As an independent consultant, I tend to have quite a bit of uncertainty over the frequency of my work and income; those famed feast and famine cycles.
I regularly do for myself what I recommend and do with clients, which is to stop and think about how and what I’m doing, update income and expenses plans, business goals and ideas. It may well be a natural thing to do for an independent, and/or it’s a bit of a strategist’s condition.
One clear and positive result for myself is that taking stock of where I’m at helps me alleviate the uncertainty about the future.
Obviously I don’t know what tomorrow is made of any more than you do, or anyone.
What it really helps me alleviate, and even overcome, are the negative feelings that can come with not feeling like I’m in the position I’d ideally like to be, or that I’m not producing the results I feel I should be.
I don’t know what’s really going to happen in the future, but after doing these otherwise boring finance, admin, and planning updates, I know where I am at, and I have a clearer head to think about what’s next.
I believe that to some extent business, sales, marketing, and brands have similar relationships.
Originally, one of the important aspects that brought brands about is the idea of supporting the growth and existence of a business over a long period of time.
That is tough if the numbers on the business side of things aren’t going well.
And if things aren’t going well, you’re typically not in a great space to strategically think several moves ahead. Going in emergency mode, I tend to no longer be able to visualise what the best next moves could be.
I was talking to someone yesterday who recently worked at what seemed like an exciting and hot new brand that I’ve seen on a bunch of shelves. It turns out it’s not working as well as it looks like though.
Of course I’m not privy to all the details and what is not working exactly could be for a number of reasons, but one way or another they missed a few things in their plans.
If you haven’t for a while, or if you find yourself in a bit of a business problem/emergency mode, it might be worth taking time to stop for a second and take stock of things, get as clear a picture of the situation as possible.
Out of that clarity, new directions for the next steps for your business and brand will emerge.
Happy to chat and help if you’d like to take a look at your business, feel free to reach out!
