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Entrepreneurship is quite an adventure with lots of opportunities for growth and transformation (particularly in conscious business). It requires a certain level of innovation, risk-taking, truth-telling, willingness to be different and self-directed, and the ability to think BIG.
Many of the entrepreneurs that I meet are really great at what they do and how they offer it, but have yet to learn the “how” of being an entrepreneur and allowing it to be their lifestyle. So often, they’re ready to throw in the towel, when all it takes is some mind-set shifts and tweaks in their relationship with their business to shift it from just paying the bills to thriving on all levels.
Here are the top 8 pitfalls that I consistently see for would-be successful entrepreneurs:
1. They are NOT clear on their vision. Losing sight of this creates a disconnect from why they began their business in the first place and makes the mundane tasks, along with the ups and downs, to seem even more meaningless when there is no clear vision about how their business is going to serve them and others.
Tip: Create your 5 year vision of where you and your business are going to be, the difference you are making, how you feel to be in this place, what you are experiencing and how you are showing up in your business (be as specific as you can, and most importantly, have fun with it)!
2. They are NOT clear on their message. When there is lack of clarity in this area, prospective clients, collaborative partners, media and the like go where the message is clear. If you are not making is easy for people to discern right away how to do business with you, no matter how nice or gifted you are, they will go with the flow and ease of someone who does (ouch)! Imagine how much energy goes into trying to convince people to do business with you when you are not clear from the get-go. Since everything is energy, energy will follow the clearest path!
Tip: Use your vision to help you get clear on the difference that you wish to make so that you can get clear on your message. This is a priority, especially if you are not serving as many folks as you would like! The energy spent ‘chasing’ can now be spent attracting, and thus frees up your energy to create more wonderful products and services for your community!
3. They are NOT being their message. Prospects and clients won’t necessarily know why, but if you are not walking your talk, they can sense that a mile away. It boils down to practice what you preach (as often as you can). We’ve all encountered misaligned or inauthentic folks along our way, and it is harder to be around them compared to those in their power and speaking their truth.
Tip: Create rituals for self-care, energy management and mind-set management and offer what is your brilliance to make it easy for people to find you and desire to do business with you. This will turn you into an attraction magnet for ALL things ideal!
4. They are NOT at peace with money. Let’s face it, business is ALL about the money, whether you are allowing yourself to embrace that it or not. You have to have discussions with clients, vendors, team members, and many more about money - daily! When you are not at peace with receiving money, charging money, paying for things, or investing in the growth of your business, it WILL cost you - big time!
Tip: Make healing your money story a priority and invest in how to make that happen. You’re here to make a difference through your business - you can’t do that if it’s sinking!
5. They don’t play nice in the sandbox. Business is all about relationship. If you are not connecting, collaborating and creating community (which is the way of new paradigm business), you are going to be stuck in the pain that comes from competition and/or being the lone wolf.
Tip: Turn making connections into being JOYful. Go out and meet new people. Seek out communities that are aligned with you and your business and witness what comes from growing your business in a supportive environment.
6. They do NOT have a clear business model that actually matches their vision, message, and community. So often I see folks offering coaching packages when they’d rather do brief consulting gigs or vice versa. Or, their business model only offers 1 service when they’d rather offer a variety. These are just a few simple examples, but the truth is that as long as your business model doesn’t match your inner and outer goals for business it will keep you stagnant or even destroy your business (yikes)!
Tip: Get clear on what you are offering it, how you are offering it, who you are serving, how it benefits them (and how it benefits YOU)! If your business is not making enough to support itself and you, then you are not making a profit (which is what businesses need to do). Instead you have a very expensive hobby on your hands, and I know that is not your goal!
7. They do NOT take action and implement their million-dollar ideas. Ideas are only as useful and profitable as the implementation of them. So many conscious entrepreneurs get stuck in procrastination, perfection paralysis and analysis paralysis (and the reasons for that are a whole other article). When they do not create an action plan (and manage their energy as shared before), they lose money and watch their business stagnate or decline.
Tip: Create daily, weekly, monthly action plans for your most pressing business needs and plug them into your calendar. Extra tip: marketing should always be built in as equally important!
8. They do NOT have sacred support. Any successful business person will share with you that they did not do it alone, and in particular, had support such as accountability partners and business mentors. I’m a firm believer in coaching and have many myself. We all need a safe place to celebrate our successes, share our disappointments, create new ideas/see things in a new light AND learn the HOW (of being a successful entrepreneur, thriving in their purpose, and leaving a powerful legacy).
Tip: Don’t delay. Find a partner, a coach or someone that you can mentor with. This really will be the difference between where you are now and where you want to be.
Until next time, wishing you much success on your journey and looking forward to supporting you to thrive in all areas of your life!
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