Help Clients Discover Their Pathways To Business Success

Just the other day, while hosting my live talk radio show a listener called in to ask what does it take to lead a successful business. He asked a good question and I replied, an entrepreneur and or leader of a company must put themselves on a path to success and love the process and all it entails.

Entrepreneurs and business leader do what they do because they are passionate about the services and or products they provide their clients. Sometimes, business leaders get so caught up into the business,they forget to understand business is all about relationships with the leadership team, employees, customers and the community they serve.

In order to help business leaders discover their pathways to business success, they should consider the following:

1. Create a vision for the business.

2. Create an ideal business.

3. Define what success is for you and your business.

4. Empower others to breakthrough problems they encounter.

5. Business leaders must understand the importance of self motivation.

6. Honor values because they represent the core of ones being.

7. Visions are dynamic and continuously evolve.

8. Embrace challenges in order to learn and grow your business.

Let's start from the top, creating a vision for your business establishes the foundation that leads to success. In other words, you can't have an ideal business without having an ideal life which means light attracts light. If your personal life is in shambles, the likelihood of your business being successful is very remote. Harmony between one's personal and business life must exist in order for success to occur.

One creates an ideal business through the harmony that exist in one's personal and business life. In other words, work is play because of the passion a person has for their specific niche, be it real estate investing or leading a flower shop. Passion and purpose drives entrepreneurs and leads to an ideal business for the business leader who taps into their genius.

Success is different for everyone, thus it is simply a matter of what one considers success. For example, personal success may consist of being the best entrepreneur you can be. In other words, being a good business leader may very well be all of the success you want to achieve. On the other hand, business success could be defined as providing the best customer service to your clients over a sustained period of time and being in love with the process everyday.

Empowering others to breakthrough problems they may encounter, entails understanding every problem has a seed of greatness within it. We must understand problems are for our benefit, we grow and develop into better business leaders and employees in our efforts to deliver the best products and services to our market.

Business leaders must understand the importance of self-motivation, meaning they bring the combination of burning desire and positive expectations in all they do in support of the business. In other words, a made up mind is unstoppable.

When business leaders honor values, it means they are living an empowered life. We live, work and breath our values. Values represent the core of our being and it represents who we are.

Visions evolve as our values change and are grounded in time. Business leaders must craft a vision for success and consistently evaluate the new possibilities for their life and consider the legacy they are establishing for themselves and the business. Visions represent how we see ourselves, however it must include other people in order for it to assist in business success.

Embracing challenges is perhaps one of the keys to business success. Why? The bottom line is that we all have struggles and challenges and we must have the ability to grow from the challenging struggles we face in business.

Have you considered your pathways to business success and grow your business in any market? If you have not, consider working with a Certified Business Success Coach to help you get clear about growing your business in any market and realize the success other businesses are experiencing.

Putting Together a Business Plan Helps Manage Your Time and Business Success

Setting goals for your business is important. It gives you a plan and structure to work with to grow a successful business. A person may fail in business because they fail to plan, and they do not have a structure to work with.

When a business owner decides to open a brick and mortar store they know that it can be successful. When that business fails it's because they have the experience selling their product, but they fail to plan the success of their business.

When planning to open a brick and mortar store, the business owners action steps should be: to first find a good location where his target market lives, to talk to the rental agent who represents the property, write a business plan to secure financing for the store from a bank to cover the overhead, decide what products he wants to sell in the store, and secure contracts to purchase the products from the wholesaler. Once he secures a lease to rent the space, before he can open the doors he has to put out deposits for utilities, remodel the store, and finally hire and train staff, before advertising and opening the doors for customers.

Some business owners fail to plan out their strategy to build a successful business, that is why many fail. The biggest drawback to having a brick and mortar store is having the finances to cover the overhead before getting started. This is why it is important to sit down with a mentor who can help you strategize putting a plan in place to build a successful business.

No matter what business you are in, business owners also need to consider having a strategy for a presence on the Internet. This gives the business owner a storefront or website that is open 24/7. There are many people who buy online today. This gives the business owner an opportunity to establish multiple streams of income for his business. It gives the business owner an opportunity to earn income even when the doors are closed.

When the business owner puts together a strategy for building a successful business, and has a written business plan that lays out each action step they will take when putting the business together, they give themselves an opportunity to increase the success of the business in today's marketplace.

People will always buy what they need, therefore, a good business strategy is to decide what your niche is, where the holes are, and how you can fill it. A good example is when a chiropractor decides they can run their business home rather than an office. There are people who need chiropractic care but don't have transportation to get to the office. The chiropractor can work from home and visit those clients in their home to make the adjustments.

This is something that massage therapist have always done in the past to fill a niche. The idea here is to look at what you have a passion for and if there is a niche that you can fill for people who need your services or products, but can't get out of the home.

This is also why products used to be sold door-to-door. When you were able to go into the home and demonstrate the product, many times it led to a sale for the salesman. What seems to be an old strategy for business, can also work today, as a new strategy. At one time encyclopedias where door-to-door, before companies began selling them through telemarketing. Today, they can also be sold through a website on the Internet.

When the business owner is planning their strategy, they should break it down to its smallest action steps. This gives them the opportunity to set up multiple streams of income just selling one product. The problem is for many business owners they moved towards the new strategy of selling their products and forgot the old strategies that worked before. When the business owner combines all of these strategies together, they are putting together a plan for a successful business. Plan to succeed and succeed to plan!

Ms. Shensky is a professional speaker. writer, and coach. As a Career Coach she works with clients to help them find their passion and build it into a high paying career. As a Life Coach she works with clients discover their limiting beliefs the subconsciously put the brakes on and prevent them from reaching one's goals.

Two High Impact Steps to Transform Your Business

As a business growth strategist who works primarily with small and mid-sized businesses, one question I often hear from business owners is, "What's the quickest way to grow my business?"

There are multiple things business owners can do to inexpensively (and quite immediately) see an increase in gross revenue. Many options are merely a "band-aid" approach. But, a few strategic changes can truly transform a business from the inside-out. It's the kind of transformation that makes future marketing so much easier.

We all have limited time and resources, so I try to make sure that business owners obtain the highest possible bang for their buck...for the same investment of time, emotion and money.

So, where can a business owner invest their marketing time and energy to get the greatest impact? What's an inexpensive, yet powerful, way to grow your business?

The one strategy that typically yields the highest return on investment is simply to take control of your marketing message.

This seems pretty basic and self-explanatory, but so many business owners misfire on this step...and the negative results can cause marketing headaches for the life of the business.

Before we break down the steps of taking control of your marketing message, let's define "marketing message."

What is a "Marketing Message"?

A marketing message is the message or "point" you are communicating (or trying to communicate) in your marketing, advertising and sales. That message is the essence of who you are...and what you're all about...as a business.

All it takes is a discerning look at the advertising and marketing of a typical local business to identify that business' marketing message.

Sadly, what most local business owners communicate in their "marketing message" is, "Hey, we're in the xyz business (restaurant, dry cleaners, etc...) and here's our address!" The message is nothing more than, "WE EXIST!"

If you don't believe me, pick up any local newspaper or magazine and look closely at the advertising. The typical ad identifies the type of industry/business and includes an address and a phone number...not much else.

The marketing message that such an ad conveys is, "We are 'a' restaurant and there's nothing special that differentiates us from any other restaurant." Not very exciting, engaging or memorable.

Ok, so we've defined marketing message.

Now how do you take control of it?

The two high-impact steps to taking control of your marketing message are 1) creating a Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and 2) integrating that USP throughout all of your marketing channels.

To Take Control of Your Marketing Message:

Step 1: Determine Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

The first step in taking control of your marketing message is to clearly articulate for your target market precisely what makes your business different/unique and why they should do business with you (rather than doing business with one of your competitors).

To skip this fundamental marketing step (as most local business owners do), is to leave it to your prospects and customers to come up with their own definition of what your business is all about. They are left to categorize your business in any way they want, and their perceptions may or may not be based upon reality. Your marketing is now in their hands.

And, in the minds of your target market, you'll likely remain "a" restaurant (or "a" dry cleaners, doctor, lawyer, etc...)... instead of "The only restaurant in the Cleveland area that serves 100% organic foods, that has received the Governor's Award for Green Cooking five years in a row, and that gives 10% of all profits to local organic farmers."

Do you see the difference? Now THAT'S a message you can proudly communicate to the world! It's descriptive and memorable.

Do you see the danger in not taking control of this powerful and crucial step?

If your restaurant can actually brag about such things...and you don't find a way to clearly incorporate those bragging points into your marketing message...you're leaving money on the table every single day. And, I can guarantee your marketing is much less effective than it could (and should) be. Thus, you're simultaneously leaving money on the table AND flushing advertising/marketing dollars down the drain.

Perhaps that resonates with you.

If so, there's hope!

To begin the process of taking control of your marketing message: 1) figure out what makes your business unique and 2) provide a clear answer as to why your customers should do business with you. The purpose is to identify your bragging points.

Once you've done that, put those bragging points into a high-impact statement of 90 words or less. Make it memorable.

Now you've got a USP! You've got the cornerstone of your marketing efforts.

You've set yourself apart from your competitors.

Now you're taking control of your marketing message and no longer giving away that power and control to others.

However, if you don't use your newly-created USP effectively, there's not much sense in having one.

That's why Step 2 is absolutely essential!

Step 2: Integrate Your Unique Selling Proposition into ALL of Your Marketing Channels

This is where all of the hard work of step 1 pays off! This is where you take full control of your marketing message and begin to see real-world results.

In step 1, you created a high-impact USP that articulates clearly what makes you unique and makes it clear to your customers why they should do business with you.

It's time to shout that message from the rooftops.

Step 2 is to integrate and use that message in ALL of your marketing (business cards, banners/signs, website, etc...) and advertising.

The goal is to constantly expose your target market to your marketing message (the message that you now control). Prospects and customers need constant reminders.

It's time for you to take control!

This one-two punch of taking control of your marketing message is inexpensive and highly effective. It's the very best place to start if you've got limited resources because it impacts every aspect of your marketing for the life of your business.

It sure seems like something each and every business would naturally do. But, it only takes a quick glance at the advertising of most local businesses to see how rarely it's actually utilized.