Your business is a labor of love. There are many days, even stretches of time, where it is much more labor than it is love. What do you do in those periods of time where the love tank is running low to revive the entrepreneurial flame? How do you love your business again?

You are an entrepreneur. You have vision, it’s what separates you from those who are unwilling to take the risks that you are. But as an entrepreneur, there are many details of the daily grind that eat away at the feeling of love. Working in the garden sometimes gets you trapped in the weeds. How do you love your business again?

Clarify what you are good at

If you haven’t already done so, make sure you clearly understand what you are good at. What makes you strong and unique as an entrepreneur? Maximizing your strength will unlock your ability to achieve success. Finding your peak productivity requires some self-reflection as well as dedication to do what you do best. Clarifying what you are good at keeps you connected to what you love about your business.

Prioritize your vision

Your vision led you to your business. Refresh your connection to your vision and prioritize your efforts. As you grow your business your to-do list also grows, make sure your efforts are moving you forwards. Pull the weeds but don’t get stuck in them and don’t forget to stop and smell the roses. Prioritizing your vision helps you to delegate those areas where you need assistance so that you can stay connected to what you love about your business.

Optimize your efforts

You are one person. Optimize your efforts and your strengths by expanding your team. If you are overwhelmed but have limited resources you may be surprised to find that help is closer and less expensive than you may think. You are clear on what you are good at, you have prioritized your efforts and now it’s time to find assistance. Fill in those passion drains with people who can optimize your efforts. Acting as a business person includes building a network of people and resources that align with your vision and growth needs.

Utilize your resources

Who are the people, the products and the services that can help you clarify, prioritize and optimize? What can you do to expand your capacity even though there are limited hours in the day? If you are unable to focus your efforts and narrow in on your passion, you will be overwhelmed by the minutia of business rather than expanding on your strengths. Grow your business and stay connected to what you love about your business by growing your team.

Key Components

If you are burning with passion for your business, what are the key components?

1. Kindling (vision) – an entrepreneur has to keep their vision in mind to keep their love for their business strong. You need kindling to start a fire and the kindling for your business is the vision that launched you into your entrepreneurial venture. What started the fire is also what will keep the fire burning.
2. Ignition (action) – aligning our vision with our actions is key to keeping our eye on the ball and our heart in the game. The first spark is the activity that moved you from dreaming about your business to acting upon those dreams. Keep the fire burning.
3. Reaction (growing pains) – understand that when you are overwhelmed or frustrated, you are not alone. What you do to keep yourself on a mission is what will keep you moving forward. You will have internal as well as external opposition which may bring the fire close to going out. As long as there are embers the fire can return to form.
4. Fuel (endurance) – your values lead to vision. Your vision fuels your mission. Having people around you that help you stay on course is important. To move from a small fire to an enduring flame, the fuel source must move from kindling to logs. Find those opportunities that keep your business growing which will also keep you engaged in the game.
5. Energy (love) – like any relationship, your business is a long game that has ups and downs. Feeding the heart and soul of your business will keep you moving forward. The commitment to the vision will carry you through those periods of time when your passion tank may be running low.

Final Thoughts

Whether you identify with the analogy of the garden full of weeds or the raging fire, the message is the same. Stay connected to your vision, fan the flames of your passion and don’t forget to smell the roses while you pick the weeds. The weeds will always be there, there will always be energy drains. At some point as an entrepreneur working on their business rather than just in their business, to borrow concepts from Michael E. Gerber’s E Myth, you need to build resources into your system. Thankfully options such as virtual assistants are cost-effective and can be utilized for your needs.   

Your business is a labor of love, use these tips to help you stay as well as fall back in love with your business.