Four phases of the business cycle
Picture this in your mind’s eye – the perfect autumn day: Warm sun, clear blue sky, golden leaves, dewy grass. Apart from the intriguing sights, your nostrils fill with the freshness of the fragrance of the earth and the multitude of autumn blossoms and leaves. Your ears tune in to the faint rustling of leaves as they fall under the sway of the gentle breeze, seemingly emanating from the breath of unseen angels…
Autumn teaches us many valuable lessons, of which the most essential is how beautiful it is to let things go.
I always advocate as business owners we must switch our brains off and take time out in nature to refresh and re-plenish. A walk in the park on a brisk autumn morning is just the thing we need to completely unwind and “press reset.” The autumn season gives a clear example of how transient life is, how it moves through stages of development (and demise) and how to prepare for rejuvenation by letting go first.
Autumn is a time of letting go of the summer months, drawing a line in the sand and stepping towards the next season of winter. Days get shorter and the nights get longer. You get up in the dark and finish work in the dark! Garden shrubs begin to die and need cutting back, ready to be dormant during the winter months. A change in season provides an opportunity for a change in business and life. It’s a time to let go of what has happened previously and to look forwards. This sums up what business coaching is all about. A business coach will help the business owner in running a business by clarifying the vision of their business and how it synchs with their own goals. Business coaching takes a business from where it is now to where the business owner wants it to be. The autumn season offers us an opportunity to reflect on our vision, goals and game plan.
We may certainly consider autumn as a time for reflection and re-strategizing. As we let go of the experiences of summer that’s passed, we gather whatever lessons we can and strengthen ourselves for the challenges that lie ahead in the wintery cold. Similarly, we can introspect and then refine our outlook, business plans and strategies to ensure that we keep the valuable and discard the impractical.
Business owners who want to bring about change but are feeling stuck and lack the confidence required. They may be hanging on to old outdated business models and are struggling to move into a new paradigm, post-pandemic. They may have started on business having great goals and visions and have become lost along the way, just like scattered autumn leaves.
Business coaching helps them to make the transition, by giving them the opportunity to think clearly about where to take the business and where to shine a spotlight on their business genius and offerings. Investing your energy at the optimal time, focusing on the optimal thing will yield the optimal result. Fine-tuning your entire approach as to how your business is functioning and could potentially function is the role of a business coach.
Business coaching sessions gives them precious time to focus, bringing clarity and a fresh perspective. It helps to get an enlightened point of view on the way your business is operating from a trained professional. An expert business coach can provide the clarity you need to see your business in a whole new light. You can “raise the bar” on what your business has to offer, thus attracting organic customers/ clients.
Sometimes, clients discover they need to let go of old processes, structures and systems to enable them to move forwards. Without shedding old, dead leaves where is the possibility of new foliage to flourish?
Business coaching is forward-looking and provides an opportunity to set an inspiring goal and create a clear, motivating vision for the future. It provides the chance to face difficult issues or make some tricky decisions in a supportive environment. You will be able to face challenges with proper tools to help you cope. In conjunction with your business coach, you can tailor-make strategies that will proactively help you transcend your challenges.
The cycle of business continues just as the cycle of the seasons continue. Through the good and the bad, the seasons remain and with them they bring an opportunity for transition and change. Let’s embrace the changes that we undergo and seize them as opportunities to build us up – not bring us down. It is through our thoughts we control our own destiny.
We have no choice but to embrace change as we go through life. As the seasonal changes are inevitable, changes in our lives are inevitable. Change can be scary, but if we never take the risk we are holding ourselves back from an abundance of love and beauty that is waiting for us.
So, during this season let’s move forward together with a sense of gratitude for the world around us. Nature’s lessons are beautifully taught with the most resplendent and colorful imagery so we should take note. Let’s stop letting the little things knock us down and let’s begin to appreciate what life has to offer us. One of the things we can and should develop is strengthened resilience. Under the guidance of a qualified business coach, you will gain this resilient outlook in your business practice and your life in general.
