Catherine was ready to shut her doors. Five years ago she opened her own marketing firm, thrilled to be going out on her own and filled with optimism about her future. She had great ideas about the type of client she wanted to serve as well as the life she wanted to create for herself. It started off well, but somewhere along the line things started to go wrong. Instead of having time with her family, Catherine worked everyday–almost every hour, it seemed—to grow the business. She built a strong client base, a great product, and steady revenue. And after five years, she was ready to quit.
Catherine’s story isn’t that different than many small business owners. After working for years in the design department for a marketing firm, Catherine felt there had to be more to life than just working for a company that didn’t always seem to appreciate her. Nor did she like the politics at the corporate level or the need to please bosses with whom she didn’t always agree. It was a safe existence, but it wasn’t very fulfilling. So after much soul-searching and many long discussions with her spouse, Catherine gave her notice and opened her own design firm.
Opening your own business is thrilling and terrifying at the same time. Like Catherine, many business owners strike out on their own because they want control. They want to be the one in charge, making all the decisions. No more having to please a boss that you don’t necessarily agree with or even respect. And like many entrepreneurs, Catherine wanted to be in control of her time.
She decided to open a home-based business, which would save time as well as money during the start-up phase. This isn’t unusual. The Small Business Administration (SBA) reports that fully 50% of firms are home-based businesses. Suddenly there would be no more commuting costs, and she could devote that time saved to the business. Plus, she would have more time with her wife and kids. It seemed like a win-win situation all around.
It wasn’t too long after opening her firm that Catherine began to notice a few problems. Nothing too major, and nothing she didn’t expect. She knew starting her own enterprise would take most of her time in the beginning. She and her wife had discussed it and both were ready for that. But over time, it didn’t get any easier. In fact, the more the business grew, the more attention it required. It wasn’t long before she was spending more time in her home office than she had at the marketing headquarters.
As the business grew, Catherine’s revenue–which had been steadily increasing over the first three years–began to stall. Her client base seemed to shrink, and she struggled to please her loyal customers. Not only did her revenue stall, her margins began to shrink due to deals she offered to keep her customers or try to gain new ones. She spent more time putting out fires and averting disasters than actually designing the artwork and marketing campaigns she so loved.
By the fifth year, she was more exhausted than she had ever been while working at corporate. Not only that, her vision of a better life seemed further away than ever. She didn’t see her family nearly enough, the customers never seemed to be satisfied, and one of the main reasons for opening her firm–expressing her creativity–no longer mattered at all. Catherine found herself just trying to keep all the balls in the air without any of the sense of fulfillment or exceptional quality of life she anticipated when opening the firm five years ago.
Again, Catherine’s story is not that unusual. Unfortunately, 20% of small businesses fail within the first year, and 50% of those which actually make it to the fifth year will close their doors. But the story of running your own business doesn’t have to be like that. Whether it is a question of struggling to maintain and grow revenue or finally giving in to continual exhaustion and overwhelm, there are ways to turn the tide so you don’t have to close the door on your own dream.
Because she felt she was at a tipping point, and because she still believed in her dream of a life fulfilled by both work and family, Catherine decided to hire a business coach to help her turn the tide. This wasn’t an easy decision for her. First of all, money was tight and coaches can seem expensive. Secondly, Catherine liked to have full control in all things, and really didn’t want to admit she needed help. That simply wasn’t her style. However, she also recognized that her version of a best life was important, and it seemed so close she could almost taste it–if she weren’t so exhausted.
It took some time, but Catherine finally found a business coach who understood her needs and her values. She felt she could trust him to help her with the heavy lifting that needed to be done if she was going to scale her business and her life to the next level. For the first time in quite a while, Catherine began to feel excited about her business rather than being exhausted by it.
Once they began working together, things moved rather quickly. Revisiting Catherine’s vision was the first–and perhaps the most critical–task she and her coach tackled. This wasn’t just about a vision for her business. It was also a vision for her life. Catherine and her coach spent a good deal of time clarifying exactly what she wanted to accomplish in her business and how those accomplishments would fit in the bigger picture of her personal life.
Some people live to work. Others work to live. Catherine has lost sight of the fact that while she loved her work, she didn’t want it to be the priority in her life. And yet, like so many small business owners, that fact slipped away as she got caught up in the daily grind of running her business.
With a clear vision of her business and life in mind, other challenges began to fall in line. She and her coach reviewed processes and procedures, tightening some, creating others, and doing away with those which were no longer productive. Processes and procedures had always been a difficult domain for Catherine, one that she tried to avoid at all costs. Working with her coach allowed her to focus her attention where necessary and dig into the details to determine what would work best for her business and her clients.
Perhaps Catherine’s most important breakthrough occurred when she discovered her biggest obstacle. It wasn’t her client demands, or lack of time, or a market that seemed to be shrinking. No, her biggest obstacle was herself. Her mindset. When she realized her own thoughts were creating much of the friction holding her back, so many of the puzzle pieces just fell into place.
You see, as we mentioned earlier, Catherine was a bit of a control freak. She wanted to be in charge, and that led to micromanaging and overthinking almost every aspect of her business. Letting go was one of the most difficult things she did, but her coach helped her increase her own self-awareness so she could observe how her thoughts and feelings were affecting her decisions–and not always in a good way. Raising her self-awareness allowed Catherine to measure actions against her vision. Would a decision lead her further away or bring her closer to her desired outcome. With this key benchmark in place, it was much easier to make effective choices.
Increased self-awareness even helped Catherine when it came to her shrinking margins. Catherine had a good product, but fear kept her from raising her prices. Fear that her customers wouldn’t accept an increase. Fear they would walk away. Fear that her product wasn’t worth anymore than she currently charged. Once she realized the quality of her work could support a price increase which would also bring her in line with current market values, Catherine began to increase her margins without fear of losing her market share.
Catherine worked with her coach for just over a year. During that time she carved out new boundaries to protect her family and personal time, increased her profitability, added to her team, and fully experienced the joy of owning her own business. She no longer felt overwhelmed by an overflowing in-box or unreasonable customer demands. She developed better ways of managing her time while building more meaningful customer relationships. She maintained her perspective and aligned her business with her values. This led to greater creativity in her designs and a greater sense of joy in what she was able to accomplish.
Could Catherine have done all this without the help of a coach? Of course she could. Would she have done it alone? Most likely not. The fact is that there comes a time when each of us could use some help. When we are caught in the weeds, it is very difficult to soar into the sky to see the big picture and remember why we started this journey. That’s why 70% of small businesses fail by their tenth year.
Finding the right coach for your business can put you on the right side of those statistics. Coaching isn’t just for sports teams or senior executives. It’s for anyone who wants to bring their absolute best to the game. For those who want to give themselves an advantage. For those who believe what they do makes a difference in the world, but doesn’t have to define who they are.
If you have reached that tipping point in your business, perhaps it is time to invest in a business coach. It could very well be the best investment you ever make.
Chris Griffin is an executive coach with over twenty-five years’ experience in corporate senior management. With an understanding of the corporate mindset, business owners’ trials, and human psychology, Chris helps his clients navigate and leverage change within the different stages of their lives and careers. He holds a master’s degree in organizational psychology and certifications in both wellness coaching and workplace wellness.