We sat down with venture catalyst and founder of Inspiration Space Liana Fricker for a meaty discussion on how to deal with and overcome a period of slow growth.

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As a founder herself, and by supporting hundreds of entrepreneurs through Inspiration Space, Liana has a wealth of experience of managing this challenge. Her philosophy is that businesses are organic, and it’s not always going to be an upwards trajectory. It’s unrealistic to think it should be, and perhaps a mindset we need to move away from in business?

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Check out the full conversation here, or read on to get the highlights:

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Focus on impact

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Liana challenges founders to really think about the impact they want to have. What are you working towards? What is your north star metric of success?

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Something Liana consciously asks herself is - what am I measuring? What is the metric for success in the business right now? This should always be the main focus. Revenue is important but it can be a distraction in the early days - especially if you have yet to achieve ‘product market fit.’ This can lead you to making decisions that don’t intrinsically drive value for your customers, making sales more challenging later on.

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Earlier this year, Liana pulled back on marketing at Inspiration Space, purposefully slowing growth, to regain a clear focus on driving results for their audience. Once she felt confident they were truly delivering impact, they ramped back up their efforts.

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This allowed Liana and her team to really think strategically about the impact they have, and put their seemingly overwhelming targets into a more realistic perspective, all with a greater sense of purpose at the helm.

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You can’t build on rocky foundations. So stay laser focused on what value you deliver, for who, and deliver it time and time again.

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Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable

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Growth slumps are a natural part of any business trajectory - as Liana says - it’s often three steps forward, two steps back! So don’t be afraid to speak to people around you and ask for their input. Asking for help isn’t a weakness.

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Speak to your customers, your peers and other industry experts. So much can come from having these open conversations.

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Liana explained that building in a silo is often counterproductive; you spend the whole time second guessing yourself, and ultimately stay within a similar thought pattern. The most you're likely to get from this is optimising old thinking. Seeking feedback and ideas from others can help expand your thinking, break-out of any bias, and help you think about things from a different perspective

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Stay focused on your long-term vision

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When you’re forced to act, and to respond to change in growth - don’t lose sight of your long-term vision. Remind yourself, what are you ultimately trying to achieve? Why are you doing this?

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Responding too much to the things happening around you, outside of your control, can cause you to doubt yourself and make irrational, ego-driven decisions. All of which means you lose focus on why you’re doing what you’re doing and can derail you even further.

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For Liana, having a clear strategy in place early on that mapped out how she was going to achieve her vision was a key asset here. Investing in this thinking early on means you have a clear plan to refer back to when things get tough, and reminds you of where you need to be focusing. Instead of making a gut decision to totally change tack, it’ll keep you on track and encourage you to focus on sharpening your execution.

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With a clear long-term goal, a focus on delivering value (with a clear way to measure success), and a willingness to be vulnerable and ask for help - short term setbacks should feel more manageable.

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Has this happened to you? I’d love to hear how you tackled it. Or if this is something you’re working through right now, let us know - we’re here to help!

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PS: If you want to ramp up your impact AND grow your revenue, sign-up for the next cohort of Inspiration Space's 'Low Carbon Accelerator.' By joining the Low Carbon Accelerator, this hands-on nine-week sprint will ensure you're prepared for changes in carbon emissions reporting, save money and stay competitive in the market. Starts 26th January.

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