There’s tons of information and help out there about business planning, marketing and more, but still, people who are starting a new venture can get overwhelmed very quickly.

You have a great service to offer.
You help people to solve their problems.
And yet your challenge is to get your own business activated.

Maybe for some months you’ve been trying to do it all yourself, and yet you are aware of blind spots and it can feel discouraging.

It’s a smart to get help right away, otherwise it can feel confusing about where to focus your energy.

•  There is an actual proven system to follow where one action builds on the other.
•  It is important to be crystal clear on your intentions and goals for your business.
•  You can create a map, plan and set benchmarks to see and know you are on track.

If you are a therapist, designer, coach, writer, educator or a health and wellness practitioner, you probably have had very little business training and even if you have had some, when you begin your own business, it is another story.

• You own emotions will derail you.
• You feel desperate to make money and that can affect your decisions.
• You aren’t sure where to focus first.

If this sounds like you, the “Leap Forward Program” is perfect. We focus on helping you build your business with the core components that need to be put into place.

What are your answers to these questions?

Do you know exactly where you want to go?
What it will take for to get there?  Can you answer with a huge YES?

I  love working with creative people. They are fun, spontaneous and passionate.

Those are all positive traits that help them to be great at helping people via their services.

Creative people are also notorious at struggling with getting their businesses to be successful.

If you can relate to this statement, you most likely have a vision for your business that is way too small. This can hold you back and will affect every decision you make!

Here are 5 things to consider. Look at this list and ask yourself if this sounds like you.

1.  Not seeing multiple income streams.
All business owners have blind spots; areas you just can’t see.

If you offer direct service to clients, this is the easiest route to begin to bring in cash flow, but there is a limit to how many clients you can see in one week or how many direct jobs you can take on.

In order to develop a business it is important to look at how to leverage income by offering programs to  groups of people or creating passive income by offering products to your niche clients. If you know your niche client, it is all about offering more and more value and a variety of ways you can help them.

2. Not wanting to invest more money.
Solo business owners tend to feel hesitant to invest in their own business.

Maybe your lack of confidence makes you question your ability to be successful, so you view investing as creating another debt, rather than helping you to grow in prosperity.

It is hard, if not impossible, to grow a business without investing money, however you need to perceive a return on your investment and  in order to do that you need to see with your entrepreneurial hat on.

3.  Incorrect priorities.
It is easy to spend time doing the things you love.  Most people end up focusing the majority of their attention on their services and products learning more skills and developing more expertise.

Although those activities are important, it may be more important to focus on business skills; your marketing plan, organizational systems and your money map. Without those, you will never grow a real business.

4.  Limiting thinking.
I often ask my new clients about their financial goals and how much money they want to be earning per year when their business is fully developed.

People are notorious for giving a very low figure based on what they think they are capable of, what they think people will pay and generally undervaluing themselves. Your own limiting thinking could be your worst enemy.

•  Self doubt
I always mention this one because it is the biggest culprit!

Your own self doubt will stop you dead in your tracks and make you question your decisions, your ability and will undermine your confidence.

The best cure is to get help from someone who sees more in you than you see in yourself and then to act as if.

How many of these five things could you relate to? I am an expert at each one   I would love to know I am not alone!

I just spent the weekend with a group of solo business owners who are all highly skilled and experts in their field; people who offer great services that help people.

Their problems were also similar; not making enough money, not enough clients, working too hard, out of balance, overwhelmed, frustrated and unsure.

I’ve been there myself so I could and can empathize completely!  It takes more than having a great skill to develop a great business.

It takes determination, focus and following a clear plan. When I encourage people to get help it’s not because I am trying to sell my services it’s because I really care and hate to see people struggle and make the same mistakes I made.

I tried to figure it all out myself in order to save money and all it did was help me to lose more money.

Blind Spots

I had blind spots ( I still do). What that means is I can’t see what I can’t see!  I was making major decisions in my business based on what I could see and that was a distorted and incomplete picture. Once I  had someone help me see past those blind spots it was like taking off a blindfold and seeing a rainbow!

Accountability

It is easy to think I will stay on track all on my own with no one to check in with. Not true. I am a creature of comfort and I shift right back into my rut of doing what I know how to do and “forget.” my new plan. Why? The new plan is hard work and it requires me to do things I feel less secure about.

From that place of insecurity I question whether it’s even important. Time goes by and I miss huge opportunities. Having someone to stay accountable to is huge to my success.

Right Steps

I remember the first month I brought in over $10,000. I was ecstatic. I thought, “If I can do this every month and increase it, I will have a real business!”  In truth, it was about looking at what I did and learning how to develop my business so I could do that every month.

It isn’t rocket science. It is figuring out what the steps are and then doing them consistently and with commitment every month.

If you put these three pieces into action you will be on the road to success and will avoid the biggest mistake most solo business owners make.

Ask me questions about any of these areas. Just put them in the comments below. I am happy to help! It is so gratifying to me when I see people “get it!”

It’s  about  impossible to run a business without regularly experiencing mental blocks. It’s just part of the deal.

A mental block is like it sounds; a blocked mind. You know you need to do something but your mind says, no and you feel tangled or stuck.  Sometimes you can feel just like a frustrated child who feels unable to do whatever needs to be done.

Other times you just feel unequipped, stupid, afraid, out of your depth or blocked. This happens regularly for me in my business. If something feels hard I just want to ignore it and do something else. Why not? Who wants to struggle if you  don’t have to?

Some typical mental blocks business people experience:

Can’t think of how to write my web content.
Don’t know how to organize my files.
Quickbooks seems too hard.
How to tell people about a new product.
Schedule is a mess and am forgetting things.
Need to write a good sales page
Computer isn’t working right.
Software won’t install correctly.

The list goes on but I think you get the idea. It’s important to know how to overcome obstacles and mental blocks so you can keep moving forward in spite of  being challenged.  Here are a few things to help.

1. Get up and move.  Go for a walk or change your environment. This will shift your energy and break up the ice berg.

2. Start the process even if you  think you don’t know how. Sometimes just beginning will open the floodgates and new inspiration will float in.

3. Talk to someone you trust and share how you are feeling.  If someone can just listen, just the process of talking can move you through feeling stuck.

4. Play baroque music in that it helps your mind to let go and feel energized and more open and creative.

5. Get help. Sometimes it’s good to ask someone to do it for you. A good business person knows when to hire a professional to help.

So, the issues aren’t the problem. All business people experience these challenges. The important thing is to not get upset, know what to do and be willing to do whatever it takes.

You probably get tons of offers for amazing seminars, workshops and other cool learning opportunities. Wouldn’t it be nice to spend the day just leaning great new stuff, if you had the time and money.

If you’re running a business there are two kinds of  workshops you could take. One type is aimed at work-life balance,  like a yoga or art class. It’s fun, healthy and gives you a break from work.

The second type is focused on offering you help for your business. This kind of seminar is essential if it will help you to overcome obstacles or learn something new that will help your business to be more successful. These kinds of seminars are investments in your business.

You may feel like you don’t have the time or money but you know you need it and the benefits make it worth doing. It should pay for itself with results.

Solo-business owners are usually overly busy and it’s important to make good choices in regards to what you commit to. When is a seminar not the right thing to do? When is it a waste of time or money?

1.  When you sense it isn’t the right time. Maybe later. For example, I want to take a workshop on book promotion but right now I need to focus on completing the writing. Once that’s done, I’ll have the ability to focus on promotional tools.

2. When your  self-doubt says you need more credentials. In fact you have plenty of experience in this area and you could teach the class yourself. Self-doubt can  sabotage you and pull your energy away from where it needs to be. For example, I’ve been tempted to take a seminar on office organizing but in fact I am doing ok with it now. Being organizationally disabled is my old story.

3. When you are intrigued with the seminar topic and want to learn about it, but in fact, it would take a lot of energy and it would be a better investment to hire a professional. For example, I have resisted taking a seminar in website optimization for just this reason. I could learn it, but I’d rather hire someone to optimize my website for me.

4. When you just can’t be bothered to learn one more thing. You know you need it, it would be good for you but you just don’t feel like it.  Sometimes your attitude is more important than the benefits. It’s fun being a teenager again.:)

5.  When you hear about a good seminar but decide you don’t need it. For example, I’m offering a really stellar seminar on marketing and how to get more clients. It could be an excellent seminar but you already have heaps of clients coming your way so you don’t need these amazing tools.

Only take a seminar if:

•  You know it’s  the right time.

• You know you need the help.

• You want to learn these skills.

•  You have an attitude that says, “I’ll do whatever it takes.”

•  You know you would benefit.

If all these things are true, the seminar would be an investment in yourself, your business and it would pay for itself over and over.