Episode 3 | What is Your Business Lens? Why Should You Care?

Sophia Noreen: 0:00

Not everyone will want to expand their passion project or small business into a large enterprise. It is okay to keep your business as a side hustle, a passion project, or even a small mighty solopreneur gig.

Laura: 0:11

Welcome everyone here at Boss It. We would love to hear from you. Join us in our Boss It community, by heading over to our website Bossitclub.com and join our mailing list. As we grow, we will be launching our community of fellow Boss It BFFs, and we want you to be a part of it. Okay. Sophia Noreen. Let's dig into this. Are you ready?

Sophia Noreen: 0:31

Oh yeah. Welcome to the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen and I took an Etsy startup and launched it in big box retailers within 12 months. As a creative with an entrepreneurial drive, I left my full time career in healthcare to find better harmony between career, family and self care. We believe you can have it all. Yes, you can launch and run a successful scalable business while maintaining harmony in all aspects of your life. We believe we can learn from each other and draw on many experiences to create the best life possible. During each episode, we will share proven life hacks that will keep you on top and striving every day. There should be no hesitation. Make a plan. Take action. We are here for you.

Sophia Noeen: 1:17

Welcome to the Boss It Podcast. I am your host, Sophia Noreen. Today, we're going to talk about a very important topic, ..your business lens. We're going to speak about three different business lenses you need to have as a business owner. The first, the microscope view, the second, the panoramic view and the third, the long distance telescope. Let's get started. The microscope view, what is it? Okay guys. So the microscope view is where many people get stuck. I know that a detail oriented person needs to have 100% perfection before proceeding forward. And a lot of people will say in business that this is unhealthy and this is not the right quality to have, because you should always aim to have a minimal viable product. A minimal viable product or an MVP is a product or service that is almost there say about 80%. It still requires improvements. I do also believe that you must have some level of perspective to look into the details. So you need to have that microscope view this way. You're able to look for those improvements. If you do not take this perspective, to look at these details, then you will never know what improvements to make. As a creative or an entrepreneur or both it is very important to be able to go into details so you can analyze your systems, your processes, your service, and your product. This way, you can make improvements and create a well oiled machine called your business. By looking for improvements to make in your business- so take that microscope lens,- you will be improving your systems. You will be improving your processes and your service and your product and this will lead to less disruptions and your business will be become less reactionary and more proactive in its approach. You do not need to have a perfect product or service when first starting off. .You can run with your minimal viable product or your MVP. But you need to shift your perspective to the microscope lens when looking for improvements in your systems, processes, and products and services for the best outcomes. Okay. So the next one is the panoramic or wide angled perspective or a business lens. And as a business owner or an entrepreneur, you need to have this lens as well. Your business does not live in an isolated bubble. It is part of a social network within its own industry, but also within your life. One of the main reasons that Boss It Podcast emerge was because many business leaders would speak about navigating the new world of entrepreneurship without acknowledging that every business owner does in fact have a personal life. The hustle culture has overtook the dialogue for many. And this lifestyle may not be always right for you. I know as a mom and a healthcare professional, this is not healthy for you or your family. So the wide angle lens is vital when it comes to you, organizing your business systems and processes. You need to look at many areas of your life when deciding how to set up your business. Is it best for you to work part time while your business gains momentum? Or is it better to jump in with two feet? Do you need to hire a virtual assistant to help you out, so you can spend quality time with your family...instead of spending the whole Saturday, responding to email. This wide angle forces you to look at the present day and how your business fits into your current life situation. You can always use a panoramic view to see how your business fits into its industry as well. For example, when you are completing your market research and you are looking at the industry to see what your service or product should be priced at, this is the panoramic view. How do similar businesses communicate with their customer and client? What is their marketing strategy? Do they have social media accounts? What is their return policy or their money back guarantee? You will need to train your mind to take on this objective panoramic view, a wide angle view to understand the industry that you are in. Now, this could lead to comparisonitis, which we will be discussing in future episodes, but remember, you must be objective. And remember that this exercise is to become aware of the landscape of your industry. It is not intended to make you feel like your business is not meeting the mark. The third, and my favorite perspective is a long distance telescope. This perspective looks into the future. Where do you see your business going in the next few years? What do you want to accomplish? What are your long range goals? The long distance telescope perspective is a necessary requirement for any business owner. You need to know where you want to go in order to direct your current actions today. If you don't look towards the future and you continue to grind in the current date business with little or no foresight or planning for the future, your business will remain stagnant and will fail to expand. Now we should acknowledge that not every day, but he will want to expand their business. It is up to you to decide what you want your business to become. But the point is that you should be intentional and you need to be used your long distance telescope. This perspective is required to help you scale or maintain your business growth. Again, you must also use a long distance telescope to plan out your own personal growth and goals. For example, maybe you are still single and wished to marry with kids in the next 10 years. What will the business look like with respect to these life decisions. Or perhaps your kids will be grown in the next 10 years? Will, your business replays all the time that you're currently spending to raise a young family? Or perhaps raising kids and a family are not really a factor in your business decisions. Regardless, don't forget to look at your own personal growth and goals, family and personal when using your telescope perspective and lens. If you train your mind to look at these situations in business with these three different lenses, you will be less likely to miss opportunities and also be able to navigate any potential obstacles. You should train your mind to see situations from every angle. Most individuals will have one perspective that dominates. For me, my long distance telescope is dominant. I'm always living in the future dreaming of big plans and then forgetting about the details or missing the wide angle completely. While I'm aware of my shortcomings, I have trained my mind to slow down and take note of the details when required. I have also added team members to our growing business who dominate in the microscope or the panoramic lens. For you, what business lens dominates? Are you primarily one, a combination of two, or do you think you're pretty, even between all three? This is a great question, especially if you are new at running your own gig and need to be your own boss. Check out the quiz we have created for you. Go to bossitclub.com forward slash pages forward slash quiz to find out. We also have linked the URL in the show notes. Well, that's it for now guys? So let's quickly recap. We have three business lenses or three business perspectives. The first, the microscope view, the second, the panoramic view or the wide angle and the final one, the long distance telescope view. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode and I will talk to you again soon. Bye.

Sophia Noreen: 8:45

So my fellow bosses, did you enjoy that episode now? It's time for you to make a solid plan and take action. But first, remember to subscribe and follow the Boss It podcast. So you receive a notification whenever we drop an episode. Remember to leave us a review on iTunes. Take a screenshot of your review and shared on Instagram as a post or a story and tag us @BossItclub. If Instagram is not your thing, no worries. Email your screenshot to [email protected]. As a massive thank you. We will be sending you our top 50 tips for starting and scaling a business. This list is exclusively for podcast reviewers. So don't miss out. Now remember bosses, make a plan and take action in all aspects of your life. Yes, you can have it all.