Focus: A 5-Step Method to Boost Your Business

By Amy Grossman

Starting your own business can be an appealing option if you are a baby boomer women who is considering a career change at 50 years or beyond.

One advantage that comes with age and experience is the ability to focus, and focus is a key success trait of successful business owners.

To refine the ability to focus for business success, here is a 5-step method:

• F = Fine-tune your strengths. Know your preferred learning style and use it to stay current in your field and to strengthen your natural strengths. Instead of working to improve weaknesses, delegate the work in those areas to someone who actually enjoys doing what you don't love. To learn more about how to recognize your strengths, read StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath. It includes a personalized Strengths Discovery and Action-Planning Guide for applying your strengths immediately.
• O = Optimize your actions. Identify the three marketing activities, if done consistently, that will have the biggest impact on getting you the clients and projects you need to create the success you desire. Once you identify the three key activities, optimize them by creating a marketing plan that clearly lays out what needs to happen and when.
• C = Cooperate with others. Search for colleagues in your industry, or businesses that serve the same target market in different ways. You can work with them to create strategic alliances, referral partners and cross-promotion partners. Identify three potential relationship partners who will give you the greatest visibility and credibility. When you cooperate and collaborate with others, your reach and impact grow exponentially.
• U = Upgrade your systems. Create written procedures and methods for recurring activities and routines. To create your systems, get in the habit of documenting what you do, step by step.Then follow the same steps the next time, refining them as you notice ways to improve your method. Whenever possible automate tasks such as invoicing or sending marketing emails using software. This will free your time for owner-level activities and strategic planning.
• S = Strategize your actions. Write a strategic business action plan for the next 12 months. Visualize what you are building and set measurable goals. Establish who will do the work for each action, all the steps involved and a deadline. Then measure your results and make course corrections along the way. The simple act of writing down commitments is proven to increase the likelihood that they will be met. Follow the advice of famous management expert Peter Drucker, "What matters gets measured."

A big advantage to owning a business at mid-life is that you can create it just the way you want. As you focus on your business-building activities, check in regularly to see that you are enjoying what you do and that it enriches your life with meaning. If not, go back through the 5-Step FOCUS method and see where you can align your business with your interests, values and strengths.

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Amy Grossman, MBA, empowers baby boomer women to turn their interests, strengths and experience into a business of their own to generate an income, find meaning in their work, and ultimately live a balanced and fulfilled life. For FREE tips on how to create meaning and money at mid-life, visit Boomer Business Launcher.