Are you one of these people who want to work for 4 hours a week while sitting on a Caribbean beach watching the sea? What do you really want from your business?
Or are you someone who wants to run their own business on their own terms, but knows that to reach their goals they will have to work hard?
What do you really want from your business?
I’m definitely in the second camp. I love my business and I am not afraid of hard work. I honestly believe that if you want to achieve true success then you will need to work hard.
But hard work is not a bad thing, sacrifice is not a swear word. Anything that is worth having doesn’t come easily and you will feel so much better about a successful business if it is something that you’ve worked hard to achieve.
Being an entrepreneur is both amazing and really complicated, there is no “boss” to tell you what to do which feels really freeing at the beginning, but sometimes knowing that all the decisions are down to you can be difficult.
I can guarantee you that there will be a point in your business when you will wish that you had someone to tell you what to do. That you will want to be able to say to someone “I don’t know what to do, can you help?”
(This is where having a great coach comes into play, someone who can push you and challenge you and direct you through the challenges of running a successful business)
If you want to reach your goals and be successful without working with a coach then you’re going to need to be incredibly self-disciplined. You’re going to need to keep yourself on track and make sure you take the necessary action to succeed.
Working hard on your own business is a completely different thing than working hard for someone else. You’ll get such a feeling of achievement when you see the money coming in, happy clients who are talking about what a great job you have done for them and know that you are making a difference in so many lives.
But to get this you’ll have to work hard. Have I mentioned that already?
Hard work (or hustle as a lot of the internet marketers say) is not always trendy or fashionable, but it is necessary if you want the freedom to be able to live your life on your terms.
If you are just starting out in your business then my advice to you is to be really clear on your goals, make sure you know exactly how much time you have to dedicate each day and to make a list of the actions you need to take to achieve those goals. Make sure you do the work and don’t allow yourself to be distracted.
A good question to ask before starting any task is “is this going to help me achieve my goals?” And if the answer is no then it’s not something you need to do as a matter of urgency. Prioritise those tasks which are going to help you be successful, and spend less time on the busy tasks that can take you a when day but achieve nothing.
If you are in the position of wanting to grow your business but not being sure how to go about it then book a free strategy call here, I can hold you accountable to achieving your goals and help you become the success that you deserve to be.
The Number That Tells You Whether Your Answer Is Honest
Most people, when asked what they want from their business, give an aspirational answer. Freedom. Impact. Financial security. Those are fine starting points, but they are not honest answers until you attach a specific monthly number to them. I have worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs over the years and the single most revealing exercise I use takes about four minutes: I ask someone to write down the monthly take-home figure that would make them feel comfortable, not rich, not retiring to a villa, just comfortable and unstressed. Then I ask them to write down what their business paid them last month after tax. The gap between those two numbers tells you more about your real situation than any vision board exercise ever will.
Here is what I find consistently. When someone says they want “freedom,” but their comfort number is £6,500 a month and their business currently pays them £2,100, what they want is a completely different business model, not more morning walks or a flexible diary. The lifestyle goal and the financial goal are pulling in opposite directions, and no amount of mindset work bridges that gap. You bridge it by either dramatically increasing revenue, cutting the comfort number down to something the business can currently support, or accepting a defined timeline with specific milestones. Anything else is just wishful thinking with a pleasant aesthetic.
I went through this myself in year three of running my consultancy. I had convinced myself I wanted to work with fewer clients on deeper projects. That sounded wonderful. But when I sat down and looked at my actual numbers, that model would have required each retained client to pay roughly £4,000 a month for me to cover costs and pay myself a reasonable salary. I had no clients at that price point, no case studies at that price point, and no clear path to attracting them within six months. What I wanted was financial stability first, and the “fewer, deeper clients” model was a fantasy I was using to avoid confronting how uncomfortable the real growth work would be.
A straightforward way to do this exercise is to work through three columns on a single sheet of paper:
- Column one: what you say you want (write it in plain language, one sentence)
- Column two: the specific monthly number that makes that statement financially true
- Column three: what your business would need to look like structurally, in terms of pricing, client volume, and working hours, to produce that number consistently
If column three describes a business that does not resemble the one you currently run, that is your real answer. You do not want what you said you wanted. You want a business transformation, which is a completely different and considerably harder goal, and it deserves to be treated as such rather than dressed up as a lifestyle preference. The businesses I have seen grow with the least drama are always run by founders who could tell you their comfort number, their current number, and their plan for closing the distance between the two, all without hesitating. That clarity is not a personality trait. It is a habit you build by doing this kind of blunt arithmetic regularly rather than saving it for the moments when the credit card bill makes you anxious.
The short version: Most business owners get so caught up in tactics and revenue targets that they never stop to ask what they want their business to give them. Your business should be built around your life, not the other way around. Get clear on what you want first, and the strategy will follow.
Frequently asked questions
Why is it important to define what you want from your business before focusing on growth?
Without a clear picture of what you want, you risk building something that looks successful on paper but leaves you feeling empty or burned out. Knowing your personal definition of success shapes every decision you make, from the clients you take on to the hours you work.
How do I figure out what I really want from my business?
Start by asking yourself what your ideal day looks like, how much freedom you need, and what kind of impact you want to make. Strip away what you think you should want and focus on what matters to you. Writing it down and revisiting it regularly keeps you honest.
Can what I want from my business change over time?
Absolutely, and that is completely normal. As your life changes, your priorities shift too. Checking in with yourself every six to twelve months helps you make sure your business is still serving the vision you have for your life right now, not the one you had three years ago.
What happens if my business goals and personal goals are in conflict?
That tension is a signal, not a failure. It usually means something in your business model, your pricing, or your workload needs to change. Addressing the conflict head-on, rather than ignoring it, is what separates business owners who thrive from those who simply survive.
Related reading: One to One AI Coaching for Business Owners: What It Costs and Whether Yo.
