Hello again,

Your scorecard results show that you currently have a Medium strength around the DESIGN element of the Business Magic Formula™.

Even if you’ve been getting good results in your business but are now either currently going through or about to go through a growth point in your business, then it’s not uncommon for this element to be lower than you’d probably like or expect it to be.

So today I’d love to talk a little more about the Design element, so you can really prioritise & make it stronger. 

Because if you don’t, you’ll likely end up getting stuck along the way and slow down the rate of growth in your business. 

I know you won’t want that, so let’s focus on improving it together.

Different versions of ‘perfect’:

Imagine sitting around in your favourite coffee shop with a group of friends & the subject of your next holiday plans came up. 

Do you think that every single person would have the same ideas of what would be the perfect holiday?   I’d bet my flat white coffee that they wouldn’t. 

Because we’re all different, have different needs, different desires & different stages or seasons of our lives even.

For example, a perfect family holiday for me is somewhere that is hot; ideally less than 5 hours flight times; all inclusive with multiple al-a-crate restaurants; feels luxurious; has multiple swimmings pools & plenty of activities/kids clubs for our 3 boys to enjoy & a resort we didn’t even need to leave if we didn’t feel like it.

But for my sister & brother-in-law, that type of holiday would be a nightmare for them, as they love hiring a car, going out exploring & having adventures; going out to eat to different places & my niece & nephew are both now teenagers.

Why am I sharing this with you? 

Well the same goes with our businesses.

Everyone’s version of success & growth in business will be unique to them.

So that’s why YOU get to & you NEED to decide .. which is good news! 

Because if you don’t, you could end up blindly following what other people in your industry are doing & thinking that particular business model or ways to do business is the ‘only’ way.  

And if you do end up persevering to even get to the ‘destination’ … I’m sure you’ll think, ‘is this is?’ & it wouldn’t feel inspiring or motivating to you.

That’s why the Design element of the Business Magic Formula™ is all about you uncovering what’s right for YOU.

This includes digging deep & knowing what’s really important to you .. i.e. your values in relation to business. 

Values are the key to helping you to have consistent motivation levels!  From my experience, not many business owners take time to uncover these & then proactively use them when making decisions around their business.

I’ve had many people with the best intentions share great ideas of what I could do to grow my business .. without knowing what my core values are. 

So even though they could be good ideas … they wouldn’t be ticking off my values .. so would actually be bad ideas for me.  

This is also why knowing your personality can make a huge difference to how you decide to grow your business, for example your business model; your offers & services. 

I’ve seen many business owners over the years create a business that actually makes them want to run & hide from, because it ends up feeling like a ‘job’ or not really playing to their strengths.

It’s also important that you have an updated vision for what you want to make happen for at least the next 12 months.  Your vision can & is likely to change as you grow your business, especially from the very early days when you start & doing everything & anything to make money.  

Without having a vision, it would be like dreaming of having a holiday but not actually putting time in your diary to when you’re going to go or packing your suitcase with some holiday clothes & jumping in the car to go somewhere.  

But not knowing what the destination is.  How would you do if you’re on the right road or what to even pack, if you don’t know if you’re wanting to get from Glasgow to the Glencoe mountain range or to London.   

Having a clear Vision can then help you choose what to pack or not to pack; which roads or transport methods to take & even what time of year would be best for that holiday.

A vision gives you direction & then from there, you can then make life much easier for yourself by breaking it down into milestones or journey points .. i.e.  specific goals for 90 day periods.

This means it’s much easier for you to have focus on what projects to do & even the best order for making things happen that makes more sense – instead of just winging it. 

And then you also get to review & make sure your next 90 days goals are aligned to your vision & that vision is still where you actually want to be going – or making any necessary tweaks.

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So can you see why Your Design needs to be constantly focused upon to make sure you are in control of your business & can be your guiding compass when making decisions.

Some things will remain very static … like your values & personality, but other things can change as you & your business grow … and different seasons of your life.

Going back to the holiday analogy, I’m sure when our kids are grown up & don’t want to holiday with us anymore, that going to an all inclusive type of resort filled with other kids will be my idea of a nightmare.

And even from my personal experience, what I thought I wanted for my business vision & goals back when I started my business in 2007 has definitely changed over the years. 

So that’s why this isn’t a once & done thing but instead why you need to keep evolving & consciously making decisions around what is right for you & your next chapter ahead.

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I’m sure you can see that by keeping your Design updated & focused, it will help you to create even more real magic in your business moving forward.    

I’d love to hear more about what your vision & goals are for your business, so please take a minute now to connect with me over on LinkedIn (or Instagram or Facebook if that’s where you hang out more), if you haven’t already.

Or if you’d prefer, you’re also welcome to book in for a real 2-way conversation with me over a virtual cuppa.  We can then chat about how to keep this element strong for you & also answer any questions you may have for me.

I look forward to speaking with you & also sharing more about the other 2 elements over the next few days too.