Stage 2 – Practice

Ok, so in Stage 1 – IDEA, you got an idea and started to run with it. You stumbled through all the things and learned what you didn’t know you didn’t know. So now you know and you’re learning…but you need practice.

Welcome to Stage 2 – PRACTICE!

This is where you get to start fumbling around and making tons of mistakes.

And in case you didn’t know, making tons of mistakes is a GOOD THING! Because, while some folks have figured out a great way to do things, it might not work for you and your business.

Granted, there are some tried and true business rules, but there’s so much more wiggle room than rules. That’s half the fun! You get to make your own rules! (Isn’t that why you started your business in the first place? 🤩)

And even when you know the rules, once you get to a certain point you can start bending those. (Not the State, Federal, or Ethical ones, mind you. That’ll get you into trouble. 🚓🚔👮)

Getting into the Groove

During this time, you’ll start to get a groove. The weekly tasks become easier. You start to be able to anticipate what comes next and prep for it.

You have some customers, and they are giving you valuable feedback about your business from which you start to refine.

Things are still rocky and a bit overwhelming, but it’s not quite the Niagara Falls of information you were dealing with in Stage 1.

This is also where a lot of emotional and spiritual work gets done. As you’re working through and practicing the business lessons you’ve learned, you may just come up against some mindset shifts that need to happen for you to get to the next level.

There are plenty of days in which you wonder what you’re doing and if you should just give up because it’s way too hard. If you’re one of the lucky ones, you keep going.

Rubber, meet Road.

Stage 2 is where most people quit. There is still so much to learn and implement all at the same time. It’s overwhelming, hair pulling, and nerve wracking all at the same time.

They’ve gotten to a point in which the business has grown to ‘big’ (relatively) to handle by themselves.

There is a tipping point where a Solopreneur must decide to keep their business small and manageable by one person or to hire someone to help out and grow the business.

This is a tough decision because it generally means spending money you don’t have just yet in hopes that more revenue will be generated to sustain the expense.

It is a leap of faith towards the next stage, FRUITION.

Transferring Your Knowledge

One way to make that leap easier is to be able to transfer all the knowledge you’ve accumulated and tested to that new person. This is where the notes that you’ve been taking come into play.

You can take those notes and organize them together to create your own processes and procedures which will aid your new hire in how you want things done.

If you’ve taken your notes religiously, you won’t have any gaps in your knowledge…but chances are you haven’t. You’ve been too busy with everything to be religious in listing out what you’re doing every day.

Heck, I TEACH this stuff and I don’t do it religiously! Progress, not perfection.

The point is, if you have your notes, it will be so much easier to document your processes and you won’t have to remember so much…which leaves room for more information to be acquired and implemented so that your business grows.

And if you have a good enough employee, you can pass off this whole documentation task to them! Of course, you’ll still need to be interviewed and available to review the final document to ensure that it meets your standards and includes all you want it to.

If you want to learn more about how to transfer your knowledge quickly and easily, check out the free First Step to Cloning Yourself PDF.

Next week we’ll get into Stage 3 – FRUITION, where your business starts to run smoothly, and income comes in regularly.

Until then, Keep your eyes on the horizon, your hands on the wheel, and your foot on the GAS!!

Let’s DO THIS!