Let's talk about growth. It can be scary as an entrepreneur to think about where your business is headed AND how you're going to get there. It can be a lonely journey, but I'm here to make it at least somewhat easier for you by providing tips, support and share my own experience. We're all in this together after all 🧡
I delivered a webinar earlier this year around building a roadmap for your business growth. I couldn't NOT share it with all of you here because it's full of information I hope you'll find useful regardless of what stage of your business you're in.
If you rather watch the reply, I've got that for you, too
So, how do you grow your business?
There's no linear way but I'll share what I have seen work for many. One of the main things to start off with is figuring out where you are stuck. Most likely, you're stuck in a comparison loop. You see other businesses, creatives, entrepreneurs, your grandma (grannies can be entrepreneurs too ok?) do something and you think you should be doing that, too. Well, I'm here to tell you that it's not always the case.
Make sure to identify your end goal.
That's not to say you can't change it along the way, but you need a clear vision of what it is you're aiming for.
Let me introduce you to one of my most difficult students...me. Hear me out. If you somewhat know me already (and if you're new here, hey! Nice to meet you, I hope you'll stick around - I can even bribe you with freebies), you know I want to do a million things at a time. Fine art, digital, crafting, licensing, books, passion projects, teaching - sometimes I wish I could clone myself but we're not quite there yet. So I've had to come up with a way of how to DO EVERYTHING and still progress.
I've had to figure out what I really wanted to do and try to narrow it down. It's difficult, but trust me you just HAVE do it to find your main focus. Four years in, and I can proudly say I've achieved all of those big goals I've set for myself. And so can you!
It fills my heart with joy to say I have written several books now, a few of which have become bestsellers. Here are two I particularly love, and hope you will too: Peggy Dean's Ultimate Guide to Nature Drawing & Watercolor and Botanical Line Drawing. If you end up using them for your art practice, make sure to tag me on Instagram (@thepigeonletters) - I LOVE seeing your art!
Figure out what you care about THE most.
Out of all of those things, what REALLY makes you happy? For me it was teaching. I love sharing (and sometimes oversharing), I love getting people excited and I love living vicariously through them. What is that one thing for you?
Do you have anything that's sustaining you?
It could be a job you love, or a regular 9-5, but it's important to realize and accept where you are financially. It's not realistic to just get up, quit and head in a new direction. Be patient.
What you put your energy into will come back to you.
Start making progress TODAY, even if it's just bit by bit. Eventually you will start seeing doors open and new opportunities arise. Things happen OKEY?
When you have a lot of ideas and want to do a lot of things, it becomes more important than ever to prioritize. Brain dump alllllll of your ideas and start numbering them. Things might fall into place the way you expected them to, but you might also realise that what you thought was your number one priority is actually closer to number 5 or 10.
Start planning your goals.
I know, how boring right? BUT IT WORKS. This will help you figure out what steps you need to take to get there and what components you need to have along the way (think of it as a recipe - if you want to make an apple pie, you just gotta have apples, oranges won't do. Unless they would - I don't cook, can you tell? I think you get my point).
One of our Flock members, Theresa Haddow, joined us during the live webinar to talk about how identifying her focus - or focuses, she has a few - helped her see growth in her business. If you want to listen to that part (I know you do), skip to 30:00 in the replay.
I hope you've found this content useful, and even more so, I hope that you will apply it to whatever it is that you do, too! GO YOU 🥳
I know this was a lot, so why not pin for later?
