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Goal Setting

Building a Better Foundation for Your Business

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Building your business on a strong foundation from the beginning saves so much time and energy as you grow. I help my clients start building a better foundation using several simple habits and principles. Here are a few of my favorites:

Cast your vision. As adults, we don’t spend enough time dreaming about our futures. Creating a vision for your business helps you develop the future you’re trying to create. Most business owners I work with are afraid to clearly state what they really want for their business down the line. Your vision statement should be so clear that it leaves no room for fear!

Set goals. Once you have a clear vision, you can make it tangible by breaking it down into bite-sized steps. These are your goals. Assign these to each quarter and then break those down even further for weekly action steps. Track what you’re doing to make sure you’re progressing toward your vision each week.

Schedule CFO days. As a business owner, you aren’t just the CEO of your business, you are also the Chief Financial Officer, or CFO. It’s important to set time aside regularly to stay on top of the finances of your business, even if you have someone helping you. You can use the financial data you collect during this time to make better decisions for your business.

Price your services for profit. Pricing is such a struggle for many business owners I talk to. Usually when a business owner feels they are not making enough money or they are having cash flow issues their issues actually stem from their pricing. You may be under-charging for your services if you don’t understand all the costs of actually delivering the service to your client, if you don’t understand the value your client places on the service, or if you are comparing yourself to others and undervaluing your own skills and experience.

These are just a few principles for a better business foundation. I love working with entrepreneurs to develop these and create a solid foundation that easily allows for growth. 

We talk about all of these things and more in my coaching programs, but right now I’m offering a mini-course on Pricing for Profit. For just $27, you can learn better pricing strategies, how to implement them, how to up-level your pricing without affecting your current clients, and more! Sign up now before the offer expires!

Commitment – Are you in it for the long haul?

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Commitment is the ongoing theme for this month.  And being committed to something may look different to different people.  But with everything that has happened (and continues to happen) this year, being committed to your business, to being in business, is something that you need to be clear about. Commitment is your word being congruent with your action.  It becomes that driving force that propels you forward. Without commitment, your intentions are simply “wishful thinking”. 

In my Facebook live back on August 28, 2019, I talked about how business owners could hedge against an economic downturn (I know…who knew in Aug 2019 what March 2020 would bring?!)  For business owners, solopreneurs, consultants, service providers, etc. you have to commit to being a business owner. Truly commit. No willy-nilly I’m a business owner but I’m not taking it too seriously; I haven’t committed 100% yet.

Lady Boss…that’s just NOT going to cut it! And if you haven’t made that commitment, you may just be feeling the effects of that right now. But it’s not too late (it’s never too late) to make that commitment. To commit to your business. To commit to being in business. To commit to becoming an Empowered Lady Boss!  

In this FB Live, I talk about being in it for the long haul. When you make that commitment to your business (and really to yourself), now you’re in it for the long haul.  And that’s where you want to be: committed and in it for the long haul.  Check out both FB Lives for plenty of tips and resources to help you make that commitment, set yourself up for success, and be in it for the long haul!

If you dream of becoming an Empowered Lady Boss who is confident, smart, and an action-taker and you are ready to step into your power and take action on your dream, this ebook is for you! Download this FREE ebook to learn the 5 Reasons Why Your Money Is Not Adding Up and what you need in your business so that it’s a business you actually love and creates the revenue you want!

Want results? Here’s how…

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Ever have one of those weeks where you really need to focus on something and realize you get busy multi-tasking (or maybe that’s a nice way of saying procrastinating)?

(raises hand) I have. Last week I really needed to spend some time focusing on studying for and preparing to take my Quickbooks Online Advanced Certification. And like you I’m pretty busy during the week, with client meetings, client work, home & family needs, a Netflix bing every now and then…you get the point.

I knew I really needed to block my time & my calendar so I could set myself up for success to study & take my exam (which in the past I have dragged out over weeks). This year, I was determined to drop the drama and stress over taking the exam.

Want to know what (and how) I passed the advanced certification on the first try? The first thing I did was to block out my calendar.  Like really block out time. No taking any unexpected or unnecessary meetings.  And then I went a bit further.  I set time aside within each block to actually study for the exam. Then I blocked off Friday to take the exam. 

Whew! Let me be honest here…actually blocking of the time to study and blocking off the actual time to take the exam made it feel real!  And I felt a relief knowing I’d set aside real time I was going to need. Because I’d blocked out my time, I had enough time to gather all the materials I needed, time to actually do the studying, and when I sat down to take the exam, I felt confident.

And I passed the exam on the first try! I’ll pause here to say I’m super proud of myself and excited that I was able to know this giant, looming, scary task off my to-do list.

“Congratulations on passing your certification exam, Michelle! That’s great. But…how does that help me focus in my business?” I’m so glad you asked. The focus I needed to study and pass that exam is the same focus you need in your business.  If there’s something you want to accomplish in your business (whether it be finishing a course, getting your content prepped for the month ahead, reaching out to those prospective leads), you need to block out that time.

Literally. Look at calendar for the week and block out time each day (or a whole day if that works better for you) to get that task accomplished. Then set reminders for 15 mins before that schedule time.  When the reminder pops up, finish up whatever you’re doing at the moment, gather whatever you need to complete the task, take a few deep breaths…and get your focus on!

What do you need to make your vision a reality?

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This month we’ve been talking about vision and where you see yourself and your business in the future. We talked about creating your ideal day. What it looks like, what it feels like. Now we need to take the vision and start developing the action steps needed to make it a reality. 

Too often, business owners or entrepreneurs skip over this step. They focus on the pricing strategy or how to get more sales.   But if you don’t have an action plan of what your future looks like and the steps needed to get there, you will end up aiming in the wrong direction.  Or if you do aim in the right direction, you might miss your target.

The first step in your action plan should be determining who you need to be in your business. What do you need to be doing today, right now, to become the person you need to be in the future? You need to be willing to step outside your comfort zone. You need to be willing to seek the advice of others to gain the resources you need.

Let’s face it; you don’t know everything you need to know to run a business – a profitable business. Seeking out the expertise of those who have been where you are and have become experts is important. You may be very good at what you do, at what service you provide, but no one has trained and prepared you for being a business owner.  And not just a business owner, but the CEO of your business. 

So think about what resources you need. Do you need help with marketing and strategy? Do you need assistance with the administrative side of your business? Maybe you need help in getting better at sales. There are a lot of soft skills business owners need to develop in order to produce the extraordinary result you desire.  There are resources available to help you develop and strengthen those skills.

Ask yourself this: In order to get the extraordinary results I want in my business, what do I need?  What actionable steps can I take, what resources can I tap into? Write down your plan and start taking action!

If you’d like help in coming up with your vision, drafting your 5-year vision, and developing the action steps needed to get there, let’s chat!  I’d love to help you realize your vision and create extraordinary results!

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