5 Reasons Your Business Is in a Plateau

Are you stuck in a rut with your business? How about your life? Are you wondering why?

What could be causing this feeling of being stuck? The answer: It’s common for people in this day and age to feel comfortable and thus stop pushing themselves.

How can we jumpstart our lives and get moving again? Here are 5 steps to help get you moving towards your goals again.

1. Lack of Vision

Before you started your business, it was just an idea, a thought in your head that seemed impossible. But as you put time and effort into this idea, it becomes more and more real, and then you have it.

But what happens after that? You made it and now there is nowhere else to go. Right?

That’s not true though. Just because you’ve reached your goal doesn’t mean that you can’t think even bigger. A lot of businesses stop growing because the people who run them don’t know what to do after they reach their goals. Don’t be like that.

So, instead of just being happy that you’ve reached your goal, set new ones. Think bigger and bigger ’til your company reaches a level that you are comfortable leaving and letting someone else run it…whether you actually do it or not.

2. Lack of ‘why’

Do you remember why you started your company? If not, how do you think you can keep your company moving forward?

Start by thinking back to when you first started your business. Try to remember what you wanted to start, and why.

Now that you have your original reasons for starting the company, check off the ones you fulfilled and look at those you can still work on, and how. Now, think of everything that your business has given you; what do you want your business to stand for moving forward? Do you want your company to make you money, make a difference, or change the world?

Think back to your original ‘why’ and ask yourself whether you’ve accomplished what you intended with your business. Does it still apply to the vision you have for your business today?

Bring your business back to life by exploring its original purpose and redesigning that ‘why’ to fit your goals today.

3. No Accountability

Do you have a ton of good ideas but can never follow through? If your answer is yes, then you aren’t being held accountable!

You need to follow through with what you say; If you say that you are going to expand your business, network, or even something as small as getting employees lunch and don’t do it, no one is going to trust your word. If people cant trust your word, how can they trust your business?

Start by getting an accountability buddy, coach, or create your own consequences and deadlines.

4. Low Standards

People can have low standards in almost everything: places to live, relationships, and even business. If you can’t hold your product, customer service, and reputation to a certain standard, people won’t want to work with you or buy your products.

Why would you want to go somewhere or work with someone who doesn’t hold themselves to a standard that reflects their work ethic? Having low standards can be a symptom of a lack of vision. If you can’t imagine what you want your business to look like, how can you hold yourself to a higher standard?

So how can you start holding yourself to a higher standard? Start by knowing what your time is valuable and take note of how much of it you are putting into a product or client. Will your hour be worth 10 dollars or 100?

The amount of effort you put into a project will reflect how much you get out of it. The more you value your time, the more your standards will rise.

5. No Passion or Pain

What pushes your business? Are you driven by your passion? Or are you being pushed by the pain or pressure?

When people are under pressure, it’s amazing to see what they can do. And when people are passionate about something, many put as much as they can into to what they are working on. But when we start to get comfortable or start to lose the passion we once had, we end up being at a standstill in our lives. We aren’t moving forward at all, so why would our business move forward?

Reigniting your passion can be tricky. Try to remember what gave you the initial push to start your passion and consider what you are passionate about now.

Putting pressure on yourself is easy: Just set a goal, call your accountability buddy, and set real consequences for yourself. Will you let your business sit stagnantly or will you reinvent your vision and find a ‘why’, hold yourself accountable, raise your standards, and reignite your passions?

You have to put effort into every single day to get your business and life to move forward. If you want to succeed you need to keep pushing yourself and continue to move forward each and every day.