For many business operators the past few months have been exhausting. The economy has effectively been in hiatus and business has all but ground to a halt, but the mental workload has been extreme.
How bad will this be? When will it end? How will this impact my staff, my business, and my livelihood? These have been among the common questions running through the minds of business owners 24/7.
In the interim, many operators have been forced to think on their feet, leading their teams through a period of major transition.
While we may now be emerging from the economic freefall of Covid-19, the coming weeks will still see business owners shouldering a similar mental burden as they look to bring back staff, reopen their doors and re-engage with a consumer who may now have new needs and priorities.
Together, this makes now the time to re-evaluate your business mindset, sourcing the right tools to help you, the business owner, gear up for the continuing mental challenge ahead.
What is the business mindset?
Your business mindset is basically the way you think about your business. It is recognition that how you mentally approach business and its challenges has an impact on your likelihood of success.
This success includes how your brand is perceived, the services and products you offer, the leadership of your staff, and the processes you embrace to get where you want to go.
There are different types of business mindsets, including growth and fixed, but the critical takeaway at this moment in time is that your attitude will impact your business, particularly during a period of unprecedented challenge and change.
Top mindset tools to embrace
Managing your business mindset is a bit like shifting gears on a car. It’s akin to taking your business out of neutral, where it might be coasting or have stalled, and putting it into first, second, third or fourth gear with a clear destination in sight.
To do that the following tools may assist…
The road ahead, not the rearview mirror
A major casualty of recent months has been confidence. After all, there you were coasting along when suddenly the business vehicle ran out of fuel and ground to a halt through absolutely no fault of your own.
It’s OK to acknowledge that this came as a surprise, out of nowhere, and there was no way to prepare. But what will you do next?
Refuel is the obvious answer, while recognising the route you may now take to reach your destination has to be altered slightly to make up for lost time.
Now is the time to draw a line in the sand, to stop dwelling on the past and plot the path forward. The fuel you need is resilience, faith and willpower. But focus on the things you can control, rather than those you cannot and invest your mental energy in the future not the past.
Believe you’ll succeed
The most important thing to realise and hold firm in your mind right this moment is that you still have the power to reach your business destination. You will succeed. You will do so using similar tools to the ones that saw you start an enterprise in the first place and a few new ones you have developed along the way.
Know your why
Now is the time to very clearly define the why behind your business, including what you are looking to offer others and what your business should offer you. In other words, why do you get up in the morning and open that business door?
Knowing your why and keeping it front of mind allows you to maintain business motivation. Sharing that why with your staff also keeps them energised and engaged.
Understand mistakes are opportunities
This speaks to the growth mindset that many business owners and entrepreneurs look to embrace. When you understand mistakes are opportunities to learn and evolve, you free yourself and your business to keep reaching for the stars.
On that note, now is the time to actively pursue learning, to arm yourself with new tools and insight that motivate and encourage you and your business to move forward.
Develop daily habits
Daily habits have long been linked to both personal and business success. They take much of the mundane thinking out of the business landscape, allowing processes to occur effortlessly at a set time.
When developing daily habits, look to what works for you and your business, then stick to them. These daily habits might be different for every business and every individual but might include a workout at 7am before a business day that starts with half an hour of returning emails, or a daily routine of cold calling between 9am and 9.30am before processing orders and paperwork.
Know your process
You know what works for your business and what doesn’t. At this point that may require a little revision, but process should be at the heart of what you do.
When it comes to running your business and decision making, your processes allow you to move forward quickly without overthinking the little things.
Involve your team
Once you’ve spent time cultivating your business mindset, be sure to involve your team by clearly outlining the planned path forward.
When you engage the team around you, you inspire passion, confidence and loyalty. And there’s never been a better time to ramp up and bring the best out of the staff as you collectively look to the road ahead.
If you’re looking to manage your business mindset and chart the road ahead, I’m available to assist. Tap into the wealth of resources available by following my Business Conversations podcast or alternatively reach out directly to me here.
