As a VA business owner, how clear are you on your vision for both your business and life? VIP VA Member Tiffany Wise is very clear and isn’t afraid to admit she has big plans for both…
“I’ve never been one to shy away from setting big goals. Even when launching my VA business in 2016 I knew it wouldn’t just be me in the business as my vision has always been to have my own offices and team providing high quality business support services to overwhelmed and stressed entrepreneurs. My life vision is to run my business whilst working a maximum of 4-6 hours per day (fitting with school hours) and to mainly be working ‘on’ the business rather than ‘in’ it. I also want to enjoy the same lifestyle I have become accustomed to when earning City wages – including lovely holidays, a decent disposable income, you get the picture!
So how do I fulfil these business and life visions, especially when they’re not exactly ‘average’?! Below are some of the top tips I use to realise my visions and I truly believe these all to be as important as one another.
Getting Clear
This is imperative across a number of areas. I’ve decided exactly what I want from both my business and life and I take the time to visualise it. I have a vision board in my office featuring everything I want as I believe seeing my goals daily will help my brain to see this as ‘normal’ and thus make achieving them much easier and quicker. I’m also clear on things like my core values, the type of people I want to work with, what my goals are for the next 90 days, 12 months, 3 years etc. Once you have clarity on what you want, then look at how it’s achievable.
Clear Boundaries
I found this incredibly difficult when starting my business – I wanted to say yes to everything, worked every hour that God sent and consequently hit burnout within months. I also quickly felt very disheartened about being a business owner as not only was I working ridiculous hours but I was working on things I didn’t enjoy – was this how it was going to be going forward?! Well, to be blunt, no! I learnt to set boundaries such as not working weekends or the time between picking my son up from school and him going to bed. Yes, this sometimes means I work in the evening but I’m now working on reducing that too by outsourcing more of ‘my’ tasks to my amazing team. If I work in the evenings it is now because I want to rather than because I have to.
Outsourcing
Yep, time to practice what I preach! I hold my hands up, I’m a complete control freak and letting go of pieces of my business was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. But, with it has come a number of benefits. The first – and this has been super helpful – is that I can now resonate more with my Clients, I have literally felt the same fear as them in handing over their business baby to someone new! The second, is I had a clear business vision to be a big outfit and, as my Client base grew, I couldn’t do it all no matter how hard I tried (this took the ego a little while to accept!). Nor should I though. I looked at what I do best and now stick to this. I’m recruiting other experts into my team to handle the bits I’m either not good at, don’t enjoy or takes me too long to complete. I believe that for everything I outsource, I can then utilise my time to make a return on that investment.
Having the Right Mindset
Your mindset in business is crucial. I have invested time and money in working on my limiting beliefs (specifically self-worth ones such as ‘there’s no way I can charge this much’ or ‘why would they work with me’) and am kicking them out of my headspace! Mindset was very new to me coming from the corporate world and I was sceptical but, trust me, it works! I’m now conscious even down to the way I talk – for instance I don’t talk about my ‘dream’ business or life as for me saying ‘dream’ makes it feel unachievable. I strongly believe unless you have conviction in your goals, they will not materialise. Also, I’ve learned not to listen to the naysayers or worry what others are doing. There will always be people saying you can’t do it or you’re aiming too high and things like social media will always be full of the success stories of others. I keep clear on my visions and listen to my gut. It’s a hard one and definitely a work in progress for me (but then self-development always should be!).
So, how are these tips working for me? Well, I’m just coming to the end of my second year of business and already have a team of 4 working alongside me with another one joining in March. Turnover has doubled in the last 12 months and the aim for the next financial year is to have a six figure turnover. Living by Fred Astaire’s quote ‘do it big, do it right and do it with style’ is working so far!”
What are your thoughts? Do you have a big vision like Tiffany?