By Kristin Laffrey, business coach for women leading impact in fertility, birth, postpartum, motherhood, parenting and matrescence.
Here’s a mistake I see so many women in business making:
“I’ll take my business seriously when it’s making more money”
I want to share some real honest truths today and a perspective I deeply hold around business.
Having worked for some of Australia’s largest ASX-listed organisations, across some of the biggest projects within Australia and having seen behind the scenes of many businesses both large and small, I want to share something with you to shift the way you see your business right now.
But let me start by saying that something I see really difficult for women starting their businesses is that the people around them don’t see their business as serious, they don’t see the bigger picture that they hold and therefore find it difficult to support the decisions they make in their business.
It’s so easy to look at “…but when is the business going to be making real money?”
And something I find so often is that there is so much focus on whether a business is creating a profit and if not, their business is then categorised as a hobby and not seen as a real business.
But I want to share with you today the importance of seeing your business through the lens of business and share insight into what I see as the most important thing to focus on in your business rather than just looking at how much profit you are making right now.
But firstly, here is what is important to see. EVERY business, and in particular every successful business, has had to spend money BEFORE making a cent within their business. Most businesses and companies spend years and a significant amount of financial outlay upfront (purchasing of machinery, shop fit-outs, research and development, large amounts of stock) BFORE they are even in a position to make a cent within the business.
BUT here’s the difference, they aren’t making that a bad thing because they recognise that is the reality of business (you invest money to create the structure that provides the financial return).
It breaks my heart with women in business though because they judge themselves and their business for this. Feeling guilty for spending money on their business OR not wanting to spend money on their business because they feel bad, even when they know it's what they require to grow.
In episode 103 of the podcast, Visionary Mother, I break down why seeing profit as your core success measure in the early stages of business can be one of your greatest downfalls to growth. Because what I see time and time again is that it’s what holds women back from taking their business seriously and therefore holds them back from making the decisions and taking the actions to ultimately grow their business.
Because rather than just looking at whether your business is making a profit, a more effective measure of success is to look at how you are positioning yourself for a profit. Is the time and money you are putting into your business setting you up for creating sustainable income to therefore create a sustainable profit? Because that is what it going to determine the long-term success of your business.
So right now if you are waiting until your business is making more money before you take it seriously, this is your reminder that it’s not that your business is a hobby right now, it’s that you are in the early stages of setting your business up for growth which is an essential part of any successful business.