Find The Clogs (No Plumber-Butt Required)
The Metropolitan Sewage District truck was parked down the hill in front of a neighbor's house, but I barely noticed it as I arrived home to make my lunch.
While I was cooking, I noticed that I kept sniffing the air. Something was… off. (Even the aroma of my garlic-sautéed pasta couldn't mask it).
I followed my nose to the bathroom.
What followed wasn't unlike the famous scene from the movie “Psycho”:
A shower curtain pulled back, followed by a horrified scream.
(Only it was me screaming, not Janet Leigh).
I'll spare you the details of what I found in the bathtub.
I'll just jump to where I ran outside to get away, and noticed that Plumbing and Roto-Rooter vans were starting to pull up in front of other houses on my street.
I later learned that a neighbor had been flushing paper towels (or those “flushable” wipes that aren't really flushable) for months, creating a massive, hardened clog in the downstream sewer pipe.
The City had attempted to clear the pipe by blasting it with thousands of pounds of air pressure. Their effort backfired (literally): everything got pushed back uphill, damaging our plumbing the process.
It was not a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
(OK, I’ll pivot away from this unpleasant story now— I promise there’s a business-point).
As much as I'd tried to push this memory down, it (ahem) came back up again after a recent tech-glitch.
I realized my website-downloads hadn't been going out for weeks. A teeny, tiny step in the automated-workflow was switched off, creating a “clog” that prevented all the other downstream actions from happening.
All I had to do was click one button, and the workflow was back on track; all the other automations kicked in, and people got their downloads.
This “flow blockage” made me think of situations I see all the time with solopreneurs who don't realize that something small is keeping them stuck:
*The client who couldn't decide on her business-name, so couldn't decide on a web address. Lacking a website made her reluctant to start any real marketing, so she hadn't gotten any new customers in months. One small decision was blocking everything else from happening.
*The coach whose value-filled newsletter required potential readers to enter a username/password before they could read the content, even after they'd already shared their name & email. This one extra step stopped many potential clients from signing up for her emails.
*My solopreneur-friend with work piling up, who knows he needs to outsource to a virtual assistant or other helper, but is too busy with his workload to take that one step… thus the pile of tasks keeps getting bigger, and the cycle continues.
If you're feeling overwhelmed in your business, or things just don't feel like they're working quite right, don't lose hope:
It's possible that one little step could change everything and restore the flow to your business. Put on your “plumber hat” and ask yourself:
Are there any decisions I'm putting off making (even small ones)?
Of all the items on my To Do list, what are the 1-2 actions that would have the biggest impact on everything else?
Can I put myself in the shoes of my potential client, and walk through every step of their interaction with me and my marketing? Are there any points where might they be feeling stuck, confused, or put off?
Sometimes just finding and clearing out one “clog” in the flow of action makes a huge difference for your business.
No tool-box (or plumber-butt) required.