How to Build a Successful Business Within Your Comfort Zone

If you’ve been wanting to start your own business but for some reason haven’t gotten it off the ground, you may learn something about yourself today. And hopefully, it’ll give you the push you need to become a business owner. 

If we surveyed would-be business owners on why they haven’t taken the plunge into entrepreneurship, even though they have considerable interest in doing so, it’s doubtful that anyone would say “because it’s outside my comfort zone.”

After hundreds of hours of conversations and mentoring with budding entrepreneurs, however, at Kids Party Characters we’ve discovered that one of the big excuses people have for dragging their feet on their dream to work from home in their own business comes down to the fact that it’s out of their comfort zone.

So, even if you think this doesn’t apply to you, read on to discover if the comfort zone factor might actually be that one thing that’s standing between you and your dream of being home with your kids, of having a business of your own, of easing your financial burdens.

What Is Your Comfort Zone?

You may be familiar with what your “comfort zone” is, but let’s talk about it for a minute to make sure we’re all on the same page. 

Our comfort zone is where most of us live. We are creatures of habit, we thrive on routine, and we like to feel “comfortable.” 

So everything we do, where we do it, and how we do it depends on what feels comfortable to us. 

Naturally, different people have different comfort zones. Some people skydive, others won’t even take a one hour plane ride if they’re fastened in their seat belt the entire time.

Some people are leaders who address a large team of people on a daily basis. Others break out in hives at the thought of giving a presentation to a room of two people. 

Take a minute and think about where your comfort zone lies. What do you do every day and what about it makes you feel good? 

As you’re thinking about that, notice if some things pop into your mind that you’d like to do, but don’t or haven’t, for whatever reason. We’ll come back to that in a minute.

Why Conventional Advice About Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone Doesn’t Work

The picture at the top reflects conventional advice about the effect of living within your comfort zone. If you want to grow as a person, you have to step out of your comfort zone.

Or as others put it, the magic happens outside your comfort zone.

The problem with this advice is what it’s telling you is that if you want to do bigger and better things in life, you’re going to have to live outside your comfort zone.

And really, who wants to do that?

Sure, big scary risks and opportunities can lead to great payoffs sometimes, but I think most of us would agree that there are a lot of “bigger and better” opportunities in life that we’d give up if it meant we got to live a comfortable life.

Even if you're okay with living outside your comfort zone, truth is, it's an impossible existence to maintain.

I like this analogy that I learned from Dan Kennedy, one of my favorite mentors, when he was speaking on a similar topic. If you put a rubber band around your wrist and stretch it out, it's always going to snap back into its original form when you let go. 

Your comfort zone is just like that rubber band. You may be willing to stretch it if you think it means good results will follow, but living outside your comfort zone is as practical as walking through life holding an outstretched rubber band.

The good news is, you can expand your comfort zone to include everything you'll need to build a successful business. 

Whether it's financial concerns, technical phobias, or a lack of confidence in your expertise, chances are that what's holding you back from starting your business can be resolved by learning to expand your comfort zone. (In fact, this applies to anything that popped into your mind a minute ago that you'd like to do but aren't doing!)

3 Steps to Expanding Your Comfort Zone

Think of your comfort zone (which lies within your brain) as a muscle. If you want to be able to touch your toes, you'll need to work on making the group of muscles known as your hamstrings flexible enough to do so. 

If you want to expand your comfort zone, you'll need to work on the flexibility of the parts of your brain that are responsible for whatever limitations exist in your comfort zone. 

Both gaining the flexibility to touch your toes and to expand your comfort zone are accomplished the same way.

1. Start Small

The goal of being able to touch your toes is an example of starting small if you've decided you want to become a world class gymnast. 

You wouldn't dream of hopping onto the gymnastics mat and falling into the splits on your first day if you couldn't yet touch your toes.

Same goes with your business. If you're intimidated by all the technical aspects of getting your online business up and running, you wouldn't start with trying to master Infusionsoft, which is one of the most complex customer relationship management systems available. 

Instead, you'd start with a simpler system that allows anyone who can type to easily send an email to hundreds or thousands of people with a few clicks of the mouse.

2. Practice Consistently

If your first attempt at touching your toes leaves your hands dangling six inches from the floor, you wouldn't wake up tomorrow expecting to lay your palms flat on the floor.

Instead, you'd practice each day, and you'd notice that before too long, your hands were only three inches from the floor.

Expanding your comfort zone requires consistent practice too. If you stretch that rubber band enough times, it will become looser than its original shape.

Even if you start with a simple customer relationship management system, it's still going to take you forever at first to draft an email and send it out to your chosen audience.

But if you'll do it every day, within a week or two, you'll be navigating that simple system with your eyes closed. That big scary technical piece of your business will suddenly be as comfortable to use as Facebook or Instagram is for you now.

3. Hire a Trainer

When it comes to your physical fitness, there’s a reason the personal training business is full of opportunities. For most people, one-on-one instruction and accountability is essential to achieving celebrity-like results.

The fitness of your mind is no different. 

If you’ll hire someone to help you stretch your comfort zone, it will become more flexible than you can currently imagine. 

Don’t discount this or feel discouraged if hiring someone simply isn’t in your budget right now. You can always partner up with someone else who’s on a mission to stretch their comfort zone and offer each other consistent input and support.

Facebook groups are a great place to find like-minded people, but go to wherever you’re connected with others on social media, put up a post detailing what your mission is, and invite people to join you. 

It might end up that one person is a good fit, or you might end up with a mastermind of up to 6 people. Just be careful not to partner with any and everyone. Lots of people talk a good game, few are committed.

And if you’re really serious about getting out of your own way and stepping into your greatness with a new business, check out the amazing opportunity Kids Party Characters owner Cheryl Jacobs has created.

With moms in mind, Cheryl’s considered what busy lives we lead and how steep the learning curve to business ownership can be, and has virtually eliminated those obstacles by offering membership in Kids Party Characters.

Membership includes your own business with an exclusive territory in which to book parties, as well as access to all of the tools Cheryl’s used to make Kids Party Characters a six-figure business.

You’ll also get step-by-step training from Cheryl on how to start your business and get into profit sooner rather than later. If this might be the right opportunity for you, schedule a free, no-pressure chat with Cheryl here to get all your questions answered and get on the road to becoming a successful business owner.

Also, be sure to stay connected with Kids Party Characters on Facebook where you can see how rewarding it is to be a Kids Party Characters business owner, and you can keep up with all our best strategies for working at home while raising happy and healthy kids.