Wednesday 30 August 2017

Have you ever questioned what is that you're doing with your life?

Have you ever questioned what it is that you are doing? Over the past 6 months or so I have felt like perhaps I have lost my mojo. Many of you will probably know how that feels. 

I was still delivering good work and I had lots of business and happy clients but something just wasn't feeling 'right'.




Over the last year I had begun to wonder whether I should continue being 'The Intelligent VA Company'. When my business began in 2012 I offered lots of services to lots of businesses. Probably too many services to be honest. I didn't know my niche. Or even really my audience. I could genuinely offer something to everyone. All this being said I (very rarely anyway) wasn't doing any traditional VA work. It has been some time since I did any admin work or PA support for example. 


I was heading off to networking meetings and standing up to talk about my business and there would often be 2 or 3 other VA businesses in the room. Now, I have no issue at all with that. There is more than enough work to go round but when I began to talk about what I did and what I could offer my services didn't match what I was actually doing. Nor did they match the kind of work I really wanted to do. I was putting myself in competition with other businesses when I didn't even do what they do anymore! 


Lots of, very smart, people talk about having a niche or asking who IS your ideal client? Problem was I didn't really know. 


BUT I had a good business. I was making money and I enjoyed the work and was delivering stuff my clients were happy with. Did I really want to change all that? To start from scratch?


A rebrand? More investment, more time, more research, more networking, more marketing to re-engage my new client base? Sounds like a lot of hard work to me!


Thing is, I had also joined Spaghetti Agency's #SocialSummerCamp to keep my brain ticking over and focused over the summer months. In probably the first week or so they asked me my 'Why'. Why do I do what I do? 


Shit. Now I had to answer the question i'd been avoiding for 6 months!


Five years ago that answer was easy. I set up the business that utilised all my skills i'd learnt in business so I could work for myself and be flexible with my time to fit around my children's needs. Nothing had changed about the latter part. The flexibility to be around for my children whilst theyre young is still the key driver to being in business for myself. But the WHAT I was doing wasn't right anymore. I wanted to hone what I do, to really focus on the stuff I do for clients that I LOVE and that delivers the most value. The stuff where they say at the end of each month 'Wow. I can't believe the difference having you involved has made' And now I have the confidence to build a business again from scratch. 

Now I have focus. 

Now I have my Why and my What.


How about you? Is your WHY and your WHAT working for you? Are you doing what you really want to be doing?


I get it's hard and it's scary and it would be so simple to just stick with the status quo (especially if things are ticking along just fine) but you owe it to yourself to be doing what you love. Life is just too short to be stuck with 'okay for now'.



So find your why. Ask yourself what you love and what you're good. Who you want to work with and why. Then see what that reality looks like. If you've made something work once you can do it again. Go for it!


My new brand and website are currently cooking away in the background and I have all the focus I need to go and smash it. It wont be easy but I wouldn't be me if I didn't go for it.


Can't wait to share it with you all! Watch this space.