Business Coaching From The Kitchen
It was a week filled with clients and business, parties and movies, baking and Chinese food. We’re heading to another party this evening. I’m always asked to bring a dessert. I picked one of my favorite recipes, a pumpkin, cranberry bread. Some of the batter got onto my fingers as I poured it into the pan, and even though I know I probably shouldn’t, I licked my fingers clean. It’s going to be delicious.
As I put the cake in the oven, and set the timer, I realized that just like baking, your business is more than ingredients. Your business needs time, skills and effort in a certain order, and time for those ingredients to work together. Sometimes success seems to happen instantly, more often it’s gradual. You build a website. You slowly build a list, you market to those people. You send the right messages, at the right time. You network. You give presentations. You write blog posts. You create products and programs. You send out ezines, like this one. You create lead magnets. You have sales conversations.
They say baking is a science, and you need to follow a recipe exactly for it to work. I don’t believe that. I consider a recipe to be a guideline. There are things that I don’t change, and there are a lot of things that I change to make it more to my liking. It’s the same with your business. There are only two things you absolutely must do. You must let people know you exist – market, and you need to have a way to exchange money – sell.
I’ve seen people try one or two things, or work and work without following a plan who get frustrated and give up. I see people who do everything but sell; they don’t see success either. I see people who do every step once and expect their business to skyrocket. None of this works.
Here’s my recipe for a successful business.
1) Decide what you want your business to look like
2) Learn best practices
3) Pick the ingredients that work for you
4) Create a plan and follow it
5) Sell
6) Give it the time it needs
7) Ask for help
There are many best practices, and “proven methods”. I encourage you to make your business your own. Remember, your business is here to support you and your goals, not the other way around.
More than anything else I’ve learned since I went into business over 15-years ago is that to get the success I was looking for I had to do more than want it. I had to do the work, and I had to get help.
As I wrap up this message I realize it’s the last ezine for 2017.
If you’ve spent 2017 trying to make it work on your own, or following a plan that isn’t working for you, stop. Click here to email me, and we’ll set up a time for us to talk, because you deserve a business that will make you happy.
Here’s to a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2018. May it be a year full of smiles, laughter, learning and exciting experiences.
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