The Difference Between Working in and on Your Business and Why It Matters

 By Tricia Scott.

As a fellow business owner and entrepreneur, I know only too well the struggle of doing all of the things. Like most of us, I have to remind myself (or be reminded) to take a step back from what I am doing in my business and look at the customer experience. 

When was the last time you checked in? 

I chose to write about this today because I've been working on The Female CEO Website a lot lately; alongside my coach and a mentor, we've been tweaking pages, diving into SEO and user experience, and generally making a list as long as both of my arms of things we can improve upon.

In the last few weeks, I learned a) the next time I do this, I'm bringing wine and B) that my website navigation was intuitive to me and not necessarily to my ideal customer. For example, I know where to find information about how to feature with us, how to contact me to ask questions, and how to navigate to find blogs, articles and experts, but from a user point of view, it could be (a lot) better. 

Cue shock and horror (dramatic? Me?) I know this. I teach this, so why was I so far off track? 

This experience has taught me that it's relatively easy to stray from the user experience. After all, we're all working our asses off, trying to hold it all together as it is. It can be really quite challenging to see from another perspective when you're used to your own content, so here is my fresh-from-the-experience advice if you find yourself in a similar position with your website, social media, blogs, etc.

Schedule time, put some wine in the fridge and really look. If you can, ask a friend unrelated to the business to sit with you and review your offerings, blogs, social posts, online correspondence and onboarding process. How does it make them feel? Are they excited, inspired and optimistic? Or are they ready to scroll by because they're confused, unsure or lacking interest? Is there enough information for them to find what they need without asking? (If people have to ask, they often expect to be sold to and avoid asking). 

What does your messaging say? Who is it for? Is it clear? Will your ideal customer read or view you and think this person understands me and this problem. I need this product or service in my life right now! 

Start there. 

What will it take to be so clear that they never scroll past your posts, highlight your emails to come back to again and again, and join waitlists so as not to miss anything you offer? 

Here's an insight into my thought process at the time: 

I don't have time to redo this! 

Its finnneeee. 

The women I work with know what I do. They'll get it. 

This could be better.

This proves that I know what I do so well that I automatically write about it from my perspective. 

The message isn't wrong; the words I'm choosing are.

This could be a lot better. 

If this is my current wording and it's working, imagine how good it will be when I tweak it!

This is such a fantastic opportunity to speak directly to my ideal customer! I'm doing this more often. Pass my diary; I'm checking this out quarterly! 

This is not an overnight fix, and it doesn't need to be, so if the thought is giving you palpitations, take a breath and remember this isn't about you. At all. In my case, it's about the women visiting the website, reading the magazine and sharing their stories and wisdom with our global audience. They want to be delighted, understood, excited and inspired, and it's my job to lead them through my offerings and deliver what they need because I know them and I've done the work to understand who they are and what they're looking for.

This is the messy work, the stuff you would rather avoid, but it's here that you'll find the gold and with a supportive coach, mentor or ride-or-die bestie by your side, you might just be able to squeeze some fun into the process as you go (it's not against the rules of serious business ownership to enjoy yourself).

This happens to all of us, and, as we can clearly see, I am no different. I had been so deep working in my business that I was neglecting to work on my business. It sounds so simple, yet as we all know, simple ain't easy! 

Ask opinions, make notes, and get a plan. You've got this.

Shoot for the moon and all that! 

I believe in you (always).

👉🏼If you want to journey with me through 2024, I email our Hello CEO mailing list every Monday. To join, head to The Homepage and sign up!

Tricia Scott is a passionate startup business mentor and the Founder and Editor of The Female CEO - Create Evolve Overcome, a platform and digital magazine holding the space to showcase female entrepreneurs from all over the world. 

The Female CEO is gaining global recognition daily and Tricia is able to bring her own level of expertise as a start-up mentor and multi-company director to her very exclusive table along with her team of brilliant Guest Editors and Contributors. You'll usually find her with her MacBook in one hand and a coffee or a glass of something fizzy in the other. Reach out anytime!