Even in a solo business, it is essential to develop yourself as a leader!  The  leader  is the person who envisions the business, sees the whole vision, and with that picture in mind, will be able to understand that in order to reach  goals, certain things need to be prioritized and developed.

Without wearing the leader hat, many solo business owners never get around to developing a vision or plan. They just hang out a shingle and start right out  trying to get clients, then  get upset and frustrated when no new clients show up right away.  In fact, instead of being a leader, they are operating from their money stress and self-doubt.

Leaders know that it takes months to envision, research and plan a business and can take even longer to begin making money. Without that plan, you will:

• Make bigger decisions off the cuff without the foundation plan to support them.

• Operate from self-doubt and avoid taking too big of risks in order to  stay in your comfort zone.

• Make decisions based on the desperate need to have cash flow and will jump around trying this and that and not give anything enough time to grow.

The leader looks at all parts of the whole business and keeps a check in each area. Part of being a leader is getting  help from experts and learning to act from a larger perspective, rather than a momentary reaction.

Leaders stretch and grow, they look at their business from a wide overview. In order to be a strong leader of your business,  it is important to find a mastermind group or a coach, do strategic planning sessions with your team and develop new goals and time lines. Without being a leader your business will never move out of the struggle mode and you will never be able to take calculated risks for growth.

What do you need to do to develop yourself into the leader you want and need to be?

A real entrepreneur is someone who is a creative risk-taker and wants to build a business that is likely to be profitable.

There is a strong sub-group of these folks who want all of that but ALSO want to follow their passion. Does this sound like you?

These people start from scratch with their own service, and although they want to make money, they don’t want to sacrifice their passion in the process.

Sometimes it can feel like the two are in conflict.  This is apparent if you:

•  Make decisions based on what you are passionate about, rather then what will be marketable.

•  Build a website that talks all about your ideals rather than what your potential clients need.

•  Struggle to make money and wonder why you don’t have more clients.

It is sad to see people put out so much effort and get so little  financial return. What is true:

When you are really willing to follow a sound business plan and make decisions from that place, you will have way more clients to help and be able to make way more of a difference.

Operating from your business mind will allow you to follow your passion in a much bigger way!

Here are three important things you need to do!

1. Clear your focus.
Begin to make a mental shift to thinking from your “business mind” and overcoming the obstacles that seem to stand in your way.

2. Accept the facts.
Your marketing plan needs help. You can easily learn the simple strategies and implement them. You were able to master the skills of your profession or trade so you can also learn the skills of marketing and the way it works.

3. Let go of staying small.
Become empowered and unstoppable. Learn to make decisions from this strong place and to speak from this voice. Decide to do whatever it takes to move past your self-doubt.

Get the help you need and make a commitment to grow in these three areas and you will notice a huge change in your cash flow and your happiness.

Like many entreprenurial people, I am no longer employable. No one would want to hire me as  I am way too independent, creative, and controlling. I love being a business owner and yet, everyday I am dealing with challenges that often end up making me feel a bit crazy!

Before 8 AM this morning, I discovered my Facebook account had been hacked, a customer wrote to say she got an error message when she went on my site to  buy my book and I found out that one of my audio recordings wasn’t working on my awaketeahouse.com site.

Ok- these are all manageable things to fix- but there are a couple of common  denominators. First is the before 8AM part. I have a habit of checking my emails even before I have a cup of tea!  Second is they all have to do with technical issues. I am not a geeky type. I have managed to learn how to do things because I am a “do it your self”  type and I like being in control.  But techie issues are not fun for me. I can  follow kindergarten  instructions and have no ability to dive in and figure it out myself. I assume I will make it worse!

So- I took a deep breath, made a cup of tea and said some positive affirmations. I reminded myself why I am in business and then after I fixed everything ( Yes- success) I decided to write this blog post. Writing is one thing I enjoy so it was my reward!

Owning a business is like looking in a mirror everyday. Sometimes at first I don’t like what I see, I have to change my thoughts, let go of limiting beliefs and be my own cheering section.

I am one of those people who don’t enjoy networking events – the kind where people stand around in a big room and mingle.  I find it tiring and I would almost  rather go to the dentist!

Sometimes  a person will  launch into telling me every  detail about their service or product and I can feel myself shrinking into a little ball.  I want to interrupt them and tell them that I didn’t ask about their products.  I feel like I am being  “sold.” to and given  given a pitch.

In marketing it is all about building relationships.  I intentionally don’t say a lot about what I do even when people ask.  The one or two sentences I do say,  are from my heart and sharing more about my business mission. That’s it. I would rather keep it very short unless someone pointedly asks – even then I just add a bit more.  I would prefer to have the person curious enough to learn more later by going to my website where they can download freebies and choose to take a peek.

Why is it that selling doesn’t work in these situations?  It is way too soon. Many steps have been skipped and people have not yet engaged.  In the marketing  7-step circle, selling doesn’t come until pie piece six and well after someone has  self-selected as part of your niche market, entered your pipeline, chosen to receive your freebies and has asked you for more.  All that part takes a lot of planning and strategy. If you skip all those steps, not only will selling not work, but attempting to do that will push people away instead of invite them closer.