Time and time again, I hear from emerging entrepreneurs who want to start their own businesses in health or fitness. And more often than I’d like, I also hear the comments, “I should…”

This was a recent discussion on one of my listservs, in fact: The person was saying she should offer this and offer that because that’s what the physicians would want.

Oh my. BIG mistake taking this route! Why? Because if you do what you THINK you should do, two things are likely to happen: First, you won’t see the success you envision, and second, it won’t be too long before you dread what you do. So, instead of living your dream with your own business, you’ve just traded a job that bored you to a business that drags you down.

What is the answer? Here are three keys to success that you can’t go wrong with.

#1 – Focus on your passion! Stop thinking about what you SHOULD be doing. What excites you? What motivates you to get up in the morning? What leaves you energized by the end of the day? For me, I LOVE empowering people and when they leave a coaching call energized and motivated and with ACTIONS for moving forward, I have achieved my life passion. When I hear from clients who are literally living their dreams, my work has been complete.

#2 – Focus on your vision. What do you want to ultimately create? One big area that gets new entrepreneurs bogged down is when they start to see opportunities at every turn. Then they want to do EVERYTHING! But, before you do anything else, get very clear what it is you want to create and then continue to ask yourself, ‘does this help me achieve that goal right now?’ If the answer is yes, great, go for it! If the answer is no, add it to your ‘opportunity list’ and leave it for later. As an example, one goal I just achieved was completing my MBA degree. At the same time I started school, I started to increase presentations. Something QUICKLY became apparent. Something had to go. So, I put aside growing my speaking career for after I completed school. NOW I am focused on my public speaking gigs.

#3 – Learn to say no! Oh yea, this is a biggie for most of my clients. In fact, we often will end up with EXERCISES on how to say no. And, the great thing is how free-ing it is for them! If this is an issue for you, practice it! An example would be to practice saying “no” at least 5 times in the upcoming week. Remember #2? If it doesn’t help you achieve your goal right now, it’s ok to say no! Now, HOW to say no without totally closing the door: You can say this doesn’t fit with my plans right now, but do please consider me the next time (or in the future, or I’ll get back to you when…). Although fear may lead you think you HAVE to say yes to everything, it ends up filling your time with things you are NOT currently passionate about acheiving, and prevents you from doing what you love.

What happens when you aren’t doing what you love? It shows! But, when you are doing what brings out your passion, that shows to, and people gravitate to you. And, when it comes down to it, you want to have your own business for success, fulfillment and enjoyment. Dragging through the day isn’t going to make that happen.

Margie

Come check out how I can help you move forward: http://www.meg-enterprises.com

Today while at the market, the checker was talking about a raffle she took part in and that she won a new laptop computer. That was exciting, but then she said she’s never HAD a computer before! She was playing games on it right now…

This reminded me of when I used to take personal training clients, and they found me by either reading my articles or ads in the local paper or from my yellow pages ad. Of course, some did find me by the listings on the internet, but back then I didn’t have my own website; many of us didn’t back then, though. Even as time went on, though, I had many training clients who knew nothing about the internet and had no interest. If I had only marketed online, I would have missed a great deal of business!

So, where do YOUR potential clients hang out?

Today, most of my marketing is online, because that’s where most of my clients are, but I’d be limiting my potential a great deal if that was ALL I did!

So, where do YOUR potential clients hang out?

Whether you market to stay-at-home moms, or busy professional men or women, or kids, you need to be very clear where they spend their time, where they learn information, and where they turn when they’re looking for a service such as yours.

Some services and products appeal to a wide variety of people. However, if you are a small business, for the most success, you need to narrow your target market.

Again, where do your potential clients hang out?

If they read the local newspaper, then running a consistent ad in that paper may be a great strategy. I had researched which newspapers to advertise in when I was personal training. To run an ad in that paper for the services I offer now would be a waste of my time, however.

Some potential clients only spend time outside their work at business networking events. Therefore, in order to let them know you exist, you have to show up to these events! Running an ad in the paper, or having an incredible website won’t draw them to you.

Do your research and find out where potential clients hang out, then make your presence known. This will be the best use of your time and money and will help you achieve your business goals of success.

Margie