I feel like I say this all the time, “if there’s one thing I could tell you, it’s _______”

So I don’t have just one thing to tell you - I have a million. Especially when it comes to starting a business. Today’s “If I could tell you one thing” is: KEEP IT SIMPLE. I don’t know how many times I’ve said this - to both myself and my clients. Keeping things simple allows you more space to create and be good at your craft. And I know what you’re thinking - I DON’T WANT TO LIMIT MYSELF. 

While that thinking is great, you are limiting yourself MORE by not keeping things simple. Why?! Because now you’re doing everything and trying to be everything while also trying to do everything in your business. 

When I started my photography business I wanted to take photos of anyone and everyone. Which was great and amazing! I had SO many clients! SO many jobs! But I had so many jobs that I didn’t know which way to turn because I had my schedule packed so full that I never had time off. I was staying up until midnight and getting back up between 4-5am to start all over again. I rarely had weekends off and missed out on a lot of family events (unless I was photographing them). 

Fast forward to when I owned the yoga studio - I did the same thing. Offered WAY to many classes because I wanted to serve everyone. But I saw the most growth when I focused on what I was passionate and good at - giving beginners a place to flourish. As well as set some limits on what I could and would do. 

Today I’ve got my top 3 tips for simplifying your business! 

1. Streamline - systems, workflows, batching & automation

Streamlining my systems, workflows & automations is SUCH a lifesaver. And it wasn’t until I built my first email workflow when I created the email workflow for new students at my yoga studio that I realized how much TIME I could save by setting that up. For the yoga studio I set up a series of emails that would welcome clients into the studio when they purchased a specific class pass ($30 for their first 30 days of yoga). That workflow sent out specific emails throughout their first 30 days giving them all the tips & tricks for coming to class, signing up, encouraging them to sign up for different classes and some explanations of classes. I’ve set up a number of other workflows since then - like for when I on-board new coaching clients as well as photography clients. 

2. Learn to put ideas on hold 

This was a big one for me. I am a plethora of ideas and I’m also the kind of person that gets LIT UP when I find a new one. I want to do all the things with it RIGHT NOW. It’s the next best thing since sliced bread (LOL) and all I want to do is put my energy towards it. This isn’t to say that you can’t act on any new idea. However, I created an Idea Parking Lot notebook for myself. In this notebook are all the ideas that I come up - things I want to do, things that sound fun, things I want to avoid doing and so on. It’s a place for me to let my creativity run wild and free. It’s also a place for me to write things down and not fixate on that new idea. I can put ideas there and if they keep popping up I will revisit them. If I wind up revisiting those ideas I then see where and how they could fit into my business. I go through the free resources that I gave you in the Chaos to Clarity blog posts when I’m trying to figure out if this idea is something that I NEEED to implement or if it’s something that needs to wait! 

3. Set boundaries - office hours & client boundaries

Setting boundaries was another huge thing for me to learn. When I started my photography business I had zero boundaries. I’ll use emails as an example. I was quite literally answering emails at all hours of the day. If I didn’t answer an email within the first hour that I received it I was 100% convinced that I wouldn’t get the job. Now, I was also hungry and ready to grow. So this isn’t to say that you should or should not do this. But when I started implementing boundaries around when I was going to answer emails I had SO much more client retention. In fact, today, in my businesses (photography and business coaching) I check my email once per day and I only spend about an hour in my inboxes. This includes responding to clients, sending out proposals and checking my calendars. I turned the notifications on my inbox off on my phone so it wasn’t dinging every 30 seconds as well. I also set in place Office Hours. Once per week I spend a chunk of time either cleaning out my inbox, going more in depth for answering emails or setting up calendar things. It’s been so wonderful for my mental clarity to not be worrying about emails. 

So how do these three tips help to map your success?

What they’ll gift you is more TIME. More time to work on the things that really matter and drive your business forward. They’ll allow you to step away from busy work and keep you from staying small. Maybe even more time to take some time OFF. 

I know as an entrepreneur that taking time off can sometimes feel like a far off dream. But remember what and why you stepped into being an entrepreneur - chances are it was so that you could do the things you love and not be tied “to the man”. And with that crazy big step of going out on your own you probably have never worked harder or worn so many hats. I also know that you’ve probably never been so exhausted in your life as you are right now reading this. Although these steps might seem small - they can provide a huge relief. 

I know it did for me when I gave myself the gifts of streamlining, the “idea parking lot” and boundaries. I was able to RELAX and know that my businesses will still generate money even when I wanted to go on vacation. I know that I can step away for a period of time and the wheels won’t fall off the wagon.

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