Katy Ripp 00:00:00  Welcome back to actually I can. I’m Katy Ripp, your host, and today we’re diving into a topic that’s perfect for spring. How to give your business a good old fashioned spring cleaning. This episode is part of my new intention for April. Renew and refresh each month. If you remember, at the beginning of the year, we’re introducing a new intention to help us align our personal and business goals. And April is all about clearing out the clutter and making space for growth. I should be doing this in my house as well. We’re talking about what to keep, what to tweak, and what to let go. If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed with your business or just need a reset, this episode is totally for you. Hey there! Welcome to #ActuallyICan. This is the podcast where us female entrepreneurs are going to ditch the hustle culture, build value based aligned businesses, and finally charge what we’re worth. I’m Katy Ripp, a serial entrepreneur, business mentor, rule breaker, and your go to guide for building a profitable business on your own terms.

Katy Ripp 00:01:01  Around here, we do things differently. No hustle for hustle sake. No playing small and definitely no more. Following antiquated business rules that clearly were not made with midlife women in mind. Each week I am here to ask the hard questions, share the advice that’s actually worked for me, and bring on a guest or two who decided to say fuck it. Actually, I can do this my way. Expect bite size, high impact episodes ranging from about 25 to 45 minutes, packed with real strategies, mindset shifts, and rule breaking business insights. If you are tired of business feeling like an endless to do list and you’re ready to make more money without burning out and feeling guilty, you are absolutely in the right place. Let’s go. Before we jump in, let’s take a quick moment to acknowledge that spring cleaning isn’t necessarily just about dusting off the shelves. It’s about creating space for growth and renewal, which means letting go of something sometimes. So we’re going to apply that same mindset to our businesses today.

Katy Ripp 00:02:01  So grab your favorite spring beverage and let’s get into it. What to keep. Okay, first up let’s talk about what’s working in your business. Sometimes we get so caught up in what needs fixing that we forget to acknowledge what’s really going well. This segment is all about celebrating what’s working and doubling down on your strengths. One of the things I noticed in my own business, and as you may know, we own a coffee shop called Crossroads Coffee House, is that sometimes I overlook things that I’m actually really good at, like finding great people and putting them in the right roles. I’ve learned the hard way. And believe me when I say this the hard way, that day to day operations are really not my strong suit. Like realizing that you actually have to order milk every single week. I always felt like when I ordered milk, I was like, oh my God, I did such a good job. I ordered milk until I realized that I didn’t do it the next week, like milk at a coffee shop has to be ordered every single week if you didn’t know that.

Katy Ripp 00:02:56  And we go through like 50 to 60 gallons. So when you forget, it’s a real problem. But that is why it became clear that I needed to lean in to what I do best, and that is vision and leadership, and bring in support for the areas that are not my zone of genius like operations, like day to day operations. It’s just not my thing. So I made a super big decision this year. I promoted my existing manager to general manager, which came with a promotion which was great, and hired an additional assistant manager. And this is definitely new for me. This might sound like I was adding more leadership than necessary, but it was actually one of the best moves I’ve made so far. It’s allowed me to step out of the daily operations, which again, I’m not good at, and focus on the big picture vision for the coffee house. Plus, giving my team that autonomy made them more invested. Now they’ve got a little bit of ownership and control over how things are running day to day.

Katy Ripp 00:03:57  And over the past few years, we’ve actually personified crossroads. I’ve taken my own advice, and she’s got her own identity. She’s got a clear set of values. And then this way, even when I’m not there, the team knows how to make decisions that align with what crossroads stands for. This approach has been a total game changer because it’s allowed me to stop micromanaging, which I tend to do when I get my little fingers into everything and give my managers a trust and responsibility to handle things that I’m not good at. And when I’m not in the thick of it and micromanaging, they have more room to shine and bring their own ideas to the table. And remember, we’re not saving babies here. We’re serving coffee. And while I know that’s important work too, we don’t actually take ourselves that seriously. So I allow them to make mistakes. We can make mistakes and move on. We always learn from them. So by doubling down on what I’m good at, building a strong team and creating a vision, I’m able to be more present and creative without getting bogged down by the minutia.

Katy Ripp 00:04:57  It’s way better for me, Better for my managers and the baristas. And ultimately better for crossroads as a whole. Last year, I made a big decision by doubling down on what I’m good at, which is building a strong team and creating vision. I’m able to be more present and creative without getting bogged down by the minutia. I freed myself up to focus on the bigger picture of this business and the other businesses that I run, while also knowing that the daily operations are in more than capable hands. So if you got something like this on your plate, and I know outsourcing can be one of those things that when you go from a solopreneur to an entrepreneur, it is a big transition. But take a moment to think about your own strengths. What are you really good at? Maybe it’s building connections, or maybe it’s creating the content, or developing strategy, or bookkeeping, or all the things that we have to do. What are the things that you’re really good at? How can you double down on those strengths and put the right people or systems in place to support the rest.

Katy Ripp 00:05:59  Here’s a question for you. Are you spending time trying to fix weaknesses when you could be focusing on your strengths? And what would happen if you invested more in what you’re naturally good at, rather than trying to force something you know you’re not good at, but you keep trying to order milk anyway. Okay, so here’s a practical tip right now just write down if you’re not driving. Make a list of your top three strengths and brainstorm how you can expand in them, or delegate the tasks that don’t align with them. Sometimes investing in support is really the best way to amplify your impact. Okay, the next part of a spring cleaning is what to tweak or what to change. So let’s talk about the second part of our business spring cleaning, which is tweaking, not twerking tweaking. Sometimes a small change can make a huge difference. Tweaking is all about optimizing rather than overhauling. So let me give you an example of one of the stories of my business life. One of the biggest realizations I had last year when I was looking around and I realized, Holy shit, I have a lot of irons in the fire, which people tell me this all the time, but when I look at it and say, oh, I’ve got kind of a lot going on, that’s when we really know that there’s a problem.

Katy Ripp 00:07:11  At one point, I was writing my book, writing blog posts, doing social media. I was recording this podcast, and at the time I was doing all interviews. So scheduling people every single week was doing one on one coaching with 12 clients at the same time. I was trying to create a course. I was planning a retreat, I was writing my newsletter every single week, and then decided to add on another newsletter and then running a weekly collective of group coaching, which is our Female Founders collective, which, if you haven’t joined us, it’s free every Wednesday. It’s still going on. So I love me some good options, right? Like, I understand that I need a lot of stuff going on, but I realized that I was excelling at being a jack of all trades and really a master of none. It was just too many things going on at once, and I knew I needed to focus, but nearing stuff down isn’t really easy because I truly love doing all of the things I was doing, and I thrive when I’m creating pretty much anything.

Katy Ripp 00:08:08  I like to create anything. But I had to get mighty real about what truly aligns with my values and what makes the biggest impact. So in my own coaching practice, I decided to really focus on the things I love and value most, which really, to be honest, is writing the newsletter in my book. So the newsletter took priority because that means I get to share stuff with you every single week, and those are core to who I am. Then I also doubled down on the collectives creating and actually we Can community, which directly matches my value of connection and keeping the female founders collective. Plus, I pivoted the podcast to speak directly to you, the female entrepreneur, because that felt most aligned with what I was doing. I also realized that I needed help with systems and organization to make all of this work without burning out, because I was really on the edge of burnout. So that’s where Claire French came in. You met her last week on the podcast My Sweet ozone transplant and systems guru.

Katy Ripp 00:09:06  So I thrive when somebody tells me what to do. And Claire and channel my podcast producer, who is amazing. They are helping me organize my thoughts. Focus on what lights me up, really, and ultimately set me up to make the most money while enjoying my life. Which, by the way, that’s what we’re here to do. Make the most money while enjoying our lives. And has that been super easy? No. Shiny things are really hard for me to ignore, and it’s tempting to keep adding new projects. But I realized what I really love to do is create. So whether it’s content or creating communities or experiences, they actually we can. Collective has actually become a beautiful dumping ground for all my creative ideas, all my courses, my downloads, my tools, all the resources I’ve had over the years, the workshops, the collaborations with other small business owners. Everything. It’s really become the space to be multi passionate without feeling scattered. Plus all the members get all of that stuff for free and by just putting a few things on the back burner, which doesn’t mean that I’m never going to touch them again.

Katy Ripp 00:10:13  I’ve been able to focus better on giving more attention to the areas that really matter to me. And honestly, it’s been really refreshing to see the positive impact of that focus. So as someone who naturally takes on a lot and as a scanner personality and a multi passionate, the decision to really let go of some things or tweak some things and really make room for the things that light me up, gave me some serious breathing room, and it’s really allowed me to thrive in the areas that I chose to focus on. And this was a mindset shift for me. So tweaking doesn’t mean perfection. It doesn’t mean pivoting all together or making these major changes. It’s really about making minor adjustments that create more ease and efficiency. Think of it as fine tuning rather than reinventing the wheel. Here’s a little exercise for you. Pick one area of your business that’s working okay, but it feels like it could be more streamlined for a lot of people. This is social media, and we had an amazing live workshop in the community last week with Mariah from Rae’s agency, and she suggested really just scheduling 3 or 4 posts, even a month something.

Katy Ripp 00:11:23  So it gets on the calendar and you can do it, and it doesn’t feel like you’re always behind. What other small tweaks could you make? Maybe it’s updating your scheduling system, or finding a better way to track expenses in the month of April? Try to use a tweak tracker. Try to say that ten times in any kind of project management tool you have, or just on a notepad or in your phone or whatever you do. Make a note of the tweaks that you’ve implemented and monitor their impact over an entire month. Sometimes it takes time to see if a small change is actually making a difference. What to let go of. Letting go can be tough, I know. And especially when it’s something you’ve invested your time and money into. But holding on to things that no longer serve you can weigh your business down so heavy. So here’s my story of letting go. And I think a lot of you have probably heard this before. But just in case, this is the big one. My first real step into entrepreneurship was starting our specialty cut flower form, which was called Mad Lizzie’s Flower Farm, and it was named after my daughter, Madeline Elizabeth.

Katy Ripp 00:12:27  Elizabeth is a fourth generation name from my family, and we all were a little bit crazy. Madeline’s obviously her first name is Madeline. So mad Lizzie’s it became. I loved the idea of growing a business alongside a beautiful product like flowers. The first year was full of fun. I was laughing in the rain and sweating through tank tops, but totally loving it and getting up before the sun to harvest flowers. And it was hard work, but it was totally joyful. I think a lot of you can probably relate to that first year in business. But as the seasons progressed and the orders get bigger and I couldn’t say no, reality set in. I found myself crying over mason jars full of flowers. It was stressful and it was dirty and hot and cold and rainy and buggy and incredibly time consuming. And the sad truth was that I was barely breaking even. I loved the end product so much, but the amount of work it took to get there, it was slowly chipping away at my soul.

Katy Ripp 00:13:27  And so I had to give myself permission to close up shop. It was so hard. Letting go of that dream felt like admitting failure. I was terrified of being seen as a quitter, and I’m sure I was. But I knew deep down that no one should be crying into a mason jar full of flowers. Like that’s just against all things God intended. So letting go of mad Lizzies was one of the most difficult choices I’ve really made, but it was also one of the most freeing because once I let it go, So many more doors opened. Opportunities that I couldn’t have imagined while I was buried in flower arrangements and stress, I learned that it’s okay to let go when something no longer aligns, even if it’s something you loved at one point or something you spent thousands of dollars on. Just ask Dale. And sometimes releasing a dream that’s weighing you down makes space for something that truly lights you up. Now, do I occasionally take on a wedding, flower job, or harvest a bouquet of our thousands of peonies? Yes, I do.

Katy Ripp 00:14:26  But taking the business out of it saved it and brought back the joy for me. And letting go isn’t always about giving up on what you love. It’s really about finding a way to keep it in your life without it becoming a burden. I kept trying to revive it, thinking maybe I just needed to market it differently or sell more. But really, deep down I knew it was time to let it go. And as soon as I made that decision, I felt this huge sense of relief. It created a space for new ideas that actually aligned with my vision. Are you holding on to something because you’re afraid of knitting? It’s not working. Maybe it’s a product or service or even a mindset like I have to do everything myself. That’s the other thing. This could be a mindset that you have to let go of, not necessarily a business or a product or a service. It might just be a habit that you have or something that you have to let go of, that you’ve been holding on to for reasons that you don’t even know why anymore.

Katy Ripp 00:15:20  So do me a favor. List one thing that’s draining your energy or not bringing results that you keep trying to revive, you keep trying to breathe life into. And let’s make a plan to either delegate it, automate it, or completely let it go. Sometimes releasing something old is the best way to invite something new. If you’ve ever heard of the Eisenhower Matrix, this is a great foursquare quadrant that allows you to put tasks into separate boxes. There is a download if you are a member of the actually we can collective. You can go into the resource vault. It’s called the Eisenhower Matrix and you can download it right there. And when you are starting to let things go right down, y you’re letting it go. This way, if doubt creeps in later, you can revisit your reasons and remind yourself it was the right choice to let it go. Okay, there you have it. Spring cleaning for your business. Now, let’s put this into practice. Since our intention for April is to renew and refresh, I challenge you to pick one thing from each category keep it, tweak it, or let it go all together and take action on it this month.

Katy Ripp 00:16:24  Whether it’s doubling down on a strength or making a small adjustment to optimize your flow, or letting go of something that’s totally weighing you down and you can’t remember why you’re holding on to it. Just one intentional, inspirational action in each area can make a huge difference. And if you’re really looking for support and accountability, two places to come with us, head on over to the actually we can collective. You can go to Katy Ripp. There’s a seven day free trial for you. Also in the collective. This month we are running an April challenge where we’ll dive deeper into these concepts together. We’re going to share our progress and cheer each other on. You don’t have to do this alone. Remember, Renew and Refresh isn’t just about cleaning up, it’s about creating a lighter, more focused version of your business that truly aligns with who you are. So let’s embrace it together. Keep what’s working. Tweak what needs a little polish and let go of what’s weighing you down. Embracing this process can help you feel lighter and more focused and more aligned with your goals.

Katy Ripp 00:17:27  If you love this episode, please share it on social media and tag me with #ActuallyICan. I’d love to hear your takeaways. And if you’re craving more support with your business. Check out the Actually We Can Collective My community for women entrepreneurs who want to build abundant aligned businesses. Thanks for hanging out with me today. Remember, growth often comes from clearing space. Until next time. Well, that is a wrap on today’s episode, but the conversation doesn’t have to end here. If this episode resonated with you at all. Come hang out with us inside. Actually we can. This is my private community for midlife women entrepreneurs who are just done with the hustle and ready to build businesses that actually work for them. Inside, you’ll find support and strategy and a whole lot of real talk from women who get it. You can join us at Katy Ripp community. We can also stay connected on socials. You can follow me on Instagram @katyripp for behind the scenes extra insights and plenty of business wisdom.

Katy Ripp 00:18:24  But most importantly, make sure you follow the podcast so you never miss an episode. If you love today’s topic, please leave me a review and share it with another badass woman who needs to hear this. As always, thank you for being here. Now go do your thing and I’ll see you next time.