Once Upon a TIme

Once upon a time, many years ago, there lived a girl who loved the world of business. She worked from the age of 12 to build a business for herself with all kinds of ideas from crafts, to office admin, and even to becoming an executive suites owner. Over the years people started to rely on her and she hired employees as well as bigger and more expensive offices and the "TOYS" that went along with all that. Her biggest shared view was that no matter what you do, you've got to have FUN doing it.


Along the way somewhere, however, she realized that she herself was no longer having fun, and decided that she needed to rethink what she was doing. She knew that in order to do what she was meant to do (help others) that she needed to first figure out how to help herself, and then, most importantly, what it was that others wanted from her.

She searched for a mentor, a group to be part of, and she found the perfect one...even though it met EARLY in the morning, and more than an hour away from where she lived. She knew that they would help her to find her spot in the world, and so she started moving in that direction.

After she had been part of that group for a while, her soul started to sing again with passion for what she was doing, and she began to focus on how helping herself was going to help others. She created meetings for people that let them listen (and share) with other like-minded individuals who had boots on the ground and were trying to build their businesses. Her Entrepreneurial Forums brought ideas like Customer Service, and Using Social Media, as well as Marketing Fears and How to Push Past It to the forefront, so that everyone would be able to take a message back with them to their own homes and offices, saying "Wow. This is going to help me NOW".

From the Forums came other advancements. The Peer Advisory Boards sprang into existence. Heavy questions like "What is our mission?" and "Who is our Ideal Customer and why do we need to know?" made heads hurt as people struggled with those answers, only later to realize that it actually made business much easier. People lined up to see just what the next question would be.

Then, after 9 months of joy and pain, exhaustion and exhilaration, came the birth of this girl's own dreams for her business and her success. Along the way she had come to realize that God had asked her to do this...He wanted her to be there to support those around her (although she had been in business now for over 35 years, she had never had the support and training of others, and this was her calling to do that so that new businesses wouldn't struggle so much). By helping those others, she was, indeed, helping herself. And finally, the culmination of that gift was a national magazine, Small Biz Forward, that provided answers, ideas, values, information about other businesses, all in a format that allowed for people throughout the country and world, to read and put into use immediately things that would help them grow their businesses without taking years and thousands of dollars. It was her dream and her goal come true.

I'm sure you have one (or two) as well. What are you going to do to create your own Happily Ever After?

Our Journey Begins

For over 35 years I’ve worked my business. Sometimes I’ve had great success, and others – not so much. I’ve asked questions like “how should I do this”, or “does anyone know what’s the best to do …” but it was often like shouting into the forest. Could anyone else hear me? Not usually. So, then I would sit down at the computer, or go to the library and start digging into the whys and how fors of creating something beneficial for me and for my business.

 Even those of us in business for many years (and those with college degrees in business administration, etc.) can use the support of others who have similar goals and dreams. It’s nice to have a group of people who you know, like and trust, where you can brainstorm and share ideas, resources, advice and even partner on projects. That’s the beauty of mastermind groups. They bring together a small group of like-minded businesses (these can either be in similar professions or not) who are ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work, focused on achieving and doing great things.

Entrepreneurship can get lonely and tough, but with the connections that are formed in these groups, business gets done, relationships formed, MONEY made and SUCCESS happens.

Do you have a big vision for your home-based or small business but are hitting roadblocks? Do you really understand what you provide to the customer? It’s all about the value, not the product. Who are your potential customers? Is everyone in the world a potential client? What are your goals? Are they reasonable, timely, doable?

These are all questions that NEED to be answered in order to truly grow your business. The first thing you have to know, is WHAT is your idea of success? Where do you see yourself in five years? Are you comfortable being a hobby business or do you REALLY want to grow and prosper. The definition of being in business is “a sustainable income”. Are you there? Do you want to be there?

The Business Success Unlimited Peer Advisory Board helps you to realize what you are and where you want to be in your business. This three month program will give you the tools you need to more fully understand where you are, where you want to be and how to get you there.

Agenda

Our first meeting will look at creating a SIMPLIFIED business plan. You probably don’t need a FULL business plan that will go into the files as something to be dusted off when you need lines of credit, etc. Instead, you probably are asking yourself questions like “How am I going to find customers,” or “What is it exactly that I do anyway, and can I tell someone else so that they understand?” This is designed to help you answer those and other questions so that you can immediately get to work making your business the best that it can be.

 Next, we will focus on creating at least a couple of SMART goals that can be put to work IMMEDIATELY. Goals are created to help you focus on accomplishing something and giving yourself a time to do it within. This is important for the forward movement of you and your business.

Our third meeting will take info from the first two missions to create something called a LEAN Canvas where we will more fully develop our unique value proposition and what it is EXACTLY that we sell. If you can’t define it so that others understand it and want it, you’re really not going to be able to make a successful business out of your endeavors. This takes two weeks.

Then, once we understand what we want from our businesses, and who we want to have as customers, then we can look further into developing that target market. Is anyone on the planet a potential customer? Of course not. It has been proven again and again, that when you work with those that WANT what you have to offer, and that are excited to be working with YOU, then your universe opens and you have found your ideal client. But it takes work to decide exactly who that person or business might be. This will be our focus on Week Five.

Our six and final week for this first program is a lessons learned and conclusions drawn week. We will go over everything learned so far and will revisit with questions, concerns, successes – all of the above. There’s lots to do in this program and we need to be determined to follow through. It’s not for those that are simply curious. But if you TRULY want to grow your business and are willing to put in the effort to do it, this workshop is guaranteed to move you ahead!

And then – STAY TUNED for the next session when we focus on all things Marketing.

Be Your Own Boss

With the economy the way it is these days (yes, I know it’s supposed to be getting better, but …), many people have found themselves needing to find extra income to support themselves and their families. People have lost their jobs, have taken a cut in pay, have found themselves in foreclosure and much more. They are desperate to find ways of generating income. So, what do they do? They turn to what they know best and open their own businesses. 

I repeat, they do what they do best and open their own businesses. However, I’m betting what they know best is NOT how to run a business, but how to make the widget, or balance the checkbook, or cook a wonderful meal. Yet, sadly, this is not the stuff a business is made of. What a business is made of is marketing, advertising, customer service, branding, finance, employee management, and so on and so forth. Making that widget is great, but it’s not going to get people in the door buying. There’s a whole other world out there that needs to be considered before you open your door. The factors which are involved in starting and running a business are multi-faceted; but the number one question that comes to mind is “Can I deliver?” 

It’s not only about the ability to run a business, though. Something I’ve seen a lot of lately is a belief that when you go into business for yourself, you become the “boss”. You set the hours – there’ll be lots of free time, you only answer to yourself – no more bosses yelling at you to get things done, or watching over your shoulder to see that you do it right. You can set your own pay check, giving yourself a raise. But, I’m sorry to say, that’s just not the case. Many entrepreneurs have never worked so hard in their lives. They are up at the crack of dawn and fall in bed in the deep, dark hours of the night. Unlike an employee where you work a certain number of hours and at the end of a set time period get a paycheck, small business people work and work and work and pray and hope to get a financial reward SOMETIME in the FUTURE. A person who starts his or her own business needs to be aware that they are going to work very, very hard without seeing any sort of income for quite awhile. 

I often run into people who, once they’ve started that business, think that if they open the doors, others will come. Recently, I moved my business into a great new space, full of potential. I was so excited and just KNEW that it would soon be filled with small business people, excited about creating new ideas and energies. But, so far, I’ve only had a handful of visitors, with promises of more to come down the pike. It takes time to build a reputation, to create a bond with your potential customers, and to show them they need what it is you’re offering.

A friend of mine, who is quite a successful small business person, was talking with me the other day and I asked her how she had gotten to that space. She sells a product/service in the technology field and it is definitely one of those areas that people are reluctant to buy until they know you. She told me that for the first year she never focused on her sales. Instead, she spent her time writing blog posts, and newspaper articles, press releases and showing up in chat groups on Facebook and LinkedIn – she was showing herself as the specialist that she is. She didn’t make a dollar that first year (well, not in any grand sense of the word). But, after people started to recognize her name and think of her as someone who they could trust and rely on to provide them with proper technology, she started gaining supporters/followers and now she has a very successful enterprise.

What I’m getting at here folks, is that if you want a business, not just a hobby, you have to work at it – with patience and determination. Don’t think that a 9 to 5 job is where it’s at. Go to networking meetings, get out there and talk with others in your area, put off that lunch with your best friend (or yes, even think twice about a family outing, at least this time). Realize that you should probably check out the local business Meetups or referral groups. Don’t think that you know everything there is to know about running a business: there’s always some new or different way to think about things, or run business projects. Get involved in the community. Plan for lots of HARD WORK and then, maybe, just maybe, down the road, you’ll have a successful business like my friend.