What is the one big thing you want to accomplish by the end of next week?

I like to begin each week with this question because I know the week will get busy with all kinds of demands, but if I am able to focus on one main goal I will feel successful when Friday rolls around.

Especially for solo business owners this  focus is essential. The reason most people struggle is the lack of focus. It’s easy to feel pulled in a million directions, have too much information swimming around in your in your head and lose track of your purpose.

Lack of focus can cause small business owners to lose momentum.
Having a clear focus can increase productivity in these five ways.

1. It will decrease the chances of mistakes. Having a clearer mental focus will help you to slow down and do each job well.

2.  Focusing will help you to overcome obstacles that might seem impossible to deal with. There is always a solution if you have the ability to clearly focus.  This will allow the solution to appear.

3. It will keep you on track with your overall plan instead of feeling like a leaf in the wind. It can be fun to be a leaf sometimes, but in order to accomplish a goal, focus is essential.

4. Focusing allows you to move from the superficial to going deeper into a project. This deeper process is not only more stimulating, but will give you much more quality results.

5. You will have that sweet sense of accomplishment of putting out an intention and then actually meeting that goal.

At the beginning of each week, put forth one clear focus intention that you want to accomplish by Friday. Allow the magic to happen.

For most solo-business owners, when you first start your business you find yourself focused on how to find enough clients and enough money coming in.  The idea that you might get so busy that you would need help sounds like a dream!

In fact, this issue throws most solo-business owners into a tail spin. As your business grows, you become busier and often unprepared.

•  The work piles up and you begin working more and more hours.
•  Some things fall through the cracks and don’t get done or you forget to do them.
•  Your office becomes an organizational nightmare.

If this sounds familiar you are needing to develop new systems to support your growth.  I’ve worked with many clients who unconsciously keep themselves small in order to stay in control. It is not uncommon for people to feel that:

•  No one else can do the work as well as they can.
• They have no time to train someone else.
• They don’t have the money to pay someone else.
• There are no written systems – it’s all in their head.
• They feel unsure how to manage someone else.

If you can relate to the above lists then you need to make a big change in your business structure in order to pave the way for your business to grow.

Here are a few suggestions.

1.  Isolate one or two jobs that you would like to be able to give to someone else.
2. Begin to keep a running list of all the tasks associated with this job.
3. Notice how much time you spend on these tasks each week.  Add those times to your list.
4. Look for someone who you can hire for just a few hours per week to do this one job.
5. Look at this as a learning in how to manage someone.
6. Hire an intern who is willing to work in exchange for your help. Your intern can also learn about management in the process.

When you change your focus from, ” I can’t,” to “I must find a way,” the opportunities will appear and you will make time to grow your business, not just run it.

I met with a small group of entrepreneurs last week and as people shared about their business, one thing everyone had in common was a feeling of overwhelm when it came to business planning. Each person could easily state some goals they wanted to accomplish, but the next part got foggy.

One thing I noticed was that the goals were usually big and very general, and therefore overwhelming. It’s one thing to have a goal and quite another thing to know how to reach that goal and make it real. Here is a simple three step process that will help you to make it more manageable and therefore attainable.

1. Vision
Create a crystal clear vision of what you want to attain. The more details the better. The process of making a vivid vision will force you to work out the unclear parts. If you were building a house, you would need to have detailed blueprints to follow. Your goal needs to be just like that; a blueprint of where you want to be and what you want to develop.

2. Plan
Once you have the vision, the next part is to write out a step-by-step plan of what needs to happen. “I need to call this person, get this information, complete this project, hire this person etc.” This is sort of a to do list of everything you can think of that would help to bring this vision into completion.

3. Action
It is one thing to have a goal and vision with the knowledge of what you need to do, and quite another thing to actually take action and do it. The first thing is to identify the obstacles in yourself  that are keeping you from taking action. How will you face these obstacles and what is the first action you will take. That first action will begin a domino effect and get you going.

You can use this simple formula for anything you want to accomplish.

Today is Winter Solstice and the darkest, shortest day of the year. The energy of the darkness is a perfect time to let go of what you no longer need and and any attachments that are no longer supporting your success.

Here are a few good questions to ask yourself. These questions can help you to move your business forward.

1. What is holding you back from your greatness?
2. What obstacle can you dissolve?
3. What is one thing that you are ready to let go of?

When you get your answer ask yourself if you are ready to let this go. If you are, the next part is to write it clearly on a sheet of paper, read it aloud and then light a match to it. Watch it burn away into the darkness and the light of the fire will transform it into the success you want in the new year.

This may seem a bit airy-fairy to some of you, but these rituals do help you to move past your own limitations so you can accomplish all that you desire and empower yourself to develop the successful business you are meant to have.  I had a group of corporate executives do this exact ritual ( we called it a process) and the mental shifts in the group were phenomenal.

Find a couple people to do it with. You can each read your “letting go” piece and the group energy can add to the power of the ritual. Have fun bringing your greatness into the new light.

This blog is all about “true confessions.”  Hopefully I will also model how to gracefully admit a mistake and grow stronger because of it!

I’ve been working on my new book for the past two years. It’s done now, however writing it was the easy part. Finding the right title and book cover was the hard part. I struggled with the title for months and months. I had three book title parties, did flip charts,  thought about it in my sleep and finally I just picked a title because I needed to move on.  I had a cover made by a wonderful graphic artist, Dave Sparks. I put it up on my website and then,  it didn’t feel right.  I knew it deep down, but didn’t want to admit it because it was done!!

Then Bonnie from Silver Vixens,  offered feedback and I listened. Her feedback rang true and it all fell into place. My title was there all the time and I just didn’t see it.  I was afraid to tell Dave that the cover was wrong because he worked so hard on it. Good cover but not for my book!

Dave was great and helped me create a new cover. Here it is. I love it and love the title and the book hasn’t changed. It is still really good! It will be out in February but you can buy it now and save some money.

Clear Your Focus, Grow Your Business
7 Simple steps to empower your business and bring YOU money and freedom

I learned that it is ok to make a mistake and fix it. People understand, and it’s all part of the process of being a small business owner. I teach people about this, but that’s way easier than doing it myself! Please leave comments. I’d love to hear if this has ever happened to you.