Change is OKAY!

It's been a little while since Kyle and I sat down to record a video, but we're going to try to get new episodes published on a more regular schedule moving forward.

In today's show we talk about change, pivoting, and balancing personal happiness with the success of your business.

A client called me the other day. After chatting for a bit about possibly changing some aspects of her business she confessed that the notion of change was making her nervous (which is a perfectly normal reaction) but that it was also making her feel bad. It was making her feel as though this change, whatever it might be—at the point she called she wasn't 100% sure where she wanted to bring the business—was somehow a failure on her part.

She told me that, although she's spent years building up her business, the services she was offering left her feeling emptier than they did when she first started. That her business was feeling more like work and that it had become very repetitive.

I've felt that before and I'm sure many of you out there have felt something similar. When I first started Matthew Sebert Design I had a large focus on print design and branding. While I still offer print design (and still enjoy it quite a bit) I've fallen out of love with banding and logo design.

So I stopped. And that's okay! My business has pivoted and evolved since its conception and I'm sure five years from now it will look different than it does today. I changed and pivoted my business for two reasons. 1. I started to feel more stress and less enjoyment with some of the services that I was offering and 2. I had learned new skills that I found more enjoyable AND the profit my business saw from them was higher.

Change is inevitable. It's always going to happen and there's no reason to run from it. If you're feeling like you're not enjoying running your business as much as you once did ask yourself “why?”. Step back and take an unbiased look at the services you offer, the clients you work with, and what other things you could begin to offer that makes you feel good about what you do.

Once you've found these things, change! It's not always easy and there's bound to be stumbling blocks, but if you keep at it, a happier you will thank you down the road.