Take Your Hands Off the Brakes: 3 Simple Ways to Get Your Animal Business Moving Again
This is the line that came out of my mouth as we climbed the slow incline up to the bike track to my darling boy. He’s only 3 and now has his first “big boy bike”…
This was the second time he rode it and he was having fun figuring out the brakes but what I needed him to learn is that if you try riding along uphill with the brakes on, it means you have to work SOOO much harder to get up that hill!
I immediately grabbed my phone out and made a note so that this could be the topic of my blog this month!
How is your business feeling to you right now?
Are you downhill flying free in the wind with little resistance
Or
Does it feel like you are trying to push a bike up a hill with the brake on?!
The Truth is, just like the cool bike track where we were heading too there are peaks and troughs in business. If you are a solo animal therapist, the troughs can feel rather momentous hey?!
Months of hot weather
Holiday season
School Holidays
All of these factors can often mean that July/ August is a big ol’ trough and without this awareness you can fall into the pit of despair – the pit that makes you question your life choices, your worth and feel like you are never going to come up for air again in your business.
Years ago, working as the Marketing Manager inside a very successful Chiropractic clinic in South Australia, we were going through a trough and the owner of the business was starting to look inward at his team as to ‘What were we doing to make it quiet?!’
This prompted me to run the numbers ..
What these numbers showed me was that consistently for the last 3 years July and August had seen a fall in clinic visit numbers…
It wasn’t a team performance, it was just a trough!
Not everyone has a team member who is able to look objectively at the numbers for you and help identify reasons things may not be taking off right now.
It’s too easy to be SO busy working IN the business to take a breather and look AT the business.
If you are struggling right now here are three action steps to help you get into momentum
1. Run the Numbers! Yes I know your business numbers can be overwhelming but here are the three that you need to know..
Your ‘You.inc’ Number – coined from the Barefoot investor Scott Pape – this is the number you need to bring home to cover the costs to live your own personal life
Your Business Breakeven number – How much does your business need to earn to keep the lights on – not forgetting yearly association fees and CPD Trainings
Your Capacity – Over my decade of supporting independent service providers, knowing what your capacity is BEFORE going hard on trying to bring in more clients is important. If you are at 80% Capacity in Business – you are basically at 100%
I provide help with this in my book – Fetch More Clients on pages 35 – 43 – you can pick up a Free Copy on me using this link – https://buy.stripe.com/5kAeUV40E71q2JyaEZ
2. Send out 10 connection messages. In my current implementation programme, I have a member who is relaunching her Mctimoney Animal Chiropractic Business and this is her to-do this week – she sent 3 last week and has a new client already!
The process here is to list out old clients whom you haven’t heard from in a while and simply reach out enquiring about their pet – it doesn’t have to be weird or salesy, just a simple reach out alternatively if you are just starting out – who are your top 10 people you could message that already know, like and trust you ( like your mum, besties and family) and ask them ‘Who do you know that needs a <insert profession> for their dog?’
3. Get in front of a coach – whether that’s for a CPD event ( like my 3 day Animal Therapy Business Builder Summit in Sept, ran in partnership with IRVAP) , a 1-1 free Animal Business Growth Call or literally any coach you align with – they can look at your business objectively and support you.
Here to help you take your hands off the brakes
