The building of America — oops, our businesses

I’ve been watching a History Channel series recently called “The Men Who Built America.” It’s been a very interesting series so far. The first season was all about the Industrial Revolution in this country and looked at Paul like Henry Ford and other industrialists of early 20th century. This season it’s about the men of the frontier. So far, the only person the show has talked about was Daniel Boone. It also, however, talked about the beginning stages of the Revolutionary War and why the colonists were so determined to become their own country.

The overwhelming message that came through time and time again was how purposefully these men and women worked to get the life that they dreamed of having. Life was certainly difficult back then. Often it was literally life or death. In Daniel Boone’s case he faced starvation, Indian capture, the burning of his home, and much more. Yet, he did not say “Oh the heck with it, I’m going back east.” Instead, he became more determined than ever to build a life for himself, his family, and the many others who followed him west.

Without him, and all the many others who followed, we would today be living very different lives. Our lives as we know them now, while being filled with sometimes difficult, sometimes pleasurable situations, is certainly a much different world than back in the 1700s. All I can do is shake my head when thinking about how lucky I really have it and everyone around me too.

All this got me thinking about running my business and how many of us deal with running business in general these days. I know for myself that I really want to succeed, and that I’m willing to do a lot to make that happen. But given the circumstances faced by Daniel Boone (or any of the men featured in the segments on the Industrial Revolution) I’m not sure I would say it was worth it.

And therein lies a problem that I see with many small business owners today. Sure, we want to have successful businesses, but are we willing to put in the hard work and energy that it takes to get there? When asked why someone wants to start their own business often the answer is: 1) to be the boss of my own time, 2) do the things I like to do, 3) make as much money as I want, etc. all sounds good yes? Those are all things I wanted to do when I started my business too.

I truly believe that it is of utmost importance for us to have goals and next steps to accomplishing those goals. There needs to be timelines, and accountability, to move ourselves forward. I just don’t often see the drive to accomplish things the way they did historically. Even a simple task like making a loaf of bread was difficult back then. Today, go to the store and buy a loaf. Or if we’re industrious, we may buy a mix, and in a half hour we have a hot fresh loaf of bread. Unfortunately, the same should not said about our business. “The Four-Hour Work Week”, and other similar concepts, make it sound so simple. And it can be. But I think it portrays a very real danger for people contemplating starting a business and not understanding truly difficult and time-consuming work that one generally must put into a business startup.

My advice to anyone thinking about becoming a business owner is to know what their true intention is, and to have a plan – thought out and written – before even taking that first baby step. I don’t believe that a 120-page business plan (taught in business school) is necessarily needed. However, a simple business plan, with goals, steps to accomplish those goals, and understanding of the values and benefits provided the customer, a target market, as well as a series of other well thought out rationales and understandings, including financials, needs to be incorporated.

There still is no guarantee that your business will be successful: at least not initially. Yet, you are giving yourself a leg up if you can think of yourself as the modern-day Daniel Boone. Work your business as he did his life so many years ago and you will be much further along the road to success.

All I Wanted For Christmas -- What About You?

(this is more than a bandaid moment!)

I asked Santa for 2 things for Christmas... the first was for better health (I'm sick of hurting and being ill all the time!) and 2nd was to have a growth in my business. I haven't gotten my first wish. In fact, I'm possibly looking at MORE surgery down the road one day. Yet, I'm just as tired of whining over "this darn Complex Regional Pain Syndrome" and the complications therein, as anything. So, I have realized that in order to get my second wish, I have to make peace with the 1st.

I've been doing a lot of hard work over the past several months, trying to get a handle on just exactly it is that I do, that I want to do, who I want to do it with and how I want to live my life moving forward. There have been many changes, some deep diving into my psyche as well as my business model, and I truly am looking at moving in a new and successful direction this year.

So what about you? Did you ask Santa for some changes in your business over the next year? What is is that you really want for yourself and your business? Do you want to make more money? Do you want more customers, yet not wanting to give up free time or the benefits of life you have now? How much pain do you feel for the status quo? If you're like me, you're no longer willing to live with the pains (whether metaphorical or physical); you're ready to do whatever it takes to get to a new and more joyful level. How do you do that though?

I truly believe -- whether you've been in business for 30 years or 30 minutes -- you need to take some time (and now's a great time to start) and figure things out. Here are some suggestions on how to do that.

1. It's a bit of an exercise here -- but sit back, with a good hot cup of coffee or tea -- or whatever your beverage of choice might be -- and think about what you'd like your life to look like in 5 years, or a year, or even 6 months from now. Write it down and put it somewhere that you can look at it regularly. Once you truly know what you want and not just what your mind tells you you want, then you can start to create the processes and strategies to get you there.

2. While everyone knows about SMART goals, they may not be something you do. Goals can be so daunting. Yet, I really suggest you take this picture of your future life and start to chart how you’re going to get there. The best way to do that? Create a roadmap that will guide you down the path from point A to point B. I do a bit more with SMART goals than most, and that is to put to do lists together. So, for example, one of my goals this next year is to make $500,000. That in and of itself is nerve jangling to me. Without guidance on how to get there, I’m ready to quit already. BUT — if I start to figure out ways to get that I relax, and think, “Maybe I can do this”.

In order for me to get that amount of money, I have to offer something that people are going to want, and that they are willing to pay for. Ok. So, for starters, my Gathering: Peer Advisory Board is starting next week. I want to have 2 groups, each with 10 people at $X. That’s a start but not nearly enough. So, then, I move on to the creation of my evergreen courses. The first two are “Baby Steps to Starting (and Growing) Your Small Business”, and “Creating Raving Fans: The Best in Customer Service Techniques”. Those, once set up are there for anyone to take 24 hours a day, and I have little to do with the maintenance. That, for sure, is a win-win.

Finally, I want to have a few programs that are just for the most excited to grow their business. They are the ones that are ready, willing and certainly ABLE to get the job done. They are geared up to put in the time and energy to create a super successful business, and they’re willing to pay for it as well.

Now, I’m excited, but still a little leery. That’s a lot of work, and I’m not sure I know how to do it, or how to get people to want it. Does any of this sound familiar? I know that I need help to do all this. I have hired a coach (yes, we all could use coaches), and a VA (ask and I’ll send you to her; she’s great). And I’m looking at hiring a wordsmith to put in the right psychological wording to hit the bullseye with my target market. These are all things that you can, and should, consider for yourself, as well.

If you’re interested in following through with these ideas and get on board to your own success, then please come on over to my website and sign up for a FREE 1/2 hour consultation. I guarantee that you will leave with at least 1 or 2 actionable items that you can put to use immediately — guaranteed to help you Soar Higher. The website is Business Success Unlimited. I’m looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Are There Monsters Under Your Bed?

As a kid I was afraid of the monsters under my bed. Night after night I would make one of my parents check to make sure that we were safe and that the monster had been shooed away. I think this must be pretty common. There’s even a commercial right now where one scene has the dad and the little girl looking under the bed and the dad says “there’s no monster, just Mr. Elephant”, and he pulls out a stuffed elephant.

We grow up and become the ones checking to ensure our children’s monsters are shooed away. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t still have our own slinky, slimy nightmares just waiting to pounce. But as adults, ours (especially if we are small business owners – or want to be owners) are much harder to get rid of.

ARE THERE MONSTERS UNDER YOUR BED?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently stated that over 51% of all US adults want to own their own business; yet only 6% actually accomplish that dream. What is it that keeps them from making it happen? Their monsters. Fear is most likely the number one reason – fear of failure, fear of success, fear of friends/family criticizing or looking down on the idea. These are all pretty common fears. Most everything you want right now is outside of your comfort zone. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. It will become a way of life, and easier every time. The first thing we need to do is to figure out what it is we might be afraid of; and then, just like all those years ago, we have to face them. For weeks my dad had to come to the bedroom with me, look under my bed and say Nope, no monsters here today. Eventually, I got to the point where I wasn’t afraid any longer. The same thing will happen for you. When you’re afraid of something, work at alleviating it and over time it will lessen and lessen until it’s suddenly – no longer there.

Here’s an example for you: I’m very afraid of standing in front of people and giving presentations. My fear is that I will look silly, or that they will say I’m making a fool of myself. But my business is that of an educational/ training facility and so, of course, one of my main tasks is to stand in front of people and to train them through presentations. It would be really bad if I couldn’t do that due to fear wouldn’t it. It was imperative that I do everything I could to rid myself of that fear. I haven’t yet, but I make sure that I get in front of people as often as I can. In fact, I even just found this wonderful speakers bureau where I’m going to be speaking more often than ever before. It’s the best way to STOP the fear.

So, ok, now it’s your turn. What are you afraid of that may be holding you back in your business? What can you do to start working your way through that fear so that you see “the light at the end of the dark tunnel”, or know that when you look under your bed, all you’ll see are dust bunnies!

A Hard Look at Good/Bad Media Habits

If you’re like me you get many emails a day and are bombarded with conversations on social media. For me, it comes to the point where I scream ENOUGH!!!!! I’ve just gone through a purge in the last couple of days. Being in the consulting/coaching field, I get tons of notices from others in similar positions that are marketing their workshops, their products and services and their offers for this, that and the other thing. And recently it seems that there’s a new hitch – called affiliate marketing where one person, and then another, and then another all send out notices to their groups about someone else’s programs that they are testifying to. If you’re signed up for several of these people, you can easily receive 5-7 notices from different folks about the same program or product. It just gets to be too much!

Do you know what I’m talking about? How do you handle your email in-box? Do you dutifully read every note that comes into your computer? And then if you also get things on your phone and/or tablet – you have multipled many times over the number you get a day. And that’s not even talking about other social media. What happens to your Facebook page once you’ve signed up for a group or a page? I know, I understand, I get it.

There are several things that you can do to make this social media mash up easier. Set a timer for 1-2 hours and DO NOT check your email during that time. Then, give yourself permission to take a peek and read the new emails. Are there emails you get on a regular basis that you don’t read, that don’t have any meaning or that you just are tired of getting? Unsubscribe. Do this periodically so that even when you sign up for new, you’re eliminating some of the old, not necessary, emails any longer.

Similarly, do the same type of thing with your social media like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. How many groups are you in? How many do you actually participate in? If you haven’t been involved with one or another for say a month, it’s probably not something that is really that important to you. Unsubscribe. As well, give yourself a set amount of time to surf the different sites. Once that time has been met, actually get out of the program (not just close the page), and go on to your work, whatever that might be.

As a business owner, you need to work with social media, and so I suggest you create a content calendar to facilitate what you put on social media and how often. Then, you can use programs like Buffer or Hootsuite, or even the one run by Facebook itself, that allows you to create a number of items at one time and schedule them to post at a later date or hour. I do that with my newsletter, too. I create the newsletter when I have time to be creative, and then schedule it so that it goes out at the same time and date each week. This gives my readers the sense of consistency. They know when to look for it, and to anticipate reading a great document. I try very hard not to send things out at other times so that the readers don’t feel like I’m bombarding them with information.

These are just a few little ideas that you can use to help with time management, and to also help you create programs that your customers appreciate and look forward to. If you have questions on these, or if you’d like to chat, go on over to my website and set up a time for a call. We can see how we can help each other and maybe get to know each other a bit better.



In the meantime, here’s to your success. Soar Higher!!!!!!

What's the Real Meaning of Success?

The Oxford Dictionary defines success as:

the accomplishment of an aim or purpose: "the president had some success in restoring confidence"

the attainment of popularity or profit: "the success of his play"

a person or thing that achieves desired aims or attains prosperity: "I must make a success of my business"

That being said, I think that success means something different for each of us – it could be attaining prosperity, or it could be gaining confidence in self or product/service. You need to define what success means for yourself. It is only when you know where you’re headed that you will truly find your path there.

I’ve spent a lot of time lately trying to figure out my map to success. It hasn’t been easy and I have gone through some really hard lessons along the way. One of the things I have found out is that I have to be totally honest with myself, and learn to listen to my “gut”. I grew up with great parents but they always wanted me to be successful and pushed me to do the very best I could. And at the same time, we lived with my grandmother, who was never satisfied. Nothing I did was ever good enough. So, I grew up with this complex that made me feel less valuable than others around me.

As well, I was never allowed (thanks to my grandmother) to have friends so, if someone was willing to do something with/for me, I was eternally grateful – even when in all reality THEY were the ones getting the value. It was only after my coach made me realize that by my giving away my value and my expertise, I was not only not doing myself any good, but was not truly supporting my clients to the best of my ability. My husband, the fireman, often tells the story of telling his fellow firefighters that if they rush into something they are not helping others if they get hurt themselves. The same is true here. I’ve got to be aware of what I offer and know that I am offering something beneficial, if others are to value it too.

Success for me, then, was finally finding my own value and knowing that no matter who worked with me, or what we did together, I was offering something of great value, and something that others would find beneficial.

Have you ever felt this way? What is your idea of success? What, personally, does it mean for you? There’s a very interesting exercise that we’re going to be doing in a masterclass program over the next few weeks. In part, it’s defining what you want to be doing 5 years from now and where along your “road” have you settled? It’s a great exercise, and if you add the thoughts of WHY you started your business you will wind up further along that road than you ever could otherwise. You need to have concrete visions for where you’re going in order to become the success that you envision for yourself.

There is a big difference between being an entrepreneur and a business owner. Know what they are? An entrepreneur was defined in a book I read recently as being a freelancer or side hustler -- someone who worked to create something, make money and enjoy life. A business owner on the other hand was someone who worked ON their business. Creating the processes and strategies, looking down the road to the future and mapping out where and how they wanted to be in the years to come. They left (when they were able) the work to be done by others and they devoted their time to things like how are we doing this? What tools will it take? Does it require a capital investment that means getting a loan? And so much more. But these are the meat of the business. Others can do the work, but the owner needs to be the one with their hands on the controls, guiding through the ups and downs, the pitfalls and wins. Which are you?

All too often when I ask someone what they see in their future, they say, I can't even decide what I want for dinner. How can I decide what will happen 5 years from now? That's a sure sign that you're not ready for business ownership. It takes more than a dream and a goal. It takes planning, making intelligent guesses as to what needs to happen. It takes buckling down and going all in. A TV show I was watching the other day called I Quit was all about several people who wanted to start their own businesses. Only three of the 6 or 7 companies made it through to the surprise ending (a check for $100,000.) What happened along the way?

There were three companies that didn't take things seriously. They didn't invest in themselves, in their futures, in their dreams. They didn't listen to the mentors, and they thought they knew it all without help and support. They didn't even get considered for the $$$. No one knew about the money but the three that were considered were in it for it all. The one that won actually sold his home and rented so they would have more $$$ to invest, he had in the beginning a long list of things he didn't like to do but by the end was doing them all himself. He devoted every waking minute to listening to the mentors, to doing what he could to support both his family and his business. One day he received a knock on the door and there stood the three interviewers with a check for $100,000. It made all the difference in the world. I see this time and time again. Those who don't focus on the needs of the business but do what they want when they want, they don't listen to the experts' advice, they think they are good to go without help or support -- their businesses generally don't succeed. So, what does it take? It takes going all in!!!

Our master class will delve into all this. Want to know more? Check out www.businesssuccessunlimited.com and sign up for this program. 

What's the BIG Deal Anyway?

As small business owners our dreams are often to be the boss, the one in charge, the one calling the shots -- making the decisions. Right? We want to set our own hours, have the money earned go into our piggy banks, take off when we want a day to play in the sun or with our friends and family. Yet, often times, once we've actually started that business, we find that it's not really "all that we thought it was going to be." 

We are busier than ever, have no one but ourselves to be in charge of, the piggy bank is squealing for dimes, and we haven't seen the sun for weeks. This is, in part good news. Probably means that we're growing and that we're busy. But it also means that we need help. And therein comes the fear and insecurity. If we hire someone, do we lose control? What little money we're making gets spent on salaries for others? We're going to be even busier "being the boss." What to do? What to do?

I talk often about the phenomenon of working IN the business as opposed to working ON the business. For most small business owners, we're so busy working IN that we don't have or take the time to work ON our business, and thus we don't grow the way we should. In an article I just read at http://nyti.ms/1BpkUYp, the author talks about working ON your business and gives you some tips and what to do. Take a few minutes to read the article. It will help, I promise. If we sit back, pull away from all the to-dos of the day to day, and concentrate (just for a little bit) on our goals, what we want for ourselves and our business long-term, and ways to get there, I guarantee, we'll be further ahead, with more time on our hands, than when we spend every minute working IN the company. I guarantee it.

How Does Your Business Make Money?

Over the past several blogs we’ve been talking about why you started your business. For many the reasons have been very heartwarming. They wanted to have an impact on people, including their families. They wanted to share their passions and talents with others. They wanted to be in charge of their own destiny.

But along with that came the fact that in order to be successful, there had to be a financial component. The harsh reality however is that you can have the BEST widget or service in the world, but if people don’t know it exists, or if people haven’t had the opportunity to get to know you (the old know, like and trust philosophy), you’re not really in business — you have a hobby.

So, what do we do? You started your business for a very good reason. You gave it your all. Yup. The doors are open, you have a website (does anyone see it?), an email address through gmail or yahoo (how professional is that), and you’re ready to rock the business world. Unfortunately, I hate to tell you this, but I don’t think it’s going to happen anytime soon.

Especially for those of you that really had a passion and wanted to be successful, you have to put in the time, talent and even money to get to a level where you can step back and say, I’ve made it up the ramp and am better than I was before. How do you do that? You have to not only know what you want to do, you need to know who you want to work with, why, and do they want what you have to offer?

That’s done through a number of ways — one of the easiest is by doing some recon. A survey, talking with people one on one, listening to people on Facebook and LinkedIn. What do other people in the same industry have to say? Who are their customers? How does all of that feel to you? Does it resonate with you? Is it something that you really want to do?

This is the first step in being both a responsible business owner and filling the passion that you created originally. There is so much more work to do, but it takes time and you need to know whether you can/will be successful and if what you want to do is what people want. So, let’s get started. If you want to create a survey, there are several places online that can help. SurveyMonkey is one and I just found another one here: create and analyze surveys, for free.

I’d love to hear more from you on what it is you need to get your business rocking, and how the survey turned out. Let me know at nancy@success4biz.biz and we’ll start building that necessary relationship! And as a thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas, you can find a couple of worksheets on my website that are meant to help you. One is a SMART goal form and the other is helping to form your mission and vision statements. Head on over to Business Success Unlimited - Business Leadership Coaching, Executive Coaching, Educational Consulting to pick up your gifts. There is no opt-in needed. It is simply a thank you and hopefully you’ll check out some of the other things on the site and consider becoming part of the “family”.

Until then, soar higher!

Why Did You Start Your Business?

I’ve had a very interesting couple of days. I asked this survey question on a couple of my social media sites and got some remarkable answers. One person told me she wouldn’t tell me, I had to figure it out for myself. Another told me now one cared about how or why someone else started their business, but the rest (and I got a LOT of answers) were very thoughtful, creative responses. The interesting part, however, was that the answers I got were not what I was anticipating.

All the coaches out there cry out that they will help you make more money, find more time to spend doing the things you want to do, and show you how to have less stress. But as a business owner myself, while those are great things to want, they are not things you’re going to get — at least not for a while. What people seem to really want is to be able to share their passion with others that have the same dreams and goals. They want to be able to guide their own destiny and support their families with their own hands and structures.

Money and time for doing things they love to do were there too of course. You can’t protect family and destiny without being able to pay the bills. Yet, for each of those that answered my questions, those things were not the driving force. In fact, a good paying job provides the money they need to live, the time off for vacations, etc. (generally speaking), and a bit of security. When you go out on your own, your stress levels go higher, your destiny becomes much less secure (at least in the beginning and I argue that even with success comes insecurity at times), and the amount of time and money to provide for your family is less than with a job. Those are NOT the things that cause someone to go out on their own and start their own dreams.

If you’re still reading this, take a minute and stop and think about what really got you started in your own business? Why are you putting yourself into the wild and crazy world of being your own boss? And what does success mean to you? Is it making a million dollars? Two months vacation? What?

Now, I have a bit of homework for you. I want you to go on a bit of a time travel adventure. Picture your life 5 years from now and write an essay telling me what a day in your life looks like. Be specific, down to what time do you get up in the morning, and go to bed at night. Do you have pets? What do you eat? What are you working on and what gets you going. Don’t give me vague definitions, but define in very clear words how you want your life to be 5 years from today. That will really tell you a lot.

Running a business is a lot of work, and it can be hard work. But it is necessary. And unless you understand, in your own core, what the costs are, what the reason is for doing what you’re doing, then you’re never going to reach that level of success you described above. If you take the time to do this (don’t take a long time to think about it first, but do it off the cuff), I think you’ll be amazed and appreciative of what you’ll find out.

And if this intrigues you, and you’d like to work more in-depth on these ideas, then come on over to my website and join us in the MEGA group where we’ll be deep diving into these and many other issues throughout the next few months. Check it out at Business Success Unlimited. I hope to see you there.

You Say Tomato, I Say Tomatto

You say Tomato, I say Tomaato

What does it take to be successful in business? There is a commercial on TV right now for a company that sells makeup for women. And the ad is about these people "hawking" their wares, chasing after this woman, wanting her to buy everything they're selling. This makes me think about my own business and all the others out there that say they help business owners make more money, help them find more time for family and friends, and create the ability for them to be "their own boss".

The competition for most businesses can be fierce, and what we really hope for is to find our place amidst the many where we can stand out, build a substantial following, and have enough success to do the things we really want to do with our lives. Some of us of course want to be "the wealthiest", "the most well-known", "have the most people talking about us", and more. Yet, I believe for most of us, a more modest dream of time for ourselves, money to pay our bills and have some of the niceties in life, with a group of loyal fans who will always buy from us, recommend us and be part of our "family". I know that's what I want for my business. I don't need to be the BEST. or make the most, or all those other things. What about you?

But I do know that whatever it is we want for our business, it is not going to just show up one day. The articles I read about how "I made $10,000 in my first month" -- well all I can say about that is: Really? Do you have Aladdin's Lamp handy?  Unless you're really really lucky, I am sure that's not going to happen to you. Sorry to say, it takes work, and effort to get a business started, and then it takes more work and more effort to keep it running. It's not easy and it's not cheap.

The work that you must do to get your business running is time consuming and hard on the brain. First, you have to understand things like, what is it that I'm providing? What value and benefits do I offer? And here, I'm going to let you in on a little piece of information -- you don't sell washing machines, for instance. You sell a simple way to get your clothes clean, with little work. You provide the person doing the washing with an easy way to protect their clothing so that they look good and last a long time. Get the idea? Benefits and value are much different than the product or service. People buy things that either give them pleasure, or take away a perceived pain. A washing machine is a washing machine is a washing machine. But one of the new gizmos that are becoming "hot" right now, are washing machines that have built in sinks. That's supposed to help with prewashing, etc.

You need to figure out what your goals are and how you're going to accomplish them. SMART goals are goals that provide to dos, and time tables and accountability. For a goal, without a direction to achieve it, will never get accomplished. Once you've got those goals in place you have to work at it to make sure you're moving ahead. If you set it up and then leave it to grow on it's own, it will never happen. I often see people using the visual of growing a garden -- you have to water it, pull the weeds, and consistently check in to make sure that there are no bugs or animals digging around it. The same is true for your business. Focus, focus, focus -- it takes time.

Once you have all of this in motion, your next step is to figure out just how do you get the people to know what you sell, and want it. There's a difference between marketing, advertising and sales. You need to understand the differences and figure out how to make them work for you. When you're just starting out, you are going to be EVERYTHING for your business, and so of course you are going to be the marketer, salesman and everything all wrapped up in one. Get used to it and don't let it intimidate you. You're not going to be able to get a customer unless they know you exist. It's a very important step in the process.

In our next article, we'll talk more about marketing and go into more depth with what is needed here. But for now, whatever you call starting your business, you need to work hard at it for it to be successful. If you'd like to talk some about this, or other business strategies, I'd love to chat. Give me a holler at nancy@success4biz.biz and we'll set up a time for a one-on-one.

The Secret to Achieving a Goal

Have you ever wanted something really badly…you think about it, how to accomplish it, why you want it, and what else is an important component? Then life happens and you forget all about it for the time being? When it comes to mind again, later, you can’t for the life of you remember what it was or what you had decided had to be done to get to the success of that particular goal. What should you have done to remember it?

There really is no mystery, or secret, to achieving a goal. It is very straight-forward, and I know for me, the more I have on my mind the more I need to do this — WRITE IT DOWN. By writing it down when I think of it, I make sure that I have a way to remember it later and don’t have to reinvent the wheel. It’s right there in front of me.

However, one of the aspects of this miraculous achievement is something called a SMART goal. People have been debating whether this type of technique or strategy is important, but I can tell you for myself it has made a world of difference. SMART goals are ways to not only create a goal, but to give it a timeframe, and the hows, or To-Dos, of actions in which to get the tasks done, in order to complete that particular goal.

For many of you who are used to reading my blogs I will once again refer to two of my favorite movies. The first, The Wizard of Oz, shows us that if we have no particular place to go, anywhere will get us there. But when you have a goal, something you want, some place you want to go, then you set yourself a roadmap and head out in the direction that will get you there.

The second of my favorites is Gone With the Wind, and here I will remind you of Scarlet's sayings, I’ll think about that tomorrow. How often did that action she was going to think about “tomorrow” never come to pass. She did not have a specific goal in mind, simply that she would at a later date try and figure out an answer to her question or dilemma.

I like it when I am given the tools to get things done, and when you Google SMART goals there are many online printable templates. I’m old school and still like to write things down. This has two benefits: the first is the act of writing it down in and of itself. That helps the mind to coalesce what it’s thinking about and gives it some weight. Secondly, when it’s written down, you can then take that piece of paper and place it somewhere where you can look at it regularly. By seeing it over and over again, it makes it more urgent to complete.

I suggest that you don’t take my word for this secret formula, but try it out for yourself and see how well it works. I’ll bet that you’ll see some wonderful results. Of course there are other things that need to be kept in mind — for instance, don’t make the goal TOO difficult, it won’t get completed and you’ll get frustrated and not try again. On the other hand, don’t make it too simple — you need to stretch a bit if you want to have your business succeed long term. But keep those things in mind, do your strategy goal planning and I bet you’ll get some wonderful results!

Do You Take Time to Smell the Roses?

I've talked about ups and downs in business many times before, but it has never hit me more than it is right now. This is definitely not my normal rant or suggestions about what to do if you really want to grow your business. This is my heart breaking. And I hope that it gives you some encouragement as well.

Many of you know that I have been an entrepreneur (and doing things long before they were called what they are called today) since I was 12 years old. I was an administrative management company -- now called VA while the industry still had secretaries. I owned a cowork/incubator while they were still called executive suites, and I ran referral groups before anyne had ever heard of the BNIs of the world. That makes me OLD, I know. But it also tells people that I lived and breathed business most of my life. The most important thing to me was helping my customers with their businesses, supporting my employees and myself as well.  

I worked 7 days a week and only took off the week between Christmas and New Year to be with family for more years than I can imagine. In fact, for quite a while my mom and dad worked with me in the admin business where we had 6 offices in 6 cities between Michigan, Virginia and Washington, DC. My first two offices in DC were first, in a closet space not big enough for both me and the client -- we met in the hall outside my office door (but it WAS in the National Press Building, downtown DC). And then my second office was in a refurbished funeral home on 13th Stree (hooker heaven). We were in the baseement where they still did embalming and my employees wouldn't work after dark as they were afraid the ghosts would jump out and "GET" them. 

Life throughout all these times were certainly interesting. Business was good, business was bad. I worked at a J.O.B. to help me keep my business alive. I had 10 contractors working for me at other times business was so good. I was offered great exposure to clients, and then the rug was pulled out from under my feet. Those are just the ups and downs of being in business. And for over 30 years I went with the flow -- never thinking abou doing anything else. 

Then about 11 years ago (Geez, was it really that long ago), I woke up one night and it was like I was standing in the shower with my eyes open and the water pouring in. Bright halos of color surrounded everything. I was scared to death and for the first time in a long time, I wasn't thinking about what was on my schedule for the next day. Instead, I asked my then-husband to ge me to the hospital ASAP. That was a big thing, by the way, as we didn't have health insurance at the time. I had never bothered to worry about such insignificant things before.

Well, the verdict came in that I had a very serious case of Glaucoma, and for the next two years, I laid on either my left side or my right side, visited the eye doctor 3 times a day (testing pressures) and had four surgeries. Work went right out the window. Turning my business over to my office manager, aka friend, I learned the hard way that as a small business owner, no one cares about your business as much as you do, and by the time I was able to see and move again, my business was in the pits. It was shortly after that that I divorced my husband, moved back home to help take care of my aging parents and remarried.

Again, I was back to business. About three years in, I had a minor heart attack, and was told I should not work again. Three days later I was signing a lease on a new office. Getting a theme here? And life as a business owner went on. However, here's where I really want you to pay attention -- life (and God) has had other ideas for me. Two years ago, I was in a bad hit and run car accident which left me without the benefit of the full use of my left leg. As well, my parents started going down hill and as I write this we are worried if my mom is going to make it through the day. My business is suffering and you know what, I don't have any idea of what to do to resuscitate it. Unfortunately, I have a big event coming up in just a couple of weeks, and I really don't care -- well,  I do, but don't know which way to turn at the moment. 

I guess what I'm sharing here is that business owners are people first and foremost. We all need to figure out where our businesses lie in relationship to our lives. Do we have plans for the what ifs and the I hope not. It can be a fire, a burglary, an illness, a downfall in the eocnomy. You never know what might be just around the corner. So don't wait til it happens. But at the same time, don't let your business become your life. Make time for things that you'll want to remember when looking back. 

When you're starting your business, it's important to focus on that -- it's like a baby and needs lots of care and love. Yet, you need to take time for family and friends as well. Today, my wish is for you all to find a happy medium in there where you have a growing healthy company AND time for family and friends.

Take care all.

Nancy