Some small business owners get into a state of panic at the end of the year, but I see it as a powerful time and a window of opportunity.

If you are like most solo-business owners I know, you have worked hard all year, faced countless internal  demons and overcame many obstacles. You may be beating yourself up because you still don’t have the cash flow you want, however I think it is a good time  to focus on what you have accomplished.

Here is a short and empowering process that you can do this week as  we move to the year end and year beginning. Follow this three part process to begin your next year with more focus and empowerment.

1. Vision Sit down in a quiet place and take a some time to envision where you want your business to be at the end of 2011. Small solo business owners need to have a clear vision and this is much more important than a written business plan. Your vision needs to be based on your long term picture and realistic as to how you want your business to grow. You can create a vision board for the year if you are a creative type.

2. Intention Be specific about clear intentions. The more specific the better in terms of what you want to accomplish. Imagine the success you will feel and  how meeting these intentions will affect your overall business in 2011. Being able to focus in this regard will  help you to overcome any inner confusion as well.

3.  Empower What can  you do to empower your intentions?  Putting it in writing, talking to your mentor or mastermind group or  do a ritual to move this forward. All these things will help you to overcome any fear or self doubt.

This is a great process to do with other business owners and a powerful way to walk into the new year. I hope some of you will share here. I would love to hear  from  you.

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If you are like most small business owners, you need cash flow consistently and lots of it! You’ll do whatever you need to do to bring in new clients and customers and keep your business hopping.

This is where marketing comes in. You know you need to do it and you also want to get instant results so you can pay your mortgage, employees, buy food etc.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. It takes 4-5 months before you will see any results of a marketing strategy you do now. People groan when I tell them this but there is a solution! The solution is to do marketing all the time and it needs to be done correctly!

1. You need to create a plan for  three to six months at a time.
2. Your plan needs to be well thought out and strategic.
3. It needs to be focused on empathizing with your niche clients. ( People who need your help).
4. You need to offer valuable help for free in order to give them a taste.
5. You need to offer more valuable help!
6. Have a variety of ways people can work with you.
7. You need to have an interactive website that gets people involved.

If you do all of this and more, consistently, you will have a steady stream of new clients.  People don’t want your help immediately. You may think they need it, but they aren’t ready yet. However, if they keep hearing from you and getting your help, eventually they will move from your freebies to being a paying client. It might take four or five months or a year but it will happen.

Creating a hot marketing plan that works is an art in itself. You have to really know your clients and what help they want. You have to hold back on doing sales and instead develop loyal followers.

Here are three choices:  Download my free  7 -step marketing circle right now. Get my workbook with the circle and also questions and information to help  you see how to use it, and  of course, the best option is to join a program with other business owners, where you can develop your  hot marketing plan and get  expert help along the way.

The three choices:  One is free, one is a low cost but high value, one is a slightly higher cost and the best value. Do you offer three similar options to your clients?

Make a choice to become a master at marketing your business. You can do it. It’s not that hard but you have to follow the correct steps.

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I had one of those amazing aha moments this morning.

I decided to compile a list of the 20 things that seem to hold women back from being wildly successful at running their business.

I started writing and then realized I had already done this research without realizing it! Every  one of  my new clients fills out a slew of questions before our first session.

Two of those questions are, “What obstacles do you want and need to overcome?” and ” What holds you back from being the best you can be?”

I re-read the answers given to me by thirty amazing women during this past year. These women are all highly skilled professionals, have advanced degrees, years of experience and experts in my opinion. They have written books, have taught, facilitated, helped people and more.

They each have started their own brick and mortar service based business. These are not your average women and yet their responses were consistent.

I am going to share the list of what they said in their own words. Many women used the exact same words!

What obstacles do you want and need to overcome?  What holds you back from being the best you can be?

Here is what they shared:

1.  Self-doubt.
2.  Lack of confidence, feeling incompetent.
3.  Perfectionism, fear of not getting it right.
4.  Lack of discipline and focus.
5.  Self-sabotage.
6.  Not changing when need to.
7.  Stuck in old habits.
8.  Fear of being taken advantage of.
9.  One foot in, one foot out mentality.
10. Not seeing myself as the expert.
11. Lack of follow-through.
12. Not believing I can be successful really.
13. Unsupportive husband.
14. Need to re-discover my voice.
15. Fear of failure.
16. Overwhelmed and anxious.
17. Setting boundaries around my time.
18. Feeling disempowered.
19. Fear of being bigger- vision too small.
20. Feeling not good enough to work with high end clients.

Can you relate to anything on this list? Awareness and insight are the first steps and then the next steps are to get support, implement new tools and learn to operate from new stronger beliefs.

Your own list will likely be much shorter and more specific as this is everyone’s list put together.

Each one of these women had the awareness to see that it is their own emotions, beliefs and self-concepts that are holding them back and said, “Yes, I am willing to do whatever it takes to get past being ruled by this list.”

These women are all successful, but it is like trying to sew with blunt needles and cut the grass with dull blades. The work gets done but with a huge disability and at a huge cost.

In order to be a leader of your own business and make empowered decisions, imagine what your business would be like and what kind of leader you would be if you could transform each thing on your list.

If this is what you want, join with a powerful group of other women entrepreneurs who want the same thing. It is phenomenal what women can accomplish together!

The Unleash Your Visionary Leader Mastermind Group for Women Entrepreneurs begins in February. There are still spaces but it is filling fast!

If you have already registered, send this link to a few other powerful women who would benefit and  please tell them!

I am growing this list so please add things that are missing!  I so appreciate your comments.

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Fear serves a good purpose sometimes. It can alert you that something is unsafe or potentially harmful. However- fear is often an emotional response to anything that doesn’t feel safe.

Safety is good when it involves not running in front of a train or not ingesting a harmful substance. Safety may not be your best friend when you are growing your business. But your brain doesn’t know this distinction.

In order to stretch and move forward so you can have more people to help, you need to step into new territory in spite of the fear.  Here are some fears my clients have mentioned:

•  I might make a mistakes and look like a fool.
•  People will think I am stupid.
•  I will actually make less money, not more.
•  If I spend more money, it won’t work and I will be more in debt.
•  I will get in over my head.

As a result of these fears, people will:

•  Stay where they are even if they are struggling.
•  Not invest any money in their business.
•  Blame other people for not helping them well.
•  Refuse to borrow money or get a loan.
•  Keep doing the same things that haven’t worked.
•  Put up barriers and refuse to change.
•  Defend their beliefs even if they are keeping them stuck.

If you own a small business that involves helping people, you want MORE people to help. Simple really, but to do that you have to be willing to face those fears and go for it anyway. If you can relate to anything on the above lists. just breath and take it in. Here are Five things you can do!

1. Ask yourself what you would do to help your business if you had no fears. If you are not sure or you don’t trust yourself, get some good advice from a mentor.

2. Make business decisions on what your business needs in order to grow. Don’t make decisions based on your cash flow.  Look at  your roi and know that spending money now, will pay for itself some months down the road.

3. Remember that any marketing strategy takes 4-5 months before you see any cash flow result. Stay with your plan for the duration and know that you are building in stages! Many people have unrealistic expectations and then say, “I told you so,” to defend their fears.

4. Be willing to let go of your attachments to your products. Many service based business owners are more attached to following their passion than they are in developing a solid business. Your business cannot be about your product. It has to focused on your clients and what they need. it takes time and research to figure this out. let go of your impatience.

5. Get into a mastermind group with solid business owners who will give you good feedback. Let go of defending yourself as they might be seeing something you are missing.

Once you begin to make decisions based on the needs of your business, rather than your fears, you will notice a positive change and your business will begin to grow.

Have you ever had the experience of making a mistake in the recipe and when the pie comes out of the oven it’s flat and tastes weird?

I remember my little brother came to visit me many years ago  when I first moved to Oregon.  He just graduated from college and was ready to start his life as a grown-up.

One day he decided to make a banana cream pie. He spent all afternoon in the  kitchen mixing and stirring and then the masterpiece went into the oven. We all waited impatiently , as we imagined the  scrumptious first bite.  It looked like a work of art. Gorgeous, But when we took a bite, we all gagged.  It was like eating a mouthful of salt. So disappointing.

He swore he didn’t make an error in the recipe, but the proof was there.  He had to accept that he had made an error somewhere and try again.  The next time, the pie was perfect and lovely!

What does this story have to do with your business?  A lot actually.  Like baking a pie, you are creating and developing a way to help people, but it requires the correct steps and actions in order to end up with a business that works and people will want your products and programs.

it all also takes awhile to bake!  Many solo business owners want immediate money and it rarely works that way. In fact, it costs money to get a business going and can take a few years before the money comes back. However, like a good pie, it is worth taking the time to do it right. It will pay off in the end.

If you see that your business pie isn’t quite right but you are not sure what the right steps are, you need to  ask yourself these two questions.

1. Can you see the benefit of learning how  to develop a business that will be amazing and help more and more people?

2. Can you see that you may have made some mistakes and you are willing to learn?

3. Are you willing to invest in yourself and your business in order to make this happen?

If you answered yes to these three questions I would like to talk with you!

Awaken Your Money Stream will give you the recipe for a perfect pie – woops, I mean business!!