Recently I have been thinking about the power of focus and simplicity and increasingly I am realising that these are fundamental keys to success. This stark realization was brought about because it became increasingly clear that my clients and prospects didn’t really understand what I could do for them. Some people saw me as a horse trainer, others as a people trainer through horses, others as a fluffy horse gal but curiously very few people saw me as a credible business consultant, mentor and coach who could seriously help them develop and grow their business to the next level. Ouch. That was a tough pill to swallow.
And yet I am all those things. Yes, as many of you know I am passionate about helping leaders and teams develop greater self awareness through partnering with the horses to grow their leadership, teamwork and communication skills. However, what fewer people know about me is that I have created, grown and then sold a multiple million pound business. I’ve seen a business through the entire product life cycle – from inception to disposal – and that a pretty awesome thing to do. I’ve negotiated strategic joint ventures with some global players and done commercial due diligence of potential partners. I’ve designed the software and operating requirements for at least three technology platforms and worked with the IT team to translate my ideas into practical solutions that met the needs of both my clients and my team members. Along the way it also seems like I have become somewhat of an expert on the practical implementation issues of big data. Wow, that’s a lot so its no surprise that people struggle to articulate what I do.
And the challenge of all this is that when your clients can’t articulate what you do, they simply can’t recommend you to others, even if they might want to. So today I have decided to simplify what I do, so that everyone is clear on the benefits of working with me. So quite simply I am a business improvement specialist. Not very sexy but it does what it says on the tin. I help you improve your business. Now that may mean that I help you improve your business systems or processes or it might mean that I help you develop your team members and your leaders. But in whatever way I am serving you – with the vast array of tools in my tool box – the net result is more productivity and profitability, and what business owner wouldn’t want that.
The need for simplicity and clarity in our communication is more important than ever especially due to the overload of information that everyone is literally drowning under. It is being reported that you now have less than 8 secs to make an impression. If people don’t get what you do in this time frame then forget it. So you need to make sure that your online profiles, websites and other social profiles are all aligned and congruent so that every time someone sees you they get the same message.
Making things very simple is actually very complex and this is summed up well by Steve Jobs when he said in May 1998. “That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
What I have come to realise is that I had a limiting belief that if something was simple it was not worth doing. So I’d been making my business about as complicated as I could make it. Having loads of different products, a mass of different lead magnets and different target markets. I’ve barely been able to keep up with what has been happening so I’m sure others haven’t.
Sometimes the hardest thing is to let go of something and yet that is what I will need to do if I am really to simplify things. I’m resisting like crazy and yet I know that unless I create the space through simplification and divestification no new opportunities will be able to emerge.
So what do you need to simplify and focus on in your life in order to help others have clarity and certainty about what you do?
Julia Felton (aka The Business Wrangler) is the founder of Business HorsePower. Business leaders, entrepreneurs and executives hire her to accelerate their business performance by harnessing the energy of their people to work more collaboratively together. By aligning purpose with actions the team achieves exponential results as everyone starts pulling in the same direction.
Julia believes that business is a force for good and through designing purpose-driven businesses that leverage the laws of nature, and the herd, you can create businesses founded on the principles of connection, collaboration and community that make a significant impact in the world.
