Now what? Starting over again… from the very beginning.

I’ve been following Alex Charfen for many years. One of his most informative measures of scale in business is called The Billionaire Code. It’s essentially a chart that visualizes scaling a business from “seeker” to creating a legacy business. Through it he walks the CEO of a business through the various phases of a business from income, staffing, constraints businesses and their CEO’s encounter along the way.

It’s the most detailed and comprehensive path to scale any business from an idea, to a hobby, to a real business and then to a legacy business.

When I owed my gym, I loved this resource as I scaled ‘the code.’ One aspect of it I found lacking was what to do then shit starts to go back the wrong way.

In business we are constantly looking to grow, because if you’re not growing you’re dying. It’s a universal truth in business. I found myself wrestling with a few things the last 18 months in my business:

1- I had fallen out of love with my work and wanted to embark on something new. Fitness is definitely a passion based business, because you have to pour your life into your clients, your team and every minute of everyday. I started to feel like when it came to living my life with my priorities in alignment- there was always something in the business that tore me away from my family, friends, sleep and self care. It went from a passion based business to daily drudgery, but being the boss I had to slap a smile on my face, show up everyday and inspire my team and my clients.

2- I noticed a profound shift in the market place and people’s desire to actually act to change. Everyone wants to get in shape and lose weight, but nobody actually wants to commit to a better way of living for health long term. My business became a churn factory- the more my team and I cared about each clients outcome- the fewer clients we had. Granted the clients we had were super committed- but a business needs repeat business to stay in business. Not the promise of repeat business, but the same 300-1000 customers each day, week and month. Without that a business can’t keep the lights on, the rent paid or their team and their teams families fed.

3- Social media and online reviews and presence do no equal income.

4- A business can experience their best year ever- followed rapidly with their worst year ever and bankruptcy. Don’t get cocky, remain humble, and always live beneath your means. Recognize the initial pinch and act quickly. It’s imperative if you want to continue to win in business.

I love being the boss.
I love being self employed.

I live having a team.

I love being the breadwinner and maintaining my independence.

So starting over, having spent my saving to keep my business afloat for the last 6 months of its life, is simply put HARD AS F$&@.

Not knowing what I want to do when I grow up, starting over and just exploring the world as I know and don’t know it. While keeping the lessons I’ve learned and forgetting just enough of the life and work I once knew so that I can open myself up to new lessons and opportunities.

The beauty of being a seeker again is the openness of what’s possible.

The shit bit of being a seeker again is all the uncertainty, and I rely heavily on having a level of certainty in my life.

So how do you handle being a seeker again, when you once had a pretty dang good thing and not even that long ago?

1- Ask yourself questions about what’s important to you in your work- ability to use creativity? Lead a team? Have free time? What kind of money do you want to make per unit? Do you want a service based business or product based business? How long will you give something a go before you decide it’s your next thing or if it’s not?
2- Evaluate what you really don’t want to experience again in your work life and personal life.
3- Get curious. About life, people, other businesses and try to find a need you can fill, and you want to fill that’s interesting enough to pursue.
4- Get busy. Be careful not to get sucked down into defeat and depression. Keep moving forward and recognize that there is beauty in the lessons you are learning and you won’t stay here as long as you keep moving forward. Do one thing each day that will move you forward, out of the middle- and be ok with your direction may change along the way. It’s ok.

Existing in the middle

Being in the midst of transition the compulsion to act for the sake of acting is very real. The other side of the coin is to recoil from the world in fear and do nothing.

Through is time of transition I find myself discovering and asking myself what I truly value. What do I really want my life and world and existence to look like as I move forward in the next phase of my life.

If you haven’t been reading my blog, let me catch you up…

2 weeks ago I decided to close my business- a boutique gym, after 7 years and 2 months in business and 12 1/2 years in the industry. I decided I was done- like never going to train clients again done. I closed my business after years of the fitness industry taking care of my family because it simply stopped taking care of my family. I faced the music, and realized I no longer had enough savings to keep the thing afloat, regardless of how much I loved my clients and my team and being a business owner.

I didn’t have a solid plan for what’s next… just the knowledge that it was time to cut my losses and be done.

It’s funny how when you make a decision, are firm in that decision, things happen.

So as I walk my way through this transition, I am working at a coffee shop, pouring drinks, talking to people and thinking about what is next for me.

Here is what I have discovered so far:

• being an hourly employee is not a long term strategy for me. Looking at the clock and looking forward to being off at a specific time is u comfortable for me. I like being able to work until I am done- whether it’s 10a or 10p. I love being in charge of my time.

• I value the ability to create and solve problems in my day, work, and company. Though I thoroughly enjoy my current gig, I need to use my strategic and creative mind.

• I love being the boss, not just my own boss, but I also need to be comfortable being the new girl and knowing nothing.

• Travel and freedom of schedule is crucial for my existence and the feeding of my soul. So whatever I do next there must be a component of exploration and adventure.

• I love to be well taken care of and able take care of others financially- experiencing my current financial constraint holds a lot of lessons that I am learning.
  

The hardest part about this transition is existing in the middle, listening to my spirit, the world around me and the universe to discover what my next best steps are.

I think at the end of the day that’s all any of us are doing is deciding and making the next best step, it could turn into a complete disaster or the greatest blessing.

Trusting myself and God or universe through this period is crucial.

Learning to listen and exist in the middle