What’s Haunting Your Business?

Haunted houses, scary movies, ghosts, witches and things that go bump in the night … October is the month when we willingly surround ourselves with things that are supposed to scare us.

But if you've owned a business for any length of time, you probably don't need a haunted house to know what fear feels like. Just think about making a big change in your business. Now that's scary. I've been in this industry for more than 25 years, and I've watched many travel advisors completely transform their businesses. I've also made more changes in my own business than I can count.

And even after all these years, change can still be scary. Maybe you've been thinking about changing the direction of your business. Maybe you want to specialize instead of trying to sell everything to everyone. Maybe you know you need to change the way you work with clients or establish better boundaries. Maybe you've been telling yourself for two years that this is finally the year you're going to start charging a planning or service fee. Or maybe there's something else in your business that you know isn't working anymore — but changing it feels scarier than leaving it alone.

What Are You Afraid Of?

Most of the time, I think we know when something needs to change. The scary part is actually doing it.

What if my clients don't like it? What if I lose business? What if I make the wrong decision? What if I change something that has worked for years and regret it? What if it doesn't work? Those are all legitimate fears, but there's another question that deserves just as much attention: What happens if I don't change anything?

Sometimes that's the scarier question.

I've watched advisors stay stuck because the way they've always done things feels safe. I've also watched advisors finally make the change they'd been afraid to make, get through the uncomfortable part, and discover that their business is stronger because of it. I've experienced the same thing in my own business.

Don't Let the Ghost of “We've Always Done It This Way” Haunt You

One of the easiest traps to fall into as a business owner is continuing to do something simply because that's how you've always done it. Something can have worked beautifully for years and still not be the right answer today. That doesn't mean you made a bad decision back then. It means things have changed.

Your clients change. The travel industry changes. Technology changes. Your goals change. Your life changes. You change.

Your business needs permission to change with you.

Sometimes growth means adding something new. But sometimes growth means letting something go. It might mean simplifying your business. Raising your prices. Charging a fee. Changing your niche. Setting boundaries with clients. Learning a new system. Saying “no” to an opportunity you would have jumped at five years ago. Or finally letting go of something you've outgrown.

Uncomfortable Doesn't Mean Wrong

This may be one of the biggest lessons I've learned in more than two decades of running a business: Something feeling uncomfortable doesn't automatically mean it's the wrong decision. Sometimes it's uncomfortable because it's new.

Instead of asking, “Does making this change scare me?” I've learned that there's a better question: “Does the way I'm doing this now still support where I'm trying to go?”

If the answer is no, fear probably shouldn't be the thing making the decision for you. You don't have to change everything at once. And you certainly shouldn't change something just for the sake of changing it.

October might be a good time to shine a flashlight into a few dark corners of your business and see what's hiding there. What isn't working anymore? What have you outgrown? What are you avoiding because changing it feels too uncomfortable? What are you holding onto simply because it's familiar? And here's the big one: If you weren't afraid of making the change, what would you do differently in your business tomorrow?

Maybe that's where your next season of growth begins. After all, some things are supposed to scare us in October; your business decisions don't have to be one of them.