stress, frustrations and overwhelm in business:

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All articles about strategies for reducing stress, frustration and overwhelm on this site

Overwhelm and stuck elsewhere:

• The one thing that matters most in business
• The Fun in Business coaching programs
• The opposite of Overwhelm and how to get there
• 8 Strategies to avoid overwhelm in business, Forbes magazine
• Dealing with Overwhelm as an entrepreneur, Boss Babe

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