When I say the word ‘adventure’ – what pops into your mind?
Is it scaling a large mountain?
Jumping out of a plane?
Deep sea diving?
So you’re an adrenaline seeker. Hats off to you!
I, however, am not someone who enjoys hikes at high altitudes – I couldn’t think of anything worse, to be honest. Fish freak me out, so scuba diving is a no go.
I have, however, experienced a surprise twin pregnancy and raised newborn/toddler twin boys, away from my family.
I have also packed up my life three times, to move to a new city, where I knew little to no people.
I have run a 24 hour television newsroom and voiced live radio bulletins.
So my version of adventure is a little different to others.
And that’s ok! Because everyone has their own ideas about this concept. But one thing I have found when it comes to adventure is, challenging yourself and pushing your personal limits are a common theme.
Getting yourself outside your comfort zone absolutely, always leads to growth. Personally and professionally.
So what does this mean for your business?
Challenges are essential to growth
‘Necessity is the mother of invention.’
Forgive me for using a cliche here, but it’s just too perfect.
Think about the person who first suggested cutting open someone’s head, to have a look at their brain.
They were most likely labelled crazy. And yet – they saved lives. And invented the concept of brain surgery.
So this is how my biggest adventure – parenthood – began. Out of necessity. I became a mother, whether I was ready or not. Somehow, someway, I managed to step up. And (most of the time) believe I am doing an adequate job. (Get back to me in 15 years.)
But challenges are thrust upon us at all stages, in all areas of our lives.
As a business owner, you have to be able to adapt. Especially if these challenges are completely out of your control – like a pandemic, or natural disaster.
But if you look really hard, you will notice, there has been an incredible amount of innovation to come out of COVID. Telehealth is now commonplace. Companies have restructured and people are moving out of major cities to live their regional dream while working from home.
Businesses that stepped up and adapted stood out. They fostered good will in their communities and built up a huge amount of trust with their customers.
Like motherhood, a business owner has to roll with the punches – and constantly be looking for ways to learn from them.
Those who embrace this head on, will be better for it.
Comfort zones and progress
Did curiosity really kill the cat?
I believe curiosity is fabulous. Those who seek to learn more and know more have real power.
I am in awe of those people who are constantly looking to learn, and investigate. Those people who work their job all day, then listen to podcasts or spend time researching at night, just so they can be better.
Because here’s the thing – you shouldn’t just be looking to innovate when it’s forced upon you.
As a business owner, it is so easy to get comfortable in the day to day. But it’s absolutely critical that you take the time, every so often, to step outside yourself and look at your business from a different perspective.
Businesses often become entrenched in procedures and processes just because it’s the way it’s always been done. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
But if you take the time to really assess how you’re doing things, you will likely discover there is room for improvement. Processes you thought were fine – can actually be improved, making your business more efficient. Or customers you thought were happy with your service, could in fact – be happier.
Something we commonly hear from clients is ‘I know I need to do some marketing. I know I need to sort my mailing list. But I’m just so busy, and we have plenty of work as it is.’
To which we ask ‘so what made you decide to work with us?’
The answer is generally – ‘I think we can do better.’
You may ask – why look to go bigger, if things are fine the way they are?
Well imagine if Cadbury had said that. Imagine if they had just stopped at classic ‘Milk Chocolate?’
We would never know Caramilk. What kind of world would that be?
Imagine what you could achieve if you went bigger in your business?
It’s scary, and the world of ‘marketing’ is definitely an adventure.
But if you make an active commitment to change your business’s deep-seated ways, you might be surprised at what you achieve.
More adventure in business, more engagement in business
Adventure is often about setting goals and working to achieve them.
For me, some days this is simply ‘feed small humans. Ensure small humans see some sunlight. Feed small humans again.’
Other days, I am the best version of myself. ‘Scrambled eggs and fruit for breakfast! Go for a bike ride! Teach them their ABC’s! Steamed broccoli for dinner!’
It’s the same in your business. Sometimes you just need to get through the day.
But to grow and progress, some days you need to aim higher.
In our experience, we have found when owners take that step to engage us and start to think ‘bigger’ – they find a renewed passion for their business.
Their eyes light up, they get excited and start brainstorming.
What we love most is, when they get their staff involved – and take them on the adventure too.
We believe setting these goals and always making that effort to self assess and look to where things can be improved helps to keep teams motivated.
They become more engaged in the business and are generally more inspired to find solutions to problems.
They are committed to their roles on this journey and are excited by the prospects.
We’re not even talking about large scale changes here! Even something as simple as asking everyone to discuss something that caught their attention this week.
A customer that had particularly positive feedback? A competitor who had an interesting promotion?
All these little things can add up.
Scale that mountain
For some people, ‘digital marketing’ presents as a giant mountain that seems too big to scale.
Between Search Engine Optimisation, Google Ads, organic reach on Facebook – it is all ‘the unknown.’ And it requires a commitment – and investment of your time and money, to tackle.
But the unknown doesn’t have to be scary.
Whatever your mountain is, we can help you climb it.
As a full suite Digital Marketing Agency, we can help you with anything and everything. Whether it’s your content marketing, brand development, SEO strategy or your social media.
We can be your guide on this journey.
Because if you get outside of that comfort zone, you might find the view from the top is better than you ever imagined.
