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Starting a new business can be an exciting but intimidating journey. It’s a journey that takes a lot of bravery, time, and effort. Of these three factors , time is undoubtedly going to be the most demanding aspect of your new business. Because you’re spending so much time on this new venture, it’s crucial to ensure something that makes you feel happy and fulfilled.
We get it, everyone is talking about creating your dream life as an entrepreneur but work is work…right? Wrong. You can construct your business with enough clarity to consistently set business goals that align with your passions. This whole process can be fun, we promise! Here’s how:
This may seem simple. You may think: “If I have clarity at the start of your foundational business definition process, I’m bound to have a successful business forever.”
While that may be partially true, the real importance of knowing how to gain clarity is that it might save your business. Like all facets of life, your passion and what you love is almost guaranteed to change, whether in small or significant ways. Similarly, your ideal target audience is going to change too. Your business should start with clarity and then consistently grow with clarity.
Let’s take a look at Dawning Digital as an example. Our brand has grown drastically over the past three years.
We started with posts like this:
And then adjusted our brand like this:
And now, our brand looks more like this:
As a branding agency, this may make you question our confidence in our branding. Why would we need to change up our brand so much?!
However, this seemingly drastic branding shift is proof of the growth that we have experienced, skills we have developed and confidence that we have in our brand. We outgrew our initial branding and business goals and had to re-examine our strategy. Having the ability and resources to grow the business with clarity is what has helped our team grow with consistency and coherence. Gaining clarity is a skill that you will use consistently throughout the lifetime of your business, not just at the very start. Think about it this way: when you get your first pair of glasses, you don’t marvel at your garden then immediately pitch them over the wall. You keep your glasses on as you experience life, and adjust your reactions through your newfound clarity every day. You might even need a new prescription after a while but you gladly accept that because ongoing, increasing clarity improves your quality of life. Business clarity is exactly the same, and much less likely to break when you sit on it.
Knowing that you want to start a business and starting a business are two very different things. You could think about it for the rest of your life OR you could refine your idea, gain clarity and start the damn thing… Not to show our bias here, but we’re strong supporters of the latter. So, how do you make sure that you don’t get distracted by all of the opportunities that come with starting a business, and maintain focus on what’s truly important?
From our experience, gaining clarity when you start your business is far from easy. You’ve got a lot on your mind and a lot to get done… Obviously right? You’re taking the first step on a whole new journey. What will you pack? What’s the weather going to be like? Who will you meet along the way? We understand, it’s a lot! We also know that gaining clarity will help make everything easier moving forward. Think of the process as buying a comprehensive “visitor’s guide” to the destination of entrepreneurship.
Working on developing clarity at the start of your business journey allows you to address four main pillars:
If you are able to gain clarity on all four of these pillars, not only will you have a viable business idea but you will also be able to build a career that you love.
You may not hear a lot of business guides talking about love and passion. This is not because they’re wrong but because they’re focussing on the strategy of your business plan. If you prefer that approach, we have one question for you:
Why would you be inspired to build a business from scratch to do work that doesn’t inspire you?
Tony Robbins, entrepreneur and bestselling author, explains that success is achieved through a plan that is 20% strategic and 80% psychological/mindset-contingent. If the success of your business plan relies 80% on mindset, we think that mindset is a great place to start! How do you begin? Well, it’s time to ask yourself some essential questions to identify your unique skills, passion and reason for being.
Ask yourself these 10 questions for clarity to help you establish your business mindset. Before you jump right in, please leave your judgement behind and take an unbiased approach to these questions. We would suggest answering them as fast as possible and then reviewing and refining your answers. We promise, there’s no wrong answer! This will help you be as honest as possible and provide a space for all of your thoughts and ideas to develop.
Can you see any commonalities amongst your answers? Take some time to review your answers and elaborate on the insights that excite you. This will help you identify potential business opportunities and ideas that serve you and the world around you. Waking up excited to work might not be a distant dream anymore…
These questions are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to clarity when starting a business. Dawning Digital is working on a more detailed quiz that will help you gain clarity in starting a business. Sign up for our newsletter to get notified when we launch our clarity quiz. If you’re starting a business as we speak and you need a little extra support, take a look at our Kickstart Your Business program or fill out our inquiry form to work with us. We would love to help you create the business of your dreams and clarity is just the first step of the journey!
made with love by dawning digital