I believe in simplicity. Especially in business. 

Complicated businesses lead to overwhelm and confusion. They're also so cluttered that there's no space for new ideas and creativity to unfold, making growth nearly impossible.

Think about the personal reasons you went into business – it was probably something along the lines of ... you wanted more free time, to be able to travel, to spend more time with family and friends, or something similar, right? Well, when we overcomplicate our businesses, they become so convoluted that they end up sucking up all of our free time and keeping us tied to our desks. 

So, if we want to reap the rewards that we got into business to experience in the first place, we have to learn to keep things simple ... to let go of some of the possibilities (and ideas and opportunities) and focus on what will really move the needle forward.

If you think you may be over complicating your business and are curious on how to make a change, check out these five tell-tale signs that you’re over complicating your business.

Marketing Feels Extremely Overwhelming

Do you feel like no matter what you do, you just can’t seem to keep it consistent? My advice is to stop trying to do everything and be everywhere! You don’t have to master every single content platform to be successful. 

What you need instead is first, to identify your content pillars. What is it that you want to talk about, what do you do, what do your ideal clients need to hear? After identifying your main content pillars, then focus on creating long-form, high-impact content that you can repurpose into other types of content. 

There are so many forms to choose from when it comes to this long-form content – it could be creating YouTube or IGTV videos, hosting Facebook Lives, writing blog posts, recording a podcast, and more. Whichever form you choose, be sure to stay consistent and use it to communicate with your audience regularly. 

After creating this long-form, high-impact content each week, you then have the perfect foundation for repurposing that content into other forms, such as social media posts and email newsletters. 

For example, I host a Facebook Live training in The Daring Fempreneur Facebook Group every Friday at 10AM Mountain Time. Then, I use that same topic and content to create my weekly blog post, newsletter, and a social media post for the week. 

This tried and true method has allowed me to simplify the marketing and content creation aspect of my business and freed up a huge portion of my time that was previously consumed with marketing.

You’re Constantly Chasing “Shiny” Opportunities

When we're constantly distracted by (and pursuing) ideas and opportunities, it can take our focus away from going deep and becoming truly excellent at what we do. Not to mention, it can water down our brand, our messaging and make our business unclear to potential clients (which means lost clients and lost money).

When a new opportunity is presented to you or you get a great new idea for your business, I encourage you to pause and think about the time and effort you’re going to have to put into it – do you have any to spare, or is it going to take away from something else? If it is going to take away from something else, is the payoff going to be worth it? 

It’s definitely not easy, especially early on in your business, to say no to opportunities or someone wanting to give you money. However, it’s absolutely essential to consider whether or not it’s going to move the needle forward in your business without overcomplicating your systems both for you, and for your clients and prospects.

You Offer Too Many Ways to Work with You

Offering too many ways to work with you isn't only overwhelming to you, it's also overwhelming to your clients. When potential clients feel overwhelmed and confused by their options, they get "decision paralysis" and leave altogether to find someone else who they feel confident can get them the results they're looking for.

You don’t need to offer private coaching, plus group coaching, plus masterminds, plus a course, plus a membership, plus VIP days to be successful. Actually, if you’re trying to offer everything under the sun, you may just find the opposite of success. When prospective clients are presented with too many options, they can get confused and overwhelmed trying to decide which is right for them and which will produce the best results. 

Rather than offering a million different ways to work with you, it's best to stick to 1-3 offers in your business, ideally having one flow into the next. A signature program, membership, or course should be your "pillar" and all other offers branch off from, or lead up to that.

You Have Multiple Ideal Clients

I get it, you want to help as many people as possible. And while there are some situations where businesses can succeed with multiple ideal clients, having more than one ideal client overcomplicates and muddles your messaging and marketing. 

This not only makes it harder to market yourself in a way that speaks to the hearts and souls of multiple readers, but also makes it harder for the right people to find you and resonate with your message because you're not speaking to a specific person with a specific challenge.

Choosing one ideal client allows you to focus specifically on one person, on the one problem you solve, and on the way your ideal client experiences that problem. So, what problem do you solve? Who experiences this problem? Who do you want to work with? If you need some more guidance in identifying your ideal client and building your tribe, check out this helpful blog post.

Your Visual Brand is All Over the Place

Recently my husband and I decided to make pizza. Before we went to the store to buy ingredients, we talked about the toppings we wanted. I wanted onions, mushrooms, olives, pepperoni and lots of pizza sauce. He wanted basil, tomatoes, olive oil and mozzarella cheese. 

Each pizza, on their own, would have been delicious. But when we got home from the store we decided that it ALL sounded so good that we'd make our pizzas with everything. Big mistake. The pizza turned out absolutely disgusting.

If we would have just kept our ingredients simple, the result would have been MUCH tastier. 

Same goes for your brand. Just because you like 10 different styles, doesn't mean that they should all go into your brand. If you’re using too many fonts, colors, and incohesive imagery, your visual brand quickly becomes overwhelming, even if you love all of the elements individually. 

When you keep your brand simple with streamlined imagery, messaging and programs, your brand will look better, be clearer and attract more clients!

Want some guidance and resources on simplifying your business and setting yourself up for success?

Join me in the Impact Tribe. With access to a complete library of biz-booming courses, plus Laser Coaching Sessions, Mastermind Meetings and personalized support in our private Facebook group - this is the perfect place to be if you’re serious about growing your business with community, accountability and coaching.