How to Get Unstuck in Your Small Business

September 16, 2024

If you’re a business owner or feel responsible for a business (regardless of your actual job title), it’s not unusual to feel stuck. No, I’m not talking about the golden handcuff-kind-of-stuck where because of the cost of living, you can’t get off the work treadmill. I’m talking about feeling stuck from a mental perspective—completely uninspired.


Like the business version of writer’s block, when you’re stuck, you’re not feeling creative, and your business is paying the price for it. Yes, the simple answer to when you feel this way is to take some time off—a vacation or, if you’re able, a sabbatical.


But that’s simply not feasible for many of us.


So, what do you do to bring back that loving feeling? To feel the excitement you used to feel about your business? To see things from a new perspective again?


You must first recognize that there is a problem and then you need to shake things up.


6 Ways to Get Unstuck

These creative approaches to getting past business boredom may not all work for you. They’re not designed to. This isn’t a step-by-step list.


Consider how you might loosen a knob that’s stuck or a car that’s trapped in the mud or snow. You start off applying consistent pressure. When that doesn’t work, you shift to spurts of momentum and exaggerated force. And in the case of getting a car out of the muck, it’s often the rocking (the rhythmic application of force followed by a rest that creates rocking) that frees it.


Your mind (and outlook on your business) likely needs a little on/off switch, which can be accomplished by doing something different. If any of the following are part of your daily practice, skip over that idea or do it in a new way. Psychologists refer to this as Divergent Thinking.


1. Practice Mindfulness and Meditation 

Engaging in mindfulness practices can help you improve focus, reduce stress, and enhance decision-making abilities. Regular meditation fosters a clearer mindset, allowing for better management of daily challenges and long-term strategic planning. With less stress, you may feel invigorated again.


2. Engage in Cross-Disciplinary Learning 

Exploring subjects outside of one's industry can spark creativity and innovation. For instance, a tech entrepreneur might benefit from studying art or philosophy, which can provide fresh perspectives and inspire new ideas applicable to their business.


Cross-disciplinary learning isn’t hard, expensive, or time-consuming. Read a book, listen to an audiobook, subscribe to a newsletter in an area you know little about, join Blinkist to have access to thousands of book synopsis (like Clift Notes for adults), sit with an employee and ask them to teach you something—professional or about an interest they have. Learning something new can give you a fresh perspective.


Next, try to find correlations in the learning you’re doing. How do these seemingly random lessons fit into what you normally enjoy or pursue?


3. Seek Out Mentorship and Reverse Mentorship 

While traditional mentorship is valuable, reverse mentorship—where younger or less experienced individuals provide insights to seasoned professionals—can offer new viewpoints on emerging trends, technologies, or even language (ever try to have a casual conversation with a Gen Zer? They use a completely different dictionary). This reciprocal learning can enrich your understanding of your market and customer base.


Check with your chamber. They may have a mentorship program or might be able to match you with someone who can expand your understanding in a new area of interest. If you don’t have time to invest in a new mentor/mentee relationship, attend one of the Lunch & Learns in a subject you would never have thought of attending before.


Again, look for correlations between what you’ve learned and how you might use it in your business or life.


4. Participate in Community Service or Volunteering 

Engaging in community service can enhance leadership skills and empathy, which are crucial for effective management. It also allows you to build networks and understand community needs. If you don’t have an interest in a cause, talk to your chamber. They’d be glad to put you to work.


5. Use a Swipe File or mymind

Ever stumble across something that interests you, but you don’t have the time to pursue it? Well, that time is now. Take out whatever notes you’ve taken or swipe file you’ve kept and pursue something on your bucket list. If you don’t have a swipe file or bucket list, create one and start adding to it.


I use mymind because it keeps a beautiful visual representation of books I’m interested in, website articles I want to read, movies I want to watch, etc. Prior to the app, I was using my notes function on my phone but it’s harder for me to find the snippets I wanted to save on there. (My notes are extensive so I needed a better solution.)


If you’re always finding articles on the web that you don’t have time to read, try Pocket to save them for later. Pocket will also make suggestions on content to check out based on your interests.


6. Experiment with Personal Projects 

Undertaking personal projects unrelated to your business can foster creativity and innovation. These projects allow for risk-taking in a low-stakes environment, encouraging problem-solving and adaptability that can translate back into the business realm. They can also reduce stress, help you meet new people, and teach you the value of patience. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even uncover a new love or revenue stream!



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Christina Metcalf is a writer/ghostwriter who believes in the power of story. She works with small businesses, chambers of commerce, and business professionals who want to make an impression and grow a loyal customer/member base. She loves road trips, hates exclamation points, and is always taking notes on interesting tidbits.

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Medium: @christinametcalf

Facebook: @tellyourstorygetemtalking

Instagram: @christinametcalfauthor

LinkedIn: @christinagsmith

June 9, 2025
The year's midpoint is your wake-up call—refocus now to finish strong. Scrutinize your numbers to find what’s working (and what’s not). Reboot your marketing before seasonal shifts hit. Remove workflow roadblocks to boost team output. Reconnect with your business’s core purpose. 597 Words ~ 3 minute read The midpoint of the year often hits like a reality check: goals half-met, momentum lagging, and a to-do list that keeps growing. But this moment is also a strategic gift: a reset button that can set you up for a stronger, smarter second half. Here are five high-impact moves to help you reset with intention and finish the year with confidence: 1. Run the Numbers, Then Rewrite the Playbook Take a hard look at your financials. Are you ahead, behind, or coasting? Scrutinize revenue trends, margins, and expenses. Identify what’s draining resources and double down on what’s driving growth. Use the insights to reshape your financial strategy for the next six months, because winging it isn’t a plan. 2. Reboot Your Marketing Before the Fall Rush If your marketing has lost steam, this is your window to revive it. Launch a seasonal promotion, refine your messaging, or test new channels to re-engage your audience. And don’t wait to prep for fall. Holiday planning starts now. Review your content calendar, track past performance, and align campaigns with your business goals. 3. Clear the Roadblocks Slowing Your Team Small inefficiencies become big headaches by year’s end. What processes are wasting time? Where’s the communication breaking down? Invite your team to flag friction points and co-create solutions. Even modest upgrades, such as automating reports, streamlining meetings and clarifying roles, can drive major gains. Harvard Business Review explores how better collaboration fuels better outcomes. 4. Recalibrate Your Goals and Reset Priorities It’s okay if the goals you set in January don’t fit anymore. Priorities evolve. What matters is focus. Reassess your KPIs and trim anything that’s distracting from your top objectives. Reset your team’s focus around fewer, clearer targets so execution becomes simpler and more powerful. 5. Reconnect with Your Why Amid the grind, your original mission can get blurry. Take a step back to reflect: Why did you start this business? Who do you serve, and how do you want to show up for them? Realigning with your purpose energizes your leadership and clarifies your brand. Fast Company outlines how reconnecting to your “why” boosts both engagement and performance. Bottom Line: A mid-year reset isn’t just a productivity hack, it’s a strategic imperative. It gives you space to pause, zoom out, and ask the critical questions that get lost in day-to-day urgency. By evaluating your numbers, refreshing your marketing, streamlining operations, focusing your goals, and reigniting your purpose, you give your business the fuel it needs to finish the year not just intact, but thriving. This isn’t about doing more; it’s about doing what matters most with greater clarity, consistency, and conviction. --- The Leavenworth-Lansing Area Chamber of Commerce is a private non-profit organization that aims to support the growth and development of local businesses and our regional economy. We strive to create content that not only educates but also fosters a sense of connection and collaboration among our readers. Join us as we explore topics such as economic development, networking opportunities, upcoming events, and success stories from our vibrant community. Our resources provide insights, advice, and news that are relevant to business owners, entrepreneurs, and community members alike. The Chamber has been granted license to publish this content provided by Chamber Today, a service of ChamberThink Strategies LLC.
June 9, 2025
Who isn’t feeling the pain of being stretched too thin these days? If you’ve dabbled with AI, you may have cut the time it takes you to do administrative tasks by as much as 26 minutes a day (at least according to a recent survey in the UK). However, it’s possible to do a lot more than that when you move past administrative tasks and see where else you can do more with less. One of these areas is content. Most businesses are sitting on goldmines of content and don’t even know it. This article will show you five genius ways to get more out of what you already have by repurposing and restructuring the media. 1. Turn Longform Content into Shortform Gold Feed your existing blog posts, eBooks, or newsletters into an AI tool to extract highlights, tips, or quotes for social media posts. Creative twist: Use AI to rewrite the same message in multiple tones—professional, humorous, casual—or tailor it for different platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, or Facebook. 2. Transform Video or Podcast Transcripts into Written Content AI transcription tools can convert spoken content into text. Use a language model to turn that transcript into blog posts, newsletters, or Q&A articles. Creative twist: Convert a video transcript into a “Top 5 Takeaways” post, a tutorial, or a visually rich infographic with AI-generated headlines. 3. Create Content for Different Audiences from One Source Take a general piece of content (like a blog post) and ask AI to adapt it for different member personas such as new members, loyal/engaged members, or industry partners. Creative twist: Turn one blog post into: · A beginner’s guide on the topic · A technical breakdown · A “pitch” version for partners or press releases 4. Build an Email Series from a Single Piece Take a detailed guide or blog post and ask AI to break it into a 3–5-part email series, complete with subject lines, CTAs, and value-focused messaging. Email series can be very effective in helping your content get noticed. People may not take the time to read a 700-word blog post, but if you email the summary points across several days, they’ll get the gist of the message and will most likely remember it better than reading it all at once. Creative twist: Include AI-generated teaser lines or questions at the end of each email to boost open and click rates. 5. Reimagine Content as Interactive Tools or Experiences Use AI to turn tips, FAQs, or how-to guides into interactive quizzes, calculators, or chatbot scripts that educate and engage users. Example: Turn a skincare routine blog into a “What’s Your Skin Type?” quiz, or a business checklist into a “Startup Readiness Scorecard.” The titles you choose for the materials can make the content a lot more appealing. You can even use reimagined, designed pieces as lead magnets. People often won’t recognize it in another format. Speaking of, upload any written content onto NotebookLM and create a podcast on the topic. You can even tell it which parts of the text you want it to pay attention to or avoid. There are so many things you can do with existing content and marketing collateral you already have. If you can’t think of any creative ideas on how to repurpose those critical pieces, ask AI. Tell it your audience and your goal behind repurposing the content. Then ask it to suggest some ideas to you. You’ll be surprised what it comes up with. ------------- Christina Metcalf is a writer and women’s speaker who believes in the power of story. She works with small businesses, chambers of commerce, and business professionals who want to make an impression and grow a loyal customer/member base. She is the author of The Glinda Principle , rediscovering the magic within. _______________________________________ Facebook: @tellyourstorygetemtalking Instagram: @christinametcalfauthor LinkedIn: @christinagsmith
June 2, 2025
Pause to Stabilize: Cut costs and renegotiate to create breathing room. Pivot, Don’t Panic: Explore new markets or customer segments while staying agile. Learn Fast or Fall Behind: Turn setbacks into insights through rapid experimentation. Guard the Downside: Hedge risks and protect what matters most. 600 words ~ 3 min. read Even seasoned leaders know the sting of a strategy that’s no longer working. But the real measure of leadership isn’t avoiding failure—it’s how decisively and creatively you pivot when the path ahead shifts. When strategic plans falter—whether due to market turbulence, internal missteps, or external shocks—leaders must act not with panic, but with precision. Drawing from Harvard Business Review’s “How to Rescue a Failing Strategy,” here are four pivotal moves to help regain strategic traction. 1. Pause to Stabilize If your strategy is wobbling, the first priority is to buy time without triggering chaos. Consider: Reducing burn rate by cutting non-essential expenses Freezing expansion plans that strain resources Renegotiating contracts or vendor terms to ease cash flow Retailers, for instance, might pause new store openings to refocus on e-commerce logistics. Nonprofits may temporarily halt new program rollouts to concentrate on core impact areas. This strategic pause buys clarity—and the space to think critically. 2. Pivot, Don’t Panic Locking into one approach can be dangerous when conditions change. Instead, design options: Enter adjacent customer segments Test low-risk partnerships or distribution channels Pilot tweaks to product offerings or delivery models For manufacturers, this might mean adapting existing equipment to serve a neighboring industry. Professional services firms could pivot to virtual delivery or a subscription-based model. Related reading: McKinsey on adaptive strategies 3. Learn Fast or Fall Behind Use turbulence as a catalyst to turn your organization into a fast learner. That means: Running controlled experiments on pricing, offers, or ops Creating real-time feedback loops from customers and staff Making strategic reviews more iterative, less static Construction firms might beta-test prefab components for speed and cost. Tech startups could A/B test UX changes weekly. Also worth reading: Bain on learning organizations 4. Guard the Downside Pivots come with risk. Your job? Minimize exposure while staying bold. Cap investments in unproven ideas Increase controls around key financial or operational processes Develop contingency plans for likely risk scenarios Think of this as smart aggression—pushing forward without leaving your core vulnerable. Bottom Line Every organization will face moments when strategy falters. The difference lies in the response. Leaders who act with focus—stabilizing, experimenting, and protecting—don’t just recover; they reposition for smarter, stronger growth. --- The Leavenworth-Lansing Area Chamber of Commerce is a private non-profit organization that aims to support the growth and development of local businesses and our regional economy. We strive to create content that not only educates but also fosters a sense of connection and collaboration among our readers. Join us as we explore topics such as economic development, networking opportunities, upcoming events, and success stories from our vibrant community. Our resources provide insights, advice, and news that are relevant to business owners, entrepreneurs, and community members alike. The Chamber has been granted license to publish this content provided by Chamber Today, a service of ChamberThink Strategies LLC.