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The life-changing magic of tidying up… your biz


I’ll be honest, I haven’t read this book (have you!?) but I’ve heard it’s great. I think I get it from the title — let’s tidy up, and it will feel life-changing… yes? I just thought it would be an amusing subject line :). Anywho…

I’m here, but I want to be there. Chasing the next great idea. Filling my life with hustle, busyness and I’ll be honest, stress.

I’m a dreamer, and love bringing creative business ideas to life! You, with me?! It’s part of why I get such a thrill of creating brand identity design for my clients — we get to share a part of bringing their wild idea to life.

But, through all the dream chasing somehow I became stuffed. My plate was full with client work, e-course creating + promotions, marketing, and emails. With a baby, it became clear last year that I needed to scale back, while also growing my business intentionally. Make room for what brings me joy, and yes… also brings in profits.

You see, there’s a theme lately with online businesses that I just don’t love. A theme focused on the hustle. Expanding your reach. Burnout.

While growing your business is certainly an exciting time, I’ve experienced the downside both in my own business and in others — spreading yourself out too thin.

Rather than sit on the sidelines witnessing my fellow online business friends walk the same path, I wanted to share a few ways that helped me clear my stuffed plate, and yes, tidy up :). Here’s to making room!


The life-changing magic of tidying up… your biz | Spruce Rd. | I’m here, but I want to be there. Chasing the next great idea. Filling my life with hustle, busyness and I’ll be honest, stress. I’m taking a step back and decluttering my biz.

Shift your mindset

First things first, I recognized I needed to make a switch internally before I took action. I realized that I don’t want a huge empire. Maybe you do, and that is absolutely okay! Just take a moment to really digest what you want out of your business. Do you want a blog, a podcast to upkeep, multiple courses and too many clients to handle? Personally, I don’t have the bandwidth for all of these avenues. One course is really all I can handle (and gladly so!).

Define your focus

So, last week as I was in stress city thinking of #allthethings I needed to do, and the little time I had, my husband stopped my in my tracks to do an exercise. He grabbed a sheet of paper and taped it to the fridge. Then he asked, what are the top priorities for Spruce Rd.? I rambled a million things, and he reduced it to 5. These were the top priorities for my business. And you know what? Posting a perfectly polished yet authentic post daily on instagram wasn’t on the list.

A few items on my to-do list that stressed me out didn’t make the cut, and I’m okay with that. It’s okay to minimize elements of your business, or outsource when it makes sense. Try out the refrigerator technique and jot down your TOP priorities. This seems obvious, but the task of writing it down will give you clarity (and relief) in itself.

Leave room for your customers

We often forget that customer service is #1. In the midst of growing our businesses, we lose sight of the core — our customers. Whether you sell products, courses or services, you need to prioritize customer service.

The harsh reality? Few businesses cling to this value.

When working with other businesses as their client, or in collaborations, I’ve recognized this season of entrepreneurs has lost touch with customer service. As a paying customer, I’m shocked at the number of unanswered emails and missed Skype meetings. How many emails have you received that start out with: “sorry for the delay…?”

There’s a disconnect. Our emails go unanswered, meanwhile the business is hosting webinars, active on social media and responding to instagram comments. Am I the only one who has noticed this? We need to leave room for our customers. This all comes back to defining your focus. Should your focus be promoting your business over your actual business itself?

I’ve certainly been guilty of this myself.

Fine tune systems

If you’re in a season of struggling to respond to clients/customers within 24 hours, you need to fine tune your systems. At the very least, set up an autoresponder. That way when a potential client inquires for your services, they know you received it and when to expect your reply. Your potential clients experience an uneasiness when seeking your services, yet don’t hear from you within 24 hours on a weekday. It tells them that you might be slow to respond during the process, too busy, or completely disorganized. All assumptions we want to avoid! These assumptions could lead to a loss of a booked client.

In order to respond within a reasonable timeframe to your customers, you need to know your process, investment, pricing, availability and FAQ’s. These are often the things that prevent you from replying to that inquiry sitting in your inbox. Don’t allow these missteps to prevent clients from booking your services.

I’m tidying up.

I’m redefining my focus, de-glamorizing the hustle, and clearing my plate. No longer do I have a cluttered mess of a business, and instead I know my top 5 priorities that demand my attention. Are you in a season of tidying up your business?

 

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