As the weeks, months, and years roll on in your business, it’s easy to allow a sense of frustration and even resentment to creep in. The business isn’t doing quite as well as you hoped, every day feels like you have problem after problem to solve, team members are being difficult or under-performing and the business may have taken on a life of its own different to the vision you had for it.

Running the business can become more about generating revenue to keep it going, keep paying your mortgage, and now it feels transactional rather than passionate, which is how you started and why you started the business in the first place. You could be experiencing growing pains, or you could be stuck in a rut. It’s time to fall back in love with your business and feel passionate and fulfilled. Here are some practical steps I use when advising clients on how to fall back in love with their business.

Step 1: go on a date with your business

I mean it, take your business out for dinner. In all seriousness, you need to get to know your business as it is right now. Having some alone time to think, reflect and ask questions about your business is a great way to do that. Go to a restaurant with your laptop or a pen and paper and have a look at how your business is currently behaving and operating. Get really clear on what your business is right now. That lets you have a foundation to make any potential changes that may be needed and really reflect on what isn’t working for you anymore.

Step 2: remember why you fell in love to begin with

Take your mind back to why you started this business in the first place. What were your hopes, dreams, ambitions? What difference did you want it to make in the world. And not only in the wider world of your clients, but also for your world too. Maybe you got into business to create more time for yourself but now you have less time. A trap I know I have certainly fallen into when I have started my businesses. If that’s you, then write that down on a piece of paper to create systems that will let you step away from the business a little more.

Step 3: redefine your identity in the relationship

What does that even mean? It means that as your business has grown and evolved over time, you have probably been changing your role and what is required of you. That may not be a good thing. It may mean the business has grown, but have you delegated the right parts of the business? Or have you accidently created a role for yourself that you don’t like. Is your day-to-day existence filled with tasks that serve the business but don’t serve you?

As my business grew, I become disconnected from the teaching elements of my business. This was a tricky shift for me as I started my business to teach people so they could create better futures for themselves. My role changed to managing the company vs teaching others. As a result, I felt disconnected from the core heart of why I started the business. I realised I needed to step back in to some teaching elements to ensure I was meeting my own needs as well as the businesses.

Step 4: identify and break toxic traits

Has your relationship with your business become toxic? Do you feel like a puppet to your business and you are getting nothing in return, and does it make you feel like you have to be productive and working and constantly ‘on’ in order to make it survive? That is not a fun relationship to be in. Where are the toxic traits in your business that lead to this type of feeling? Do you have problematic clients that you would be better off letting go? What about team members that aren’t adding value? Where do you need to go? If your business is repeatedly causing you pain in certain areas, take note of that and then commit to taking actions that will change that for you.

Step 5: consider spicing it up with an open relationship

Now I don’t want you cheating here, the focus of your affections should be squarely on your primary business. But what I am talking about is breaking the feeling of needing to do it all alone. Who could you bring in to share the burden and the work? Who would allow you to focus on what you are best at? Business should be a team sport where we all get to flourish and work to are best in areas we are good at and love. A simple process to follow is to identify who to bring in. Write a list of all the tasks you currently do, then highlight the ones you are the least good at. Then from this selection, highlight the ones you dislike doing the most. This will give you your first set of activities to hand over to someone else ASAP.

If you follow these steps, you can revitalise your relationship with your business and fall back in love with what you do. I want you to be passionate about what you do and wake up every day excited to do what you do best. Enjoy going on that date with your business and let me know how it goes via my social media channels!