[00:00:00] So in today’s show, it is a Valentine’s or Galentine’s Day special, whichever way you like to think about that. But we are going to talk about five ways that you can fall back in love with your business. And one way that you might want to think about divorcing it. Let’s jump in. Welcome to the Business BFF, the podcast where fierce and fabulous business women come together for the kind of real talk and honest advice only your besties would give.

I’m your host, Emma Bowdler, founder of The Women’s Accountant, and I’m here to help you navigate the wild world of business, finance, and life, whether you’re scaling up. Starting fresh or just need a pep talk from someone who gets it, you are in the right place. So grab your favorite bevy and get comfy.

It’s time for a chat with your business. BFF. If I were to ask you why you went into [00:01:00] business in the first place, you would probably tell me it was for more money, more flexibility, and you wanted to do your things your own way. Often as business owners, when we’re in the trenches and we’re doing all of the things, sometimes we forget that why in the first place.

So I would encourage you to reflect on that why and really come back to why you started your business in the first place. For me personally, you know, this is something that I do when things get a little bit rocky is always to reflect. For coming from the corporate world, there was no way I was. ever going to work for somebody else who didn’t value who I was and didn’t value, I guess, what my own values were.

And we were very, I guess, disaligned. So if you’re feeling like things are a little bit rocky, then definitely, uh, revisit your why and ask yourself what [00:02:00] excited you to value. And see if we can bring that feeling back. The next point I want to discuss is setting new goals. Sometimes when we’ve been in business for a long time, things can kind of feel a little bit stale, but I firmly believe that there is a real value in the power of setting new and exciting goals.

That not only align with where you want to go professionally, but what also works for you personally. So some examples of that might include, uh, launching a new product or expanding into a new market or simply reducing your workload. So when we think about goal setting. You know, we here at the women’s accountant work off a smart goals.

So you want to make sure that those goals are specific and they’re measurable. And what’s really important about that is to [00:03:00] actually write them down and have them somewhere visually that you can see on a regular basis. So the

next point I want to make. In, you know, falling back in love with your business is to have a look at your operations, you know, with the power of AI and all of the tools out there now, it’s really easy for business owners to streamline their operation.

So that can be by automating tasks. And I’ve personally learned that by automating tasks can reduce your stress levels and free up so much time for you to do what you enjoy most. So, you know, some of the ways that you might want to do that. And what I do personally for my own business is every 90 days I will do a log, a time log of how I’m spending my time.

And I use that log to work out what makes me happy and what [00:04:00] doesn’t. And by doing that, that allows me to see which areas of my business. I guess, or operations in my business that I might want to outsource next. So, you know, if you are in the opportunity for outsourcing, then that might be something you want to do.

Is there an element of your job or your role that you don’t love? Uh, that you, you know, that you could outsource, you know, that could be something as simple as bookkeeping. It could be the social media scheduling. It could be, you know, anything that doesn’t light you up, you know, have a think about how you can remove it.

And it’s really important, I guess, you know, when you do that. Is not only are you freeing up your time and you’re reducing your stress levels, but you’re probably also removing the bottlenecks from your business. And, you know, I think as business owners, we’re all, you know, I guess have the ability to be a bottleneck in our own [00:05:00] business.

I know I do. But, you know, by removing those bottlenecks and streamlining those systems is going to make your workday a lot more enjoyable. One of the most important things I think a business owner can do is to celebrate your wins. Now, I don’t mean big extravagant gifts or holidays or whatever that looks like.

But if you were to reflect on your accomplishments, have a think about what you’ve truly created. So Thank you. You know, they don’t need to be big accomplishments. They could be small accomplishments. What does that look like? So make sure that you, I guess, do spend the time to celebrate, celebrate those.

You know, we have a wins board in our office that hangs on our white board. So, you know, the things that we celebrate. The things that we do with our clients, we will write a list of those [00:06:00] things. You know, just recently we’ve helped a lady over the last 18 months who was really, you know, her, her ultimate goal was to buy her own house.

And, you know, she was a sole trader and I guess time, she didn’t feel like time was on her side because she was 56. But, you know, just in the last six months, she’s been able to buy her dream house, which is absolutely a win for her, but it’s a win for us. So when we kind of feel a bit yucky, we can go to that wins board and see, yeah, look, we are doing really great.

Our work in our community and, uh, and not only in our community, but, you know, for ourselves and to be part of that is something that’s really special for us. And I think when you can focus on your achievements, it can also have a really profound impact on changing your perspective and [00:07:00] how you see your business on celebrating wins.

If that’s not something that feels natural to you. Then I’m a firm believer in having a group. Of people around you that will celebrate with you. So, you know, whether that’s other business owners, whether it’s a group of friends, whether it is team surrounding yourself with other people to help you celebrate those wins is super important.

I’m a big believer in investing in professional development. Now, this doesn’t need to be a university degree. It could be a short course. It could be hiring a coach. It could be learning new skills. You know, something that was really great that come out of COVID was that there’s so many people teaching their expertise online in the online course space.

So, you know, and they don’t have to be expensive either. So if you can have a think about, [00:08:00] you know, some of the ways that you might want to invest in your professional development, that can create a really beautiful way to reignite the passion for the business, but not only. for the business, but for you personally as well, as far as your personal growth goes.

So with all love stories, often, you know, we can be in that phase of beautiful love. And sometimes there is that ultimate. I guess, you know, those situations where you might need to remove yourself from your business or divorce your business, whatever that kind of looks like. But what I want to explain to you today is that exiting your business can actually be the ultimate love story.

And there’s a couple of reasons for that, that I will share for you today. And I think as business owners, we often forget that businesses are saleable assets. So [00:09:00] some ways, and you know, often what I see business owners do is that they think that by Closing, selling, or moving on from their business, it’s seen as a failure.

Now that is absolutely not true. And I think what we need to do in that space is to reframe the narrative. So sometimes the best way to care for yourself and to care for your business is to let it go. So businesses are assets, they’re saleable assets. So whether you need to go through selling it to a new owner, merging with another business or even transitioning what your role is now into something else, it could actually be beneficial not only for you, but also for the business.

So what are some of the signs that there might be, that it might be time to exit the business? So [00:10:00] these, there’s a few indicators that I see. It’s that constant dread of, you know, needing to get up and go to work. It’s that loss of alignment between, you know, where you are and what that, that vision might be.

You know, for some people, you know, people who really want that consistent growth, they might have built a business that is no longer able to scale further. So I think what we need to do when we think about exiting a business is to normalize the decision. Okay. It is not failure. Exiting a business is absolutely not failure.

It is recognizing value and opportunity for you to do something different. So if we’re thinking about exiting, then what I would encourage you to do is plan for a strategic exit. Okay. So what does that look [00:11:00] like? When do you want your out to be? Really take the time to refine that plan and plan a hit for what that might look like.

So some examples of that might be to organize your financial statements, uh, bring everything up to date, you know, have a chat to your accountant or your business advisor and have a think about. What are the ways that you can increase your visit, uh, your business value between now and when you want to sell?

Okay. So, you know, that could be, you know, streamlining your processes. It could be, you know, getting rid of some obsolete stock. It could be, I guess, increasing your brand awareness. There’s a whole heap of ways that you can do that, but I guess. You know, when we think about that, the sooner you get those wheels in motion, the better it’s going to be down the track.

And then what you want to do is identify some potential [00:12:00] buyers or successes. So, you know, some of them for some businesses, they might actually be under your, right under your own roof, you know, Often I work with business owners who are ready to retire or they’re ready to exit and they’ve got somebody that they’ve already trained up who is ready to step into that ownership role.

So have a look within your own team. You never know who might be lurking. Uh, you could have a competitor who’s looking to expand that, you know, that might be worth the conversation is some kind of merger or buyout. There are loads of different ways to sell a business. And what I would, um, I guess stress to you is that every business in some way, shape or form is actually saleable.

Okay. So if your financials aren’t great, you know, you know, you might still have [00:13:00] stock and stock is valuable. So just have a think about. What that looks like, but in most cases, our business is all always saleable. It can be a really exciting time if you are looking to exit, because it’s, you know, opening your time up and I guess, creating more energy for you to pursue new opportunities.

Thanks for tuning in to The Business BFF. We hope you found this episode equal parts big hug and kick up the bum. All the things a bestie is good for. Remember, you’ve got this, and we’ve got your back like only a BFF can. If you’ve loved what you’ve heard, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with your fellow business besties.

Don’t forget to follow us on social media at The Women’s Accountant for more tips, tricks, and behind the scenes fun. Until next time, [00:14:00] keep being fierce and oh so fabulous. If this episode resonated with you, share it with a fellow business woman or tag me at The Women’s Accountant on Instagram, and I would love to hear about the bold moves you’re planning for 2025.