Strength First, Flexibility Later

As I craned my foot up and over my hip in a very uncomfortable variation of downward dog, my yoga instructor said, “Strength first, flexibility later. If you don’t have the strength you can’t have the flexibility.”

Huh.

That phrase has stuck with me all day. And I’m not thinking about yoga. I’m thinking about my business. Consider this another article on Egg’s rebranding, because I’m going to delve into my company’s history to explain.

Do not try this at home...unless you have the strength.

Early on, too early, really, I tried to be flexible. Press releases? Sure we write ‘em. Resumes? Um, okay, we can do those too. Ghostwrite your book? Sure! I need the money. But all the additional services I added on quickly crumbled as i realized my strength did not lie in party planning, ghostwriting, and booking events. Maybe one day I’ll have the staff to help me do all these things, but trying to bend in too many directions caused more problems than it was worth.

So I could have used that “strength first, flexibility later” advice back then. It’s not too late, though. Over the years, I’ve carefully culled the types of work I really don’t want to do or don’t have resources to make it happen easily. I’ve turned projects away. And as much as that hurts, I know it’s only helping to strengthen me and my business.

Once I’m strong, I am better able to take on more flexibility and different projects!

So what about you? Are you strong enough for flexibility, or are you bending your business in directions it doesn’t want to go? Here are my suggestions:

• Make a list of the things your company does well
• Make a list of the things it does, but with some effort
• Figure out where your profit lies
• Trim some services or products and focus on the good stuff
• Read this blog post on the 80/20 rule and SIMPLIFY!