The best way to identify your Next Vital Need is to take the assessment, but if you’re wondering what that even means then read on!
You’ve been in business a while but there always seems to be an urgent task that needs to be done. And every time something comes up, it derails you. This just might be what you need to fix next in your business.
Everything in business feels like a priority, especially when you have team members, customers, equipment, marketing, and so much more pulling you in different directions. But the reality is that there’s a hierarchy to where you need to focus your energy.
It’s up to you to determine where you are and how to proceed.
We’ve talked before about your business hierarchy of needs, but let’s look at a quick rundown:
- Sales – You need to create cash to call what you do a business.
- Profit – Making more than you’re spending creates stability.
- Order – An efficient business runs more smoothly.
- Impact – Make a difference in the world.
- Legacy – Create permanence with your business and your ideas.
Logic tells you that you can’t possibly work on all these very important parts of your business at once. Trying to do this, as many business owners often do, will dilute your time, energy, and focus, and you won’t fix anything very well.
At the same time, your business will break down at the weakest link, the need that is in most need of help. This is what we call your Vital Need. And once you identify it, you can throw all your energy into fixing it so you can move on to fixing your next Vital Need. (It never stops, but thankfully it does get easier.)
So how do you identify your Vital Need? Using Mike Michalowicz’s Fix This Next system.
Identify
Take a look at the Business Hierarchy of Needs. Is your business meeting your sales needs? Your profit needs? Check off which needs you’re adequately meeting.
Pinpoint
What’s your lowest level unchecked core need? For example, if you checked order and sales but not profit, then profit is your core need right now.
Fulfill
Now that you know that your core need is profit, identify solutions to that need. Brainstorm a list of how you can increase profit and then implement them. (Of course, we recommend adding Profit First to that list.) As a side note, increasing sales should likely not be on your list of solutions in this example because it’s not your core need.
Repeat
Once you’ve implemented your solutions to your core need, your core need will change. So you repeat this process as you uplevel your business.
Once you’ve reached Impact and Legacy, chances are you may find that your weak link is Sales or Order again. This simply means that you’ve grown and scaled to another level, causing something to break at a more foundational level. Don’t be discouraged; celebrate that you’re growing!
Sometimes going through this process alone is a challenge. We have a tool that can help you determine your next vital need or core need, and we offer coaching to walk you through the process of Fix(ing) This Next.