5 Mistakes You Can't Afford to Make In Business

We're laying out the blueprint for success; you'll get a firsthand look at the five most costly business blunders and how a crystal-clear vision can be your lifeline. It's time to ignite the passion within, as we talk about the power of articulating your dreams and turning them into the pulsing heartbeat of your business.

This episode is more than just a cautionary tale—it's a masterclass in strategic growth and intentional leadership. We strip down business systems to their bare essentials, advocating for simplicity that translates into child's play. We'll explore why a growth plan isn't just a nice-to-have, but a must-have, and how professional coaching can align your aspirations with actionable strategies. Discover the tools for proactive leadership that cultivate a strong, engaged team and captivate clients, and remember, it's not about where you start—it's about embracing the journey of growth.

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Are you ready to say goodbye to fear, frustration, and overwhelm when it comes to growing and scaling your business? You’re in the right place. Welcome to  Beyond Common Business Secrets Podcast I’m your host, Tracey Watts Cirino

Chapters

• 0:00 Avoid These Business Mistakes Now
• 14:56 Strategic Growth and Leadership Tips
• 27:39 Self-Compassion and Sharing Growth

Transcript

Tracey Watts Cirino: 1:09

Hello, hello, welcome to Beyond Common Business Secrets, where we take a look behind the scenes. On our podcast, we often go deep behind the scenes in all the things that it really takes to create, lead and launch a Beyond Common Business. So, my friend, if you are somebody that is in business, aspiring to be in business, or have even been in business a really long time, you are in the right place. My friend, today we are going to dive deep into the five mistakes that you cannot afford to make in your business. So there's so much going on in the world, right In the world of life and living and everything like that, and it's 10x that amount when it comes to what's going on in the world of business. So we have to be really clear and strategic about what we're doing and where we're going. So I thought it was a really, really important time I just kind of felt called to do this that if you want to avoid costly and time-consuming things, then these five mistakes are exactly what you. You just cannot afford them in business right now, as profit margins are shrinking and inflation is rising. We have to be really smart, and this is coming from a place of love and support. I am here to help facilitate a community of beyond common business owners that we're all on this journey of becoming the most beyond common versions of ourselves, and this is done through the lens of love. So this is not a scare tactic. This is to help you like, hey, if I can just avoid these five things, hey, I'm doing good, right, like sometimes we just put so much pressure and weight on ourselves and we're really in the business and space of not doing that. So that's what today's episode is all about, and these have just been really important things that have been coming up and I just feel like I've been hearing this from different clients, from different guests I've interviewed. We've talked about it inside the CEO Power Code and they've also been coming to me in what I call my downloads.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 3:48

When I'm meditating, I always get these sort of divine downloads For me. For some reason, they come in the form of what's going on in business. It must be because it's what's on my mind. So the number one I jotted down from my meditation this morning so, I be be on point, because I want this to feel for you, as if we are giving you a positive dose of inspiration. This feels like you're loving kicking the pants, that you need to go out and be the very best you that you are all week as you're running and growing your business.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 4:24

So the top five mistakes that you don't want to make are the first is you don't want to have an unclear vision. Don't want to have an unclear vision. So it's so important that we paint a beautiful picture, both for ourselves. So when you're like, if it's just you, and you're like, oh, how important is vision, my friend, it's so important. It's so important to have a clear vision, because the days that you aren't feeling it, the days that you maybe have cramps or you know someone complained about something, or it's pouring, you know, sometimes we're affected by the weather. So on the days when it's hard and hard means different things for different people but on the days when it's hard, you must have this clear vision that literally ignites your soul. It gets you like that pep in your step. It gets you happy and excited, because it's not if it's when right, when things get hard, when things go off the rails, it's not if these things happen. This is part of life, this is how we learn and grow. So. So we can't just sit still and think we're going to meditate all this positivity into the world and then not actually deal with any real life.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 5:40

So you want to have a very clear vision, and it starts first for yourself, then as you're leading your team, like, if you do not have a clear vision, then people are confused, nobody knows what's going on and if they're having a bad day, they might question like why am I still here, why am I working here? What is this doing for me? So you want to inform this vision. You want to be talking about this vision and painting this beautiful business picture for both yourself for if you need to have investors, collaborators, business partners and, first and foremost, for your team. The thing is that the hardest person you're ever going to lead is yourself. Right, I do a lot of leadership training and helping female entrepreneurs and even in the corporate space, step into owning their power, and a lot of the leadership stems from understanding within that you are safe and secure to stand in your power. Right, like you can be courageous and do hard things, and you can do it from a place of confidence. So this piece of leadership comes from having a clear vision. So when you are vision casting and the more you talk about it, the more these words get woven into the fabric of your actual business.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 7:13

The thing that we don't want is this unclear vision that nobody understands and it's vague. Or maybe you wrote it out at a team retreat but then it's tucked in a drawer and no one reads it that's the worst thing ever. We need it to be living, breathing, embodying this vision and you're the leader. As the Leader, you go first. You initiate people by moving them into action, and you can do this through the power of speaking your vision to life. Right, it's like vision casting. So, and you got to find the fun juicy stuff and if this is something that you haven't spent a lot of time, a lot lot of time on recently, um, we have some tools for you. Like, you can grab the um. You can grab on our it's on our website, but I'll make sure the link is in the show notes as well 7 Ways to believe in the power of Your Dreams.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 8:08

That is the powerful way to walk you through how to get a vision for both like your life and your business, because our business serves our life and not the other way around. Like, we don't want to get this twisted, and I know I get a little soapboxed about this because I lived this for so many years when I was just starting out in business, and I don't want any other female entrepreneur, business owner leader to suffer alone in silence like crying in the dark. So this is so important to me that you have the tools, support, resources that you need. If you need like a lot of support to really map this out and really create a vision, this is one of my favorite things to do, so reach out, schedule a strategy session. I would love to help you really map out that vision. But the thing is is that even if you started your business because you saw a need in the market Like okay, everybody is doing X and I see a clear vision of how this can be different If that's all you have right now, go with it.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 9:23

Talk about it N this does not have to be complicated, but you need to speak the words. This is how you manifest what you're creating into being. So why this can be a really costly mistake is like if you have an unclear vision, then nobody knows where they're going, including you, and you make a lot of unnecessary mistakes, you waste a lot of time and you will spend a lot of money on things that you do not need. So that's why it's so important to get really clear on that. So number two would be vague speak. So when we speak really vague like oh, because everyone else is doing it, we are too Woo woo. It's like that fake cheerleader. NO vague speak.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 10:05

We don't want to speak vaguely If you were speaking directly to a team member and they crushed it on a new launch. You would say Sally, you did such an amazing job. I loved how you got the emails out on time, I loved how you made adjustments and because of all that work, you helped us crush this launch. See how that is so specific. It is so absolutely specific. It is so specific if I tongue twister. It is so specific to what Sally did to help crush the launch. If you just say, hey Sally sally, great job. It's vague speak, right, it doesn't resonate like, okay, great job for what? They don't even know what you're talking about, so you might as well have said nothing.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 11:03

To be honest, that is the feedback that I so often get. People want to know specifically what their contributions to your organization are helping with. So we want to just give up the vague speak, want to just give up the vague speak, be specific, even if excuse me, even if we are pointing out an area of improvement, something that's a breakdown that we, you know, we need to address, it's like a critical matter. We can give critical information without criticizing, so that like write that down, like it's like pause. That is very important. We have to, as leaders, give critical information and it cannot be vague. It has to be clear, concise, to the point and it doesn't matter if you understand it. The person that you're speaking to needs to understand it. So we have to give up the vague speak and we have to recognize that we can give critical information without criticizing. It's very important that we get that difference right, because it comes from a place of love and support. So I know sometimes it feels like, oh, I'm just going to say it, like vague, like this, but when we do the vague speak, nobody knows what you're doing.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 12:26

I know I've shared this story many times, but for years I would follow different like managerial books and leadership books that were like oh yeah, give it a sandwich, or just all these crazy different things, and I found that they personally never worked for me, that I'm intense and I am, someone who initiates people into action. I'm very passionate and it's just part of my energy where I am either magnet, who magnetically drawing people to me all the time, or they're kind of like okay, no thank you and that's okay. I'm I'm repelling people in any way, I know that they're just not for me or it's not their time, or they're not ready to go deep enough to work with me, to be a client that works with me. Some of these people love being inside our group programs because they get part of that initiation, but it doesn't feel as intense and it's right at them and then other people are magnetically drawn to that level of intensity. So you have to start getting to know your energy because in the beginning, I was following this homogenized version of what everybody else said you had to be as a leader and that didn't resonate. Nobody knew what I was talking about. I was frustrated, my team was confused and we were all like what? Like hands up in the air, no one knows what's going on,

Tracey Watts Cirino: 13:45

So the sooner that you can give up the vague speak, the quicker you'll get to c c c ceople . people Plike to be told immediately where you know when something goes off the rails, not waiting like 17 years later and saying, oh yeah, cause you didn't do that right, like really. So I've been doing it wrong for 17 months, like I just set a behavior. So you want to understand that there is a way to give critical information without criticizing. That's going to be so, so important. The next is that you know you're you're just so clever, like, so you don't want to be so damn clever, like that's like the best way I could say it. Because the thing is, is that sometimes, um, why this is like number three on the list when we're being clever or speaking in industry jargon or something that we think is funny, maybe it only maybe only get it at the leadership level and it's lost on everyone else. So, like, it's awesome that you're so damn clever, but in your business it's going to create costly mistakes for you. So you want to set that down and simplify this.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 14:56

This is building simplify and be clear. We'd much rather have a clear call to action of what's expected, of what we are wanting our clients even to do. A clear call to action is going to serve up a lot more sales so that you can employ a lot more people. That's very clear. But if we make clever assumptions around this, it can get really complicated and heavy, and it doesn't need to be so. This is an area that sometimes just being clever, it's so costly. So be concise, simplify. Simplify your systems so that you can be clear. Make your systems so clear that you could teach them to a five-year-old or a fifth grader. There's two rules of thumb. I always say a five-year-old because I just think this more simple, that we can make things. Then it's easier for everybody, because we never know where someone else is coming from. So there's a time and a place to be clever, but it's not in the setup of your systems that are going to be used by the general mass of your staff team and the general mass of your clients. You want to keep things simple and clear, so we need to give up the clever in this area.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 16:21

Then number four would be that you, there's a lack. You have lack or no growth plan. So what I mean by that is, like you just it's non-existent, you have no growth plan whatsoever and if you just if you end up having any growth, it's completely by accident. You're like, oh, I'm surprised. So so have no plan for growth and you are just lacking in having that be the expectation. It is like five times harder for you to actually get your business growing. So we want to have this even like you can even like tail this on the back end of creating a vision Like you want to have a growth plan and that can look like different marketing tactics, that could look like hiring strategies. The thing is is that every business is different and you can tap into your own unique brilliance and amp up your energy in the way that's best here, but you must have a growth plan. So do not fall into the trap of not having a growth plan or just like lack of like oh yeah, it'll be nice to grow Like that does not help your team see what needs to be done on the day-to-day. So take a step back.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 17:43

This is a great area to hire a professional consultant, a coach, somebody that can really help you design a growth plan that fits into your business, so that it is clear for everyone in your organization. So you can always hire us at Beyond Common Coaching and Training Company or reach out, because if we are not the right fit for you, we know a lot of people in the coaching and consulting industry, so we might be able to suggest somebody that's even a better fit for you. So do you not think that this is something that should be pushed aside? I have never worked with one client ever that ever said I wish I would have waited longer. Almost everyone said wow, spending the money on the front end for coaching and consulting actually helped me earn 10 X this amount, or save me 20 plus um, you know, 20 X plus. So the thing is is that it sometimes we just get so with our blinders on that. We cannot always do this area. Sometimes this is a part that creates the blinders and we can't see our own blinders.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 18:57

I always people think this is funny, but I have spent so much time, money and energy on my professional development, for both personal and professional, you know, in my business and I know that that is a budgeted amount that I need to have because I am the best to my clients, because I'm always growing. So it's like even your best coaches have coaches and consultants that help them grow to the next level. So don't think that like it's ever a sign of weakness or anything like that, but you must have a growth plan and sometimes that's just growing personally, because your business will never be bigger, bolder, wealthier, more profitable than you, as the owner and leader, are willing to grow right. So your business gets tapped out by the level of the sort of lid that you put on your own growth. So you want to just give this up completely. We do not want to have a no or lack of growth going on in our business, because it breeds complacency, it breeds problems amongst team members. Even clients get bored. So you want to make sure you have a strategic growth plan in place and if you need help doing that, this is an area I strongly urge you to reach out to a coach or consultant that you feel like a full body, yes, like that's who you want to work with.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 20:26

And then number five is this is the doozy. So no again, this is all coming from love. So number five from the list of five mistakes you can't afford to make in your business, and that is being reactional rather than intentional. And what I mean by that is, instead of intentionally having our vision and working with you know, a coach or consultant for growing our business, we are like constantly just putting out fires. We're constantly reacting. There's no intention on growth, there's no intention on systems and processes of how we do things here. The more you can be intentional and sort of get all that sort of chaos off of your mind.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 21:19

This is a great area to put in, like you put in hiring practices. You maybe put in some strategic growth systems so that everyone on your team knows how to hold themselves accountable and each other. So this is an area that when we did this independent research study years and years ago and we polled thousands and thousands of employees and the number one thing they complained about was when they had a leader that ran around like sort of like a chicken without their head, you know, just ran around putting out fires all day. They like were always too busy for anything. They never could have an actual conversation. They were just like running around.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 22:02

The people on your team that are strong, that are leaders that just want you to lead them and inspire them to the next level, will never, will never, relate to this. To them, it feels like you only care about the problem people and you cannot build a successful company around the problems, right? Successful company around the problems? Right, any business is in the business. Any business does not matter. We are in the business of solving problems. But if you are running around being reactional, you have already sort of given up your right to choose how you want your day to go to the powers that be.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 22:47

So this, this is sometimes tough because if you've been doing this a long time and I again, I say this with love because I don't think as a young leader, I was really clear on this what, what shifted for me is that, like I'm like, ooh, I do not like this. I did not like people interrupting me and being pulled out of my focused vision, like as a leader. Like I love talking focused vision. As a leader, I love talking about vision and when I'm in the zone of creating that, I get angry when I get pulled away from that, and that wasn't fair to my team at all, because it's not their fault. I learned that I didn't want that. So I took steps back and started creating systems and strategies. You know, like a first, starting with the hiring for starting with, like the chain of command of different things to help people grow, having like goals and different, different behaviors that allowed people to get raises. You know all sorts of things like that.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 23:44

But this is an area that you, you might be unaware. Like I, mine was purely selfish. Like because I did not I didn't want to be angry about it, but I felt it coming on and what I knew I was, I was a strong enough leader in the sense that I knew it wasn't their fault. It was something I needed to fix within my organization. So that is how my sort of love affair with time-saving tips and organizing your systems and, you know, just even having like basic job descriptions, things like that, free up a lot of mental clutter in any organization. So that's why that is so important.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 24:22

And the more you can be intentional, then you know we can't, we're never going to be able to control everything. Like we cannot control if something breaks, if technology goes wrong, you know somebody calls off, there's a ton of things that are out of our control, right, we cannot spend our time freaking out or stressing about that because that's like out of you know, that's just not in the realm the realm. But we can be very intentional and when we are intentional we have these time-saving systems and different strategies in place so that we are there for those moments that matter. When you catch a team member doing something absolutely amazing that you can coach them in the moment, you can just let them know how great that was. But if you're so busy distracted putting out fires for every problem, you know there there's a delegation process to like what level of problem needs to actually come to you.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 25:20

I'm the kind of the type of leader that's like I want to hire people that are always smarter than me that I trust completely to make those types of decisions, because leadership happens at every level. We just have to be intentional of what we're comfortable with. The only things I can control is that I'm going to show up with intention and train and teach and mentor people how to do the same. That's how we create less stress in our bodies which positively impacts our life, right? Because if we have dis-ease in work, then we're having this dis-ease through our body which causes the disease, right? The thing is is that these are not just like holistic work practices, they are life practices, that this is all part of that process of becoming beyond common and I went into this at great length and my book beyond common the 12 essentials for success in life in the workplace.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 26:26

If you have not, if you have not read that yet, get your copy. It's available on Amazon, on my Tracy Watt Serino website. It's available at every bookstore you can think of, and it's also available on audiobook. So this is a great area to really just kind of start walking yourself through what it really takes to be, you know, becoming beyond common. But when you really look at this through the lens of this being the five mistakes that you can't afford to make in your business, if you see that you're, you know, making one of these, make a declaration like make a declaration, a decision to change it, and whether you're going to go at your, go at it on your own or you need help. You want to be part of one of our group coaching programs.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 27:16

The CEO power code is opening up again in just a few short weeks, so you're more than welcome to join us there or you're somebody that needs one-to-one, do not hesitate to reach out, because taking care of these on the front end will provide you so much more time, so much more profit and so much more freedom in your life on the day-to-day.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 27:40

So if you feel like, oh and I don't want you being critical or judgy of yourself, because we all start somewhere and just be grateful that we found out about it today right, so, wherever you are, be kind to yourself, reach out for help, and we cannot wait to see you on the next one. Please, please, please, share this episode with a friend that you know will gain valuable knowledge and insight. On either Apple Podcasts or Google, wherever you are hanging out with us. Please, please, please, write a review. The more five-star reviews we get on Beyond Common Business Secrets, the more this gets pushed out and shared with even more people who have been beyond our reach at this moment. So you get to be part of shifting and helping more business owners, leaders, and their teams on their journey to becoming beyond common. Take care, as always. I hope you have the most Beyond Amazing day and I will see you on the next one.