Ep 23 - 3 Fatal Mistakes to Avoid as an Entrepreneur - Part 2: Overcomplicating

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by difficult strategies that you're trying to implement within your business, then this episode is a must listen. We are uncovering the subtle pitfalls that might be hindering your business success, specifically the trap of overcomplicating. We're gonna dive into some stories of entrepreneurs who in their pursuit of success, unintentionally made their businesses is more complex than needed. Join us as we explore how simplicity can be the key to unlocking your business potential. Stay tuned as I guide you on the path to simplifying your way to success. Let's do it. Are you a successful business owner who has a laundry list of ideas and struggles to achieve your big goals? Welcome to the CEO Amplify podcast. I'm your host, Donna Dube.

And my goal is to empower you to drive meaningful change and amplify your profits without the overwhelm. Join us as we provide actionable solutions for visionary CEOs like yourself, to up level your CEO skills, streamline operations, and master strategic prioritization. Learn how to scale your business to new heights working smarter, not harder. If you're ready to reclaim your time and accelerate your growth, Let's dive in and start this exciting adventure together. Remember, the only limit to your business growth is the one you set for yourself. Hello, and welcome back CEOs. Today, I wanna continue our series on three Fatal mistakes we make as entrepreneurs and really deep dive into the minds of visionary leaders in small businesses. In part 2, we are talking about a common pitfall that many business owners face.

And that is overcomplicating. It's a sneaky mistake that can hinder your success without you even realizing it. Now first I want to start by acknowledging A universal struggle for all of us as entrepreneurs. Doesn't matter whether we first started, we've been in business for years, Whether we are a service provider, whether we sell products, it doesn't matter, and that is unmet revenue goals. And when we're faced with this challenge, it's very common for us to look at other successful entrepreneurs for inspiration. Well, how are other people doing it? Well, what what are they doing that makes them successful? However, the mistake It comes when we start to over complicate our businesses based on what we're seeing others doing. And I want to share some examples here that I'm hoping will resonate with some of you and you'll get a feeling for what I'm talking about. So let's say we've got an entrepreneur.

He's a freelance graphic designer specializing in creating branding materials for small businesses. And in the beginning, the business was simple. The owner, the business owner engaged directly with the clients, Had a showcasing of a portfolio on a simple user friendly website, and he relied on word-of-mouth for referrals. However, as the desire for more clients grew, this business owner succumb to the pressure of over complication. Instead of refining the niche within branding where they excelled, they decided to diversify services into web development, Content creation and social media management on the side. And in their attempt to automate client interactions, The business owner invested in a lot of software tools project management tools, communication platforms, complex scheduling systems, But what was the result? The core strength of this entrepreneur's business in branding got diluted, And clients were confused about the range of services offered. The initial clarity and focus were lost in The maze of unnecessary complexities. Okay, let's take another entrepreneur, a life coach, Starting her practice with a clear mission, to help clients navigate life transitions.

Her initial approach was simple, a 1 page website offering a free consultation. However, as she started to observe other successful coaches, she felt the need to match their complexity. So she invested time and money in creating intricate sales funnels, online courses, and multiple lead magnets. The problem? She lost sight of her initial mission. Potential Clients were bombarded with much much much too much information, and she diluted the core message of her coaching practice. So I hope you can see in these 2 examples how entrepreneurs in their pursuit of success, and we all have it, Can inadvertently over complicate our businesses. And instead of building on a solid foundation and mastering the essentials. We sometimes get entangled in intricate and difficult strategies that might not even align with our initial goals So the culprit here is over complication We see successful businesses overcomplicating and making complex marketing strategies because we think we need to in order to succeed.

But when we look dive close and we really dive deep into it, The real problem is that we're afraid to fail. We're missing the revenue we desire, And so we start to overcomplicate things thinking that's the solution. Alright. I wanna just shift gears a little bit and understand why overcomplicating is such a fatal mistake. When we look at these big thought These gurus and these people with big businesses, and we look at what they're doing. We have to remember they're successful now, But successful entrepreneurs didn't start with a complex business. They built upon a solid foundation. They weren't stuck in the weeds, and they managed to master the art of laser focus.

The complexity that we see in their business now is a result of years years spent learning and refining. Most of us as entrepreneurs, on the other hand, aren't as laser focused as we should be. We take more of a flashlight approach instead of a laser pointer. And this leads to more complexity in our business, more stress, and a bigger feeling of misery in running our business. Okay, so you're going to say fine Donna, that's me. I'm overcomplicating, now what? Well, the solution lies in doing less, but doing it better. Focusing on 1 thing at a time, mastering it, and then adding on the next layer. It's about gaining experience and depth, going deep into something.

So let's explore a little bit further how we can get laser focused in our business, and I'm gonna walk you through 3 questions that can really help you simplify your approach. If you've got a pen and paper, that's great. If you don't, pause this episode and go grab one because you're not going to want to miss these 1st, ask yourself, what do you want to be doing in this right now. What do you want to be doing in this season right now? Reflect on any misalignments between what you're currently doing and your goals. And for some of you, this is gonna be a little uncomfortable and might take a little bit of time, but I need you to get quiet and really examine and explore, and notice what you see and hear. What do you want to be doing in this season right now? The second question is to determine the simplest path to get there. Dial in on who you are here to serve, your beliefs, your values, And the type of person you aim to help. And then create an offer.

One offer. Beta test it and choose a straightforward sales strategy. Really dial in on who you are serving and what you are offering and what the transformation will be. Determine the simplest path to get there. And lastly, the third question, What approach feels the lightest, the simplest, and the easiest? Let go of the extras. Forget about the complicated funnels, the extra lead magnets, the Facebook ads, the this, the that. If they are not serving your immediate goals, let them go. You see the challenge for you as a visionary leader is to be able to pick something in your business that seems complicated and ask these 3 questions.

I encourage you to reflect on what you need to let go of or to simplify and focus on what truly matters. Remember, there is no need to overcomplicate it. What do you want to do from here? Do you want to be excited about your work? Do you want to get up in the morning, ready to go, Identify what you need to let go of to get you there. Alright. Thanks for joining me today. I really hope this episode resonated with you and You can see yourself and see situations in your business where you are over complicating things. I challenge you To pick 1 thing, pick 1 area that feels complicated and ask yourself these 3 questions. And then I want you to hop over to the Facebook group CEO Amplify and let me know there what you found when you asked yourself these 3 questions.

What was the one thing that you feel is overcomplicating and and busy and difficult in your business? And when you asked yourself these 3 questions, what did you find? I'll be there in the Facebook group to hold you accountable. Until next time, stay focused, stay simple, and keep leading with vision. Thank you for joining me on this episode of CEO Amplify. I appreciate you being part of our thriving community of ambitious business business owners. If you enjoy today's episode, I kindly ask you to share this podcast with a friend and take a hot minute to Rate and leave a review. It would mean the world to me. Your feedback helps me reach more people and continue providing valuable content. Thanks so much for your support. Keep shining, and we'll catch you on the next episode.