EP382: How to Shake Things Up to Get the Business You Want in 2023

4:17AM Dec 29, 2022

Speakers:

Tracy Matthews

Keywords:

business

bookkeeping

working

boot camp

year

adopting

people

fill

called

thrive

life

pruning

shake

perpetuating

esther hicks

grow

jewelry

person

sales

abundance

If you want to shake things up and make changes in your life and in your business, you have to acknowledge the stuff that is actually preventing you from reaching your goals. Welcome to thrive by design, the podcast for ambitious, independent jewelry brands, looking to profit from their products, get ready to make more and sell more doing what you love, without spending every single waking minute doing it. Hey, and if you're a creative fashion or product based business, I want to welcome you to the show. I'll be dropping big tips on launching, growing and scaling your business. So you could spend more of your precious time using your creativity to make money. You ready? All right, let's do this. Happy New Year. And welcome to the thrive by design podcast episode 382. Well, hello there. It's Tracy Matthews, the chief visionary officer of flourish and thrive, and the host of the show today. And I hope that you are starting your new year off with a bang. So I hope you had a great holiday season. I'm recording this before the holiday season actually is completed. So I can't really share with you anything that went on with my season. But maybe next week, because I'm gonna be recording some episodes that are going live next week with some of our students. And I'm excited to hear their stories and share a little bit more about what's going on with them. Now, one of my favorite things to do in the new year is to start fresh and to shake things up a little bit. So that you can get what you want. In your business and life. I do this for myself, I encourage you to do the same thing. And I want to walk you through some intentional practices that I've been working on right now as well, that might help you and inspire you to do something different. Now, as I mentioned in the New Year, I like to shake things up and bring in a way for business owners and jewelry startups to really rejigger what they're doing in their business and get a fresh start right to rethink their strategy and all the things and so we're bringing back our best ever bootcamp. And I say best ever, because it's always the most popular. It's called the jewelry brand makeover boot camp. And we're going to be walking you through a five day boot camp where we're going to help you get really clear on your goals. We're going to help you identify what's not working in your business, we're going to shake things up a little bit. And if you've never been to one of our boot camps before this boot camp is going to help you shake things up so that you can step into your role as a successful jewelry designer and start making more sales doing what you love. The whole process that we take you through in this bootcamp is designed to help you save time so that you're not spending all your time on Instagram, ignoring your kids, or having to host another discount to make sales, you know, just to make ends meet. This is all about you getting great results and moving forward quickly in your business. And so I'd love to support you in that if you're interested in joining us head on over to flourish thrive academy.com forward slash makeover. The boot camp runs from January 23 to 27th. And then we have a bonus masterclass on January 30. And we'll be wrapping it up the end of that week. So it is amazing. If you've never participated in one, I highly recommend it. If you have participated before, then I recommend coming back because we're bringing some new stuff. And it's really going to change your life. Plus, I'm going to be sharing how you can win a scholarship to our Laying The Foundation program. So let's dive in. I'm really excited about today's episode, because I've been through a huge process, you know that like I live in the Phoenix, Arizona area, I feel like I am a Phoenix this year Jason does to you we both have kind of like really like come out of the ashes. We've done a lot of things to shed in this last year, and had our own ups and downs even in our relationship. And we're in such a strong place right now. It's been amazing to see what happens when you break patterns and the cycle of things that aren't working for you. And so let's talk about how to shake things up to get what you want in your business and 2023. So the first part of that is really breaking the cycle. And what I mean by that is that we're human beings, we develop bad habits over time. We have things that aren't really serving us. And for some reason, even though we know it's not helping us, we decide to perpetuate patterns. we perpetuate stories. We live in a space of poor mindset, sometimes, all these things are not serving us and they're not really doing anything that's good. And so if you want to shake things up, and make changes in your life and in your business, and this is can work for anything, right? It can be for your relationships, it could be for your business, it could be for other things that you're working with your friendships, all those things. You can use this process for just about anything in your life or your business. But you have to acknowledge the stuff that is actually preventing you from reaching your goals and take full responsibility for that. And what I mean by that is that, you know, you're a sovereign being, you have choices, you can make any choice that you want. There's someone in my life, who has a tendency to blame others for all of her problems. And I've actually had to acknowledge that I was doing that a little bit, at a certain point about a particular situation last year, which I have to remain private. And the one thing that I observe about this person in my life, who I will keep anonymous, is that she has never really taken full responsibility for what's going on in her life. And she's at this point, almost 50 years old. And it's interesting to see how she continues to live the same story and never have self awareness to know that maybe she is the person that is the problem. And so I say that not to like self blame ourselves, or like, get down on ourselves or anything like that. But like everything that you're bringing forth in the world, for the most part, I mean, obviously terrible things happen to good people. And I'm not saying that, but like, everything that it that is in the locus of control, I guess is the best way to put it is our responsibility. So if you aren't getting what you want, then you need to take a really hard, fast look, and how you're showing up and get honest with yourself about what is not working, and the reasons why. So if you are adopting poor mindset, if you are adopting poor habits, if you're like living in the past, or living in a story, or telling yourself things that are unhelpful and useful, or you're perpetuating terrible habits that aren't supporting what it is that you desire, then it is time to break the cycle. And so what I want you to do is to really evaluate, like, what are the things that are working in your business or life? What are the things that are not working? And how can you take responsibility for what is not working, and what needs to change about you your situation or your actions to make a difference. Because these habits, the way that you're showing up, oftentimes is the reason why you're not getting what you want. And one way that I see this happening often, and I say this a long time, it's like how many people here have bought a course or a program or something. And it was to solve a problem, but that they never did the course, or the program, even if they wanted to. And they're still perpetuating the bad habit that that horse or program was supposed to solve.

Right. And so, or maybe you you're someone who's like, Well, I'm gonna go to the gym and get really healthy, but then you keep eating cake every single night after dinner, I don't know, or ice cream, and you're trying to get fit, but you're not adopting the habits of a healthy person. And you're eating french fries and ice cream. I mean, I love those things. I eat them all the time too. But you know, sometimes it's just not a great idea to do that all the time. So think about the things that are bad habits that are perpetuating these things that need to break the cycle. Now the second step of this is to prune. So Jason gave me a book, or he recommended that I listen, slash read a book called necessary endings. It's by a man called Dr. Henry Cloud. And I can't believe I haven't listened to this book before. It is all about the things that you need to end in your life. And one of the concepts in this book is the concept of pruning. And this is really, I think, really, this is about making hard decisions and just ripping the band aid off and going to do it. And for me, the necessary endings in the prunings that needed to happen, were really about optimizing the business from a team perspective, because we had, like kind of, I guess the best way to put it was a bloated team were a small company, I didn't need as many people on the team, but also getting really clear on like, how I needed to show up to be a better leader so that the team could be more efficient. And with that being said, you know, I had held on to some old systems and ways of doing things that were actually not helping any of my businesses. And that had to start with me and the leadership that came from me. So it required a big change internally and a shift internally, but also an understanding that, you know, any given stage in business, a business owner needs to make tough choices, sometimes in order to do what's best for their company and their business. So if you want to shake things up, and build the business that you want, you have to take a look at some of those things. So what are the things that you've been doing for a while that either need to shift chain that changed that need to stop, right? What do you need to prune? What do you need to get rid of? And what do you need to end so this is similar to the first one of breaking the cycle but this is really more about awareness breaking the cycle, the pruning is actually taking the action. So some other ways that you might think of pruning is getting rid of dead weight So that might look like getting rid of old inventory. As I mentioned, maybe there was like, if you have a team, maybe there's people on your team that aren't really like bought into the culture, or don't have the work ethic that you need, but they're nice people and you feel bad about it like, those are, those are hard decisions to make. Because it's like, you know, they're good people, like people are good. And at the end of the day, if that person or the people on your team aren't really supporting you in the way that you need need it, then maybe it's time to cut the ties with an individual at that point. And then another thing that you might want to be thinking about is like audit your expenses, like what are the things that you aren't getting value from, that aren't helping you grow? And so like, for example, something for us, we invested in this really expensive data tracking thing for our Facebook ads, I don't exactly know what to call it, but it actually just measures analytics. And it can see where traffic sources are coming from. It's beyond Google Analytics and stuff like that. It's really to be helpful to like, integrate all of our CRM systems. But we weren't fully utilizing it was insanely expensive. And even our ads team was like, you know, we wish that we could afford that platform. And I was like, Is this something that I really need? And everyone kept telling me, yes, but we identified a different system that we're hopefully going to be adopting in the new year, that is like, literally a fraction of the price that can do the same thing. And so that might be something to look at, like, last year at this time, I had to, or maybe it was two years ago, I just take a look at my bookkeeping expenses, because they were exorbitant. I was working with a bookkeeper that was very good, it was nothing about their service. That wasn't good. But they were charging me by the hour. And so every single month, I didn't know what I was going to be charged for bookkeeping. And my friend Hunter came around, and he was like, hey, you know, like, if you want help, I'd be happy to help you. And he was able to do our bookkeeping in a fraction of the price because they have their bookkeeping process so systematized that he's able to offer bookkeeping, for businesses at a really affordable price, especially at my level. So there are like always alternatives, like different things. And I'm not saying that you cut things that you really do need that are like of the best caliber that are going to get you a better result, if that's what it is. But if it's like if you can compare apples to apples, and you can get a better value or something like that, maybe it's time to take a look at those things. So and we all have like a lot of recurring, like technical expenses and stuff like that, that if we're not fully utilizing them, maybe it's time to get on to a lower plan or something like that, if that makes sense. Now, the third way to shake things up, and to get what you want, is to fill in the gaps. So this is big Robin, my co founder over here at flourish and thrive. She used to always say, you don't know what you don't know. And it's she's not the one who made that up. But it's just like a funny Robin ism that we that we always say. And all the time. You know, I see people all the time. They're like, Oh, yeah, I want to grow my business. And like, I'm using social media, but it's not working. And I look at their social media, I'm like, You do not know how to use social media. It's because they heard that they need to be on social media, but they don't have a strategy. They don't know how to talk to people, they put like janky content out there video, their content is terrible, like and I say terrible, meaning like, it's bad quality, or the photos aren't good, or whatever it is. And they really don't know how to take the their followers on a journey. And so they're spamming people in the DMS and stuff like that. And they don't know how to basically create engagement and a sales conversation on social media. And so they're not gonna get a result. But the reason they're not getting a result is because they don't know how to actually show up on social media. And that's a big problem. The other thing is, is like, a lot of times people are like, Oh, I'm trying to grow my business, and I want a website. And then I'm like, Well, what are you doing to get traffic? They're like, Oh, well, I just put the website up. And I'm like, Yeah, well, that's not gonna help you grow your business. And they're not doing any of the things that actually bring traffic to their site. And most then people were like, well, I'll just SEO it my website. And I'm like, well, SEO alone is a long game. And that's great strategy, if you can really optimize it in the right way. But if you're not doing it in a way that is going to, you know, be strategic, then it ends up being a waste of time, because, you know, competing for SEO keywords, sometimes for like handmade jewelry, for instance, is a competitive space. And so you really need to be thinking through like, what are the things that make me different and always to be optimizing that SEO if you want to use SEO to get traffic, but there are a variety of other sources that if you aren't doing your business isn't going to grow online, if that makes sense. Another way put this out there is like a lot of times people want to sell to stores and then they come to us are like oh my gosh, the storehouse for a massive discount. I can't believe that they would do that. And it's clear that that person has no idea how the wholesale game works, because if you knew how the wholesale game works Do you know that a store owner buys wholesale products at about 60% off of a retail price. And if your products aren't priced the right way, then you're never going to be able to wholesale. And so maybe the model for wholesale isn't for everyone. But that is a another identifier of like a huge knowledge gap of how someone might not understand how the wholesale business works. So if you want to just wholesale to stores, or sell to retailers, or even do consignment, if you're going to do that, you need to understand like the model for how to price properly and all those things. That's one of the great things about Laying The Foundation is we walk you through all these nuances that people don't think about, that they think they can Google, and they end up shooting themselves in the foot because there's so much nuance to all of these steps of it. Like from a pricing perspective, product assortment perspective, how do you even get the appointments and all those things, which are really valuable, especially when it comes to pricing and that sort of thing. So if you don't have understand what you're missing, and you don't have a way to fill in those knowledge gaps, you need to figure it out quickly. So if you're kind of in that startup phase, and what I identify as a startup phase are that are brands that are doing less than six figures a year, so less than 100,000 a year, unless you're a fine jeweler, there is some gray area there, then you might be also in this bucket, and you aren't getting the sales traction that you'd like to, then I'd love to invite you to join us for the jewelry brand makeover boot camp and consider joining us for Laying The Foundation, when we release it during that boot camp, because that program is game changing and will fill in all of your knowledge gaps. All right, so the next step is to fill your cup. And this is all about bringing in the good vibes. So this is about you working on your mindset. This is about you, bringing in the good energy, this is about you, surrounding yourself with the supportive community. This is about you doing the self care, this is about you taking time for yourself and meditating and journaling and doing all the things to get the noise out of your head so that you can have fun, and you could focus on the things that matter. Now I was working with my healer, Melanie, and she said to me, Tracy, like your number one soul play. That's what she calls it is self care right now, because that is the one thing that's going to help you through this period of transition for yourself. And so what I want to tell you is that on a regular basis, a daily basis, if you possibly can make a list of the things that fill you up, and try to do at least one of those things. Like for me, it is playing with my dog, she is the best, I love my little Roxy girl, she is frickin amazing. And if you got my Christmas email, you got to see her Christmas pickle, which is so fun. Anyway, do the things that fill you up. Like for me, it's meditation massage movement in the morning, whether that be 30 minutes of the class or working out with my trainer or doing some yoga or dancing around, or just like getting into my body and out of my head, like all of those things help so so much. And then finally, the last stage of this, that is really going to help you get to the next level when it comes to getting the life in the business that you want. It is all about celebrating. And what I mean by this is that you take the time, on a regular basis to write down what is working and celebrate your wins. Maybe this is daily, this could be a gratitude practice, whatever is aligned with you. Now my coach Rob, he said something to me. A while back, he was like,

Tracy, you know, this gratitude thing doesn't really work for me. But you know, I was talking to ash Ash is another mutual friend of ours. And ash told me that maybe instead I should think about all the ways that I'm abundant in my life. And I really liked that frame. Because there are so many things that were abundant and even if it's not abundant income, right, like, do you have an abundance of relationships, abundance of friendships, abundance of ideas and abundance of creativity and abundance of love for your children. Maybe it's an abundance of unconditional love that your children love you back or whatever it might be, you know what I'm saying? So think of all the ways that you're abundant in your life and celebrate those things. And then what you'll start to notice is that more abundance will come your way. And then finally, here is the bonus tip and this is the tip that goes with every single thing. Every intention, everything that you need to do. You can wish and hope and manifest and meditate and all those things all you want. Get your head in the right place. Do the power of positive thinking listen to Esther Hicks and Abraham Hicks all you want do all the mindset practices but if it is not backed with action to support What you're trying to create, you're not going to go anywhere. Sure, you might have some luck and something happens out of the out of thin air where you have a stroke of luck or an opportunity that shows up, that really helps you get to where you're trying to go. But you'll still need to put some forward movement behind that and take action on what matters most. So this really means setting yourself up for success by stating a goal and then taking daily action towards that goal. So if you need to generate more cash flow, it means you reaching out on a daily basis to people to generate sales. If it means you building your following followers and base that means you taking daily action to engage your community on social media, and start building your followers. If it means to you like I don't know, up leveling your skills from from a jewelry design perspective, that means you taking classes and courses, or working with a master jeweler or something like that to help improve your skills. Practice makes perfect and the more you move your energy into the vibration of what you're trying to create, the more that will be returned to you. And so I mentioned this because I was listening on my way to my work office today. I was listening to an Esther Hicks episode where she was being interviewed by retracing of Hay House. And she showed up just as Esther Hicks at the person that I listened to, when she was talking about how she was feeling really overwhelmed once and she didn't know she asked Abraham to help her, decipher what needed to be done. And so what she did is she drew a line on a piece of paper she called this the placemat exercise. And she's like things Esther can control today, things to offer up to the universe. And so she wrote down all the things that she could control and actually do that were in her control. And then she offered everything else up to the universe to take care for her. And so maybe that's a practice you adopt as well. Anyway, I wanted to thank you so much for listening to this episode today. Before I bounce, I'm going to just share with you one more time, this process for shaking things up to get the business that you want. So the first thing is to break the cycle. This is really about acknowledging your bad habits, things that aren't working, and getting clear on what those things are. The second piece of this is pruning or the necessary ending. So what do you need to stop doing in order to get what you want? What do you need to get rid of in order to get what you want, maybe releasing old inventory and stuff like that? Who do you need to cut ties with, to get what you want. And be honest with yourself, it's not easy, but you're going to feel so relieved after. The third step of this is to fill in your knowledge gap. So from here, what you want to do is to really think through like what are the things that I am struggling in, like what is not growing, where is what stagnant in my life or my business that I need some outside support on and then take a program, get a coach, work with us, you know, whatever it does, like shake it up a little bit, fill it and then the fourth step is to fill your cup. This is all about getting into that energy and vibration of good vibes and positive energy. The fifth step is celebration. So acknowledging how far you've come. And then the sixth step is taking action. And maybe taking action comes before celebration, but you get it that was really the bonus step. Because nothing happens in spite of action. So if you're not taking action, you're not going to get the next step. So you have to set those priorities every day and keep growing that way. All right, this is Tracy signing off. I hope that you're gonna join us for the jewelry brand makeover boot camp. In the show notes. I'll have links to many of the things that I mentioned in this episode. And I'm really looking forward to supporting you to kick off your new year and have an amazing 2023 Ciao for now.