**The posts I write might contain affiliate links or be written in collaboration with businesses or brands. Please see my disclosure policy for more information.**
Picture this; Fiona is a vibrant writer and virtual assistant who has enjoyed a reign of success for over ten years. She could do her job on auto-pilot, and most days, that’s pretty much what she does. Coasting through her business day has become the norm since she’s become accustomed to steady income her professional success has provided for years. Her days are spent obviously going through the motions and “doing what she’s always done.”
But eventually, she begins to see her client slipping away and her income numbers dwindling. Stumped and stymied, she does nothing to correct the problem and opts for the non-proactive route and the, “let’s just wait and see attitude.” It doesn’t take long before Fiona’s once successful freelance business is in dire straits.
Life has a way of shifting and changing, and doing so when we are busy “doing what we’ve always been doing.” Home business pros might fall into complacency-mode because…well….it’s easy. But the change in our life and business is inevitable and we can either opt to “wait and see if it straightens out,” or fill the gaps in our business by adapting, evolving, and re-evaluating.
I choose the latter.
Bottom line, keep you head up, ears open and never get too comfortable in your business. The “gaps” in our business that appear when we are not paying attention can be like yawning canyons that open up between ourselves and steady income so as business folks, we need to continually be adjusting and regrouping so we can keep GROWING.
To Avoid Slipping into Money Complacency
The best way that I have found to make sure there are no “gaps” forming in my freelance business it to:
a: Know my goals and where I want my biz to be (client and income-wise). I also never lose sight of my End Game (why I do what I do).
b. Periodically (like every couple of months) step back and take stock of what I am doing and achieving and make sure it aligns with what my goals are.
I remember back during my commissioned sales days when I would have a daily sales goal identified in my head as a way of keeping my income in check. As I would make sales, I would add them up in a little ongoing tally. I would add up these totals once at noon and again around 3:00 (my day ended at 5:00 pm). This worked wonders for keeping me on track. I also knew that, if noon rolled around and I was only halfway to my goal, I needed to haul a$$ and get some sales calls made in the afternoon.
There is no reason this process can’t work for your work-from-home business.
Consider keeping an income tally handy for your business whether it is a daily one or a weekly one. I promise this roadmap of income success will save you from any end-of-the-month Code Brown Moments when you discover you are “out of month,” and your billable hours/potential income are looking…bleak.
Sometimes events in life force us to change quickly, sometimes the changes are more subtle and gradual. Some changes are good, some bad, but change just about always is about challenging ourselves to look at the obvious in a new light. The underlying message is don’t get caught in the habit of being complacent about your earnings and be proactive.
Trust me, a few hours of pre-planning and review are completely worth the peace of mind you will gain by knowing where your business and earnings stand 24/7.
When’s the last time you reviewed your goals or “took the temperature” of your business?
