When you’re creating a new product or offering, what’s your process? Are you able to implement your innovation and effectively serve your customers and clients what they need, or do you get stuck?
I want to remind you of your big advantage as a small business owner. You get more opportunities because smaller is mightier! You can be as innovative as you want and efficiently present your offering without having to wait for approvals and corporate red tape. You’re the boss!
I’ll share with you that when I’m writing a new book, my process is twofold. For starters, since I’ve Clockworked my business I’m able to step away to create more systems to support business owners. Most of that support stems from books, so I have to take time to write. The start can feel a bit daunting, but I created a system and I have it down to a science now.
- Retreat: First, I go on a writing retreat with my co-writer, AJ Harper. While the location is bucolic and a great place to take breaks, it’s no vacation. But, stepping back from my routine and out of my daily environment allows me to think outside of the box (because I’m literally outside of my box). I’m able to garner a different perspective – and have some time freedom to implement my ideas in a cohesive way that will have the greatest positive impact on my readers and fellow entrepreneurs. You can do this yourself. How will you do that, exactly? We take one day a quarter out of the office together to discuss our last quarter and overarching goals and strategies for the next one. Being away from our daily tasks and distractions allows us to amplify ideas that we have and then create strategies to make them come to fruition.
- Discipline & Accountability: The second mode of my writing process is writing sprints. This discipline is paramount for keeping me accountable and maintaining my momentum. When it was time to go on my writing retreat with AJ Harper, my co-writer, I knew exactly what I wanted to write, so that did make it a bit less challenging. But, there are hundreds of pages to get written, and they need to be on point and of true service! So, as I do with all writing, I schedule writing sprints for every morning. Each morning I wake up, work out, and then write for at least one hour. I take a break every twenty minutes, but in those twenty-minute sprints I don’t look at another thing and I just write.
So whether you’re writing a book, brainstorming a new offering, or ready to launch it to your customers and clients, take advantage of the flexibility you find yourself in. It’s not a luxury. It’s a necessity.
Wishing you creativity, retreats, health, and wealth.
-Mike
PS – Did you know you can preorder my next book, All In? Get in now to create an unstoppable team that transforms your small business into a cash making machine!
