Have you ever felt this way?
Happy Sunday!
After a stellar March, April started with a bang as the sales team closed 5 deals.
The second week of April couldn’t have been more different - sales were very slow. We have great marketing metrics and a predictable sales pipeline, yet I’ve struggled to figure out why the number of opportunities in our pipeline ebbs and flows so much.
This kept me boggled for most of the week, stuck in the feeling that I was missing the forest for the trees.
Bullpen has never grown linearly, and my development as a leader seems to follow a similar pattern. When business is booming, my leadership skills develop more slowly than when times get tough.
As such, I welcome tough times like last week as opportunities to become better at my craft - running a business.
☝️ Before I get to it … if you’re new here and find this stuff interesting, subscribe below! I send one email weekly, and you can unsubscribe if you don’t like it.
5 things I do when times get tough
My list of strategies to breakthrough business barriers is ever-growing, but I’ve explained 5 of my favorites below:
1. Talk to new mentors/coaches
When you first start working with a good mentor or coach, the amount of value that you receive is immense. However, you’ll find that the value diminishes over time, and the new problems you have won’t be solved by your current mentors.
Whenever I’m in seasons of turbulence, I look for new mentors or coaches with whom I can speak to help me think outside of the box.
2. Try new strategies
What got you here won’t get you there.
When what I’ve been doing stops working, I’ll implement new strategies until I break through my current barrier. Nothing is sacred at Bullpen, and we’ve blown up big, expensive components of our business to make way for new growth.
3. Take a day off
As a leader, I sometimes feel writer’s block … but in the business/leadership sense. As I described above, it sometimes feels like I’m missing the forest for the trees.
When this happens, I know that I need to take a day (or multiple days) off.
Time away from work helps me think more clearly. Most of my business breakthroughs occur when I’m not at my desk.
4. Clear the calendar
Similar to point 3 above, you won’t be able to think clearly about your business when you have back-to-back meetings all day. When I’m struggling to focus, I like to clear my calendar and work on creative projects.
On that note … we’re launching one of my “creative projects” in the next few days. Stand by for the announcement in the coming days.
5. Never quit
When times get tough, there are tons of stories that you can tell yourself about why you should quit …
You can earn more money elsewhere.
You don’t have product market fit.
The market is bad, and you can’t raise more money.
If your “why” for being an entrepreneur isn’t strong enough. You’ll be tempted to look for the exit when stuff isn’t going your way.
However, every successful entrepreneur has weathered storm after storm after storm - it’s what makes entrepreneurs different from the rest - the courage to stay in the arena as [enter this week’s problem] beats you up.
You only lose as an entrepreneur if you quit. Never quit.
That’s all for this week!
✌️📤
Tyler
Founder @ Bullpen