Are You In Business For The Right Reason?

The 9 Hour Small Business Tune-Up – Hour 1

Before Starting: A Few Notes

This program has nine steps. Complete each exercise honestly and you’ll come away with a clearer picture of your business and where it needs work.

It takes just as much effort to run a business poorly as it does to run it well — the difference is in how you think about and approach the work, not how hard you work.

Here are some tips for using this program:

Completing this business tune-up will reveal your business habits, strengths, and weaknesses. It will give you a clear-cut plan and the direction your business needs.

Use this program in sequence, starting with Hour 1. Nine hours may seem like a lot of time, but the exercises are worth completing in full.

Everyone works at a different speed, so the time it takes to complete each exercise may vary. The times listed are averages. It is not important how long it takes to complete the steps, but all the steps must be completed.

A note about brainstorming:

In this program, you’ll find many exercises that require you to make lists. They’re designed to help you come up with ideas you may not have considered before.

The best way to complete an exercise is to think about the subject for a few minutes first. Once you start writing, don’t stop for at least five minutes — this builds momentum and makes it easier to keep going.

List everything you can think of, no matter how small or unimportant it seems. Writing without filtering yourself brings out more ideas. Once your list is done, go back and choose the most important items.

Sincerely,
Acey Gaspard
www.atouchofbusiness.com

Key Points and Facts About Being In Business For The Right Reasons

Why Passion Matters

Business owners who are genuinely engaged with their work tend to handle setbacks better and stay motivated during slow periods.
Frustration with your business is sometimes really frustration with a partner, workload, or environment — not the business itself.

Why Specific Goals Matter

Knowing exactly what you want from your business makes it easier to stay focused and cut out activities that don’t serve your goals.
Specific, well-defined goals consistently produce better results than vague ones like “do better” or “grow the business.”

Hour 1 – Ensuring You Are in Business for the Right Reasons

You are the biggest factor in your business’s success.

Your business needs your direction, ideas, creativity, and expertise. It’s a reflection of you — without your input, it will take on a different form and direction than you intend.

You and your business should be a good match. After completing this Hour, you’ll notice aspects of your business you hadn’t paid attention to before, and you’ll have a clearer plan for improving it.

Let’s get started.

Run Your Business for the Right Reasons:

Most business people find that success comes easier when they are running a business that they love. They don’t mind putting in extra hours and going the extra mile if they are interested in the work that they do.

They stay optimistic. When a problem arises, they concentrate on a solution rather than focusing on the problem. Their business is their life, and they have a drive that keeps them going during good and bad times.

On the other hand, people who are in the wrong business are in their business for the wrong reasons. When conflicts arise, they concentrate on the negative, and instead of looking for a solution, they look for the exit. Their mind may be in it, but their heart isn’t. To ensure the success of your business, make sure you are passionate about it.

To help you better understand how you feel about your business, read the following, and choose which of the two scenarios best applies to you.

Scenario A:

My business feels like a job.
I like what I do because of the money I make.
When problems come up, I wish I were doing something else.
I would instead work eight hours a day and come home with no problems.
Most of the time, I would rather be doing something else.
I can’t afford to leave my business because I don’t think I can make it in any other business.
I want my business to be successful so I can sell it for a hefty profit and try something else.
I like my business as long as everything is going smoothly.

Scenario B:

I look forward to getting up in the morning just to work on my business.
It doesn’t matter if I’m not making money all of the time. I just love being there.
If I had all the money I’ve ever wanted, I would do the same thing without pay.
I always think of new, innovative ways to improve my business.
If I could do anything I ever wanted, it would be related to my current business.
I find it hard to stop thinking about my business, even when I am finished working.
Sometimes it seems as though all I talk about or have any interest in during a social engagement is my business.

Which scenario best applies to you? Scenario A or Scenario B?

If You Chose Scenario A:

Scenario A: That suggests that you would do better if you were running a business that you love.

Evaluating Your Business Preferences:

Some people are better off doing something else if they have no emotional attachment to their business.

You may be a success now, but how much more successful would you be if you were running a business that you loved? Deciding to make a change takes time, planning, and a lot of soul-searching. Only you can make such an important decision.

Perhaps you are in a business that makes a lot of money. It may seem impossible to make the same amount of money in the type of business you’re passionate about.

One solution is to find different ways to make money in a business you enjoy. Think outside the box and come up with ideas to make it work.

For example, suppose you’d like to start a company specializing in computer programming for businesses, but the market is saturated, and it would take years to develop the necessary software and reputation — time you don’t have.

Instead, you might consider going into consulting for businesses, helping people obtain the right software, training them, and adding some of your programs to enhance or fill in the gaps for your clients.

Altering your approach could make all the difference. You could be doing what you love. Just find a quicker, more profitable way to do it.

Next About Scenario A:

Are You Sure It’s the Business That’s the Problem?

At times you may love your business but dislike the atmosphere. For example, you and a partner are running your dream business together, but you’re not happy. You are always arguing, and you feel you have no control. The tension causes you to become upset over little things. The problem is not the business, it’s your relationship with your partner.

Problem areas to consider include: business relationships, high overhead, work overload, and undesirable working conditions. The more specifically you identify the problem, the easier it will be to find solutions.

Exercise A: List Your Business Dislikes:

Make a list of everything you dislike about your business.

Exercise B: Solving Your Business Problems:

List some possible solutions to each problem listed above.

Here’s an example of how you might list your solutions:

Problem: Work overload

Possible Solutions:

Focus on what’s important.
Set priorities and eliminate nonessential functions.
Eliminate wasted time and develop a time management strategy.
Get an assistant to perform certain functions.

Make your own list below, like the example above.

If You Chose Scenario B:

Scenario B: Suggests you are enjoying what you’re doing, so you’re on the right track.

This section will focus on simple but effective management techniques to heighten your awareness, fill in the gaps, and eliminate unwanted interferences.

Know What You Want From Your Business:

It is essential to know what you want from your business because then it will be easier to stay focused and operate effectively. This knowledge will also help you increase profits and eliminate practices that run counter to your goals.

Research on entrepreneurial passion backs this up: owners who feel genuinely engaged with their business tend to build more of what researchers call “psychological capital” — and that engagement is linked to stronger business success, learning, and innovation over time.

Writing down exactly what you want from your business is an excellent way to remember your goals and reach them.

Examples of Possible Business Desires Include:

Wanting to pay off all personal and professional debts and achieve financial freedom.
Wanting your business to be successful so you can become a leader in your industry.
Wanting your business to become stable and highly profitable because you enjoy running it and don’t want to do anything else.
Wanting your business to become well known.
Wanting your business to run well enough that you can enjoy life without being tied to it.
Wanting to run your business in a way that lets you set your own hours and be your own boss.

Exercise A: Your Business Goals:

List everything you would like from your business and then highlight your primary goal.

Exercise B: Roadblocks:

List everything that interferes with getting what you want from your business.

Exercise C: Mapping Out a Plan:

Create a brief plan that identifies the steps required to reach the main goal that you identified above. Make the steps as specific as possible — research on goal-setting consistently finds that specific, well-defined goals produce better results than vague ones. Instead of writing “increase sales,” write something like “add two new referral sources by the end of the quarter.”

Action Steps for Hour 1

Start With Honesty

Go into the Scenario A/B assessment and the exercises that follow it with an honest, unfiltered answer — the value of this hour depends on that.

Separate the Signal From the Noise

Before deciding your business itself is the problem, rule out relationships, workload, and environment as the real source of frustration.

Write It Down, Don’t Just Think It

Everything in this hour works better on paper than in your head — goals, dislikes, roadblocks, and plans included.

Keep Moving to Hour 2

Finish every exercise above before moving on — each hour in this program builds on the last.

FAQ: Are You in Business for the Right Reasons?

What if I don’t clearly fit Scenario A or Scenario B?

Most people lean toward one side more than the other. Go with whichever scenario describes more of your day-to-day feelings, even if it’s not a perfect match.

What if I love my business but hate my current situation?

That’s common. The exercises above help you separate problems with your business relationships, workload, or environment from the business itself, so you can fix the real issue instead of walking away from a business you actually enjoy.

Do I have to complete every exercise before moving to Hour 2?

Yes. Each hour in this program builds on the one before it, so complete all the exercises in Hour 1 before moving on.

References:

Next: The 9 Hour Small Business Tune-Up – Hour 2
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