Diana Stirling once counted success in numbers: How many clients she had, how fast her business was growing and how much money was coming in.
When her advertising sales consulting business, OnTrack Media, hit $1 million in revenue within three years, Stirling thought she’d reached her goals.
“When I achieved that, I was looking successful on the outside,” said Stirling. “But on the inside I was completely miserable, because the business was sucking the life out of me.”
Bogged down by the myriad tasks that face any entrepreneur, Stirling felt unable to turn off from her business. She decided to tear down the business and rebuild so that she could free up more time for herself and her growing family.
The first step Stirling took was to identify which customers were worth chasing – and keeping.
“Because of the analysis that I did, I knew that [some potential clients] wouldn’t be as profitable,” she said. “I knew that they would probably take up a lot more time and resources, and that they weren’t where we should be focusing.”
Next, Stirling took the time to develop processes for every aspect of the business, from accounting to marketing to client relations. Once she had those steps formulated and documented, she could then pass off responsibilities to her employees without feeling like she was losing control of the business.
Developing a laser-like focus was next on the agenda.
“The whole environment right now is all about multi- tasking – multi-tasking personally and in business,” said Stirling. “I truly believe the opposite is where success lies, and that’s in the ability to master single-tasking.”
Stirling is now able to travel with her family for months at a time, and as a result of her reorganization, her business is more profitable and functions better.
“I’m not growing for growth’s sake,” she said.
