Annemarie Cross | Branding | Online Marketing | Business Building | Internet Marketing | Marketing Online | for the Ambitious Service-Based Entrepreneur

I recently ran a webinar as part of my Biz Building Webinar series on – Time Management, which presented 21 strategies on how to gain 5 hours back in your week.

As women in business, I'm sure we can all relate to hectic schedules where we have to juggle a multitude of tasks. To get everything done we often resort to burning the candle at both ends. I know – I've been there myself.

If you're struggling to find enough time in your day or if you're feeling stressed and anxious, I encourage you to watch this short video. Take back control of your schedule – your business's growth depends on it.

So which strategies will you adopt?

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[Twitter tip] “Stop comparing yourself to your competitors. Measure & look to expand YOUR personal best.”

Last week my above tweet generated quite a few responses from my community all of whom agreed that this statement was an important reminder to stop assessing their business’s success by using their competitors’ performance as a benchmark.

Comparing our businesses to our competitors is something that I’m sure we’ve all done at one time or another. Competitor comparison as part of your market research during your business planning phase is often suggested as it allows you to identify how you can differentiate yourself in the marketplace.

However, if you find that you’re constantly comparing yourself to your competitors by regularly visiting their website, their Facebook Business Page or blog, scanning their newsletters, reading their Twitter posts, and watching the conversation they’re having with their community etc with a frame of mind of competing and trying to ‘out-do’ them, you’ll find this will become soul destroying and can cripple your business’s growth.  

Don’t fall victim to the ‘competitor comparison trap’ – instead measure yourself against these 5 key components that relate to YOU to enable YOU to continually expand YOUR personal best.

Component 1: Your Knowledge

‘Formal education will make you a living. Self-education will make you a fortune.’

Jim Rohn’s statement is certainly appropriate.

Ongoing expansion of your knowledge and expertise is extremely important for all ambitious entrepreneurs.

Many industries continue to experience changes and advancement and to ensure your skills, knowledge and expertise are always at the forefront of these changes it’s important to continue your knowledge growth.

• Do you schedule professional development opportunities into your business calendar?
• Are you part of a mastermind group of like-minded business owners who can support you?
• Do you have a mentor with whom you meet regularly – someone who continues to challenge, stretch and encourage you to expand, grow and evolve?

Component 2: Your Self-Belief

It saddens me when I see amazing, talented women business owners who have so much to offer, block their business’s growth because of unhelpful habits and barriers, which is often because of a lack of belief in themselves and what they have to offer.

The words of one of my business mentors echo loudly for me when she says “Who you are is reflected in your business results, daily.”

So what do your business results reflect about you?  

• Do you recognise the strengths and talents you offer your clients and the value you bring, or do you constantly find yourself making excuses such as “Oh it’s nothing, anyone can do that”.
• Do you have amazing goals for your business; however things just keep getting in the way, preventing you from ever achieving what it is that you really want?
• Do you have bold money goals that you’re so committed to achieving, however that inner voice is constantly in the background raising an element of doubt that you’ll ever really achieve it?

Component 3: Your Reputation (Brand)

Your reputation and your brand are the lifeblood of your business and should therefore be managed with the utmost of care and precision.

Everything you do, write and say reflects on you and your brand. Do it inappropriately and unprofessionally – you may as well give out the contact details of your competitors right now as that’s where your prospects will end up. [Would you invest in someone who was acting in poor taste?]

• Have you got a strong brand message that you are regularly portraying through all your communications whether it be in print, video or in person?
• Are you communicating your brand in a consistent and professional way that powerfully connects with prospects and clients?
• Are you constantly looking for ways that you can continue to bring your brand message out to a larger audience? And, are you regularly communicating your brand with your existing community through blogs, articles or video posts?

Component 4: Your Relationships

It’s a well-known fact. People recommend and do business with people they know, like, and trust – so how do you measure up on the likeability scale?

Building and nurturing your relationships with your database, your Twitter followers, your Facebook friends, your Linkedin connections etc should be an important part of your business-building endeavours and something you should continue to monitor on a daily basis.

• Are you taking regular action that results in people joining your tribe and community?
• Are you adopting an approach of regularly sharing valuable information with your community with no expectations in return?
• When interacting and connecting with your community – how are you showing up? Are you doing so in a way that is positive and inspiring to ensure you continue to strengthen your relationships?

Component 5: Your Marketing & Sales Skills

While it’s important to maintain your level of excellence in what you do and offer to your clients, another crucial area that you need to become skilled at is in your marketing and sales abilities.

Even if you offer the best products and/or services that can support your clients in achieving results that are beyond their wildest dreams, if no-one knows about you, or you struggle in promoting and selling your products and services, you’ll find it very difficult to generate a level of income that will sustain your business’s growth.

• Do you have a solid marketing plan in place that schedules solid marketing strategies and action taking on a daily basis? And, does your marketing plan include both offline (face-to-face) and online (social media) networking?
• Does your website copy and your conversation continue to market your offerings in a way that allows your prospects to understand the value they will receive when they invest in you?
• Do you feel comfortable when having sales conversations with your prospects?
• Have you got a solid process in place to help you respond to that dreaded question “So, what do you charge?” so that you don’t blow an amazing opportunity to show your prospect what they can achieve through working with you?

Tracking and monitoring these five components in your business will be far more authentic and empowering as you continue to grow your business, and will certainly be noticeable and far more appealing AND influential to your community of followers, your prospects and your existing clients.

Here’s to expanding YOUR personal best!

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You’ve spent countless hours creating your program/service offering; your promotional material has been circulated; your sales webpage promoting your new program is live (and looking extremely impressive); and you’ve spoken to a number of your connections who you know could benefit from participating in the program. However despite all the effort you’ve put into this entire process – no-one has made a purchase. Is this something you can relate to? If you’ve answered yes – you’re certainly not alone.

Sadly, even though you may have the best program in the world that can support your clients in achieving amazing results, there is no guarantee that you’ll have people flocking to your door with their credit card poised ready to invest in your services.

Before you develop another program or service offering ensure you have the following five steps in place to support you in transforming your prospects into raving clients.

Step 1: Identify the level of demand for your program/service offering

Despite the fact that YOU know your program/service offering would be of great benefit to your clients, have you researched:

• whether your target market recognises they are facing issues and genuinely want to overcome their struggles
• the size of your prospective market, and
• whether your target market has a history of investing in the type of solutions you offer.

Before you even begin to develop your program it’s imperative to identify whether there is a large enough market and whether your prospect is willing to part with their hard-earned dollars to invest in you.

Further investigation may confirm that despite their desperate need for your support, an ingrained ‘culture’ will see them continue their struggle rather than choosing to invest in your program and overcome their issues.

Targeting a market that requires repeated convincing that they need your service will only lead to a decline in your energy, your sanity and your hip pocket, so it’s important to identify a market that has a high level of demand AND a willingness to invest in your services.

Step 2: Pinpoint your target market’s needs

If I were to ask you to describe your target market could you identify their demographics, their needs, what keeps them up at night and where they hang out, etc?

It’s imperative to have an intimate knowledge of your target market, including:

Answer the above questions to create a thorough profile of your ideal customer so that you can accurately pinpoint your target market’s needs. This information will support you in creating your marketing plan, your webpage sales/marketing copy as well as helping you locate the best place to connect with and get your message in front of them.

• The problems/issues they are experiencing
• The words and phrases they use to describe their issues
• The type of support/solutions they are typically looking for
• The pricing point they are willing to/can invest
• The language/triggers that will catch their attention and prompt them to want to learn more about your services

Step 3: Get clear on your brand

With the increasing number of competitors in the marketplace it’s important to have a clearly-defined brand that showcases your expertise and the benefits your clients can expect from working with you, in order to stand out from the crowd.

Do you know what your strengths are and what makes you unique? Do you continue to present this information in an influential and powerful way? It’s important to create a strong brand that is memorable and magnetic and enables you to be recognised as an expert and leader in your field to continue attracting your ideal client.

Remember an inconsistent brand message can cause prospects to become confused and a confused prospect will often say no. Don’t set yourself up to receive a ‘no’ to your offer because you are sending a weak and incoherent brand message.

Step 4: Grow Your List

Thriving businesses state that one of the most important elements that has enabled them to secure their wealth and success is building their list. In fact, one of my mentors often states ‘the money is in your list’.

Are you actively building your list? Do you have a process in place that prompts clients to hand over their email address and other contact details to you?
Consider offering prospects a free report or a video and/or audio series that provides valuable content. In order to access these resources your prospect is required to provide you with their email, thus adding their details to your list. [Step 5 explains how you can continue to leverage your list.]

Step 5: Build Your Relationships

Do you have a regular newsletter that enables you to remain in contact with your list of existing customers and prospects? Are you consistently taking the time to not only strengthen the relationship but also continue to portray your knowledge and expertise by providing informative practical tips?

Remember, people do business with people they know, like and trust and consistent communication with your list is a fantastic way to build a solid relationship. It often takes several communications before a prospect is ready to make a purchasing decision so sending a regular newsletter that provides useful information is a great way to strengthen your relationships while continuing to showcase your knowledge and expertise.

Are you adopting all five steps in your business to support you in transforming your prospects into clients – especially Step 1 and 2 before you even begin developing your new programs/service offerings? If you’ve answered yes, congratulations! If not, which step will you start to work on within your business today?

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Here are a few articles with some great hints and tips that I tweeted this past week. I’m sure you’ll find some of these useful as you continue to grow your business.

• 21 great ways to get email addresses: http://bit.ly/b5P4nH –> Which is your favorite?
• 51 ways to become a better entrepreneur: http://bit.ly/68ONdg
• 35 Online Tools that make your Freelance Career Easier http://bit.ly/6s9WgH
• 12 Pervasive myths about starting a small business http://bit.ly/68ONdg
• 15 tools for bloggers http://bit.ly/aAbF8n –> Some great resources here
• Why to-do lists are important for an #entrepreneur http://bit.ly/c0Uwq6
• 5 things you must know about creating iPhone apps http://bit.ly/9K3F7y
• Top 10 sources of entrepreneurial nourishment http://bit.ly/cx635r
• 50 things successful people have in common http://bit.ly/czpeOP –> Recognise any of these things?
• The only job you’ll ever have http://bit.ly/9KaEsO –> Pertinent read for an #entrepreneur
• Downsides to working from home http://bit.ly/cgy4bn –> Interesting for aspiring #entrepreneurs. Is this the right choice for you?

I personally love using ‘to do’ lists. They keep me focused and on-track while giving me a real sense of accomplishment when I’m able to cross off a completed task.

What about you? Which article did you find most helpful! Feel free to share your comments – I’d love to hear from you!

To your biz success!

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When I first hung out my shingle and began my service-based business I was so excited. Going out of my own, having no-one to answer to other than myself, and being able to support my clients the way I wanted was far more appealing to me than working from 9 to 5 for someone else. However that excitement was short-lived and soon turned to dread when the phone rang and I was greeted with “Hi, I’d like to enquire about your services. So, how much do you charge?”

Back in the early days I responded by explaining my fees to the caller, which I realise now was not the best approach. The reason for this is that as soon as the caller hears the cost they’ll immediately make up their minds (based on their possibly misinformed understanding of the services you provide) about whether they want to work with you.

It’s important to realise that people often make a purchase decision based on emotion – so by answering their question right at the beginning of the conversation you miss the opportunity to build that ‘emotional’ connection, nor can you build credibility, value and desire to work with you.

If this is something you dread too and like me (those many years ago) you respond by stating your prices, you may be missing out on numerous business opportunities.

Here are three simple yet powerful steps that will support you in not only responding to that dreaded question but will also help you to build trust and rapport with your prospect – both vital elements in any sales process.

Step 1: Defer the Question:

Firstly, you need to let the client feel as if you’re not avoiding their question so that they believe their request is important to you, which of course it is. Do this by responding with:

“I’ll be happy to answer your question (name). To ensure that I’m able to recommend the best solution to support you – is it ok if I ask you a few questions?”

This response is vital and will allow you to put their request on hold while you continue to find out important information about the problem/situation with which they are faced. You’ll also have the opportunity to position yourself and your services as a must-have solution to their problems.

Step 2: Research, Reflect and Build Rapport

Next, it’s important to find out about the problems they are experiencing and that prompted them to make contact with you.

Ask the following question, stop talking and continue to listen closely to their story particularly in relation to the words they use to describe their situation and the frustration they are feeling.

“So what is it that prompted you to call me today? What’s going on for you at the moment?”

After the client shares their story and continues to speak it’s important to reflect the information by repeating their words and their emotions back to them throughout the conversation. Doing this also helps to build rapport and trust as you continue to confirm a genuine interest in what they are saying.

For instance: “… I can certainly understand your frustration at spending over $4,000 on your advertisement and only receiving a handful of responses… I agree – it would have been terribly disappointing.”

Step 3: Switch Gear & Show Them the Results

Now is the time to ease the client out of their frustration and begin to create the ideal situation they desire, while building anticipation and the belief that this is achievable for them too, which of course it is!

Create an environment that allows them to feel that they are not alone and demonstrate how you’ve been able to help other people overcome similar problems.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place (name), and you’re certainly not the only person who has had to face this issue. Many of the clients I work with have experienced the exact same things you’re currently facing and have felt the exact same frustration you are currently feeling.”

“In fact one of the clients prior to working with me spent thousands of dollars on advertising and unfortunately didn’t receive anywhere near the response she had hoped for. She’s in my [name] program and in the last few months is generating some amazing results. In the past month alone she’s increased her database by 40%, she’s doubled the number of enquiries she’s receiving, and she’s been able to increase the number of people investing in her programs, all while cutting her advertising costs by 50%. She’s thrilled with the results. From what you’ve told me about your background I’m confident that you’ll be able to generate similar results…  What would it mean to you if you increased your database by 40%, doubled your enquiries and reduced your advertising costs by 50% (name)?”

Then stop talking and listen as your client visualises the impact this type of result would have on their business…

You’ll obviously have to tweak specific details in steps two and three to suit the clients you work with and the services you offer, however using these three simple yet powerful steps will enable you to create an opportunity to build rapport and credibility with your prospect and allow further opportunity for ongoing conversation about your services and how you can support them.

Is this helpful? Pop me a note here on my blog. I’d love to hear from you!

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Each week I love scouring the internet for informative articles. One of the things I like to do, is to share these articles with my Tweeples and Facebook friends to help them continue to build their business, their credibility and of course their income.

One of the comments I received from one of my dear Facebook friends @Maxine Groves was that she wished that all my Tweets were stored in one place so that she could go back and read them.

What a fantastic idea Maxine!! Here they are – especially for you and for other ambitious women entrepreneurs who love reading practical hints and tips to help them grow their business.

This was my Twitter list for last week – Enjoy!! I’ve highlighted my personal comments by bolding the text.

• Looking to market your business online? http://bit.ly/diJkXv Small Biz Marketing Podcast @CareerRadio
• 16 Top ‘Bang for your buck’ Services for small businesses http://bit.ly/93mjYU –>Which ones are you using?
• Social Media Money Tree Podcast: How to find your dream job and market your business using social media http://bit.ly/diud20
• Six rules for starting a business http://bit.ly/aWZyxC –> Valuable tips here and well worth the read.
• 15 Do it Yourself PR ideas http://bit.ly/bmlP8i I’m doing almost all of them (with others in the pipeline).
• 101 Useful Resources for Entrepreneurs http://bit.ly/cEOwiD –> Amazing list. Well worth checking out.
• Closing techniques http://bit.ly/dvtuRx I like the ‘Bonus’ close. Which is your favorite?
• 7 sites every marketer should keep an eye on http://bit.ly/bMDpYx
• Ongoing professional development is vital. Here are 85 free online business courses http://bit.ly/aQzVKW
• 15 quick pitch tips for kickass presentations http://bit.ly/9laehZ

What do you think? Were any of these helpful? Which article was your favorite – I think each shares golden nuggets we can all implement in our businesses.

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One component that plays an important role in helping you promote your business (while enabling you to build trust and buy-in from potential clients) is to get feedback from existing clients that identify the results they have experienced through working with you. I’m talking about a ‘Testimonial’.

Like many of my clients, you too may dread having to seek feedback from your customers and therefore find this task to be quite daunting. Or, you may already be compiling testimonials from your clients that read something like this: “Thank you [your name here]. I’m thrilled with your service and would highly recommend you to my friends and family”, which unfortunately does little in terms of building rapport, trust and the desire to work with you when potential clients read it.

If you fall into either of these categories then it’s important for you to read today’s article. You are missing out on valuable opportunities either because you’re not proactively seeking feedback from your clients, OR you’re getting testimonials that are ineffective and don’t position you as a credible service provider who is worth investing in.

Incorporating powerful testimonials into your marketing will help you to:

1. Create credibility

Reading about how you have supported the people who have already invested in your services/products, confirms to potential clients that you are a credible authority in your field. Becoming known as an expert is vital for any service-based business particularly if you are operating within a competitive marketplace.

2. Build believability

Receiving a testimonial from a client acts as proof that what you are claiming in your marketing material is not just an empty promise – but is achievable. Why? Because someone else (your client) has achieved it.

3. Deepen desirability

Seeing the results that your clients are receiving (often in an area that a potential client is struggling with) increases their desire to invest in you and your services. The thought of finally being able to overcome their problems and finally begin to experience similar outcomes, deepens their desire to work with you!

I’m sure you too would like to create credibility, build believability and deepen the desirability of potential clients to invest in your services – YES?

Remember that people are very busy so you want to ensure the process is simple and easy. So here are 6 simple questions that I’ve asked my clients which have supported them in providing me information that I could turn into a valuable testimonial. [Feel free to tweak them to suit your business].

1. What were you experiencing previously that prompted you to work with me?
2. How has working through this program helped you in terms of developing your brand and marketing/communications material?
3. What are the results you are now seeing with your clients because of this? [Please include facts and figures if possible].
4. How will this help you and your business moving forward?
5. If someone is considering joining this program and is a little hesitant – what would you say to them, based on your experience and results?
6. Is there anything else you’d like to comment on?

Once your client sends you back their response you can develop the content into a powerful testimonial that you can include on your website copy, your brochures or any other marketing documentation.

Remember to run it by your client first before publishing it to get their approval, and ask them whether you could include a recent photo of them. This also increases believability as you are confirming that this is a ‘real’ person and not something you have fabricated.

Let me know how you go!

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When things don’t work out as expected: 5 tips to get you back on track – FAST!

Have you recently received a knock-back which has left you shaken, battered and questioning your self-worth?

Perhaps you spent countless hours developing your tender application only to have been greeted by a ‘Thank you, but-you-were-unsuccessful-at-this-time’ letter? Or, despite after pitching an impressive proposal that outlined many of the significant outcomes your client could expect to achieve through investing in your services the project offer went to your competitor.

Even though you may have set out with the best intentions and had given the situation your complete attention and commitment, things just didn’t turn out the way you would have liked. Sound familiar?

Whatever situation you currently find yourself in, it’s important that you don’t get (or remain) locked in bitterness, regret or self-doubt, as this will certainly prevent you from moving closer to your dreams and business goals.

Here are five tips to get you back on track and working towards your goals – FAST!

1. Don’t take it personally

Looking at the situation as a negative reflection on you personally will only lead to increased feelings of doubt, insecurity and low self-esteem, which will ultimately make it extremely difficult to move forward with confidence and optimism. And, optimism and confidence are two qualities that you should be reflecting, particularly as you continue communicating with prospective clients.

Recognise that this situation wasn’t a direct reflection on ‘you’ and that this doesn’t mean that you’re unworthy of being hired. It only means that this time around, someone else’s skills and experience had a slightly better match with the person’s / organisation’s requirements.

2. Don’t choose to play the victim

Where you put your attention, energy and focus is what you’re going to continue to attract – it’s as simple as that. And choosing to play the victim and having the mindset of “Why me?” or “It’s not far” is extremely disempowering.

You have a choice as to whether you are going to let this situation dampen your spirits and have you continue feeling despondent and miserable. Or alternatively, you can choose to look at this as a learning opportunity so that you can move forward with renewed confidence and optimism.

Which option will you choose?

3. Don’t leave negative feelings and thoughts unaddressed

It’s easy to continually focus on negative feelings and thoughts by constantly talking about how unfair things are. Or worse yet, you may bottle up your feelings of disappointment and hopelessness and not acknowledge them at all. Both of these situations can seriously undermine your ability to move forward.

It’s important to talk about your disappointment, however not to continue focusing on this. Doing so will only serve to keep those feelings of disappointment close by, which brings me back to what I mentioned in point 2 about keeping in check about where you put your attention and energy. Who wants to continue feeling disappointed and hopeless?

Rather, how would you like to feel? How would you like to continue moving forward towards your goals? How do you want to represent yourself to prospective clients and key decision makers?

So, my coach’s request would be for you to concentrate exactly on how you want to feel and how you want to move forward AND ensuring your actions are aligned with the positive intentions you are now setting yourself.

4. Don’t do the same thing over again and expect to get a different result

There’s an old saying I want to share with you. ‘What’s the definition of stupid? Doing the same thing twice – AND expecting to get a different result.’ Now while the saying is quite blunt it really does have merits, doesn’t it. I’m certainly not suggesting that you’re stupid – far from it. However what I do want to do is encourage you to look at ways you might change your approach, your focus or your actions so that you can start generating the outcomes that you do want.

Do you have a clear and powerful brand that positions you as an expert in your field? Do you need to tweak and tailor your marketing materials / proposals more specifically to the needs of the organisation? Does your conversation focus too much on your product/service features and not enough on the benefits that your product and/or service offer? Do you need to hire a coach to help you hone your brand presence and your verbal and written communications so that you continue to position yourself as an ideal service provider?

What changes will you make?

5. Don’t continue the journey alone

Having a positive support and accountability partner who is one hundred percent behind you, can certainly make all the difference in not only how quickly you move forward but also how quickly you see your goals come to fruition.

This person can be your coach, your mentor, and your confidante as you continue working towards your goals, while later becoming your cheer leader to celebrate alongside you as you finally reach your destination.

Who will you select to be your support and accountability partner?

So, the next time life throws you a curve ball, ensure you follow the above 5 steps to ensure you get back on track – FAST!

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Feel like you’re doing lots of marketing and promotional activity in your business but not really making much progress in terms of measurable outcomes? Find yourself working on different opportunities week by week to grow your business; however you haven’t quite reached the levels that other service-based businesses have accomplished? Are you constantly looking for new ways to promote your business, and find yourself implementing yet another strategy in the hope that this one will finally be what you need to take your business to the next level?

Unfortunately, the above scenario of continuously trying numerous ways to grow their business occurs for many highly talented entrepreneurs who are operating service-based businesses. What they don’t realise is it’s not the activities and actions they’re implementing that aren’t effective – it’s often because there are five fundamental elements of their business that they haven’t yet put into place.

To ensure you don’t block your business’s growth, make sure you address the 5 most common barriers, as they are often the cause of service-based businesses struggling to reach their full potential.

Barrier 1: Being unclear about your unique and authentic brand

Many service-based businesses operate in highly competitive industries which means their marketing material is going to be one of dozens of other messages from other service providers all of whom are vying for the attention of prospective clients.

To see whether you have a strong, unique and authentic brand – ask yourself the following questions:

• Does the information you communicate about you and your business immediately connect with your target audience, so much so that they continually return to hear and learn more about you and the service you offer?
• Is your brand message authentic and unique enabling you to cut through all the other marketing messages so that your target audience is compelled to contact you?
• Do you find it easy to put together your marketing messages, your social media communications and other materials about you and your business because you’re so clear on what makes you unique; how you can support your clients; and the benefits they can achieve through working with you?

Barrier 2: Being unclear about your target market

Many service-based entrepreneurs and business owners believe that having a broad target market will offer them far greater opportunities. While this may seem logical, it is often the exact opposite. When your market is too broad, your marketing message fails to speak to anyone, particularly not your target audience, as the information in your marketing materials is too general, doesn’t highlight the specific issues and problems they may be experiencing (and that you can support them with) and therefore fails to capture their attention or response.

To confirm whether you have a clearly defined target market, you should be able to answer the following questions:

• Are you able to clearly define your target market, including their needs?
• Do you know where to find these people? And, how are you going to connect with them in a way that will catch their attention?
• Are you positioning your services in a benefit-driven way so that they can see the value you offer?

Barrier 3: Being unclear about your ‘entrepreneurial code’

Each and every one of us has a specific way we behave, communicate and approach our work. As business owners we also have a unique entrepreneurial code, which includes our strengths, talents, skills and motivated work style to name a few, which if we’re unclear on, can sometimes block us from driving our business forward.

As an entrepreneur / business owner we often find ourselves taking on too many tasks – or more importantly the ‘wrong’ tasks. The tasks that we pursue don’t necessarily align with our true strengths and therefore take our attention, energy and focus away from the core elements in our business that we should be focusing on.

Answer the following questions to see whether you’re tapping into and leveraging your unique ‘entrepreneurial code’:

• Are you currently struggling in areas of your business which you should really be directing to your VA, so that you can concentrate on areas of the business which require your specific skills and expertise?
• Do you know what drains you of your energy so that you can avoid it?
• Are you aware of what activities inspire you and will help you in driving your business forward?

Barrier 4: Being unclear about your business goals

If you were taking a holiday at a location you have never been to before, I’m sure you’d take the time to research and plan the best route to get you to your destination in the safest, quickest and most cost effective manner – yes?

Have you taken the same approach to planning and defining your business goals, both for the immediate and the long-term period? If you don’t have a clear picture of where you want your business to head you may find yourself becoming distracted and unfocused and chasing opportunities that are not really serving you and your business’s best interests.

To ensure you’re clear on your business goals you should be able to answer the following questions:

• Do you have a specific goal that you are working towards in the next 90 days in your business, which fits in perfectly with your long-term business plans?
• Do you have specific action steps planned (including the resources that you have available to you and the resources you need to seek out) that will enable you to reach my 90-day goal?
• Do you schedule time in your diary to allow yourself time to work on these action steps?

Barrier 5: Being unclear about how to drive your business forward

When looking at top-performing athletes or highly-respected and successful business people – what’s one thing that they all have in common? Coaches and business advisors who are able to stretch their knowledge, skills and abilities, while keeping focused and accountable so that every decision and action they take continues to drive them forward.

Recently, I decided to invest in a high-end business and marketing coach as I knew that I was going to generate far better results knowing that I was being mentored and supported by someone who was a specialist in their field; who had my best interests at heart; and who was not only going to support me, but keep me accountable for the actions I said I would be taking to grow my business.

To ensure that you are clear about how to drive your business forward, you should be able to answer the following questions:

• Do you have a business mentor, coach or advisor who is skilled in the areas that you need additional support and advice on; and do you speak to this person regularly?
• Do you have clearly-defined action steps which you are currently working on?
• Do you know how to ask for additional help if you need it; and do you know where to go in order to get this additional support?

Hopefully, you have been able to answer all of the above questions to help you overcome those 5 common barriers. If not, what action will you take today in order to help you move your business forward?

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Like any business venture, running a company even on a small scale demands an unrelenting supply of motivation, time and resources. Setting up your own micro-business may seem like a great initiative, however not everyone has the skill-set and strength to survive the transition from employee to self-employed, and the ongoing challenges that running a business often presents.

As an entrepreneur you are the business, and without the key qualities to retain the driving force required to keep a business sustainable, your company could be headed for disaster. If you are currently at a crossroads in your career, before investing valuable time and money required to launch your own business ask yourself the following questions to see whether or not you have the recommended traits to successfully operate a small business.

Go through the following list and answer ‘A’ for always, ‘S’ for sometimes, and ‘N’ for never.

Do you:

• regularly set both short- and long-goals?
• have an abundant supply of energy, determination and drive?
• successfully accomplish your goals?
• have the ability to revise and implement further strategies to overcome arising problems if it becomes apparent that existing plans are not achievable?
• possess self-discipline and self-motivation?
• take full responsibility for all your successes and failures?
• enjoy working on your own?
• willingly accept and confront challenges head-on?
• have a competitive nature?
• often get so immersed in your tasks that you become oblivious to time passed?
• welcome opportunities for professional and personal development in acquiring new skills?
• accept having to perform tasks that normally would not interest you?
• hold firm to your visions and dreams even if you lack the full support from those around you?
• enjoy performing a variety of responsibilities?
• believe it is essential to achieve something meaningful in your life?
• follow a project through to completion, despite being faced with obstacles?\
• recognise that ‘disappointments’ are valuable opportunities for learning, personal and/or professional growth?
• enjoy being in control of your working environment?

How did you go?

While there is no set formula that defines the perfect entrepreneur or whether a business will survive, business experts do recognise the above as common characteristics of successful business entrepreneurs.

Going through the above soul-searching exercise and gaining a true understanding of your strengths and weaknesses will assist you in identifying areas of deficiency that you may need further professional development or assistance with, before quitting your job and hanging your shingle out.

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