Steering the ship of a business is can be both exhilarating and challenging. Decisions made can have a profound impact on the entire company and its performance. It’s in this context that personalized business coaching emerges as a powerful tool for business owners to not only navigate the complexities of their roles but to thrive and excel.

I’ll dive into the various advantages and positive outcomes that business coaching brings to owners and founders as a not-so-secret weapon.

Are you caught in a never-ending cycle of day-to-day tasks, feeling like you're always putting out fires, and never making the progress you dream of in your business? You're not alone.

Many entrepreneurs and professionals find themselves trapped in the whirlwind of immediate demands, leaving little room for strategic growth. But fear not; there is a solution, and it's called future-oriented work.

In this blog post, we'll delve into the significance of focusing on future-oriented tasks and how it can transform your business.

Do you struggle with decision-making when it comes to growing your business?

Are you holding back from making a decision in your business right now?

The price of NOT making a decision can be time, energy drain, taking up mental space and…missed opportunities.

Is this something you struggle with, or have struggled with?

If so, here are some questions that could help…

An unhappy employee, a negotiation, hiring, deciding which product line to build out and grow...

We can be faced with these types of situations and decisions in a given month, week or even day!

So when we feel the intensity heighten and the stakes get higher in our decision-making, there’s one fundamental exercise that I know can be helpful in these situations.

This reminds me about a recent appointment where I was taking one of my children to a physiotherapy session. The physiotherapist spoke about the benefits of working from the ground up to strengthen their legs and base so they can perform higher and get stronger at the sport they are playing. But the exercises were working some of the smallest muscles in the body to do so.

It was so fundamental to higher performance that’s where we started.

So, when faced with challenging business situations or decisions, a similar approach can help you go from uncertainty to assuredness in knowing how to proceed.

Are you making decisions aligned with your Mission?

First off, do you have a clear sense of your mission now? If you’re a business owner, what is your business’ mission?

If you’re a leader, what is your personal mission for leadership? What are you trying to accomplish in your organization? Is it aligned to your company’s mission?

If you are clear on your mission, then that’s the first step to ensuring that your decision-making is aligned and you move each day to fulfill your mission.

Being able to articulate your company’s vision simply is powerful.

It supports your decision-making, how you lead, and provides a guidepost for your company to work towards.

Sharing it with your team, your clients and suppliers can be equally as powerful so people know what you’re about. People are attracted to doing business with companies that have passion and purpose.

If you haven’t articulated or written your business’ vision in a while, I encourage you to use this simple framework which includes what success looks like.

Here’s a vision framework for you to work with:

I came across a quote that grabbed my attention and it’s aligned with some themes I’ve been noticing lately. Themes such as: putting time and effort in for a future reward, making commitments, and decision-making.

“Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation.”

― Robert H. Schuller

I think of the athlete winning their race and how that’s accomplished on the heals of thousands of hours of early practices, doing drills over and over again until the movements are ingrained into their muscle memory.

The artist creating their beautiful piece only after years of perfecting their various brush strokes and meticulous mixing to achieve the perfect colours and shades.

The ballet dancer who makes a leap or a pirouette look as graceful as can be, like they’re floating across the stage; perfected after years of doing daily barre exercises.

What motivates a human to do those daily or regular, sometimes grueling or methodical behaviours and practices to move them forward to a goal, a vision, or a destination in the future?

There are 8 drivers of company value that contribute to the valuation of whether your company will be easy to pass on or to sell in the future. Through my work supporting business owners to grow their businesses in a way that maximizes their future exit options, I have found that these 8 drivers aren’t always obvious.

And, through focusing on these 8 drivers, this is the process to grow your company, so if you’re not looking to sell anytime soon, these drivers will offer you a roadmap to enjoy growth in the meantime.

The first driver I would love to talk about first is Hub and Spoke. I wanted to start here because typically, almost every owner I’ve worked with has an opportunity in this area…

Growing a business and leading your organization can be fraught with ‘what-if’s’ and ‘maybe’s’ and general unknowns.

Deciding which way to go can feel like you’re at the fork of multiple paths.

So, how can you create certainty, when you don’t feel at all certain?

First, what creates certainty?

Is it more information?

Knowing you couldn’t fail?

Knowing if someone will buy?

So consider this, does having more information really create more certainty? Perhaps in some cases….but we can never really have ALL the information. Can we?

What a question…..and, a question I’m often asked.

It can also be a deeply held belief that some of the business owners I begin working with have: that their business can’t possibly grow because they are already maxed out….or close to it.

This is where the intervention begins :)

Yes, growing your business is hard work and you will have to put the work in. I want to lay that out right now.

However, it’s where you put your energy that counts as you grow and expand into a future vision of your business that delivers results…..and maintains your sanity and personal relationships too.

It’s about laying the foundation for growth.

A house cannot be build on a faulty foundation. It doesn’t sound fun but it’s soooo important and you’ll find that when you do have a solid foundation….after you’ve put in the work to create one…it IS fun. It’s exciting to see what you, your team and business are capable of at that point.

So what does a foundation for growth look like?

Everyone has their own way of navigating career twists and turns.

However, there are some common themes (and mistakes) I’ve noticed that, if avoided, could actually improve your opportunities or make career changes more successful (and easier) for you.