Build to Enough

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Keila Hill-Trawick: Hello. You're listening to Build to Enough, a podcast for entrepreneurs who want to scale at their own pace. I'm your host, Keyla Hill Traywick, and I'll be your chief storyteller and cheerleader in a world that glorifies endless expansion, we're tuning out the noise and discussing the beauty of enough. Each episode will dive into inspiring stories, practical insights, and strategies to cultivate sustainable success on your [00:00:30] own terms. So whether you're a solopreneur, small business owner, or aspiring entrepreneur, get ready for a refreshing take on the entrepreneurial journey. This is build to enough. Hey, and welcome back to the Build to Enough podcast. So as usual, we always want to talk about really being intentional about scaling and growing, even if that means not getting big. Which you know I am a proponent for. And today I want to talk about shiny object syndrome. [00:01:00] There is so much noise. There are so many things that are yelling at us about the latest trends and new technologies and exciting opportunities. And you, we have a habit of finding those and thinking, that is my quick fix. That is what's going to solve all of these issues that I have been finding in my firm or agency. But really, if you're like me, you have found that what actually happens is that it dilutes our focus, it drains our resources, and it stops us from [00:01:30] being able to do any semblance of growth, because we're constantly stuck in this hamster wheel of trying new things.

Keila Hill-Trawick: So today we're going to talk about what shiny object syndrome is, why it's so detrimental to our businesses, and most importantly, how to stay focused on what really matters. As usual, we want to give you some practical strategies and tools and real life examples so that you have a sense of how we have been able to maintain clarity and potentially some opportunities of how you can kind of get out of this rut [00:02:00] as well. So let's go ahead and dig in on how to stay in your lane, stay focused and drive your business forward. Okay, so if you haven't heard of this before, which my guess is that most of us have shiny object syndrome is a tendency to be easily distracted by new and exciting opportunities. And usually this means that we're constantly pursuing, like these new trends and technologies, and we're not necessarily considering fully their relevance or whether it really meets our core objectives. [00:02:30] And what I like to say is like, what problem is this fixing? What problem are you trying to solve for me? And when we have this, shiny object syndrome, or SOS. We are so focused on potentially reaching out to it and implementing it that we're missing whether it's actually the right solution for us.

Keila Hill-Trawick: And I will say that for us, where that has happened is new tech tools. So there is always a technology that [00:03:00] feels like it's going to be better than the one that I hate right now, trending marketing strategies. Somebody's always trying to tell you how to get new clients and offer new services, and repackage everything before you may have had a chance to see if what you're already doing works, and then unnecessary business ventures. This may be things like coaching that you're not really ready for, or investments and masterminds that are lower than where your business currently stands. It's not necessarily a bad investment, but you need to take some time to really assess whether or not this is [00:03:30] what you should be investing in. Now, there are some costs to these distractions too. Some of them are financial or non-financial, but starting with the non-financial ones, it can impact your productivity. So I know as somebody who has talked about burnout with you here before, that when you're constantly innovating and changing new things and trying to keep up with things, you are adding more to your plate than the core responsibilities that you already had. And it is really easy to run out of time quickly. In [00:04:00] addition, it's hard to stay efficient, like you're always having one foot in to one system, but you're not really figuring out the full capacity or capabilities of that system because your eye is already on the next thing that you could be adding.

Keila Hill-Trawick: That means that you've got fragmented attention, and it's hard to complete the task that you have on your plate in a timely manner. Like, it's just hard to keep up with them because you have this interrupted workflow you're constantly looking at like, wait, when I do this, which system am I using? What [00:04:30] am I trying to complete here? Does this do all the steps or is this just steps three through seven? And I'm doing one and two in a different system. So it can be exhausting for both you and your team? Uh, my team can attest to this when you are constantly chasing after that new shiny thing, not to mention some financial consequences. So you spend a lot of money, right? You have to spend money in getting people up to speed on the new, [00:05:00] um, system or resource or opportunity. There's probably a lot of overlap, so you're usually paying for two things at once while you get fully integrated into the new thing. And in the meantime, you're maybe not necessarily investing in the specific items that would move the needle in your business. You're also probably having an inefficient use of your budget, right? So if you're always chasing software, you may be paying for three different things that kind of do the same thing, but you're triple [00:05:30] paying for them because you're not focusing in on one.

Keila Hill-Trawick: When you do that, instead of picking one, sticking with it and figuring out how it integrates with your workflow, it can be really easy to waste money month after month after month, as you try to make a decision on the one that you're going to actually use, and And it's not really helpful for your tech stack in terms of the client experience either, which could affect money indirectly. If they start feeling like they're constantly in and out of systems and can't keep up with what you're doing with them. [00:06:00] Now, when you start focusing on these new shiny things, you have less of a focus on core goals. So you can't create a strategy because you're constantly shifting what that strategy is going to be. If you are building new services all the time, it can be hard when your sales team or you gets on a call to try to talk to a client about what is offered, and it's like, oh, we offer this thing, but I don't know how long we're [00:06:30] going to offer that because I'm creating this new thing and that would cost this. Like your message is all over the place, but you're also not really able to see if anything that you're already doing is working. You potentially have decreased team morale. My team expressed to me when we were doing all of that, like, listen, you can't keep changing everything all the time.

Keila Hill-Trawick: We can do some big changes and we can do some small changes, but we can't really tell you whether it's working for us. If you're always moving us into a new place, you don't want your team to be [00:07:00] disillusioned or demotivated. You want them to feel like they're empowered to use the technology and resources and opportunities that you've brought to them in order to do new and innovative things for the business. But if they can't focus on what they're supposed to be doing because the ground is always shifting beneath them, they can't get excited about the new things that you want them in. A good example is that little fish we've recently started implementing generative AI for some of our back end processes. Really [00:07:30] to try to figure out how can we be more efficient so that we're using our team members in the right way, and we're serving our clients in the ways that we had hoped. But part of the reason that we're able to focus on that is because all of the rest of our tech is pretty much standing still. There are some things that could do better than some of the things that we're using, but we've made a commitment to say, let's ride this all the way out. Let's make some suggestions to the software, to our, um, our professional service [00:08:00] providers to make sure that this is the right fit before we jump ship too early.

Keila Hill-Trawick: Looking for the new best thing. Now, I'll admit, if you've ever met me, you know that my brain works in a way that I am constantly intrigued and excited about new opportunities to do things better, but I've had to implement some strategies to stay focused so that me and the team can really keep amplifying, enhancing, and making better what we're doing without pulling the rug out from under us at every turn. [00:08:30] So the first thing is to set clear goals. Again, when I'm looking at new software, when I'm looking at new resources, when I'm looking at new service providers that may be able to provide us with some help, coaching or education, what problem are we trying to fix? Um, a lot of people have gone towards the Apple way of branding, which is like, I am telling you, you need a thing that you don't even realize you need yet. But as small businesses that are sometimes operating with lean teams and potentially lean [00:09:00] resources, we need to be really clear about where we're investing our time, effort and money. And that means that second, we have to prioritize tasks. Some things are going to be really exciting for us in a month or three months or at the top of next year.

Keila Hill-Trawick: And we want to make sure that they're in the sandbox of ideas that we want to keep in our peripheral. But it's not the number one task that we're investing in, and we want to make sure that we're focusing on those first. The third is create a plan. Sometimes [00:09:30] it's nice to have that, um, intermittent. This ain't really the priority, but I want to be looking at it kind of weaved between those core function things that we need to be doing. But you got to have a plan. We have to say, hey, I do want to do this, and I'm probably not going to be able to do it for another 3 to 6 months, but I could start taking like the webinars on it this month and then maybe I could start dipping into my toe into it next month. But that is really solidified by how [00:10:00] much time am I spending making sure that our rocks, or the things that are most important for us are actually getting done. Finally, have regular reviews we don't want to stop with. This is the way that it's always been done. And so priorities might shift once we start using something for six months, eight months, even a year, it becomes less shiny object syndrome and more. Hey, now that we've taken some time to stop and really think about whether this works or not, I'm realizing that this [00:10:30] isn't really the best tool, or we need to bring someone in to teach us how to do this better take some time to stop and review so that if the plan or the priorities need to change, you're not waiting too late to jump into that.

Keila Hill-Trawick: Now there's a couple of tools and techniques that have helped me, um, time management tools. So the Pomodoro technique has been super helpful for me because I can't focus for really long periods. So those spurts of 25 to 30 minutes of work with a 5 to 10 minute break have been really good [00:11:00] in giving me that space to do laser focus on work and then have that brain space to hang out, daydream, or focus on something that's a little more tedious and less like mind intensive. Also, time blocking and to do list. I know that this has worked for a lot of different people. One of the ways that I've kind of used this as a hybrid is to say, hey, I already know that there's this many meetings and everything that I say that I can do in 15 minutes actually takes 45. So [00:11:30] where am I seeing those spaces that I can kind of drop in those tasks that I need to do? You also want to use project management software. There are plenty of them out there, and you ultimately want to have a tool that helps organize your tasks and keep track of progress.

Keila Hill-Trawick: You want to know where you stand. Have I even started on this? Is it blocked because I'm waiting on somebody else to help me? How is it prioritized really listed based on those plans that we set earlier? And then finally, do we have accountability partners? [00:12:00] These can be peers. I definitely have a bestie, um, a biz bestie that I talked to constantly to like, help keep me on track and me keeping her on track. This could even be your team. Hey, you said that this was the priority. Now you're adding all these other things. How do you want me to really make sure that those get done pushing back on us to say, are you following the plan that you even set? And then when it comes to new opportunities coming in your face, um, you want to evaluate [00:12:30] them asking some really specific questions. Does it align with your mission and goals? There may be things that will say, you know, we will grow you to this point. But again, if you're being intentional about growth, you might not need 500 leads or more people in your quote funnel or this many more calls coming into your office. It might be more beneficial if you're doing targeted information for a very specific client base. What are the potential risks? What are you giving up by taking on this new opportunity [00:13:00] or software? And then is it a strategic fit? So as you think about where you're going and where you want to end up, is this really going to move the needle in getting you there? You got to be flexible because things change.

Keila Hill-Trawick: But again, we got to have not building a business on sand. How can we make sure that those core objectives are happening in a way that doesn't require so much thought, so that you have room to really implement those new, exciting things as they make sense to do so. And then you [00:13:30] got to know when to say no. It can be really exciting in our businesses for all these opportunities that we can say yes to, whether that is new ways for us to show up, new ways for our voices to be heard, or new ways to do business. And some of those, while they are honors, are not going to be the good fit for us. And we need to find ways to say, hey, this doesn't align with what I'm doing right now, or this isn't a good time, but I'd love for you to keep me in mind alongside those things that we're like, [00:14:00] this is never going to work for me for what I'm doing. And either thank you very much. Move on. Or here's somebody that I would recommend that you talk to instead.

Keila Hill-Trawick: Ultimately, we want to make really well informed decisions that align with our business goals and contribute to sustainable growth. Having our minds all over the place in terms of implementing new things or taking on new opportunities, means that we're not necessarily staying true to our core objectives and strategic priorities. So we want to minimize those distractions [00:14:30] and maintain focus on what really matters for our businesses success. So when you stay disciplined and focused on what matters, you can navigate distractions effectively. I've given some examples of how I have done it, and know that I still struggle in some of those ways too. We're all working on it, but if you can keep coming back to this place of what really matters for the business that I want to build, I guarantee that it'll be easier to say no to those distractions so you can focus on what's actually going [00:15:00] to make the life and the business that you want to lead. Thank you so much for listening. I will talk to you next week. Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Build to Enough. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, rate and share the love with your fellow entrepreneur friends, and make sure to sign up for the Build to Enough newsletter. The link is in the show notes. Stay tuned for more episodes as we continue to redefine success one intentional step at a time.