Feeling behind in your business?

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Hello and good evening, everyone. I'm Katie McManus, your practical business coach coming to you live on TikTok. Over here on my phone, on the Facebooks, LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram and Substack. We're just going live absolutely everywhere these days and just a little design with you. I love this to be interactive. So if you have any questions as I talk through this and if you have anything to add to the conversation, please do pop anything in the chat. I do love it to be interactive. However, sometimes the technology doesn't work the way it's supposed to. And if I don't respond to your comment, know that I'm not mad at you. You didn't do anything wrong. It's just, I'm not seeing it. So now that we have cleared that up, Good evening. Good evening. Hi, Erica. Welcome. All right, so tonight I want to talk about. Or tonight, this afternoon, it's getting dark out, so I'm getting confused. I want to talk about something that I hear pretty much every single business owner say. And a lot of business owners are saying it a lot right now because it has been such a weird and wonky year. And that is this really, really shame filled admittance that they're just so behind in their business goals. I talk to business owners every single day and I can't tell you, I can't stress enough that every single business owner that I talk to admits to me that they are behind. They are behind in their revenue, they are behind on their goals, they're behind on how many clients they want to have. And whenever they admit this to me, there's always this like this tangible sense of, of shame. Like you can, you can feel how tight their shoulders are and that like their palms are a little sweaty. And you know, they tell me this and like, they're like looking at me like, oh God, she's going to judge me. She's going to like tell me that I'm not cut out to be a business owner or that I'm doing stuff wrong or that I'm not working hard enough, right? Because we're so good at gaslighting ourselves and making ourselves feel like shit that we assume everyone else is going to gaslight us, judge us and make us feel like shit as well. I will never, ever, ever judge someone for feeling behind on their business. Whenever someone tells me that they're feeling behind on their business. You know, a. I'm like, join the club. Like, you're not the only one. Hi, Mimi. Welcome. You're not the only person who feels behind in your business, okay? Building a business is not like building a house. Building a business is not a finite project that you're going to like, start in a very clear cut part and then do very, very straightforward incremental steps and then eventually end up with a finished product. It is never ending, okay? You can start a business, you can build it up to multiple six figures and then you can take a pause and then have to rebuild again. That happens all the time for various reasons. It happens because people have health issues. It happens because people get burnt out. It happens because life gets insane. It happens because the political landscape of your country kind of goes to hell in a handbasket. I wonder what I might be talking about there. Anyway, if you're feeling like you're behind in your business, join the club, okay? There's not a single business owner who feels like they have it all figured out. There's not a single business owner who feels like they have everything perfectly buttoned up all the time. And we are, we are living in a world where we are constantly bombarded by people who want to tell us everything that we should be doing in our business, right? We doom scroll late at night and we hear 17 and a half different things that we should be doing. And we're like, oh, yeah, that's a great idea. Um, if you're in a space like I am, where I advise my clients on what they should be doing in their business, sometimes I hear something come out of my own mouth and I'm like, oh, God, I should be doing that, right? But do as I say. Do as I say, not as I do, right? You can know exactly the steps that you should be doing. And also, you are a human. You are a human who not only has a finite amount of hours in the day, but also has a finite amount of energy to spend on any given thing. You are also a human who is sometimes victim of your own fears and anxieties and worries. And you know what? Like, sometimes your fear and your anxiety and your worries won't let you do the thing because it feels too risky, right? The first time I went live to promote my business, I was terrified. And do you know how long I dragged it out before actually hitting the live button? It's a very, very, very long time. And it wasn't until I did it several dozen times that I actually felt comfortable doing it and that, like, now I don't even really think about it. I just kind of like, you know, vomit up some kind of description of what I want to talk about. Go live. And there you have it. When you're starting a business, however, like, they're always going to be new things that scare you. There are always going to be new things that feel outside your comfort zone that you will drag your feet on, that you will have anxiety around. And it's totally normal to just not do them for a little while. It's totally normal to like, keep yourself in a holding pattern and, and, but like, keep it on your list of things that you should be doing. And because just the fact that you're not doing it yet does not mean you failed at it, okay? It just means, like, you're not mentally prepared for it yet. And that's okay. Also, like, we can say we should be doing a gazillion things in our businesses. It doesn't mean that we need to do all of those things to be successful. You know, what I always try to find with my clients when they come and work with me is we want to find the 20% of things that they can do that are going to get them the 80% of the results, right? We don't want them working. I mean, I personally don't want my clients working more than like 30 hours a week. If they want to go, be happy, work as many hours as you want. But if we can find a way for you to make multiple six figures, if not seven figures, by working less than 30 hours a week, that is the ideal, right? Because most of my clients have an intellectual service, right? So like, they're an expert at something and they have to offer that expertise to other people. That's a lot of intellectual work, right? Listening to someone's problems and hearing what they want to accomplish and all the things that are going wrong, that makes it hard for them to accomplish those things and finding the solution and helping them problem solve. That takes a ton of mental work. It's exhausting, right? Not only that, but you're also a business owner. So you don't just have to do that for your clients, you have to do it for yourself too. You have to not just do the work, you have to figure out what the work is, right? When you worked in a job, I want you to think about this. When you got hired for a job, you got hired to do one set of responsibilities. Like when I worked in sales, my job was to sell and that was it. My job was I would talk to people who are interested in the thing. I would follow up with them as much as possible until they bought the thing or until they told me to fuck off, and then I would hopefully hit my goals at the end of the month. I was pretty good at it, but, like, I had one job. I didn't have to sit there and think, okay, well, what critical business stuff do I have to focus on today? I didn't have to sit there and also make a ton of, like, marketing campaigns and then deliver the service. Also, like, that was completely separate. As a business owner, you have to do so many different things. We don't factor in the fact that you also have to realize and kind of think up, like, what's the thing I need to be working on? Right? That takes a lot of mental work. That's all. Honestly, one of the bigger reasons why business owners who already have a successful business choose to work with a coach like me, right? Because they have so many things that they are working on that they're in the middle of. They can't separate themselves enough to really see where they're being most effective and where they could actually contribute more to making more money and kind of dialing back on the doing, right? It's one of the reasons they decide to work with a business coach, right? Because they need someone else to do that thinking. All right? People who already make a half a million dollars a year from their business invest in help because they can't see what they're missing. All right? So if you're a new business owner and you're feeling shitty because you feel like you're behind because you're not doing all the things and you're not really sure what you should be focusing on. Just know that there are people who are massively successful who still need help, okay? You are not alone, okay? Even business coaches need coaches. Even business coaches need people to hold them accountable and call them on their bullshit, all right? If you're feeling alone in your business, join the fucking club, okay? We're all behind in our businesses now, but here's the thing. You feeling behind in your business, there are one to five things going on, and they could all be going on, and I. If they are all going on for you, then I am so sorry. You must be having a really hard time in your head right now. But I want to go over it because I think it's really important to acknowledge what it is that you're doing to yourself so you can cut that shit out and be a Little bit more kind. And when we're more kind to ourselves, we generally are able to get more stuff done. When we operate from a place of shame and embarrassment and feeling like we're failing, that doesn't help our productivity at all. Okay? We are most productive when we feel like we are effective and we're creative, when we remember all the resources that we have and we see that things are working. Okay, so I'm going to start off here, but if you are feeling behind in your business, then I guarantee you, most of the time you are comparing your journey to other people's and you're being incredibly unfair to yourself. All right, so, for example, let's say you are a writing coach, okay? You work with people who want to write novels or memoirs or business books, whatever. You're writing coach, and you work with people who are writing these books. And because you are a writing coach, you are talking about writing all the time online. And guess what? Guess who's paying attention. The Google Machine. The Google Machine is paying attention. And it's telling different social media platforms like meta and LinkedIn and TikTok that guess what? This person's really interested in writing. You know what? We should show them ads for other writing coaches, because they talk about writing coaching all the time. All right, These, these systems are very smart and also very dumb, right? But as a writing coach who's just starting out, it's going to feel really shitty for you because you're going to log into your social media to promote your work, and all you're going to see is your competitors. All you're going to see is the people who are doing what you do. But because they are further along in their journey, they are able to spend more money on things like their brand, like their social media strategy, like paying for ads. And what you're going to do to yourself is you're going to say, oh, my God, here's someone who's doing what I do. They're doing it with more flair, more style. They're. They're looking way more professional. They must be better than I am. And then you. Then you go into, like, this deep, dark hole where you research them and you look up, like, how many clients they've helped and how many books they've helped their clients get published and this and that and the other thing, like, well, I'm not there yet, right? So when you have this, this, like, sinking feeling that you're falling behind in your business, in growing your business, I want you to be really, really real with yourself. Are you comparing yourself to other people. And are those other people either years ahead of you? Right. So it makes sense that they're going to be further along, Right? Because they've had a lot more time to do this. Did they have more contacts in the industry when they launched? Like, that is something that can, you know, speed people up really, really well is if you have good contacts, did they start off with a ton of funding? Right. We take for granted that like. Like, some people have a lot of money and they will throw money at the business that they're starting. Right. If you're bootstrapping and you don't have any money coming in and, like, you are just trying to make it work, you cannot compare your business. And thank you so much for the likes. Thank you. GC Mary and Ivory and Jessica. Welcome, everyone. But you cannot compare yourself to, like, the journey of someone who is able to invest a hundred thousand dollars right off the bat if you only had five grand to invest. All right? It's not the same. All right? Comparing yourself to others is really, really unfair to you. And I want you to also remember that you don't know what's actually going on for someone under the. Under the hood, right? Unless you have full access to their accounting books, to their stripe or credit card processing, unless you can see inside their program and know how successful they're being. Like, you can absolutely compare yourself to them, but they may be faking it. They may absolutely just be putting on a really good show of success, and you have no idea. You will never know. Okay. Until you, you know, either do some serious, serious illegal snoop. Snooping, or until you just, like, I don't know, become better than them, which you totally will. Anyway, there's one other thing I wanted to say here. What was it? I lost it. Comparing yourself. Comparing yourself. What was it? Hello. Hi. Trinity. Thank you. Welcome. Oh, I lost it. Never mind. It must have been. It must have been a lie. I forget. What was it? It was really important. It was very insightful. Hi, Harper. Welcome. I. I had a thought and I lost it. I'm trying to remember what it was. Anyway, stop comparing it. Oh, oh, oh. This is it. This is it. So oftentimes when I call a client out on doing all this, like, research on other people, right, and they're comparing themselves and they're feeling really insecure, like they're behind, and they say, well, I'm just doing market research. I'm just seeing what's out there. I'm just seeing what other people are doing. Stop it. Stop it like the only market research I want my clients doing when it comes to looking to see, like. Like who else is in their space, it's just a real, real quick look at who. Like, are there people in your space selling what you want to sell? Right? Because if there aren't any people in your space who are selling what you want to sell, that means that there's no market for it, right? Or there might be a market for it, but you're going to have to spend so much time, energy and money training people that this is something that they can pay for. Right? I don't want my clients wasting their time, energy, or money in that way. Right? So do a quick little gander. See if there are other people in the space who are doing what you want to do. If they are, you know, you might see, like, what do they do? And like, what do you like? Not like about what they do, but other than that, leave it alone, right? That is not market research. That's competitor research. Right? And competitor research, especially if you're a solopreneur, is just going to make you feel inadequate, right? Especially if you're just starting out, okay? Because the competitor research has you looking at people who have been doing this long enough and are successful enough that they're still around and they're visible enough for you to be able to discover, okay? You're never going to find the competitors who are at your level who are also just starting, okay? So please be kind to yourself. Stop comparing yourself to other people's journeys. Your journey is your own. And you know what? You can. You can't be late on your own journey, okay? That's just not how it goes. Hi, Kristen Lay. Welcome. And hi, Canon. Hello. And hi, Lori. Welcome. And if you guys have any questions on this, if you're feeling behind in your business, if you want me to just, like, tell you you're not crazy, then please just put it in the chat. Love this to be interactive. Okay? So that's, number one, if you're feeling like you're behind in your business, chances are you're comparing yourself to someone else, and it's not a fair assessment. Okay? Number two, you're not being realistic about the things that you can do in a day and therefore the results that you can get from any given action. All right? I can't tell you how many times I do this to myself. Like, like, literally do as I say, not as I do, because I who, you know, I understand how energy works. I understand how hours in the day work. I understand that, like, I am not superwoman. I will still put 27,000 things on my to do list. I will still say, okay, well, here are the gazillion things. I'm going to write a book today. I'm going to launch a whole course. I'm going to write three different landing pages. I'm going to do this. This isn't this and this and that's realistic, right? No, it's not realistic at all. But if you're saying, listen, I'm going to do all these things and then I'm going to free for sure get this result, you're just starting a business, you haven't done this before, and you don't have any proven track record for that, then you are just setting yourself up for disappointment. And I say this specifically to my comrades who have also worked in sales, right? If you've ever worked in sales before for a company and you're now trying to start a business, I guarantee you are doing this to yourself, right? Because as a salesperson, you had one job, you had one set of responsibilities. You had, like one thing, one goal that you had to reach every single month, right? And you were given a goal every month, right? You're. The company you worked for was like, hey, you know what? We think you can sell like 15 cars. So you know what? Your goal is going to be 15 cars. And we know that this is realistic because historically, in the month of November, that is what our salespeople have been able to sell. Or maybe they sold, I don't know, 12 cars last year. But, you know, we're running as a promotion, so we think we can, you know, bump your quota up, whatever. And you know, that's great in an established business, in an established business model, but if you are starting your own business, guess what? There's no historic data of what works. There's no historic efficacy rate of promotional things. And thank you for the likes. Thank you so much. There is also, like, no ability for you to predict what is going to happen, right? Because you don't know this is your first rodeo. Even if it were just like your 12th rodeo, it's still too, too early on in the rodeos for you to figure out what you can predict, right? So you have to be realistic about the things that you can do in a day and about the goals and, and results that you're expecting to get on the other side of it. Okay? If you're sitting down and being like, cool, I'm gonna make a course for $2,000. And you know what and then you pull out your calculator and you're like, awesome. So If I charge $2,000 and I get 100 people in it, like, oh, my God, that's going to be so much money. It's going to be $200,000. Right? Great. I love math too. I think math is so much fun, especially when it has money. But if you only have 50 followers on Instagram, who. Who's going to be those hundred people? Right? Like, we have to be realistic. And again, this is a big reason why people choose to work with business coaches like myself, right? Because you need someone to check in with who knows better, who can be that. Reality check of, hey, we need to build up your email list. We need to do this next and then we need to do this, and then we need to do this, and then we need to do this and then we get to worry about that. Right? So you need to be realistic about the things that you can get done in a day and the results you're expecting. On the other side, when you're just starting out, a lot of it is throwing spaghetti at the wall. You don't know what's going to work. Okay. Hi, Lily. Hi, April. Welcome. My parents dog's name. Lily. I love that name. Anyway, okay, so if you're feeling behind in your business, we've already covered. Stop comparing yourself to other people. Still stop having unrealistic expectations for what you can get done in a day, and stop being mean to yourself with your to do list. It's just self abuse at this point. The third thing, and this is something that is so hard for business owners, it's so hard, especially if you come from working from for a company, is that you're actually struggling with the complete lack of feedback that is inherent to being a solopreneur or a business owner. Okay. And it's just driving you insane, right? You know, when I worked for a company, I would have managers, I would have co workers, I would have a goal, and at any given point, I could go to people and get feedback on how I was doing. I could pull up my dashboard for my sales and see how I was tracking for the month and for the quarter and for the year. Right? And I knew what was realistic for me. Right. As a business owner, you don't have that. You don't have people who are telling you you did really well yesterday. You don't have people who are like, checking in with you at your desk and like making sure that you're on track. Right? You are that. Right. So One of the things that I like to recommend to all of my clients and to really anyone that I talk to is if you're a business owner, at the end of your workday, okay, I want you to sit down and I want you to take a little piece of paper and I want you to write a list of every single little fucking thing you've done all day. Everything from sending one email to creating one little Instagram post, to, you know, making a list of ideas for content. Everything from, like, stressing out for 15 minutes about sending that invoice and then finally sending the invoice. That's two different things. I want you to make a list of every single thing that you did from. I went and had three cups of coffee. I worked out. I did all this stuff. Because when you're a business owner, it's really easy to sit here at your desk and just spiral and just think, oh, my God, I have to do all things. And you're just, like, refreshing LinkedIn constantly and thinking, oh, my God, like, maybe I'll just comment on people's stuff and that'll be enough. And it's also really easy to get really wrapped up in the busy work of things, right? And to get a ton done. But at the end of the day, you didn't get a big project done, so you don't see it. You feel like you just wasted the whole day. When we start kind of inventory at the end of the day, and I say the inventory at the end of the day, and don't try to do this throughout the day, because you're never going to remember, and then you're going to feel like you failed inventory at the end of the day. Because then you'll see, I actually did get stuff done today, right? You'll also be able to see, wow, these were a lot of inconsequential things that I got done. I don't necessarily have to do those kinds of things. Especially if I want to get a new client, I'm going to have to build in more time to, say, create content for LinkedIn or to launch that webinar that I want you to get clients. What. Whatever it is, you have to start doing inventory of what you're doing, and then you can change it, right? If you are sitting there spiraling and you just don't know what to do, then that is really good to acknowledge, right? Because that tells us that, you know, maybe you need some help. Maybe you need a business strategist, a coach or someone to keep you accountable to what you need to be getting done. Hi, Beetlebug. Welcome. Hello. Anyway, so that's number three. So like the feedback that you're not getting in your business can absolutely make you feel like you're falling behind because you don't know what you're doing, right? You just don't know what you're doing. You don't know how, like, much progress you're making. It's not like you're playing a board game and it's obvious, right? And even if it were a board game, it would be a never ending board game. Like you wouldn't be able to see the end. So you don't know how far along you are. Don't do that to yourself. Give yourself the feedback. And, and you know what? At the end of the day, congratulate yourself for the things that you did. You know, one of the things that we do to ourselves as business owners that's honestly just really crappy is we only celebrate when we get the result. We don't celebrate when we're doing the work, when we're actually like in the business doing the things we have to train ourselves to celebrate along the way, to celebrate the doing of it and not just tie all of our celebrating to the results because the results are out of our control most of the time. We like, the algorithms could change tomorrow and I could get 1700 clients. The algorithms could also change tomorrow and no one will ever, ever see my content again. Right. It's the same for you. So. Hi, Millie. Hi km welcome. So, you know, give yourself the feedback and celebrate the work that you're doing along the way. It'll, it'll make being a business owner so much more enjoyable. And really, you'll train yourself to become that feedback loop for yourself. Okay. All right. I'm gonna kind of speed through the next two because I have to go and make dinner. It's getting to dinner time already. Okay, number four. So if you're feeling behind in your business, the fourth thing that's typically going on is that you are doing a ton of work, but you are trying to cut corners. You're cutting corners and you're trying to like speed things up and what is happening is biting you in the ass. Right? And so I see this so often with like coaches and consultants who are like, I have a great idea for what I'm going to do for my clients. I know what I'm going to offer them. I'm going to do a course or I'm going to do one on one coaching. I'm Going to do whatever. And instead of going and doing proper market research to make sure that there are actual human beings out there who are wanting to spend money on solving. Solving that problem, they do their own market research, which is they go and talk to friends and family and they're like, here's my idea. What do you think? And then everyone, of course, says, oh, that's a great idea. Good job. Good job. That's a great idea. And, like, say, everyone thought my idea was great, and now I'm going to go and I'm going to sell it. And they go and try to sell it, and no one buys, and they get really frustrated, and they're like, it's not working. I'm working so hard. And it's like, yeah, you are working hard, but you're not working smart, right? When we work smart, when we make sure that there's actually a market for what we're selling before we go and try to sell it, that is when we are effective in our businesses. That is when we actually make money and sign clients. If you're not going to do that step, then guess. What happens is you're going to have to do a ton of guesswork. And, like, guesswork is risky because it's guesswork, okay? It's not guaranteed. You might. You might get it right. You might guess that, you know, the. The people you want to sell to care about this one thing a lot. And you market to it, and they're like, yeah, you know, take my money, and they just, like, make it rain at you most of the time. However, that, like, cheat. It's like a cheat to try to cut corners, will bite you in the ass so hard, hard, you won't be able to sit down for months. And it'll make you feel like you're falling behind in your business. And unfortunately, like, this is the one where, like, yeah, you actually did make yourself fall behind in your business, and that's shitty. And it happens to the best of us, okay? Wishful thinking is a drug, and entrepreneurs are unfortunately very susceptible to it. All right? But you have to make sure that there is a market for what you want to sell before you start selling it, all right? Don't do a ton of work for something that you're not sure is going to sell. All right? That's number four. Now five. And the final thing, when you are feeling behind in building your business, the fifth thing is you've forgotten that the universe doesn't follow your timeline. Never has, never will. Okay? I ask you to think about Your, you know, like, how long were you single before you found your spouse? I mean, I'm still single, right? Like, the universe is not following my timeline there, right? How long did it take you to buy your first home? How long did it take you to find your, your, you know, dream home? You know, how long did it take you to figure out your signature style? How long did it take for you to find a hairdresser? A hairdresser that, like, didn't make you look like you were demented? Took me way too long, right? I have an amazing. I actually followed my, my hairdresser from the west coast to the east coast. That's how hard it was. Anyway, the universe does not follow your timeline. It never has, it never will. So here you are, you can be working so, so hard in your business and the universe will see it and be like, great, yeah, we love this, we love this for you. We, we are on your side. We can't wait for you to succeed. And yet the universe sometimes has to calibrate in different ways before it can bring, to bring you what you need. Stop expecting the universe to be on your timeline, okay? It never will be. There are so many things you can do to speed it along, right? And we're not just sitting back and just manifesting and be like, give me the things that I want. We have to work for it, right? But even when we work for it, there can be a lag time from the universe and that's normal. All right? If you are starting your business, you're growing your business and you are getting so frustrated that it's not going as fast as you want it to, and you're not sure what you should be doing differently, and you're working really hard, but you're like, I don't know if I should be doing this stuff or something else. And you want someone to come in and help you figure it out, who can give you real feedback about what's working and what's not working, who can open your eyes to the things that you are avoiding and call you on your bullshit then. Hi, I'm Katie. I'm your practical business coach and I work with my clients that, who are desperate to leave their corporate 9 to 5 job and replace their 6 figure salary by doing work that they love that actually helps people. And if you are feeling behind on building this business of your dreams, then I invite you to book a generate income strategy call with me. That link is you know where, wherever you are, you know where it is. It's in the it's in my bio. You can go and grab it. Sign up for a time. We will talk through what your big goals are for the business. We will also talk through what obstacles you're running into and building it on your own. And if, and only if it's a fit for both of us, then we can talk about different ways to work together. If it's not a fit, then I will point you in the direction of some resources that will be incredibly helpful to you if I know of them. If I don't, then I will ask my network and I will try to hook you up as much as I can. Anyway, I have to go see some people about a salad and my dog needs to be fed so I gotta go. Happy Friday everyone. I hope this was so helpful for you. If you have any questions for me, then please do not hesitate. My DMs are always open and I cannot wait to go live with you again next week. Anyway, Happy Friday. Have an amazing weekend and I will see you all soon. Bye. See.