Have you spent the last few years wanting to see business growth but feeling like you’re staying stagnant? If you continue doing what you’ve always done, 2023 will look exactly like 2022. But if you’re ready to see a change in yourself and your business, it’s time to set a plan to improve the new year.
The following tips can help you stretch yourself and your business growth in 2023.
1. Challenge your limiting beliefs
The first step to challenging your limiting beliefs is to identify them. If you’re unfamiliar with paying attention to what you’re thinking, you likely have deep-seated beliefs you’re unaware of.
Here are examples of common limiting beliefs in business:
- There isn’t enough business to go around
- I don’t have as much to offer as my competitors
- I shouldn’t need help from others
- It has to be perfect before I get started
- I need to make my offer reasonable to everyone
- I have to get ______ done before I get started
When you allow these limiting beliefs to hang out in the back of your mind, they will constantly create obstacles in your path toward success. As you identify limiting beliefs you’re struggling with, work on breaking them. Look for the evidence against those beliefs and what action you need to take to move past them.
2. Ask lots of questions to gain knowledge
A lack of knowledge can lead to a lack of self-confidence, which can hold back business growth. Therefore, to scale your business, you must continue gaining knowledge, even in the areas where you struggle.
Let’s look at a common example in small business—finances. Understanding financial reports and numbers is a struggle for many small business owners and managers. It’s easy to think that as long as your accountant understands the numbers, you don’t need to, but that’s not true. So how can you make wise decisions where finances are concerned if you don’t understand your decisions’ impact on the bottom line?
Now, you don’t need to become a professional in every business area. Still, it’s essential to address the places where you lack understanding so you can make wise decisions in the future.
An effective way to gain knowledge is to ask lots of questions. Find an accountant who will explain the reports to you instead of expecting you to know what everything means. If you find an area where you feel a little confused, dig into the research instead of pretending you know what it means. This could mean talking to other professionals to get the answer or doing your own research to learn.
3. Face challenges and problems head-on
Burying your head in the sand never leads to positive results. And delaying in addressing issues never makes it easier in the long run. So make 2023 the year you choose to be proactive in addressing challenges in your life and business. Be aware of what’s happening and look for potential solutions before the problem continues to grow.
If you struggle with addressing challenges, connect with an accountability partner or group who can challenge you and check in with you to make sure you’re making progress.
4. Get out of your comfort zone
Growth doesn’t occur within your comfort zone, but that doesn’t mean it’s not scary to step outside of it. If you want to see real growth in your business, try to identify areas where you’ve been stuck. And let’s be clear—being stuck doesn’t always feel bad in business. It may look and feel like being consistent in doing good work, but if you aren’t taking steps forward, you’re not continuing to grow.
Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to help us see where we’re stuck in our comfort zone. Here are red flags that you’re operating from your comfort zone:
- Work feels easy because you always know what the answer is or what to do
- Instead of being proactive, you are reactive
- You always succeed and never fail
- You never have questions
- Work and life feel like a routine
- You are surrounded by people who agree with you on everything
If you can’t remember the last time you felt challenged, you’re stuck in your comfort zone. And the growth required to scale your business occurs when you step out of this zone.
5. Connect with people who are ahead of you in the process
If you want 2023 to be the year you make real progress in scaling your business, connect with others who can show you the way. When you interact with someone who has been where you are before, you have a knowledgeable person to answer your questions. In addition, connecting with others ahead of you helps you see the steps you need to take to continue moving forward.
If you don’t have someone to show you the way, we invite you to work with SPEARity for group coaching or one-on-one coaching. Contact us today to explore your business coaching options and start working on your plan to make 2023 the year your business explodes with growth.
