In a previous blog I wrote about how my company was changing. Well, here’s the promised evolution update.
And it is only a small update, not the finished report. Changing a small company can be fast, when you have staff or use third parties. Changing a small company when you are a solopreneur is a much, much slower process. It is slow for a lot of reasons. In truth, a main reason is lack of time to give the change the headspace it has really needed. It’s also slow because of the options that are open to me. In fact, there is a wealth of options for the future direction of my company. There are actually so many it has been hard to pin down my choices.
However, another reason it has been slow, and more painful than I had bargained-for, is that I am looking to change something that has served me well for seven years. It has been a part of me and, of course, I have been pretty much all of it. That’s always the way with owner-managed businesses which feature the owner as the service lead.
So, what is this evolution update?
I have refocused my core offer. Specifically, I received some helpful feedback about my website. “What do you DO, Astrid?”. When you have taken an age doing and redoing your website, that’s a tough question to be asked. As a result, I looked yet again at the website, and at how I help my clients. By talking it through with people close to me, I have been able to focus down what I do. More than that, I have been able to articulate it a bit more clearly (at least, I think I have – you will have to be the judge of my success or otherwise!). At least, I have been able to analyse what I do and simplify it into clear products and stages.
I told you it was small!
As a matter of fact, it’s really only the website that has changed. Nevertheless, I am reporting back, as my accountability task. The actual services I offer remain the same. The important difference (I hope) is that the emphasis is no longer on a menu of services, but on the problem I am seeking to solve with those services.
Oddly, for a coach, this has been quite hard. It has been hard, because I am in the moment with the clients. It is only after I have helped them achieve the solution they want, that I reflect back and analyse in detail, HOW I did what I did. So, to unpick this and understand it “up front”, has been a challenge. A challenge, however, that I have enjoyed. It hasn’t been hard in any painful sense. It has simply been difficult because it has been new. As with all new things, it is taking a while for it to become comfortable.
And that is where I am right now – wearing in a new way of thinking about my company and my delivery. A bit like new shoes, but without the blisters!
And what will the next evolution update entail?
In truth, I have no idea – yet. I will let this new, “productised”, approach to my company sit and settle for a while. It may not make a blind bit of difference (although I really hope that is not the case!). I am a very straightforward consultant, as my testimonials make clear time and again. That is why I have adopted a straightforward approach to my services – there’s the simplified three-step process for consultancy, and a range of services which are now for sale directly. We shall see where this takes my company. And you can be sure I will report back, when I know more.
If you are interested in finding out more about the services, please go to the “How we help you” tab in the menu above, and hopefully it will all be clear. Hopefully, you will also feel you understand the value of how I could help your organisation. You might even buy something!