The ONE Thing That You Need To Make Your Business Work

Yep. I’m making THAT kind of statement. The one where I promise you that there is just ONE secret to success.

How bold! I know. I know. But I’ve worked with hundreds of people and I can tell you – MOST of them are lacking this one thing.

 

You know how you keep reading more and more blogs about how to make your business work? How you keep signing up for business courses? How you keep learning and ingesting information and hustling to try to make your business work?

How’s that going for you? Because in my experience (and hundreds of my clients’) – it doesn’t.

 

There’s really only one thing you need to get your business on track and starting to “work” (work meaning that clients are finding you, and you’re getting people signed up for your list, and people are giving you their money).

 

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I’ll tell you what it is.. but first let me tell you what it’s not.

It’s NOT yet another course on list building.

It’s NOT a training on how to do a webinar.

It’s NOT a branding course or a rebrand.

It’s NOT spending hours on Canva making images for Instagram.

It’s NOT a coaching call about money mindset or finding your business personality type.

So what is it?

It’s FOCUS.

And it’s hard focus. Which is a bit of a double entendre – because you need to focus in hard on exactly what your business is…  but also because finding that kind of focus can feel hard.

It requires you to make decisions.

It requires you to take real action (not just the procrastination kind of action).

It requires you to stop being so precious about what you’re doing and start thinking like a business-person.

And that’s why very few businesses actually make it. They get to overwhelmed with all the things to do and all the possibilities – that they don’t focus in on what will actually make a difference. And then things don’t work. And then they feel bad and sad and like you’re just not good enough when the truth is that you’ve just spent way too much time on the stuff that doesn’t matter and not enough on building the foundations of your business.

I’ve used this analogy before and I’ll use it again because it’s a damn good one:

It’s like you’re building a house and worrying SO much about what color the carpet should be, what kind of couch you will buy, spending time perusing Etsy for the perfect wall piece, and ogling all the cute household knickknacks at Anthropologie — before you even lay the damn foundation and build the walls. All that other stuff are the bells and whistles that are WAY more fun to think about than the reality of what it’s going to take before all that stuff is even useful.

FOCUS. Most new business owners lack it because there IS so much to get done.  And your ideas are shiny and bright and new and exciting and you want to do it ALL and build the perfect business and be fulfilled and happy and free and Uncaged.

 

But you can’t do it all at once. And you definitely can’t do anything til you have rock solid focus on what you are creating, from the ground up.

 

Now, admittedly, “focus” can feel like a really intangible thing and could possible mean a lot of different things. SO let me break down for you exactly what I mean when I say FOCUS in your business:

This means clarity in your message; TRULY understanding who your clients are (and no, avatar exercises don’t really get you there); knowing exactly what you do for them and being able to articulate that in a way they can understand; creating killer packages and programs that feel easy to sell because YOU feel confident in them and they are exactly what your client wants and needs (no more guessing). And until you cut out all the crap that is distracting you and find focus, you’ll never nail these things down and you will continue to go in circles and spin around and around and up and down and never quite get there.

Sounds exhausting to me, and frankly, like a huge waste of all your amazing talent and energy and value in this world.

I dream of a world of business owners who don’t let all the shiny stuff suck them in and who FOCUS on what they are creating. These are the business owners who will change lives and change the world.

These are the warriors that emerge from Uncage Your Business and these are the business owners who survive and thrive.

Focus. Do you have it?

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9 Comments

  1. Rebecca Catterall on March 26, 2015 at 3:22 pm

    Oh Lordy lord.. Yes!! I have been so guilty of the million courses and the oooooo shiny object syndrome I have been super guilty of neglecting hyper focus. Had a break in London with my teenager and now on it like a car bonnet. 🙂 Razor Focus commencing.. xx



  2. Charity Nicole on March 26, 2015 at 9:28 pm

    This is the BEST. When I stopped wasting time on things I thought were propelling me, but were really keeping me stuck, I started making real moves 2 months ago. I finally did my product launch yesterday and it was a SUCCESS! It feels so good to know how to focus and more importantly, WHAT to focus ON at the time of importance. 🙂 Great blog!



  3. Selam Debs on March 26, 2015 at 5:38 pm

    This is exactly what I was talking about today in my Yoga class. The idea that in Yoga a single pointed focus is essential to a healthy, evolving yoga practice. Where you feel each muscle engaged and move away from distractions and more and more towards intention and being fully in the moment. I feel this Yogi-focus translates to Life. That when we move through life with passion and intention step by step with little distraction, we experience clarity and are able to ‘focus’ on what actually matters and get shiz done. Thank you Becca for speaking to this topic! I’m starting to see that I needed this pep talk more than my students:) Namaste



  4. ling | business-soulwork.com on March 26, 2015 at 11:36 pm

    Can’t agree more. So many people chase after the bright shiny object, thinking that the next $297 program will hand them the magic bullet. In fact, the secret lies in having the focus to hone in on their big “Who What Why How” by looking inward and being honest with themselves, then use their own Truth as guiding light/filter to create a message that resonates with their market. The bright shiny objects can become handy excuses or distraction so people don’t have to face the hard questions they have to ask themselves and face their fears and resistance. I call chasing bright shiny object as a symptom of “Entrepreneurial Boredom”: http://business-soulwork.com/entrepreneurial-boredom/



  5. Elinor Fish on March 27, 2015 at 1:48 pm

    Indeed, I’m so guilty of this! But since committing myself to doing what’s most impactful to my business and cutting out the rest, I feel so much more organized and in control.

    For a while there i was just trying to do everything and working crazy hours to “get it all done”. But as soon as I starting placing more value on my time and setting limits with certain clients, life became sane again.
    I can’t agree more with how important this is.



  6. Marsha from YesYesMarsha.com on April 1, 2015 at 6:11 pm

    Aaaaaa, I needed to hear this today so much! THANK YOU!!



  7. Regina on July 18, 2015 at 11:40 am

    I’m not sure how I ended up on this page today, but it was just what I needed today! It is my 45th birthday and I have spent the last three years taking courses, taking lots of notes, and doing lots of planning, but really not taking much action turning my ideas into reality.

    I think I had halfway convinced myself that there was already so much out information and professional gurus out there that I couldn’t possibly contribute anything new, fresh, or valuable. But this post about getting focused and taking action really hit home for me and I know it is time to take that next big step and start taking real action towards building a real business for myself!



    • Rebecca Tracey on July 18, 2015 at 2:39 pm

      Hi Regina! So glad you found us here at Uncaged. Be sure to hop into the community on Facebook (www.theuncagedlife.com/community) to meet folks who would be thrilled to support you and cheer you on as you start taking action!



  8. Rhiannon on February 5, 2016 at 11:15 am

    This!!!