This time of year, a lot of us are thinking about romantic love, or in my case, romantic love + business partner. But what happens when something you love i.e. your business isn’t bringing you the joy it once did?
Face it: not every day is roses and sunshine when you’re an entrepreneur. Sometimes it’s hard to muster up passion for that business you launched oh so many years ago. So how do you reignite that excitement and get back on track with your love affair with your business?
Take Some Time Off
Often, recalibrating your feelings about your business is as simple as getting away from it for a while. Taking a vacation (or even a staycation) and not being mired in the day-to-day of your company can give you some breathing room and time to remember why you started the business in the first place.
Put it in Action
Sure, not everyone can afford to take off a week or two, but you don’t need it to make this concept work. Try taking off early a few days a week, or have a long weekend. However long you are able to get away from work, completely shut off from it. No emails, and no calls. Otherwise, it won’t have the intended benefit.
Write Yourself a Love Letter
Sounds silly, doesn’t it? But writing a letter where you talk about all the wonderful things you as the business owner have done, for yourself, for your customers, and for your employees, can remind you why you’re doing it. Don’t write anything negative or talk about your frustration; just write it as if you were someone else looking at your company’s accomplishments. You may not be able to see the forest for the trees normally, so taking this third-party look at your company may help you to see it in a new light.
Put it in Action
Since Valentine’s Day is around the corner, write your love letter as a Valentine. Throw in a bouquet of flowers just for fun!
Do Something Fun
If you have staff, they may be feeling your bad attitude, and that can affect your workplace greatly. And if you’ve been working on a stressful project, you’ll all need to see the light at the end of the tunnel. So lighten up the mood! Show them that your office can be a place of joy, and that it’s not always about work only.
Put it in Action
Take your entire staff out to dinner. Buy Nerf guns and have a 10-minute Nerf war. Hold a contest for silliest hat. There are a million ways you can create smiles on your employees’ faces (as well as your own), and they don’t have to cost a dime or take them out of their productive zones.
If you work at rekindling your love for your business and you simply can’t find it, have an honest conversation with yourself about whether this is a path you want to continue down. It might be time to close the business and move on to something else.
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