Tackling some of what is distracting or frustrating you will put both your business and your frame of mind back on track. In working with entrepreneurs, I have found several areas of their business that can take a toll on an owner’s focus or enthusiasm. Here are just a few of them:

Wayward Customers: Just because business has slowed and you should be grateful for the business you do have does not mean that you should take any and all customers. Many businesses get themselves in a rut during tough times by forgetting who they best serve. As a result, they get caught in a quagmire of trying to keep customers happy that are not ideal, who are not making them money, and who are keeping them from effectively serving those customer who are ideal and profitable. Take stock in your customer base and graciously hand off or refer those who are not ideal.

Putting Your Hands on Things: How organized is your office and place of business? Could you easily tell someone where to find something in your business or would you have to be the one to go find it or send out a search party? Having a place for everything and everything in its place allows you to focus on what you love to be doing. Part of loving your business is the excitement of what lies ahead. Time spent “looking” can be replaced with time spent “visioning” your business’ future. Which would you rather be doing?

Taking Your Hands Off Things: Getting in your own way is always worth repeating. It simply amazes me how many business owners I run into who are doing things in their business they don’t enjoy doing because they either think they cannot afford to have someone else do it or they think they are the only ones who can do it. Either way, you are wrong. While there is always going to be times you have to do things you don’t want to be doing, it should not be an everyday mode of operation. The price you pay by not doing what you are best at doing is costing you dearly. Let go, and see the payoff almost immediately.

It’s Broke, Needs Fixed: Is there something that irritates you about your business and yet you don’t seem to have the time to fix it? Then, how about handing it off to someone else who can look at it with fresh eyes and another perspective? I did this in my business when I became frustrated each time I would go through a file at the end of a project to review for final invoicing. I could not put my hands on the documents to compare and became frustrated each time. I posed this frustration to the rest of my team, and one of my production artists came up with a brilliantly simply way to organize our job jackets for easy access. Years later, pulling these documents is a breeze. It has also helped everyone else get what they need quickly as well as know exactly how items should be placed in the job jacket.

Re-igniting Your Passion:  So, you do not love your business? You did at one time, and so what was it that you loved? What is it about what you do that gets your juices flowing and excited? Reclaim this as a part of who you are and what your business does. Reinvent what you bring to the marketplace in a way that impassions you and others to get it out there with you.

If any of these sound like you, take a step back, adjust, and then move forward with a refreshed outlook. Every relationship, even the one you have with your business, requires nurturing. Before you know it, you will be falling in love with your business again and those doing business with you will also love what you are doing!

Sherré DeMao is author of Me, Myself & Inc. – a Synergized World, An Energized Business, Living Your Ultimate Life, and the founder of SLD Unlimited Marketing/PR, Inc., a full-service marketing and public relations firm based in Denver, NC. Her column seeks to help business owners become more savvy marketers, managers and strategists. DeMao can be reached at 704.483.2941 or sherre@sldunlimited.com.