I just came back from a three day retreat with an amazing group of women entrepreneurs.
Let me just say that I was energized, excited, and a little emotionally fried.
You may be wondering a little about that last piece. Let’s just say that my comfort zone is teaching mode and sometimes hiding in plain sight. There is nothing like being in a supportive group setting and being called out to dig deep on what pisses you off, owning up to it, and choosing to be okay with not always being nice.
During our time together, we started to discuss some of our core beliefs about business and how we each choose to work with our clients. That is the inspiration for today’s post.
I work with entrepreneurs and small businesses mostly in the service industries, but a few that also create products. And one of the questions that is always coming up is:
“What should I do to build my business?”
The answer is deceptively simple…
[title size=”2″]The first step to Build Your Business: CHOOSE[/title]
You may be saying to yourself: “I have already to chosen to start my business.”
That may be the case, but have you chosen to create a business that is purposeful? That is based on your core beliefs? or are you just copying what somebody else has done based on a job that you held at some point in your past?
Have you chosen the next step or are you flopping back and forth on what next step you will take to build and grow your business?
Have you chosen to commit to your business and doing the work necessary to build a solid foundation that supports you and your clients needs?
It sounds simple, but these questions and the simple act of choosing is what waylays so many businesses. It can be scary sometimes if it is a big something that you have never done before, but let me ask you this…
What happens if you don’t make the choice? Where will you be?
[title size=”2″]The second step to Build Your Business: CREATE[/title]
Once you have chosen a course of action, it is time to create the service, create the product, create the program, build the business!
It takes patience during this step (unless you have the money to but the speed, money buys speed!).
This part trips up so many entrepreneurs and small business owners because they try to do it all themselves and not spend money.
I understand…I’ve been there and there are still some things that I am doing myself (like the website) that need to be handed off. When you are building your business, you must learn where your time is best spent. It is always best spent creating the products and services that make you money. Your goal should be to hand off everything that doesn’t make you money to somebody else (a virtual assistant, intern, consultant, etc.)
[title size=”2″]The third step to Build Your Business: PROFIT [/title]
This one sounds obvious…We want our businesses to profit. In order to build a profitable business, it must be treated as a business, not a hobby.
This means charging for the VALUE that you bring. I was speaking with a business owner yesterday and could tell they weren’t charging enough to cover their business costs, they were not charging enough to plan for business growth, and they weren’t charging enough for the value of the service they provided.
Businesses are meant to make a profit. If you are not setting up your fees to make a profit, you should quit and go get a job. Otherwise, you are going to continue doing the rat race of busy work.
You have to believe that you are providing value and then ASK for what that product or service is worth.
We will go into this further on future posts. If this resonates with you and you want to have a conversation on what is next for your business, you can contact me for a complimentary 30-minute Discovery call.
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