This is the fourth in my series of emails about starting and growing a small, resilient, and powerful business. You can find them here, here, and here.
If you’re following this series it’s because you want freedom and you want the get it through a business that you create and grow. You fully realize that the only way to wealth is with an independent income.
Perhaps you’re frustrated. You’ve attempted many things but haven’t gotten the right answers. Discovering the problems is not hard and you can make it happen.
It’s a process and a mindset. It’s a new way to think about finding and fixing problems.
A New System.
The Stockdale Paradox
In this post, I will explain this technique that will help you confront the obstacles you have with your business, no matter what stage your business is at. The core idea comes from Admiral James Stockdale, a Vietnam POW of eight years.
You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end
—which you can never afford to lose —with the discipline
to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality,
whatever they might be.” ~ James Stockdale
The power and wisdom of that statement come from the fact that you must do both. Never give up your belief that you will succeed in the end. But also, face the truth of your current situation and what is occuring, evaluate what needs to be done, and do everything to persevere. This concept has helped many businesses go from mediocre to thriving. It is documented in the book Good to Great by Jim Collins.
Common Pains and Beliefs
Here is a list of common challenges and limiting beliefs that stop many aspiring entrepreneurs from ever working on their goals. And, if they do, they can’t get around the stumbling blocks that hold them back.
- Not having an idea that inspires you or you think will work
- Not believing you have the necessary skills, experience, or talent
- Not feeling you have money to start a business
- Your simple idea isn’t good enough to attract an audience who wants your offer
- A small one-person business can’t create a 7-figure income
How you can work through this
Anyone of these may be a dire situation for you that you don’t know what to do. You may be trying to make sense of what to do. How do you work through it?
Start by writing down every detail of what’s not working and why. Every single aspect of the problem you’re facing. Is there a common theme of what’s getting in your way? Look at them clearly and categorize them into the severity of how it affects you.
Next brainstorm possible solutions. Write down everything you can think of as a possible fix. Don’t edit. Let your imagination go. When you don’t have any ideas, work backward. What outcome do you want? What has to happen for that outcome to take place? With this strategy you may get closer to a solution.
Then take your solutions and see how to apply them to the problem. Notice what ideas, resources, and paths open up in front of you.
If there’s still a challenge that doesn’t have a solution, write down that you need to ask for help. It can be from a friend, mentor, trusted adviser, or colleague.
Then move on to put a solution in place or pursue the resource to help you. Take the tangled mess that was in your head and design the world you want to live in. Remember, it may be difficult but not hopeless. Don’t give up.
Here’s an example
When I started, I had an idea I wanted to pursue, but my first idea was not right for me. It took me a while to realize that I wasn’t happy with what I was doing. It didn’t fit my personality or my preferred way to work. It didn’t give me enough free time to learn and create new content. It didn’t fit my vision of how I wanted my life to be. And it wasn’t scalable. It traded dollars for hours and that’s not what I started a business to do.
I followed the process I described above. I wrote down every detail of my problem and what made me unhappy.
What I found was that my basic idea was still a valid one for me. helping people start and grow their own businesses. But the way I was doing it was wrong. Instead of working one-to-one, I found a way to do what I excelled at in a different way.
Give the same help but reach more people. I started to offer a course addressing the major issues that people were experiencing when building a venture. I added an element of group help for those who had questions and individual needs. That solved all the problems I had identified and gave me the ability to serve my clients and be true to myself.
Summary
This method has worked for many people in their personal lives and in their business.
In the Good to Great book, Jim Collins wrote:
“The great leaders were able to strip away so much noise and clutter and just focus on the few things that would have the greatest impact.”
No matter what problem you’re facing, you can brainstorm to find ways to alter the reality of the problems you face and find a way to get past them.
Course and Next Step
If I had worked through the process from the beginning, I would have saved a lot of time, money, and false starts.
I’ve turned what I learned into a detailed e-course that goes through a step-by-step process of discovering who you are, what you care about, identifying your talents, experiences, and passions. It also works through finding your niche, market, and a product that is viable.
To find out more, look here at the course curriculum.
The Solo Entrepreneur Newsletter
If you find this information helpful, next month’s post will share another secret to improve your business.
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