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Why Working ON Your Business Isn’t Working For You…

“You’ve got to work ON – not IN – your business” — no doubt you’ve heard this popular suggestion before, right?

However, it turns out Michael Gerber was only partially right when dishing out this advice in E-Myth.

Let me explain.

A client of mine decided to start selling high-end programs because it seemed like a great strategy to grow her coaching business.

She developed a well structured coaching package. Crafted an irresistible offer. And started getting potential clients on the phone.

Yet despite using a very effective sales process she wasn’t signing up any new clients.

Call after call seemingly ideal potential clients were just not taking her up on her amazing offer.

Then we made a few tweaks and – as if some magic flood gates opened – new clients were signing up for coaching programs at $5K, $7.5K, $10K and more!

What happened?

Before I tell you the answer, let me ask you something. Has it ever happened to you? I mean learning a great business growth strategy that you knew was working like crazy for others so you started using it too, but it didn’t work for you?

Most likely the answer is yes. I know it happened to me.

Now think for a moment about a time when things were “just happening for you.” A time when it seemed like creating the results you wanted was almost effortless…

Got it?

What’s the difference between the two experiences?

Why did one strategy create better results while the other – maybe even a better strategy – felt like a chore and failed?

The answer is that the strategy that failed (for you) – no matter how brilliant it was – wasn’t a good match for you!

Maybe it wasn’t a match for your strengths. For your personality. Or for your current stage in business.

Dr. Stephen Covey said that “You cannot consistently perform in a way that’s inconsistent with who you are.”

So if the strategies you use to work ON your business aren’t a good match for WHO you are – you simply won’t do them. Not well. Not consistently.

That’s why you first have to “work” ON YOU – discover and strengthen your strengths. And find out your “starting point” – so you can decide your most effective next step.

Because you can only grow your business as fast as you develop yourself as a leader, an entrepreneur, a marketer, a human being…

And I say “work”, but it really isn’t; it’s a fun and powerful experience to discover an unleash your own entrepreneurial genius.

So, back to my client and her offers. What did we change?

Two things. We increased prices and shortened the term of her engagement with clients.

Why did that matter?

Because my client wasn’t wired for “hand-holding” and every time she made an offer for her original program she felt like she was trapping herself into work she didn’t enjoy.

So she sabotaged all her sales conversations and didn’t even know why.

The moment we structured her program to ONLY offer what she is super good at and loves doing – and removed everything else – her sales soared!

One last word of caution. Don’t mistake this simple solution for something easy to do.

A few small tweaks could open the “magic flood gates” in your business, but the trick is knowing what those tweaks are and where to make them. Most people don’t. ;)