4 STAGES OF BUSINESS SUCCESS

What kind of help does your business need to attract more clients and be more profitable?
What kind of help do you need to get to that 7-figure income you're aiming for?
The answer depends on what stage you're at as an entrepreneur and a business owner.
Stage I: Start-up
You've got a great idea for a new business, a new product or a better way of delivering a service. You're sure there's a need out there for it. You're knowledgeable enough in the field to be confident that this can support you and your family. At this stage, your biggest concern is turning your idea into a salable product or service.
Knowing that 50% of new businesses fail in the first four years, what do you need?
Focus.
Over the last 20 years, I've worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs eager to launch new businesses. They're smart, they're committed to success and they're willing to work hard. Really hard.
But a lot of the business owners coming to me for help have made the same mistake. They try to do too much. They try to be everything to everybody and their business is dying while they're trying.
Every entrepreneur needs to identify their target market, clarify the problem they solve and understand the primary benefits of their products or services. Then they need to stay focused on those.
Figure out exactly what your business is, whom it helps and how it helps them. Then come up with a killer marketing message so your prospects understand the value of your product and services. Ignore these fundamental steps at your peril.
Stage II: Struggling Business
After months of working around the clock, you have a product or service ready to sell. You land a few customers and sales start to trickle in. This should be an exciting phase of growth for you, but it's often when the frustration sets in.
You've worked hard to create top quality products and services but your business is still the best-kept secret going. Hardly anyone knows about it and too few are buying.
What should you do to get more than the occasional client and a trickle of sales?
At this stage, entrepreneurs like you who are experts in their industry niche, whether in accounting, web design, yoga, organic composting, or IT consulting, realize that they're not experts in marketing.
What do you need?
Ideas!
Even the smartest entrepreneur needs marketing ideas so they can discover the simple secrets to attract clients, increase sales and generate a steady income.
Are you looking for low-cost, proven ways to skyrocket your busines
Stage III: Profitable Business
It happens even to smart entrepreneurs and business owners. You apply a solid marketing strategy, your business gathers momentum, and pretty soon you're overwhelmed.
Now you're trying to do everything, juggling administrative tasks, managing clients, developing new products -- not to mention marketing, so you can avoid that whole feast or famine thing.
The problem is, of course, that because you did quite a few things right, your business now is a ball and chain around your life. You're making good money, but you're working way too hard and have yet to see the upper six or seven figure income you should be earning.
At this point, you don't need more ideas. You probably have too many already. Now, the challenge is to figure out which of those ideas to use and how to use them.
What do you need help with?
Implementation.
This is the stage in your business when a mentor or coach can help you. You need to work with someone one-on-one to help you assess your business and your marketing, sift through your ideas, and help you plan which ones to use first, second and third to keep the sales rolling in.
Do you have a profitable business? Looking for ways to grow it?
Stage IV: Successful Business
Sit back and enjoy your success? Not hardly.
Sales are rolling in at a steady clip and you keep coming up with even more ways to grow your business. Good thing, too, because the pressure is on. Local and global competition, a sour economy, rising costs and untold other challenges mean this is when things get really crazy. Some of my clients tell me that business at this stage feels like barely controlled chaos.
It's at this point that many successful entrepreneurs let themselves get buried by their business. Busy with their success, they end up missing the big opportunity to not just double their business but grow it by a factor of ten.
I'm sure you known entrepreneurs like this. They've got a steady business and are taking home a couple of hundred thousand dollars a year, but then they stop short. They can't grow anymore because they've become their business instead of running it.
What you need help with at this stage of running a successful business?
Expansion.
After all the hard work you've put into creating a profitable business, why not continue to grow it and help even more customers?
Almost any successful business has the potential to keep growing. It's a matter of taking your products and services and multiplying the number of people you sell to. It can be as simple as lining up a few marketing partners. There are likely to be other key steps, such as making better use of your time, building your team and mastering the art of delegation.
The challenge at this stage is to move from doing all the work to leading your team and building your company. It's not easy to make the shift while you're in the thick of it. That's why having a mentor to guide you -- and hold your feet to the fire -- is almost essential.

FINDING FINANCIAL FREEDOM

Do you ever get this in your email box: Find Financial Freedom! Make $150,000 from home in the next 90 days! How about 10 times a day?

Every time I get one of these, I think to myself, “Hmmm, Financial Freedom. I already have financial freedom, even though it doesn’t look like what these emails promise me.”

Financial freedom is a buzzword for our generation. It is the pursuit of literally millions of people. So what is it? Is it that elusive? Can anyone get it?

Let me start by saying that this article will not be about how to earn money, or even more money. Rather, it will be about how to find financial freedom, which may or may not involve making more money.

Financial freedom – here we go!

The first step in finding financial freedom is to realize that financial freedom has absolutely nothing to do with how much money you have or make. What? Exactly. Financial freedom is something that goes on inside of you. This is why someone who makes very little can be happy and someone who makes a ton can be extremely stressed out over his or her financial situation. So the first step is to realize that financial freedom is more about our attitudes toward money than about the amount of money.

“Okay Chris, I’m with you. So what are the attitudes that provide financial freedom?” Here are a few that keep me in financial freedom.

I do not have to worry about money.
I used to catch myself saying, “If I had more money, then I wouldn’t have to worry about …” But do you know what? I don’t have to worry anyway. I can control my income. I can control my outgo. I can make choices that can alleviate any of my worries. I also realized that things always work out. So why worry? I choose not to worry.

I can be happy regardless of my financial state.
I know people who are worth hundreds of millions of dollars and I know people who don’t have two nickels to rub together. Some are happy and some aren’t. And none of the people who have a lot of money say to me, “Chris, I’ve become so happy since I got money.” They were happy before they had money and they are happy now that they have money. Their happiness has nothing to do with the money. I think it was the Billionaire David Geffen who said, “Anyone who says that money will buy them happiness has never had any money.”

Money will be a means to an end, not the end itself.
Another way to look at it is that money will be a tool to build the house, not the house itself. I would set some financial goals if I were you, but go beyond that to know what greater purpose there will be when you reach them. What will the house be that you will build with that tool?

I am free.
I am free to earn – some people think it is bad to earn more money. It isn’t. I am free to save – some people believe it is bad to save. It isn’t. I am free to give money away – some people feel they will be better off hoarding it. They won’t. I am free to spend – some people believe that they can’t spend anything on themselves. They can. We are free to make choices. That is financial freedom. One of my favorite quotes is from Charles Wesley, “Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” That will keep you in financial freedom.

Some other principles for financial freedom…

Debt is the primary freedom killer.
Want financial freedom? The first thing you should do is to get out of debt. That is priority number one. One of the reasons I have financial freedom is that I have no debt other than my house payment. And I work hard to manage myself and our home to keep us that way. For years I drove an old junker car, and while I looked bad, I had financial freedom that others who were in debt didn’t have!

There is an old proverb – The borrower is the servant of the lender. Who has freedom? The lender. Who doesn’t? The borrower. Develop a plan to get out of debt!

Embrace delayed gratification.
Here is the principle: Buy it now and struggle later. Another principle: Delay it now, invest the money, and have all you want later on! And you won’t even have to touch the principal! We tend to think that having it now will bring enjoyment, but unless you can do it and not cause yourself financial stress, you will actually get more from waiting to buy it later!

Have more by managing better. The fact is that most of us earn enough. What would be beneficial would be to set our priorities and live by a budget. As we get control, our budget will loosen up a bit and we will find ourselves enjoying it more. Money that is already there can be your answer if you put it to work for you.

Spend some time thinking through your attitudes about money. You may be surprised at how you can change a few, look at things a little bit differently and begin to enjoy true financial freedom!

TRUST IN RELATIONSHIP

We have been taught to believe trust is a commodity to be earned by others. Once they have passed certain tests, then we feel safe to extend our trust. I would like to entertain the idea that trust can be a verb, rather than a noun. It's a choice you make and says much more about you than it does the person to whom you are extending that trust.

When you are involved in a relationship and you say you trust that person, it is more than a noun. It's not just a thing you extend to a person like a gift--it is followed up with behaviors--things you do and things you don't do.

When you trust someone, you know he or she will do the right thing. You know they have their affairs (no pun intended) under control. They are faithful and loyal. You don't need constant reassurance of this--you just know.

What you don't do is constantly grill a person about where he or she is and with whom he or she is spending time. You don't have him or her followed looking for proof of infidelity. You don't snoop around in his or her personal belongings or private places. You trust that he or she can be trusted.

Trusting has so much more to do with who you are as a person than it does with who your partner is. When you are secure in yourself and know that you are worthy to receive love, then it is natural to trust.

The Law of Attraction

The Law of Attraction says that if you look at life and see positive things then you will attract more of that positive energy into your life and vice versa.

If you always find yourself in relationships where you have been disappointed and lied to, ask yourself what it is about you that brings dishonorable people into your life. I'm not in any way blaming you for your misfortune, but I know people attract what they think about.

If you want more trust in your life, you have to be more trusting and more worthy of trust. You can't get from others what you don't possess in yourself. You must ask yourself, "Am I a trustworthy person? Does my partner realize that I have integrity and can be trusted? Do I extend trust to him or her?"

Of course, there will inevitably be someone you trusted who didn't deserve it, but don't allow that to shake the foundation of your self-confidence. It is right to trust the person with whom you are involved. If he or she is undeserving of your trust, in time this will be revealed to you and then you can move on and forgive--whether or not you choose to stay with the person. It does no good to stay if the trust is forever gone.

Beyond Lost Trust

I was recently talking to one of my clients about her readiness to begin a new relationship. This woman, Susan, had been divorced for about five years and believed she was ready for a new dating relationship in her life but nothing was happening for her.
I asked her if there was something holding her back. She is an attractive and fun-loving person. I suggested that maybe her ex-husband was still holding too much power over her emotions to allow her to engage in a relationship with someone new.

She thought about that and realized that what really happened is that when her husband had an affair with a much younger woman, it totally shook her self-esteem. If she doesn't like herself, how can someone else be attracted to her?

So often, when our trust is shattered, we tend to look at ourselves. What's wrong with me? Why did someone I love betray me? Why didn't I see it? Instead, we need to look at thecharacter flaw in the other person. When someone makes a promise to another and breaks it, then that is a flaw in them, not you.

Trusting really comes down to which is most important to you--trust or self-protection? If you are more concerned with keeping yourself safe, you probably won't trust because you are afraid of being hurt. However, can you really protect yourself? Won't you still be hurt to learn of a loved one's deception? Without trust, you will never achieve that level of intimacy a trusting relationship provides. What will you really lose by trusting?

The most important thing, though, is to not lose respect for yourself. You are a worthy person. Spend some time engaging in some self-nurturing behavior. Learn to love yourself again. Your self-esteem cannot be based on the frailties of another person.

I have two questions. Do you want to be in a relationship with someone whom you can't trust? And do you want to be in a relationship where you are behaving as a jealous, crazy person?

Trust is Multi-Level

The trust one needs in a relationship is multi-level. At the base level, there is a trust in your partner. Your partner may deserve your trust or he or she may not. You have no control over that at all. If a person is unworthy of your trust, that in no way diminishes you.

At the next level is a trust in oneself. At this level, it is important to trust your own instincts in people. You may not always be right. People are very good at deception if they want to be. However, if you trust in yourself and your good judgment, when you make a mistake you won't be devastated. You just realize that you were involved with a person who was a master of deception and you move on undaunted but perhaps a bit wiser.

Finally, there is trust in the universal order of things--a divine spirit, if you will. If you have total and complete trust in the Universal Spirit or your Higher Power then that trust will never be betrayed. The Universal Spirit will always provide you with what you need whenever you have a need.

Have you lost your trust? Do you want to get it back? Let go of the wrong that was done, trust in yourself again and ultimately trust in the Universal Spirit to provide you what you need when you need it. You will discover a sense of peace and calm that will sustain you through the difficult and lonely times.

RELATIONSHIPS ARE EVERYTHING

Your Foundation for Success
Relationship Selling is the core of all modern selling strategies. Your ability to develop and maintain long-term customer relationships is the foundation for your success as a salesperson and your success in business. Relationship selling requires a clear understanding of the dynamics of the selling process as they are experienced by your customer.
Propose a Business Marriage
For your customer, a buying decision usually means a decision to enter into a long-term relationship with you and your company. It is very much like a "business marriage." Before the customer decides to buy, he can take you or leave you. He doesn't need you or your company. He has a variety of options and choices open to him, including not buying anything at all. But when your customer makes a decision to buy from you and gives you money for the product or service you are selling, he becomes dependent on you. And since he has probably had bad buying experiences in the past, he is very uneasy and uncertain about getting into this kind of dependency relationship.
Fulfill Your Promises
What if you let the customer down? What if your product does not work as you promised? What if you don't service it and support it as you promised? What if it breaks down and he can't get it replaced? What if the product or service is completely inappropriate for his needs? These are real dilemmas that go through the mind of every customer when it comes time to make the critical buying decision.
Focus on the Relationship
Because of the complexity of most products and services today, especially high-tech products, the relationship is actually more important than the product. The customer doesn't know the ingredients or components of your product, or how your company functions, or how he will be treated after he has given you his money, but he can make an assessment about you and about the relationship that has developed between the two of you over the course of the selling process. So in reality, the customer's decision is based on the fact that he has come to trust you and believe in what you say.
Build a Solid Trust Bond
In many cases, the quality of your relationship with the customer is thecompetitive advantage that enables you to edge out others who may have similar products and services. The quality of the trust bond that exists between you and your customers can be so strong that no other competitor can get between you.
Keep Your Customers for Life
The single biggest mistake that causes salespeople to lose customers is taking those customers for granted. This is a form of "customer entropy." It is when the salesperson relaxes his efforts and begins to ignore the customer. Almost 70 percent of customers who walked away from their existing suppliers later replied that they made the change primarily because of a lack of attention from the company.
Once you have invested the time and made the efforts necessary to build a high-quality, trust-based relationship with your customer, you must maintain that relationship for the life of your business. You must never take it for granted.
Action Exercises
First, focus on building a high quality relationship with each customer by treating your customer so well that he comes back, buys again and refers you to his friends.
Second, pay attention to your existing customers. Tell them you appreciate them. Look for ways to thank them and encourage them to come back and do business with you again.