Business Can Be Puzzling

I talk with a lot of people about their businesses. Curiously, some of them tell me what they don’t yet know about their work. They speak as if they are not successful because they are not clear on their mission or niche or the best way to market themselves.

There is often an undercurrent I intuit that assumes they are somehow lacking because these things are not figured out. I have a different perspective.

Let me explain.

Whether it is a casual discussion or the beginning of a coaching relationship, I steer the conversation to what they do know. I see a business like a jigsaw puzzle and we each come to our work with a different set of pieces that clearly fit together. Over time, through trial and error, we find the other pieces that fit perfectly with the ones we have, and our vision becomes our thriving business.

For example, I have known my niche — or ideal clients — since 1980. Knowing my clients first, my puzzle has been to figure out how to best serve them and then become clear and confident with my marketing. Others come to their work because they know what they do — their product or service — and then they need to figure out who their ideal clients are. Wherever you start, your puzzle takes shape from there.

Focusing on what you know — your assets and strengths — instead of what you don’t know is a reframe that will result in a shift in your confidence. The shift happens because you will be taking a perspective of curiosity instead of judgment. So, enough theory, here is how it works in practice.

All businesses have the same puzzle pieces — clientele, offering, mission, vision and marketing tactics — to name a few. We each have distinctive images on our pieces so the completed picture is uniquely ours.

I steer client conversations toward what they know while listening for where they are uncertain. This allows us to sort their information into three categories:

· What they know

· What they have some sense of

· What they have no idea about

From this point a client’s ultimate success is not dependent on which piece is clear and which is not, but on their willingness to bring the less clear and unclear pieces into focus and fit them into the puzzle. Just like in real jigsaw puzzling, it doesn’t matter whether you start with the edge or inside pieces as long as you continue until you are finished.

After the initial sorting, our goal is on bringing clarity to the second category — all that they have a sense about but isn’t yet clear. In time, their business takes shape as more and more of the items on the “no idea” list gain focus and move up to the “some sense of” and then the “know” lists.

Here is how you can implement this idea:

Sort your business puzzle by filling up as many pages as you can with all of the things you know about your business. Write freely. Elaborate fully. Ask friends for feedback. Use color. Enjoy yourself. Allow yourself to marvel at how much you already know.

While in process, if your critical voice begins to tell you it is a waste of time because you are lacking in some way, gently say, “Thanks for you thoughts, but actually I am quite capable and am interested in this idea.”

Note the items that have fuzzy edges — the ones you have “some sense of.” For each one, write down what you specifically know and what you don’t yet know. For example, you may know you work with women in difficult transitions but are not sure the age range that is the best fit for your work. This fuzzy edge is a clue to what you have yet to clarify.

Next do the same with all of the areas you have a sense of. Create your “Yet to Clarify” list. Pick one item from this list and figure out how you can gain clarity on it. Now go to it!

Continue sorting through your puzzle pieces, examining each closely to see where it fits in with your business picture. Over time business will be less and less puzzling, and you will be more and more successful.