This is the perfect time to re-evaluate your business, your creativity and see if you have any blind spots you have been ignoring.

Looking at your business through fresh eyes should happen on a monthly basis but more in detail at least quarterly. Our day-to-day lives running a business can mean mixing home, business, creativity and if we aren’t careful we can miss the signs that we are off track.

So, do you have any blind spots that you are ignoring or just not seeing because you have your head down and working so hard? How can you slow down enough to see if you are ignoring some important things happening or not happening in your business?

Give yourself time to be still and quiet.  This means walk without music. Sit in the car while you are waiting for someone and choose to journal instead of looking at your phone. Keep a book with you at all times for reflection and for inspiration. The world is louder than ever so you have to be more intentional than ever to hear YOURSELF.

Meet once a month with other business owners and entrepreneurs. You are your own breed and speak your own language. You need each other and you need to have a safe place to discuss the areas you are struggling and to get another perspective when you feel stuck.

Are you so focused on the WHAT that you are creating that you are forgetting WHO you are creating your product for?  I allow myself time in the evening and the morning to have a break from all social media and my phone and even work. I use this time to process the day, think about where I am stuck and to also ask myself what my customers are really needing and wanting. I use this time to do devotions, read, journal, walk and to be open to what is next and to focus on the heart of our business…our customers and our purpose in this business.

How do you want your life to LOOK and FEEL?  If you are not clear about what you want your life and business to look and feel like it can be certain that you will get off track with saying “yes” to opportunities when you should be saying “no”. This question can get you back on track very quickly. Put it on your calendar to ask yourself once a month if your life and business is reflecting the true answers to this question. If you are getting off track (because we all do) then make daily decisions to bring about change.

Running your own creatively made business is the hardest that you will ever work but the rewards cannot even be measured. Walking out your gifts and purpose is exciting and life-giving. Check in with yourself and business often to make sure you are receiving all of the benefits of your hard work.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are looking for direction with your next idea, a kick in the pants to start or to have fresh inspiration breathed into your current business I hope you will join me a for an online business workshop that is all about connecting with your gifts, building your brand, launching it out into the world and nurturing what you have created.

We have built our creative business over the past 12 years. We started with a small Etsy shop, manufactured our own soft goods for many years, created an online network with art + lifestyle workshops (wait until you see our new site launching next month!), sell original art + prints, a keynote speaker at large business and women’s workshops around the US, teach live art workshops in the US and abroad, collaborate with artists from all over the world and my first art book for North Light Books was a best seller.

As a business consultant the past four years I have been able to help other creatives get their ideas off the ground, fine-tune an existing business or coach how to take their business to the next level. With our whole heart, we believe it is time to expand this part of our business to work beside more creatives as they building their own Creatively Made Business!

Registration is open for our brand new online business workshop.

If you have any question about the workshop or about my business consulting you can email us at contact@jeanneoliver.com.