How To Actually Decide What Is Next For Your Business

A lot of the times when you start to hit a g- glass ceiling in your business, that you just feel like you can't break through, where it's like you've worked really hard to get wh- to where you are, you have a good consistent amount of money flowing through, and you are, you've, you've reached some good success. But you are doing the same thing that has gotten you here, and you're not, and it doesn't really seem like it's gonna get you beyond that glass ceiling, or it's not getting you beyond that glass ceiling, what ends up happening is we start to look left and right instead of up, right? So if we can't go up because there's a glass ceiling that you keep hitting, you start to look left or right to figure out what else should I be doing? And all too often, those else things can either be distractions or they could be valid things that you'd actually like to take on.

But we don't realize how much friction or how much more work they take than if we just look at what you have right now and we try to keep going up with doing more of what's working or figuring out what could be working better with what we've already done. So I'm gonna break this down to you with what I got going on here and what inspired this conversation. So I have a one-on-one person that I work with in Masterminds, and this person is making insane great money as an independent stylist, I think working, like, three days a week, and has great new client requests coming in all the time, and they have created a really beautiful business for themselves. Like, doing the services that they love, all the things, right?

And they are very growth-oriented, like they're very, they love a challenge, they wanna keep growing, they know that there's more for them out there, and I think that's a really beautiful thing. And so she feels as if she's hitting this cap as far as what the market can bear as far as, like, are my prices too high? And we're recently kind of testing those things out and actually seeing if that's actually the case, 'cause a- a lot of the times, I don't think it's actually the case. But in the meantime, what we've also considered is, like, okay, I have really done really well with this business that I have now and I wanna make more money.

I'm hitting this glass ceiling. Maybe I need to start something new or different. And so we got, we've gone into the ideas of creating a digital product, we've gone into the idea of, like, being an influencer, we've done, uh, hiring an assistant so that way you can fit in more people, right? Because it's like if your supply is capped, then how do we create more supply to match your demand?

And so an assistant so you can go from single booking to double booking, or just making it so you can fit more people into your day one way or another in general is a great way for you to be able to make more money and capitalize upon the demand that you have right now, right? Um, and then, uh, another idea that I had came up with with her is just looking at all the service offerings that she has and figuring out what is the most profitable one per hour and seeing if we can actually just get more of those into the chair. Then therefore the revenue would grow significantly, right? And so we're looking at all these different options and it's kind of been a back and forth and a little bit of like a existential crisis.

And one thing I pointed out was, eh, during this, during trying to figure out what we're gonna do, is that I think when you've experienced getting from the beginning to where you are now, you've experienced these, like, big leaps in growth. You've experienced a lot of hyper-focus on new work. You've experienced a lot of uncomfortability or discomfort. You've experienced learning new things.

And like, you experience a lot of that stuff, right? You experience a lot of friction. And I think that we don't recognize that m- there will always be another goalpost or another level to hit, and every single new level is going to require a new amount or a different type of friction and discomfort. And so we look at all these different ways that we can grow and that we can move forward and we can break through this glass ceiling, and all of them require a certain amount of discomfort, of risk, or whatever it may be.

And so what we have to do is we have to just weigh what are the pros and the cons and the risks and opportunities in each of these different ways that we can grow beyond this ceiling that we're at, and figure out which is the w- direction that you wanna go in. And at the end of the day, you guys know me by now if you've l- been listening for a minute, you know my answer is gonna be doubling down on the most profitable service. Because you're just doing more of what's working. You've already created a really strong base camp for being able to do this a little bit of a newer thing and, and make more of it or do more of it.

Because if, if all of the services right now that you're, that we're doing were replaced with the more profitable one, the revenue would probably be doubled, if not more than that, and that's insane. And it's a service that already exists. It's already proven. We already know how to do it.

You have the audience for it already. Versus, like, let's say that you want to be, that you, let's say that you wanna create a digita- a digital product, right? You want to talk to other stylists or something like that, so new audience, something you've never done before, learning new skills, et cetera, et cetera. And the reason I'm bringing this up in the first place is because sh- what we were talking about when we were trying to decide all these things is we looked at, like, doubling down on the mo- on the most profitable service, and the feeling was, well, the reason why I've never, I don't have a ton of these clients is because I never really fully loved this service, right?

I never fully loved it, I never built it up until this point, and I don't know if I really am motivated or passionate about getting more of these things or doing the things that are required to get me more of these more profitable services. And I'm like, it's literally the same situation with all of these options, uh, you just get to choose your hard, you know? And as far as, like, the least amount of friction that you're gonna have, it's going to be this one, you know? Like, so if, again, if you step back, if the goal is break through the glass ceiling, make more money, then this is the simplest option.

All of these things are going to require a level of friction and discomfort that you are no longer used to and that you forget that you went through, and that's what you got you here. And so, you're gonna have to get ... If you want to grow beyond this, you are have, you are going to have to get comfortable with confronting that new discomfort. And so, you get to choose your hard, you get to choose what hard that you'd like to take on.

And, of course, we landed on the doubling down on the prof- more profitable service. Now, the tea is, I wanna be very clear, when I work with people, I am so careful, and I overthink this even myself, like, 'cause I am so scared of it, I am very careful about being biased in my consulting. I think that a lot of people come to me as a consultant. I think that people like me to tell them what the tea is.

This is re- just what I've been told. I think that a lot of people like to hear what my analysis is, and what, what I would do in their circumstance. But, I think there's a lot more power, especially when we're working with a very successful person who've already, who's already created really beautiful things for themselves, I think there's a lot more power in helping somebody lead to their own answer with all of the things to consider out on the table. And so, in these certain conversations, I'm very careful to just be very, like, if you went this way, these are the things that we could see happening or not happening.

If you went this way, these are the pros and the cons and the risks. And then allowing this person to take on whatever decision they would like to make. And for whatever decision they'd like to make, I'm down for the ride and we're gonna do it the best way possible, and we're going to make it fucking happen either way, you know? So, if this person wanted to create a digital product, if this person wanted to become an influencer, if this person wanted to hire an assistant, I'd be like, "Fuck yeah, let's fucking do it.

Let's figure out how to do it the best way possible." You know? Mm-hmm. But when laying out all these options, it's taking what we know already works, is proven to work, probably the least amount of friction out of all of these things, and going all in on that.

And that's the direction that we're going, and I'm very excited about it. Love that. I think, like you said, there's always, like, once you achieve a certain level of success, you're always gonna have options. And I think it's just figuring out, like, choose your hard.

There's no better way of putting that. 'Cause any sort of pivot or growth, there is gonna be that discomfort, and I think that can be really difficult when you have not been a beginner at something for a really long time, or felt like something was new for a long time. And so, yeah, just really weighing it out. I heard something once that was like, "Look five years down the road at where your current path will take you, and if you love where that path is leading, continue down that road.

If you don't, now is the time to pivot." So, I think it's just really figuring out what it is that you want, and then, like, if that's money, then, and more money, and that's kind of, like, getting you there, then 99% of the time, doubling down on what's working is gonna be the way. So, I love that. Yeah.

I love that advice. Thanks for sharing that. And then, I think one thing that I do also just wanna share is that, I think for this person, there, I don't think any of these options were necessarily ones in which we were very hyped up about. Mm.

Got it. I think that that's something that we should also consider as well, because if you're passionate about something, and, like, if you're excited about the, the, the newness of it- Yeah. then normally, you're willing to see through the risks and the discomfort, right? True.

So, I think that that's just another thing that we should take into consideration if you are trying to figure out what the next big move is for you. Yeah. Like, if you are, if you are willing to get super passionate about it, and, like, if you're ready to hyper-focus on it, and it truly makes sense for the longterm and things like that, then it's much more likely to actually succeed, you know? Totally.

Versus the something or other that may actually be a much more clean and more clear strategic path- Mm-hmm. that you have no motivation in. You're not gonna go above and beyond. You're not going to take the, uh, the, the initiative, right, naturally.

So, so it may still get you there, but it may not be done as fabulously or massively as maybe the other thing that doesn't make as much sense in the moment- Right. but that you're really passionate about. Yeah. And so I do think that that is absolutely a valid thing that we should take into consideration, into this conversation, even though I'm such a numbers, straightforward person.

I'm very much like a, let's cut through the BS, let's look at the easiest, fastest way for you to actually get to where you wanna go. But, that passion, even on paper, can technically be quantified and can technically show most likely for things to be more successful, of, if, if you're actually obsessed with it and passionate about it, you're going to do more to make it actually work. So- Yeah. Totally.

I think that that makes it harder. I think that that can make the decision even harder for you. Mm-hmm. But I just don't wanna invalidate it, right?

Because in this circumstance, it didn't really seem like there were any of these options that really felt exciting. It was more of a, I feel capped and I'm s- and I wanna challenge and I want to figure out what's next for me. And it's like, w- we looked at all these different options, and it was like, you just gotta choose one, you know? This is the one with the least amount of friction, that we know is going to work, and if the main goal is that we make more money and the, the gratification of the challenge is going to be that you make more money no matter how you get there, then this is the way to begin it, you know?

Awesome. So, just wanted to share that as well, too. I love that. So, my friend, thank you so much for tuning into the Modern Hairstylist Podcast.

Hopefully this is helpful for you if you're on the precipice of whatever's next for you. Peace out, girl scout. Bye bye.

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