Episode 173: Should You Close It Down Or Keep Going?
Earlier this month, we made a MASSIVE decision over here at Team Sarah. It was so hard, but we have completed the Game on Girlfriend membership.
I created it because I wanted women to have a monthly check-in to get tips, ideas or a workshop and stay in the conversation without necessarily having to have a one-on-one coach. It was a light in my heart that created community.
I’m about to walk you through how we made the decision to close the membership.
Deciding whether to close or keep going
If this is not the entrepreneur conundrum, I don’t know what is! Do you keep this thing going? Do you stop? Do you keep pushing through? Is this offer still good for my business?
The first step is to check in with your body. We know our bodies have all the answers regardless of what the outside world wants us to do. (If you want to dive into that deeper with me, please check out April’s Coffee With Coach.)
Trust your body
How are we making the decision? First of all, sit still and put your hands on your stomach. Move it up a little bit and feel where your ribs part. That’s actually our shame center. When we’re feeling crappy about something it sits there. It’s a really interesting phenomenon. Just below that is your gut; you can feel it in your guts.
So, when the time comes and you’re thinking about what to do, rest your hand there and ask yourself: Is it time for me to release this or is it time to keep going? And just see what your body says.
In April’s Coffee With Coach, I talk about what we’ve learned from animals because they have emotions in their body. Emotions rule the body; thoughts rule the head. We try to make the head rule the body, but it doesn’t work that way. That’s why we feel yucky when we’re going against our gut; it doesn’t feel good. It makes emotions the deepest part of your knowing. That’s why we’re checking in with our bodies first.
The other thing you can do that’s really powerful is to watch how your body physically responds when you ask yourself what you should do. Usually, if you find yourself rocking back, it’s a no. Lean forward, keep going.
Look at the logic
The next step is the common-sense aspect of our business – we’ve got to know the numbers. One of the things we did inside our business was to draw up a revenue map.
If you’re asking what does the business need me to do? You need to know the numbers. Which parts of your business are flourishing and which parts aren’t doing so well? If you were to stop focusing on what isn’t working, what could you do instead?
That was my decision here. The Game on Girlfriend membership was great. The Abundance Academy, the Sales Mastermind and one-on-one coaching were pulling at me so hard – like Sarah Walton this is what you are HERE TO DO. You love it so much; it’s causing extraordinary results. It was time to double down on those.
Sometimes that can be challenging for us as business owners – we think we should only stop if it sucks or it’s totally draining all the money. Sometimes we need to release things because bigger things are being born, and they will need more attention. We want to clean out the clutter, and that includes business projects.
If something is pulling your attention away from something you are FALLING IN LOVE with … something that is creating results for other people … something is creating revenue; you need to pay attention to that.
Generally, you don’t want to drop the thing that’s bringing in the most revenue. If you hate that offer, treat it like your 9 to 5 job. Most people have to keep their 9 to 5 to pay their bills as they build up the business. Before you cut off a massive source of revenue, you want to look at what you’re going to do to replace that revenue. Then you can focus on growing the next piece that actually makes you happy.
Make sure you’re safe as you make these considerations. If you try to take a financial business leap, you won’t do well if you aren’t safe. You’ll be operating out of fear. I personally would rather create a business out of inspiration, excitement, and ambition. Fear can lead to burnout and we can make poor decisions when we’re stressed.
Watch: Finding "Happiness" (What the Heck Does That Even Mean?)
Aligning your mission
My mission is to put more money in the hands of more women. When it came time to decide whether or not to close membership, one factor was that while the membership was in line with that, it wasn’t going fast enough. Whereas my work with the Abundance Academy, Sales Mastermind and one-on-one coaching pushes my vision faster.
These women are with me every single week in this conversation about their relationship to money, what’s going on for them, and beliefs to release … it’s much more in line with where I want to go. The results are so much faster, much deeper, and much longer lasting.
When you know what your mission is, it can be much easier to make these kinds of decisions.
If you’re not sure about your mission yet, I want you to do something called the rocking chair test. Picture yourself on your porch, aged 90, in your rocking chair. You love your life. What are you most proud of? What did you accomplish? Once you have that answer, you have your mission.
Recommending this fantastic book
I want you also to consider picking up the book “Believe It” by Jamie Kern Lima. One of the moments she shares is when all of the experts told her to do something, but her body and instincts were screaming the opposite. She listened to her instincts, and her business was purchased for $1.2 billion.
It doesn’t matter what your revenue goal is; we have the same questions. As you grow the problems might change. You might go from “I don’t have time to make this image look better” to “do we need to fire these people?” But the questions stay the same.
Is this right? Is this going to push the vision forward?
Learning how to ask those questions without fear is the way to win entrepreneurship. This book is fantastic and a gentle way to get that lesson into your own psyche.
