If you are dreaming of taking your business to the next stage, but you find yourself JUST dreaming and not growing, then it’s probably time to find yourself a mentor!

If you are an RD, ADA has a mentor program. The Nutrition Entrepreneurs Dietetic Practice Group of the ADA also has a mentor program, which I highly recommend.

But what if you need the NEXT stage of help? Then follow these 4 tips to help you choose a mentor who will challenge you to create the business of your dreams:

Tip 1: Find someone who is more than just a figurehead. It has to be someone who lives the life you imagine living and models what you would like to be doing. How do they live their life? What things are important to them? Do THEY invest in a coach for themselves? You don’t want to find someone who talks about the importance of mentoring/coaching yet doesn’t invest in that help for themselves.

Tip 2: Look for someone who can provide done-for-you templates. We’re all so extremely busy! Wouldn’t it be nice if you could find someone who understood your business and could provide you with templates and scripts for how to write your website text, how to write promotional emails and even how to have an assessment or strategy conversation with a potential client!?

Tip 3: Choose someone who shares your values. Are you looking for someone who believes that the path to success is making a difference in the world? Or would you prefer to find someone who can just show you how to make a lot of money, no matter how you do it? I suspect you would rather work with someone who strives to empower others, since if you’re reading this, that’s YOUR goal, too.

Tip 4: Choose a mentor who is a real coach. Anyone can call themselves a coach. But I have to share that I’ve heard MANY horror stories from people who THOUGHT they were hiring a coach, only to find out that they were really hiring a consultant. Coaches don’t scold you. Coaches don’t get angry when you don’t follow their advice. Coaches don’t give advice! Granted, it’s nice to find a coach who can both provide amazing coaching AND give you advice on how to move forward, but a qualified, educated coach will ultimately hold you as knowledgeable and the person in charge of your choices.

Although I believe that all of us can create whatever we can imagine, I also believe that if we invest in ourselves by investing in a powerful mentor, we will create it MUCH faster! And, life is too short: I want to create my dream business today and then have the rest of my life to enjoy it. What about you?

Margie

If you are serious about taking your business to the next level this year, the 6-month group Platinum program is for you! Click here for more information.

One of the traits of an entrepreneur is tolerance to risk. Psychoanalyst Kerry Sulkowicz, MD, calls tolerance to risk “resilience”. And today we are seeing how resilient people are!

What about you? Are you stressing over the economy, or are you taking stock of what you have to offer and looking for new opportunities? If you are stressing out and closing down, you’ll likely end up like so many other businesses that won’t survive 2009. However, if you are a fighter, and a ‘typical’ entrepreneur, you are ready to do what is necessary to find those new opportunities!

The reason that starting a business during an economic downturn is a good idea is that most of these businesses will be starting up with existing, not borrowed, capital. Business that starts without debt has a better chance of survival if things don’t pick up right away.

So, take stock of your bottom line (cash on hand), understand what your ‘burn rate’ is, and exactly how long it will take to you to run out of cash (OOC), determine where you can cut down on costs, if necessary, widen your net for potential clients, ask yourself how best you can INCREASE value to your current, past and potential new clients, and rejoice in this time of the year and economy! This really is a great time to be in business! Don’t let tolerance to risk hold you back, but DO do your due diligence.

Margie

The labor department just released the latest news about our unemployment rate, announcing we are at a 5-year high of 6.1%. It’s really no surprise, and it may get worse before it gets better.

There are two times that people decide to start a business: When the economy is strong and they feel they can take their time to get their business up and running, before quitting their jobs, and when the economy is weak, and they either have just lost their jobs or fear it will happen any time.

Because service-oriented businesses can be started with very little capital, through bootstrapping, probably one of the BEST times to start a business is when the economy is weak! Imagine making a go of your business during today’s tough times… and then what is possible when the tide turns? And, it WILL turn; it always does.

In fact, back in 2001, the talk was big then on the failing economy, too. Headlines included such titles as these: “Fed Says Economy Remains Sluggish”, “Brokerages Stuck in Profit Slump”, “The Layoff List”, and I love this one: “US Industrial Utilization Falls to a 17-year Low”.

During that last economic slow-down, reporters for the online newsletter at Wharton School of Business at Penn State asked several professors their opinion about starting a business when the economy was weak. Their replies are exactly what I say above! With a good, unique offering, and the right type of business, and being able to start a business without a lot of capital, a business can be started in good or tough economic times.

In that series of interviews, the professors also discuss the changing of the face of economy; back then they mentioned it more along the lines of including more ‘m-commerce’, but it’s actually the beginning of what we now know as ‘globalization’. Thomas Friedman probably emphasizes this best in his compelling book, “The World is Flat”. I HIGHLY recommend this book for anyone either in business or considering starting a business.

So, what is good news about an increased unemployment rate? The good news is it could be the best time of your life to start that business you keep thinking about!

Margie