Before you take action and start your business, set up your processes and begin marketing your offers, you must first observe yourself and your target market. This is very similar to how permaculture approaches designing a landscape. You observe the resources and skills you have available, any unmet needs, and possible improvements. Only after assessing the current situation can you start designing the system with confidence.
Self-observation
One of the most important things you can observe is yourself, your own nature. In permaculture terms, this is called Zone 0. Begin by asking yourself questions like these:
- What are your characteristics and skills?
- Which tasks or activities do you enjoy doing the most?
- What do people turn to you for?
- How do you express yourself best? In writing? In pictures? Talking face to face? Speaking to a large audience?
- What do you have experience in?
- What do you need help with?
- Is there something you feel you must do but absolutely hate it?
- What makes you feel insecure?
- What triggers your impostor syndrome? (Don’t be ashamed, we all have it from time to time!)
- Are there any cycles you need to be aware of?
- When are you most productive during the day?
- Which day is the highlight of your week?
- Do you have a favourite season, when everything seems way easier?
Look for patterns. It’s important not to judge what you observe, just to uncover the truth. Notice I used the word “characteristics” in the first question, not “strengths and weaknesses”. One reason for that is considering them more objectively. The other reason is that they’re often opposite sides of the same coin. Or, to borrow a phrase from permaculture: pollution is an unused resource.
Your Personality
Self awareness is a life long journey, and there are many ways you can approach it: journal, ask your friends and family members how they see you, read and reflect on personal development books etc. Personally, I enjoy taking complex personality tests or even just quick quizzes that highlight a certain aspect of who I am. They all form part of the large puzzle that is my uniqueness. The good ones also provide practical tips on what I can do with the newly discovered information.
The first time I thought about supporting other people’s businesses as a freelancer was at an interpreting job. At university, we were taught strict guidelines defining professional interpreting. One of them is impartiality. While I agree that an interpreter at a conference or in the courtroom should only echo the speakers, a small business or a private person with an administrative issue might be grateful for someone who’s not only breaking down the language barrier, but also committed to getting the task done. It took me quite a long time before I acted upon the niche I found, but I’m glad I finally did.
Your Values
Is your business life aligned with your values? If not, how large is the gap? What can you do to bridge it?
Your Clients
Who are your clients? Do they fit your idea of a dream client? If not, what are the differences? Is it the field they work in? Or their working style? Perhaps their personality?
Your Business Processes
Before entering your processes into an automated workflow, consider not only what you’re usually doing, but also the reasons for doing each step, and what outcomes you expect. Creating automations is a great opportunity to simplify your processes and declutter the tools you’re using. How much time and energy do these steps require, both on your side and your client’s? What’s the benefit for you? For your client? Is it a necessary step or just nice to have? Does it need to be a separate step or can it be merged with the previous/following one?
Do you know how much time you spend on different tasks? You might not be charging an hourly rate, but your own time is still limited. Use it wisely. Tracking your time, at least for a short period of time, can be highly beneficial. Also consider what do you need to do yourself/manually and what can you outsource/automate. Is there anything that you’re doing twice, in different tools? It might be time to integrate them.
This is the time to uncover and address typical issues. Don’t wait till they’re gradually worsening the situation! Just like in nature, it’s way easier to prevent problems (e.g. soil erosion) than to deal with the consequences further down the line.
What’s working for you and what isn’t? What do your clients say? How can you get better feedback from them? What do you need to change in order to serve your clients better? Join the conversation on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn.
This post is a part of a series about applying the 12 permaculture principles to our businesses. I’m writing this as much for myself as for other entrepreneurs, hoping we can all gain valuable insight from a different perspective.