Choosing What to Maintain and What to Let Go

The Creativity & Heart Podcast – Episode 4

Let’s talk about choosing what to maintain and what to let go of when it comes to the tasks you do within your business. It can be easy to do certain things because we feel like we “have to,” but when we really take a step back, these tasks might not actually be serving our audience, business, or us well.

The Society for Creative Founders has a great practice of asking yourself 6 questions each month to help you keep moving forward in your business. This article inspired me to start reflecting on my own business regularly!

Why You Need a Holistic Approach to Understanding What’s Going on in Your Business

Don’t let me scare you away with the term SEO, but let’s talk about SEO for a second. Yoast, a company that is well known for its expertise in search engine optimization, recommends having a holistic approach to SEO. This means that you are considering how all of the different SEO factors work together to make your site great.

Now, I’d like to apply this idea to how you review the different areas of your business. 

Merriam Webster defines the word holistic as “relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts.”

Having a holistic approach to understanding what’s going on in your business means that you are looking at everything from your finances and marketing, to your daily routines and client experience to make sure that everything is working together to make your business the best it can be. 

Taking a step back to reflect on how all of these areas are contributing to your greater business goals will help prevent you from neglecting certain areas of your business. For example, it’s easy to focus on marketing, but not having a good grasp on your finances.

Tips for Choosing What to Maintain

#1: Is there something in your business that you are so proud of, makes your life easier, or that your clients rave about again and again? If so, that’s probably something that you want to keep doing!

#2: Know Your Why: When you are evaluating your business, whether you’re taking a look at your expenses, the software you use to manage client projects, or your marketing strategy, know why you are doing certain things, and what results or benefits you’re getting.

Measurable results are best, but time saved or a sense of personalization for your clients can also be things to consider.

#3: Room to Improve: Even the things that you choose to continue in your business may not be perfect. For what’s working well, is there anything that you can do to make it work even better?

Tips for Choosing What to Let Go

If there’s something that isn’t serving your audience and business well, it might be time to let it go. (I can’t say that phrase without thinking of Frozen!)

#1: Results matter here, too. Even if there’s something that you expect to be doing a lot for your business, don’t be afraid to look at the numbers, feedback from clients and employees, or anything else that might help you make your decisions.

#2: Consider what to do instead. Some unnecessary things can be done away with because they’re holding you back. However, when it comes to something like expenses, can you replace something that you need, but is costing too much, with a cheaper alternative for the time being? 

Don’t Forget to Reflect on Your Personal Habits, Too

When taking a holistic approach to checking on your business, know that how you show up as the woman in charge matters, too – whether you’re Chief Officer of Everything or are working as a team.

#1: Are there any negative beliefs about yourself or your business that you need to let go of?

#2: What’s going great? Maybe you have a morning routine that makes you feel energized and ready to take on the day, or an organization system that gives you confidence. Let’s keep doing those things!

What Will You Maintain and Let Go of in Your Creative Business?

I’d love to know – what’s one thing that you plan to maintain or let go of in your business? You can find me on Instagram @mayapalmerdesigns. I will be making a post about this episode, you can leave your comment there or feel free to DM me!

Free Quiz: Brand + Site Checkup

Do you love serving your clients and using your passions to make an impact, but find yourself struggling? It’s not just you – being the owner of a growing business isn’t always easy peasy, lemon squeezy. 

What if a strategic, beautiful website that works for you was part of the solution to getting you back on track towards building the business you want? You could take a sigh of relief and log off to spend more time doing what you love (or at home with those you love). 

If you want to see how well your current brand + site is serving your business take my free Brand + Site Checkup quiz. Based on your result, I’ll recommend a freebie to help you!