I’d love to be able to tell you that there are set of linear and finite phases that every small business owner goes through while you’re rethinking and redesigning your business model…
…but if I told you that, it would be a lie.
But there are some well known phases that you might go through, sometimes circling back to one you thought you already finished, and skipping others completely. Here is a short list of some of the signposts you’ll encounter on the road to redesigning your business model:
- I know/feel something needs to change – You find yourself pausing in the middle of the day (or worse, in the middle of the night) and asking, “Is this the business I want? Is there untapped potential in me that’s striving to get out? What’s next for me?” People report feeling restless or frustrated, knowing deep in their heart and mind that the business needs a shake-up, a new way of being in the world.
- Getting lost in the not-knowingness – This is one of the toughest phases in business redesign, because you have to be okay with not having the solution. Some spiritual teachers call this not-knowingness “the grace of mystery.” Puts a different spin on it, doesn’t it?
- Finding clarity on goals – If you spend time tapping into your goals for your business, and for yourself personally, you’ll find that it’s easier in the next phases to explore and choose the right business model for you. Is there a particular problem you need to solve? A particular dream you’d like to achieve? Values you’d like to express into the world?
- Exploring the possibilities – In this idea-generation phase you explore every aspect of your existing business model, looking for places to add, modify and discard. No idea is sacred and no idea is thrown away. Even the craziest of ideas can be a springboard to a new business model. Creativity and innovative thinking are crucial keys during this phase.
- Making a road map – This is where you design your new business and marketing model, keeping what still fits from your old model and mixing in the new ideas you’ve generated. This is also where you create your transition plan and map out where and when changes will take place, and what resources you’ll need to make it happen.
- Taking the journey – Implementing your business model changes can happen in a week or it can be a two-year process, depending on how complex the changes are and how many resources you have at your disposal. This is often a journey through the weeds and can be rough going. Why? Because you have to continue to run your existing business (unless you’re independently wealthy!) while creating your new business at the same time. Managing change can feel like a juggling act, and I’ll talk more about it in future posts.
Where are you on the path to rethinking and redesigning your business? It’s a journey worth taking, and a great adventure awaits! I’ve done this numerous times and have found my mastermind group to be invaluable. They help me to think deeply about each of these phases, carefully weighing the pros/cons, and helping me see where I have blinders on.
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Karyn,
Thank you so much for reinventing your business. I have been struggling with the true concept of my business for the past two years. I was liberated to see successful business owners reinventing their businesses. I no longer feel like a failure for wanting to change my current business so that I can focus on reinventing the right business for me.
I guess I am leaving the pond to swim in the ocean. I am excited about the free teleseminars. You are the best.
You’re welcome, Shenetta. We all make small tweaks in our businesses every year (sometimes every month!), but once in a while we need to take a big leap — from Tweak to Triumph! I’ll be posting a story in the next month about a woman who had to completely let go of her old business model, which wasn’t fulfilling her, and begin a new model that excited her. The letting go was the hardest part and she said she had to spend time grieving about her old business before she could embrace the new.
Hi Karyn. Thank you for your energy and insight into this re-invention business; I have caught your fire. Actually for me it’s like being shaken out of a place of relative comfort when people approached me for services to a belated realization that I have diminished myself and my work in the process. How could I knowing that I am passionate about my work with and for people? Well, thanks to your “trumpet call” I snapped to my familiar energy level and ready to face the challenges of putting myself out there to conquer.
You have a way of “making brown grass green” again.
Thank you, Helga
As you know, Helga, we all need to be shaken out of our comfort zone from time-to-time, and to remember who we truly are and what we’re put on Earth to do. 🙂
HI Karyn- reinvention is definitely a process that I am going through now. I am in Israel and have been coaching for over 8 years now, but over the past few years slowly and surely the market has bottomed out, tons of coaches and so-called “coaches” have flooded the market, the profession has lost prestige and I suddenly found myself embarassed to say what I love to do and have done so well and so extensively (till now that is)- to coach others to move their businesses and lives forward!
I am no newcomer to reinvention processes…but this time it has come “big time”:to coach or not to coach, that is the question!?!
Cheers and thanks.
You have a great point, Ronnie. So many untrained people are calling themselves “coaches,” it’s hard to know whether it’s a field worth pursuing.