Motivation is key to entrepreneurship. If you’re like most entrepreneurs, then you’re highly self-motivated. You can keep working on your business goals during the ups and downs that characterize business.
However, there are times when your motivation will flag. This is more so when business is slow, as has been the case for a lot of people in Kenya this year.
This article outlines ways you can keep your motivation high when business is low.
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How to boost your motivation when business is slow
1. Stop minding other people’s business
It’s easy to spend time trying to find out what your competition is doing. You may also get tempted to identify and try out the latest fads.
DON’T.
The more you snoop around your competition, the worse you’ll feel if they’re doing better than you. This will in turn reduce your motivation level.
The solution is to mind your business. Take a look at your business and identify:
- What you can improve.
- Products or services that can be easily redone and sold afresh.
- How you can lure back lost customers.
- Past requests from customers that you didn’t have time to implement.
- What you can do to give your customers a great experience.
- Non-monetary ways of motivating your staff.
When business looks greener on your competitor’s side, it’s because they’re taking care of their business. Take care of your side and you’ll have better results too.
2. Take a step back
Sometimes you need to look at your business from an outsider’s perspective. Analyze your business objectively as if you were a potential customer.
- What do you like?
- What don’t you like?
- Are there glaring areas for improvement?
- What feedback can you give the business owner if you had a chance to?
As a bonus, you can invite your employees and loyal customers to do this with you. Customers and employees love giving feedback, especially when employees know that they won’t be victimized when they do.
Chances are that your customers will end up buying more or referring their friends and relatives. Your employees will own the business and have increased motivation to help you grow the business.
While this is not an easy step to take, you will end up more motivated because you’ll have solved some business problems and made money in the process.
3. Go back to the basics
Think back to a time when you overcame a tough business period or had to make tough decisions. What strategies did you use to get over that season? Which ones worked? Do more of those now.
Take this a step further and find a mentor in your business industry. Invite them for coffee, lunch or dinner and ask for their advise.
Tell them the truth about what is going on in your business. Share what you’re doing to try and get out of this situation. Ask for their evaluation and feedback.
When you do get a mentor who’s willing to work with you one-off or for a longer period, respect their time and advise. Do what they tell you and always thank them for taking the time to help you.
Above all, don’t keep calling them for advise or ask them to share their contacts with you. They will do so in their own time – if they find you worthy of it!
4. Hire a business coach
At first glance, it seems counter-intuitive to spend money at this time. In reality, a downtime in business is one of the best times to work with a business coach.
Among other things, a business coach will:
- Give you an honest evaluation of your business and what you need to do to move forward.
- Provide guidance and support.
- Provide accountability.
- Keep you focused on your business growth (and not on side shows…).
- Encourage and motivate you to get out of your comfort zone.
- Challenge you to grow as a business owner and leader.
- Help you create systems and processes that streamline your business, increase your profits and reduce the time you spend working.
- Be your sounding board when you have ideas or challenges you need to work through.
I’ve had clients who sought my help when they were about to close their businesses. When we worked together, they turned their businesses around. Some have made more money this year than they did last year, when things were better economically and politically.
I too know the power of working with business coaches. I’ve had three so far and each of them challenged me to grow beyond what I thought was possible. I was never financially ready to work with them, but the investment more than paid off in six months or less.
My first coach helped me set up my coaching business and overcome the fear of going online. The second one challenged me to get my book out two years before I planned to, and it worked. My current coach helped me double my fees in less than six months…something I’d avoided doing for a long time.
As you look for a business coach, know that not all businesses can be saved. Also, many entrepreneurs seek help when their businesses are beyond recovery. By the time they admit that they need help, it’s too late for the business.
When looking to a business coach, first request for a business assessment or strategy session before you sign up to work with them. Most coaches offer these for free or at a reduced fee.
If this coach is totally new to you, ask them for testimonials from past clients. These testimonials will help you identify what others have to say about working with the coach. Also check out their online presence to evaluate if you’re a good fit.
5. Crank up your marketing
It’s easy to let go of marketing when your business is in a slump. The opposite is true. As your marketing skills and results improve, you’ll also feel more motivated and on top of your business.
Social media marketing
This doesn’t mean that you spend lots of money advertising. It means that you find clever and affordable ways of letting more people know about your business.
Social media is an amazing tool. All types of business can benefit from having a strong social media presence. What better time to crank it up than now?
If you can afford it, then hire a social media manager and let them do the work for you. There are some who work with small businesses for about Kshs. 10,000/- a month.
If you can’t afford to hire someone, then make Google your friend (I did this with my former business). The following articles will give you more info about social media for small businesses:
- A Beginners Social Media Guide for Small Businesses by Social Media Examiner.
- Everything You Need to Know About Social Media for Small Business by Sprout Social.
- Top Ways to Use Social Media Marketing for Your Business by Post Planner.
Check out Hubspot Academy if you’re more of a Do-It-Yourself person. They have amazing resources in the academy.
Hubspot is my favourite go-to place for all things about online marketing. Their blog has simple and well written sales and marketing articles and resources.
We also use their free customer relationship management (CRM) system to monitor the Biashara 360 blog and get sign ups for our email newsletter.
Physical marketing
Social media marketing can take time to yield results, so don’t forget your physical marketing. Are there ways you can increase your marketing without breaking the bank?
Here are some ideas.
- Attend more networking events
This is powerful for all types of businesses. Find low-cost events where your potential customers or potential sources of referrals are. Become a regular at 2-3 events and have fun networking while growing your contact base.
- Run a discount promotion for a month
Give an offer on some items to bring people into your business. Most people will buy more than the offer or pick an upsell if you’re selling a service. For example, in our current promotion, we’re offering free access to a goal-setting teleclass for people who sign up for a 2-day workshop.
- Bundle up your products or services
We see this all the time in supermarkets, but you can do the same with services. Just make sure that the total cost of the bundled services also leaves you with a reasonable profit margin.
- Reach out to customers or clients
One of my clients contacted people who had purchased birthday cakes from her over a 2-year period. She got more orders than she could handle in one month. She also managed to move her business from her kitchen into its own shop within 3 months.
- Engage your employees
Get your employees involved by hosting a competition to see who will bring in the most sales during a certain period. Make the competition fun and ensure that everyone is a winner in some way.
You can also set a sales target that involves your whole team, create milestones together, and set out celebrations for each milestone achieved. Your employees can drum up lots of business when they’re motivated to. Just ensure that you keep your word and give the rewards as promised.
- Host an open house or event
Invite your customers and ask them to bring friends and relatives. Promote this on social media and create a Facebook event that you share with your followers and contacts. Put up posters and give customers flyers advertising the event. Make the preparation for the event fun so that passers-by also get attracted to it.
On the day of the event, have some music, a promotion, and some gifts as people shop or buy from you. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to host an open house or event, but you stand to make lots more from sales and new customers. Also think of partnering with other businesses and co-host the event.
You can try many motivation strategies, but these will work in the short-term if sales don’t improve. Ultimately, the biggest motivation in business comes from having consistent sales that have an upward trend.
6. Re-strategize
A slow business period is a good time to rethink your business goals. If you’re consistently setting goals and not achieving them, then it’s time to change your goal-setting method.
For example, I found that when I concentrate on financial goals only, I lose track. So I added client generation goals such as:
- Number of people I connect with directly.
- Number of people I invite for strategy coaching sessions.
- Strategy coaching sessions done.
- How much money I proposed for coaching (in the strategy sessions).
- Total number of new clients.
- Total income.
I track these figures daily, weekly and monthly. This system is not original (though I’d love to claim it). It’s taught by Rich Litvin in his book The Prosperous Coach. I’ve used the system for a couple of years now and highly recommend it for service businesses. Just interchange strategy session with consultation/meeting if you’re not a coach.
All types of business have a way of tracking the client acquisition process. Identify your process and set some goals that keep you on track. Use the statistics you get from the process to improve your business and marketing plans.
7. Dump motivation killers
When business is down, you need more positivity than negativity. So it’s time to get rid of people who kill your motivation. To start with, ditch toxic people and start hanging out with positive people.
Negative people wear you down. With time, you’ll find yourself having nothing good to say about your life or business. Also, you’ll start looking out for problems or creating new ones.
Business downtime is hard enough without sinking into negativity. Find a positive person to share what you’re going through and seek their opinion. It’s even better if this person is in business too.
Also, spend more time with people who are solution and results oriented so that you become more like them. These people will motivate and challenge you to grow and excel, which is what you need as an entrepreneur.
8. Take time off
Many entrepreneurs stop spending time with family and friends, especially when business is bad. They also abandon self-care and simply stop recharging themselves.
When my first business was going under, I ended up spending more time in the business than at home. I worked 7:00am to 7:00pm Monday to Saturday and rarely took time off work, even at lunchtime.
I carried work home for Sunday and rarely took time to relax and have fun. And even when I was out with my family, I never enjoyed myself because I was busy trying to get back home early and work some more.
If you don’t take time off, you stand losing contact with your family and friends. If you’re married, in a relationship or have children, then this will lead to a disaster because people will move forward without you.
Everyone needs to recharge on a regular basis and this is where self-care comes in. Hobbies are a good place to start. You can also:
- Wind down each day with a glass of wine.
- Pass by your favourite coffee shop.
- Listen to your favourite music.
- Read a book or watch a movie.
- Take a walk or jog at the beach, in a beautiful park or around your neighbourhood.
- Attend a personal development class.
- Park your car near the ocean and watch the waves (my favourite).
The opportunities are endless. Whatever you do, make sure that it leaves you feeling invigorated, even if you can only take off 30 minutes each day.
If you’re a woman in business, check out these self-care tips I wrote for busy women. While the article addresses women, the advise is applicable for men too.
Over the years, I’ve found that when I take time off work, I come back refreshed and able to see challenges from a different perspective. Try it and see how it works for you.
9. Smile…laugh…jump…dance
There’s a caption that did rounds on the internet some years back. It said, “Smile. It makes people wonder what you’re up to.” I loved this so much that I started smiling for no reason.
Well, I’d love to say that I’m older and more together now. But smiling for no reason still makes me feel better, even if I’m smiling at my reflection in the mirror.
Sometimes, I take it a step further and jump up and down or dance crazily to no music for a few minutes while smiling. It’s so funny that I end up feeling great and motivated at the same time.
And…when we do meet, ask me to show you this kuku dance my kids make me do when they think I’m stressed.
Caution: Do this in private. You definitely don’t want people thinking umechizi (you’ve gone crazy). So find a private place to do your jump, smile, or dance.
Other things you can do to add levity in your life include:
- Watching comedies (movies, talk shows).
- Watching cartoons.
- Playing with small children – this works even if you’re not a baby-person.
- Listening to funny audios or podcasts.
- Reading funny novels.
- Hosting a pot-luck lunch and only inviting people who make your ribs crack with laughter (with no alcohol involved).
- Visiting old people who tell funny stories about their growing up days.
I used to be a very serious and no-nonsense person. Today, I believe that life is never that serious, no matter what I’m going through.
Your turn
The life of an entrepreneur is not an easy one. There are more tough times than good times in most cases. Tough times come and go, but strong entrepreneurs last.
Being able to keep your motivation high is critical in business, and more so during slow business periods. This can be a bonus for you as you can invest more time and energy in your business.
When explored properly, a down economy can be a huge opportunity for you and it may be the best thing that has ever happened for your business.
How do you keep your motivation high when business is slow? Share your tactics in the comments and let us know the ones that led to more or better business.
(Image credit: Fab Lentz at Unsplash)
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