Today I’m going to tell you the parable of the purse. But before I get to that, I want to tell you that this is an important time in your business. We are coming out of the quarantine after COVID-19. Businesses are starting to open up and things are trying to return to a new normal. Things are looking up. We are looking at our business and trying to figure out what the last few months means for our businesses. Some businesses are feeling good, they weathered the quarantine well and things are looking positive. Other businesses are struggling and don’t know how they will make it through the next few months or if they will have to close. 

We all go through periods of crisis. So many life events happen. Maybe it’s a season change, you feel like your business needs to pivot or change, maybe you have had a life event that is causing you to rethink things. I think that is the big lesson from COVID-19, there are some things in your business that you need to stop doing and what do you need to start doing. 

Parable of the Purse

I have a purse that I carry everywhere. Because of the pandemic, I haven’t gone anywhere in the past 3 months. Because I’m a mom, In my purse, I usually have snacks, toys, maybe a mask, etc.

Recently I took my purse and I dumped it out. There was so much trash. I had 20 pens! I had 5 face masks, some random salve for getting splinters out of kid feet, some snacks, and other random items my kids asked me to carry. I’ve been carrying way too much around with me!

If we don’t take a minute, pause, and think about the random stuff we are carrying around all the time, it can really affect us. We can be carrying a heavy load without realizing it or needing to. I hope you can see the parallel with your life and your business.

We can go along in our business and not have clear direction. We keep putting things in our business that seem good at the time. Maybe a client asks you to do a service you don’t normally do, and you think ok I should do it just this once, or maybe you are on Tik Tok without a plan and it’s not helping your business grow. All of these things can add up and stop our business from functioning efficiently. It can get too heavy really fast. 

Friends, you are busy, you have another job you are working, or you have a bunch of kids like me, or maybe you have both! And you don’t have time to waste carrying around the heavy “purse” of your business. 

So let’s figure out what we can let go of and empty out of our purses. 

First step-

Dump everything out.

It will be a mess. But that’s ok. 

I want you to write down everything you are doing in your business. Everything you are spending money, time, and resources on. Write it all out. Dump it out so you can see it in one place.

Next, sort everything into 3 piles– trash, keep, relocate. 

1- Keep

The first step of the parable of the purse is to decide what to keep. There’s no need for me to have 20 pens in my purse, like, really, I don’t need 20 pens. I know how I end up with 20 pens, though. It’s because I like to carry a notebook with me so I can write things down as I have ideas. I see how this goes in my business too. But I need to relocate a few pens. There are things that I have to keep in my purse like my wallet, right? That’s kind of important to have. And in my business I want to keep my products, my customers, my coaching group, and my Instagram friends. 

There are all of these things that you need to keep in your business. But I want you to make sure that you are choosing to keep them. That you aren’t keeping them because you think you should. There are certain things that we need to keep in our business because they are really making us money. 

There’s an 80/20 rule of business. The rule goes that 20% of your output is producing 80% of your results. So what is your 20% in your business? What is creating your results? Put your efforts there. You are going to want those, so keep them in your purse. 

 

2- Relocate

The second step of the parable of the purse is this: Relocate. There are things in your business that you need to put elsewhere. Maybe you need to hire someone. If you are an Influencer or you are a bigger business, ready to take the next step, maybe you need to hire me and my team. We will take your email marketing, blogging and Pinterest on and we will do it strategically. Or maybe you are a smaller business and you just need to hire a VA or an accountant. What are things that you can relocate in your business that someone else can do? What can you take out of your business/purse for now because you need to focus on other things currently?

3- Trash it 

The last step in our story of the parable of the purse is Trashing It. Now, there are a lot of things that you need to just throw away. It’s ok. Think about the things in your business that you need to stop doing. Things like scrolling Instagram, or comparing yourself to someone else. Don’t do it. That is like junk food. It makes you feel good in the moment, and then it’s gone. It doesn’t benefit our business or our lives. Throw it out.

Create a System

Now that you have separated everything into piles–keep, relocate, throw away. It’s time to take those things that you want to keep in your business and put them back in a way that makes sense for you. So if you want to focus on your blog, awesome. I want you to put it into your business in the right way. 

The last week of the month is content week in my community. This is when we create content for the next month. Is there a way you can put blog creation into a system that keeps you ahead of the game, doesn’t bog you down, but can benefit your business. You create the blog early and figure out how you can disseminate the information best. 

When you’re putting things back into your purse and business, you need to create a system. In my purse, I have a bunch of snacks. Is there a bag I can store them in? Yes. That is the system for my purse. In your business, is there a time set aside specifically that you are going to create your content? If so, you are going to be more likely to get it accomplished. Figure out your systems and put things back where they need to go. This is especially true after a crisis, when things are all jumbled up in your life. 

Applying the Lessons of The Parable of the Purse

Those are the 3 steps of the parable of the purse. I hope you liked it. Maybe your purse and business aren’t as messy as mine. When you are wondering what to do after a crisis, this is a good time to take a pause and hone in on the reasons and the why of  your business. Remember the things that are supporting that why and then relocate or trash the rest. Because you simply do not have time, you are busy, you are a mom, you don’t have the time to waste on things that are not moving us forward. I hope you take this time to dump your purse out and do some organizing and purging. Come hang out on Instagram with me to see pics of my messy purse!