Every business owner gets stuck not knowing which way to go. Having too many things to think about at once causes us to freeze, leaving us uncertain about what direction to take to get unstuck. No matter what state your business is in there are four questions to ask yourself to figure out which part of your business needs focus first. Does it involve cash, people, strategy, or execution?
For many years I tried to do too much myself. Then I started reaching out to other entrepreneurs. Eventually I hired a coach who really helped bring clarity to me and my business. It was a life changing choice. If you would like help, call me at +1 (604) 721-5732 or Contact Me to setup a time to talk. You don’t have to be stuck.
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What are four questions you can ask when you or your business are stuck?
Hi, I’m coach David J. Greer. Today I want to talk about being stuck. As an entrepreneur, we all get stuck. We face some insurmountable or seemingly insurmountable hurdle. We have problems coming at us so fast we don’t know where to focus. It’s okay, it happens to all of us, and when it does I have four questions that’ll help you get unstuck. These are based on what Verne Harnish calls his four decisions: cash, people, strategy, execution.
Do you have abundant levels of cash and is your cashflow really working well and bringing you all that cash in a timely way? Jim Collins, in his book Great By Choice, talks about the really successful companies he studied who had 10 times their competitor’s level of cash so that they could survive any kind of crisis. As we’ve gone through the crisis of the last year, the companies that have survived, certainly some of them are the ones that have had lots of cash.
Do you have the right people, and are they in the right seats, and are they performing the way they need to? Do you have A-players in every seat? Are you hiring for culture so that those people fit into your company and you have to manage them less? I know that’s more than one question, but the real focus is what are you doing about your people and are people your biggest problem right now?
What about strategy? Verne Harnish would talk about in his book Scaling Up, strategy equals marketing, so what about the markets you’re going after, your product and service fit? Is it where it needs to be? Jim Collins in his book Good to Great talks about the BHAG, the big, hairy, audacious goal. Have you got that so that everyone is pulling into that same direction? Jim Collins also in Great By Choice talks about the long march and how everyone needs to be marching to this long-term vision. The really successful CEOs are the ones that motivate their people to continue along the march.
Then finally, how is the execution of your company going? Are all your processes running smoothly, without drama? One tool you can use, again from Verne Harnish, is the Rockefeller Habits Checklist, 10 things that you can look at in your business to help you to execute faster. When you or you feel like your business is stuck, there are four things you can ask yourself. Do I have enough cash? Have I got the right people and are they performing well? Do I have the right strategy and focusing on the right markets? Am I executing well enough for what I need? I’ll add a fifth question. In any given quarter you can only focus on one of those four questions, so my final question is, which one is most important this quarter?
I know what it’s like to be stuck. I know as an entrepreneur how hard it is to reach out for help. It made a huge difference to me when I started reaching out to other entrepreneurs, when I hired my own coach. Know that you don’t have to do it alone. If you’re still feeling stuck, give me a call, send me an email. Let’s book a time that we can get together and talk about where you’re really feeling stuck. My promise to you is that if we spend an hour together, you’ll have three ideas that will accelerate your business in the next 90 days. Let’s get together. Let me help you accelerate your business and get you unstuck.
