If you’ve ever had the thought:

“It’s too much work to take vacation, so I’m not going to bother,” then you need to read this.

How can we prepare to be absent from work or business without it causing too much stress so it negates the positive effects that time away can bring?

It’s about planning ahead and creating processes for the things you regularly do so they are more easily teachable and repeatable by others.

The more planning you do, the less stress going away will be.

There are a number of metrics as a business owner for you to consider in the running of your business: revenue, pricing, expenses, profit, but there’s another important piece to knowing your numbers.

Understanding your cash flow.

Cash flowing through your business is like water flowing through a river; if it dries up, the environment around that river dries up and suffers.

You could have sales going through your business, but there’s a timing to cash flow and if that timing is off, it could hand-tie your business, inhibiting growth. If cash is running like that flowing river, then you have enough to fund growth and allow your business the flexibility it needs to operate.

The considerations that go into cash flow are largely around the timing of when money comes and money flows out, and ensuring there’s more coming in than going out.

For money coming in, consider things like…

Being able to recover from setbacks, challenges, and major difficulties not only applies to your personal life but also applies to your work and career as well.

A number of people leave jobs where they’ve experienced high stress, overwhelm, and even workplace trauma. 47% of working Canadians agree that their work is the most stressful part of their day. (Source: Workplace Strategies for Mental Health: Morneau Shepell. (2017). Media Room)

Finding your own ways to recover from setbacks and tough situations can help you move forward and cultivate resilience for future challenges.

And, as a leader, resilience can help you lead and expand into new opportunities. Having personal experience in cultivating your own resiliency can also help you support the people and teams you lead.

Here are some strategies to consider if you’re interested in continuing to build your own resilience:

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:

One of the reasons I see businesses plateau in their results is not funding, or lack of ideas, but resistance in letting go. Letting go and letting their employees do what they were hired to do.

And for some, simply hiring someone can be a huge hurdle to cross.

By letting go and increasing the responsibilities of those around you, you create one of the foundational components to growth and scale.

It can be difficult and challenging.

What does it often come down to?

Trust.

Trust in them, trust in your business as an overall entity, and trust in yourself.

When I started my business, and I started writing my newsletters and blogs, I found myself signing off with the words “NOW is YOUR time.”

It just happened the first or second time I started to write. Those words came out on paper naturally (I often write on paper first and then transfer to my computer; my writing seems to flow better that way :)).

I was thinking about these words recently and thought about what I meant by them.

And, what I was reminded of came easily to the page (again). NOW is YOUR time, for me means that it’s time to cultivate the courage to take your next step now.

Your next step could be…

As you work to grow your business, do you find yourself ever saying, “I’m not sure anyone else can do this,” or “what I do is so unique.”

OR, “I wouldn’t even know how to train somebody on this, I do it differently every time!”?

If you’re interested in scaling your business and growing your results, one of the most frequently raised topics of concern is about consistency and getting the rest of your team members to deliver.

“If I don’t do it, it won’t be the same client experience” or “We won’t achieve the same results.”

Some of these perspectives may be factual and some may not.

Even if it’s factual now, it doesn’t mean that can’t change.

As many locations begin to slowly open up, some faster than others, I don’t know about you but for me there comes a mix of relief and anticipation for the things we’ve missed: connection, hugs, seeing people we care about, traveling, greater sense of stability & security.

And, reservation and cautiousness. For me the reservation comes from, not wanting things to go back to exactly the way it was….I want to incorporate some of the changes and things I’ve come to carve out space for: a greater sense of my own purpose, more frequent consideration of my personal wellbeing, making space as a nuclear family in busy weeks, and more space in my calendar and shifting my relationship with time.

Have you noticed any of these things too?

Amidst the worry, anxiety, and fear of the past 15+ months, the challenges have been great. But, what came from that were new perspectives, new ways of working and being, new ways of relating with each other and much more.

Does your company bring you energy, increase your financial, emotional, and mental capital?

Or, is it sucking away your energy, and money you never seem to earn more of?

A business is a business when there’s equity to show for your investment. And has value to you and the world.

It’s painful to be reminded of the fact that life is short. But the gift in that reminder is to make the most of the time we have. That includes putting effort into growing your business so it provides the things you need it to provide for you.

If you’re putting up with drudgery, plateauing, or even putting off decisions, I’m here to say that there’s another way…

There’s a lot of advice out there on leadership and sometimes it can make one feel that we have to have things perfectly figured out to be a good leader.

So, I’m suggesting that if you feel that way too, let’s agree that we can let that idea go completely.

In fact, I believe that’s the beauty (or challenge) of leadership…much of the learning is experiential and you have to live it, learn it, and be willing to try things out. Some will work, some will not. And, some will be painful and messy.

However, I think the intention, effort, and a mindset of continuous improvement can go a long way in expanding your leadership skills and creating a high-performing team.

This is a collection of ideas to inspire you in your leadership to dig in and explore ways to take your leadership to the next level so you can heighten results from your team…

My mission is to support businesses to grow, scale, thrive and experience the possibilities of what a healthy business can create: an impact on the lives that use/experience the product/service, often going beyond only the user, creating a career and stability for employees to learn, grow and provide for their families, freedom and flexibility for the owner, and a financial nest egg.

The unique element that I bring to my work is my calm approach, simplifying complexity, and support in reducing confusion and overwhelm, which can crop up from time to time during growth stages.

I find one of the most effective ways to reduce confusion is by having a plan. Making a decision and creating a plan to make it happen. However, indecision and overwhelm can crop often up when we’re faced with a decision of some kind that we resist making…

Have you ever had a wonderful experience with a brand, product or service that you really wanted to tell your friends about it?

Actually, I’m guessing you have. When we experience something wonderful, we want to tell people about it.

I am happy to share with others when I’ve had a phenomenal experience at a restaurant, a retail store, or with my hairstylist or my insurance company.

We want others to have those experiences as well and for those individuals to continue to be successful because of the great work/food/products/services/etc. they’re putting out into the world.

So now let’s flip things.

Do you think people say the same for your business?

There’s one critical question you can ask your customers in order to measure how well you’re doing as a business to know if you have high levels of customer satisfaction and the answer to this question is also proven to be predictive of your future stream of revenue.

The question is…

This is the seventh in the discussion of the eight growth drivers that generate value.

There are many ways to create loyal customers such as providing a valuable product/service and excellent customer service.

There’s another way that you can extend this value that will increase your customer loyalty - creating a model or offering, that solves your customer’s need so they buy what you have consistently.

Recurring revenue makes your company more predictable, extends the lifetime value of your customer, and ultimately makes your business more valuable. Valuable to you now and in the future.

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about how cash moving through your business is its lifeforce. It allows you to fulfill your mission, strengthen the business so it, your employees, and customers thrive.

Creating a recurring revenue stream is another way to bring cash flow into your business to create these automatic sales.

While there are many ways to do this, I’ll share how a simple service contract could be the place to start for many…

Maybe the reason your business is wearing you out isn’t necessarily because you’re burning the candle at both ends, or worried about making your bills, or because of another late order arriving.

While these are all worrisome and tiring, these could be symptoms of a deeper issue.

It could be due to a lack of capacity and diversity in one or all of three key areas: employees, suppliers, and/or customers.

How dependent you and your business is on any one employee, customer, or supplier can be a real indicator of business health, how high your business risk is, and how you, as the owner, are shouldering the effects of this directly. And, if that one employee is YOU, well that would be a signal of a lack of capacity or diversification of employees and skills sets.

I was recently speaking with a business owner who is dependent on one employee (themselves!) who tried to hire another employee recently.

They said ‘it didn’t work out’ and ‘it wasn’t a good fit’. And, they doubted that there would be a good employee out there that could do what they’re looking for.

I probed a little more and it became clear that they really didn’t believe another person could do what they could do and could serve the clients the same way they could.

I have heard variations on this theme from a number of business owners.

So what’s the answer?

Take a look at the three areas I mentioned and see how your business fares in these areas.

Is your business satisfying your ‘WHY’?

In order to fulfill your WHY for being in business, the company you created has to be able to make the impact you had intended it to make.

Whether that’s impacting families through therapeutic approaches, providing housing for seniors, providing financial security for families, or helping others build healthy businesses, without your own healthy business, it becomes harder to fulfill that mission.

That’s why I love these markers of business value. It’s not only your own business you’re building, but having a healthy business means that you can change the lives of your clients and customers.

That’s the real and compelling legacy here and a huge reason why I do what I do. One of my big WHYs is to help you to be successful in growing a strong, healthy, and sustainable business that impacts others.

I’m deeply motivated to improve the lives of others through economic growth and supporting businesses that make a difference in our communities so we all thrive.

One of the markers of a healthy business is how cash flows through it. (This is the fifth driver of business value.)

One of the most common pains I hear from business owners is that there’s not enough cash. Or it shows up as their desire to ‘do more marketing’ or '‘increase sales’.

Is your business a cash suck?

Or does it generate cash quite handily?

If cash is rarely on hand in your business when you need it, you may want to consider exploring these areas:

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?

A few months ago I was searching dog breeders and their websites….yes, it’s happening. Something the kids have been wanting for years is finally going to happen :). We are now on a list to receive our puppy in the Fall.

The point of my sharing this is that as I was looking at breeders’ websites, they started to sound very similar - they all offer puppies of a particular breed, they all guarantee the pedigree, most offered first shots, and so on. But a couple of websites stood out. Some offered more resources than others after you received the puppy. And this got my attention.

We will be first-time dog owners and this was very reassuring to me. Having shopping lists and resources for new pet owners was right up my alley. One breeder offered support through a community page.

The point I’m making here is about differentiation. They all really offered the same or similar ‘offering’ (a cute little puppy of the breed I was looking for) and yet a couple really stood out to me as a buyer.

In this series of understanding the different (eight be exact) drivers of your business’ value, today’s driver is really about what the future holds for your business.

First, I want to acknowledge all you’ve accomplished to date - building something from nothing, or taking an existing business and building it to the point where you are now. I know you’re not finished yet, but, it’s important to acknowledge how far you’ve come.

Congratulations!

Revel in the past rewards, accomplishments, awards, client success stories, and fulfillment you’ve enjoyed to this point.

Having a great history is one thing and while this can provide a wonderful sense of pride and fulfillment, someone interested in taking over your business in the future is not only thinking about where you’ve come, but how much is possible in the future.

In other words, your company’s growth potential.

Even though I called this the second driver, these are really in no particular order and not necessarily in the order in which we would focus on for your business. If you missed the first driver of company value that I spoke about, you can check it out here.

To grow your business and to build a valuable asset, this is likely the most common area we think about for a business: Financial Performance.

Financial Performance is simple to understand but not necessarily easy to achieve…

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…