Every business owner faces the same conflict. There are things you don’t want to do that would make more money, and things you really want to do that will probably be a little less profitable.
The Number Replaces the Question You Started With
Most people start a business because of a passion for something. In my case, it was language learning. I was good at languages, and I wanted to help other people learn them. For a while, the only real question was how to spend more time doing that.
Then I stopped asking, “Well, how can I just spend more time doing languages and teaching languages?” I started asking, “What’s my number?” It went from a passion question to a business question. What number do I need to reach? How much money is enough?
Why did I start asking that? Simply, because I changed the rooms that I was in. I was spending time with ambitious business owners, and in those rooms, if you didn’t have a number you were aiming for, there was something inadequate about you. I wanted to be one of the cool kids. I wanted to show I could keep pace.
The danger works like this. For every day you haven’t reached that number, you haven’t succeeded. Unless you’re extremely mature about money, life, business and success, and most people aren’t, you end up attached to the outcome. That produces stress, urgency and worry. And that urgency starts changing the decisions you make about the business.
What a Revenue Target Makes You Consider
Recently, I was in a group chat with an entrepreneur who came with a question. His current revenue didn’t feel like enough, so he was considering several new moves to close the gap. The conversation went on for a while, and something became clear.
Every way he could make more money ran counter to the ethos of his brand. None of them were good for the brand.
He was still trying to find a way to make them work. He had become more attached to the financial outcome he was chasing than to the ethos of the business and why he started it in the first place.
Now, why does this happen? It happens because there are two things governing your psychology here.
The Two Emotions Behind the Rush
The first is fear. Fear that everything will disappear. That you’re a one-trick pony. That you just got lucky, and you need to make as much money as you can before it all vanishes.
The second is comparison and ego. You’re surrounded by ambitious, successful people, and you start to feel that you should be chasing a number too.
Fear. Ego. Comparison. These are extremely powerful motivators. They drag you out of alignment with the thing you started the business to do in the first place.
The 3-Year Test That Exposes the Rush
The same entrepreneur then said something far more interesting than any of his proposed revenue moves. He said he could keep doing what he loved, in the way he liked to do it, and have enough money to retire in three years.
And I just thought, hang on. You’ve just said you could keep doing this thing that you love doing, in the way that you like to do it, and in three years you’ll never have to work again. And that’s somehow not enough for you? You’re looking for ways to speed that up by what, maybe shave a year off the time frame?
It’s bizarre that this happens, and yet it’s completely normal, because fear, ego and comparison are running the show. If you can identify with that state of being in a rush, then let me pose you a thought experiment.
Stop Pushing to Keep the Business Aligned
Imagine you knew with complete certainty that your business was safe, that it wasn’t going to disappear or collapse. How would you behave differently as a business owner? Would you continue pushing hard looking for shortcuts, or would you give yourself permission to step back, chill out a little, and enjoy the ride, enjoy building the thing the way you want to build it?
A lot of people would find immense relief in just running the business the way they wanted to. But why don’t you do this? It’s because of the negative emotions that are running the show. It’s the fear, the ego, the comparison. Recognise those as the villains. Once you release their grip, you can give yourself permission to run the business in a way that serves your customers best and makes for a much nicer life.
I spent far too much of the middle years of my business in a state of pushing, and it was unnecessary. The number isn’t a genuine destination. When you hit it, two things happen. You want a different number, because goalposts always move. And you realise it was never about the money. All you really want is a nice life and a business you enjoy with people you enjoy working with. Six-figure owners want more revenue. Seven-figure owners want a nicer life. I’ve mentored seven-figure owners who tell me exactly that.
Of course, it’s really important that you continue to make as much profit as you can within the confines of the business you actually want to own. But if you’re going to get to your goal eventually anyway, keep doing it in the best possible way. Later on you’ll want to have that business you love to run, so you may as well build a business you want to keep.
