By Shane Lukas, Managing Director, AVN
It’s fair to say that for most of us (except for a very lucky few), success doesn’t come without hard work. But when does hard work actually hinder your progress, rather than moving you forwards? Working harder isn’t always the answer.
As Einstein wisely pointed out, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of madness. If you’re working all the hours, but not seeing the results you want, working harder won’t make any difference.
Sometimes it’s about questioning your methods and changing your approach rather than just pushing on. But when you’re in the thick of it, it can be hard to find a different route.
When you’ve spent days, weeks, months, working on one approach, it’s difficult to let it go. It feels as if all that effort has simply been wasted. You do need to face the facts though – it hasn’t succeeded. You need to try something different. Here’s my suggestion for successfully changing tack.
1. Get external help
You know your own business better than anyone. But that can lead to a kind of tunnel vision where you lose sight of the bigger picture. An outsider brings a fresh perspective and helps you see things differently.
A good business coach will help you develop new solutions by asking thought-provoking questions that really drill down into what you’re trying to achieve. They won’t (or they shouldn’t) offer solutions themselves. Helping you to discover the answers for yourself is the most effective way to develop a new strategy.
2. Test your new strategy
You may well be hesitant to go full throttle with your new strategy; you don’t want to repeat the same mistake as before. So test it out first. For example, if you want to get better results from email marketing, trial different versions of your emails to see which gets the best response. Then you can roll out the version that performs best.
3. Stay flexible
The world of accountancy is changing fast and the truth is that even if one approach works well now, there’s no guarantee it will continue working into the future. Client expectations change, rules and regulations change, your own goals and ambitions may change. Try not to get too comfortable so when the inevitable happens and you need to try something different, you’re ready to go.
Hard work is important but if you don’t have the right strategy, it can be futile. Keep questioning, testing and refining your approach to maximise your chances of success.
If you’d like to get an outside perspective on your current challenges, why not book a discovery call with an AVN Practice Growth Expert? We’ll listen to your issues and give you some pointers on how to move forwards, perhaps in a direction you haven’t thought of before. Book your 20 minute discovery call here.