4 Things Preventing Your Entrepreneur Success

Time to get over your P.A.S.T.

A big misunderstanding about being an entrepreneur is that you can do it on your own. So often I hear people refer to themselves as solopreneurs and the word ‘solo’ implies that he/she is doing the work on their own. You, as an entrepreneur can attest to the fact that being an entrepreneur is more of a group effort than solo sport.

P-People

Do you remember that moment when you decided to be your own boss? Make your own pathway to financial success? Leave a legacy for your children and grandchildren? You could not wait to tell your friends and family. You sent text messages, made phone calls and even told some face to face with utter excitement!

Of course, you expected their full support. You just knew they would jump to support you, without hesitation to help you realize your entrepreneurial goals! *crickets*

You should just knew they would jump to support you, without hesitation...*crickets*

You soon realized that while they are happy for your new journey, they don’t always want to participate in your journey. What we realize is that apart from your really close friends and family members - most others in your orbit are merely observers; with little to no intention of buying from you or working with you.

Most entrepreneurs are trained to approach their family and friends first in hopes of getting sales. This is called your warm market. The thought is that if you share your business with those who know you, you will be able to get some momentum in your sales and success. The warm market technique is effective, but only to a certain point. That point being - ‘I knew you when…’

That point being - 'I knew you when'

The I knew you when group represents those people who will always see you as ‘little Ray Ray’ or ‘baby cuz’. No matter how much you grow, no matter how mature you become, no matter how much success you achieve, the I knew you when group will always recall you when you were the most inexperienced and use those memories to interact with you, no matter how much you have changed. I know you are already thinking of those family members and friends as you are reading this. We have them too. Here’s the thing - they don’t mean to, but they often dismiss your entrepreneurial goals. Reasons can be many and vary from person to person. Bottom line - you more than likely WON’T get their support for your business. Especially in the infancy stages when they can’t see the success.

We are not saying you should not share - just don’t get your hopes up and don’t take it personally when they don’t show support.

So what then should you do? Everyone says - WARM MARKET! WARM MARKET! Target your WARM MARKET!

The short answer is - convert EVERY PERSON you meet into an unlimited WARM MARKET. We have an upcoming training to show you JUST how to do this simple process. Step–by-step. Click HERE to sign up for more information.

A- Actions

As an entrepreneur, it is easy to get frustrated with the monotony of repetition, especially if we don’t see the return on our investment of time, money, tears…can I get an amen?

It seems almost crazy right? Show up, day and day out - stick with the plans we make - only to see little to no growth, sales or marketing reach. OR SO IT SEEMS! As an entrepreneur your business is like a baby. It TAKES TIME to grow. It needs consistency and attention, even when it all seems fruitless.

Your business is like your baby - it takes time to grow and needs lots of attention in the infancy phase.

As you grow your business, at times it is easy to feel like you are insane - doing the same things over and over, expecting a different result; especially when you are executing your business plans. Remember when you were teaching your little one to walk? Or potty train? It was repetition. Day in and day out.

Treat your business like a baby...small steps over and over.

Building a sustainable and successful business means brick by brick not floor by floor. It just doesn’t work that way. We have seen many entrepreneurs take shortcuts to success, and find themselves further behind than when they started.

Takeaway - STICK WITH IT. Instead of looking at your repeated actions as individual actions - look at them as COMPOUND actions. One book that we highly recommend is The Slight Edge by Jeff Olson.

So stop thinking you are insane for doing the small steps over and over again. Make the calls, send the emails, post on socials, attend the trainings, SHOW UP consistently. Watch your business grow!

S-Sentiments

This next one will be a bit touchy for some, but a necessary discussion.

Entrepreneurship is nothing short of an emotional roller coaster. The HIGHS are HIGH and the LOWS can be pretty LOW…(church keyboard plays two beats - if you know, you know).

Most entrepreneurs let the waves of emotions overtake them. This can be a roadblock to your success, even if you are too focused on the WINS.

For instance, when you have a great day in sales or momentum in your business - the tendency is to feel like you have earned a break or a reward. While a praise dance is always in order, we advise to manage that emotional high. Remember you learn more from your setbacks/losses than you do from your wins and gains.

You learn more from your losses than you do from your wins.

Remember the test you didn’t pass in school? Or the driver’s license test you had to retake? Yeah, the 2nd time around you went in better and more prepared. I bet some of you can still quote page numbers!

So YES always acknowledge WINS - WOOT WOOT! However, don’t party too long. Get focused again and keep it moving! As entrepreneurs, we like to say - you are unemployed again after every sale/contract/growth point. It is a bit extreme, but it keeps us focused!

As for your losses, don’t dwell on them too long either. The story of Formula 409 comes to mind when I think of the work it takes to achieve success as an entrepreneur. In short, Formula 409™ is called that because it took 408 failures before the winning formula was achieved. Before you beat yourself up and feel defeated, ask yourself this, “Have I tried 100 times? 50 times? 20 times?” If not, then put it all in perspective. Plan, do and review your business strategies. For more help on ways to increase your sales, improve your online presence and build and authentic team - join our group on Facebook

T-Thoughts

The Bible says this - “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” If we look at the entire verse in Proverbs 23:7 we read that the verse is referring to the fact that sometimes people will say one thing with their words but their heart is in opposition to their words.

“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.” Proverbs 23:7 NKJV

This can be true of all of us and when it comes to your business and entrepreneurial goals - your THOUGHTS and thus your words have to be closely guarded. Sure, there will be times of doubt and moments when you feel like giving up - we have all been there. You’re not alone. However, you cannot allow those thoughts to become words of death to your business.

Getting over your P.A.S.T. means you don’t let even your negative thoughts come between you and your goals of entrepreneurial success. No matter how many words of affirmation you say and no matter how many vision boards you hang, if your thoughts are unsure and negative, your success will be stunted or prevented altogether. You cannot OUT speak your negative thoughts.

Here’s a skill you can use to help control your thoughts - when the negative thoughts come, as soon as you notice them, STOP the thought process and begin to count from 100 to 200. Don’t start at the number 1, too easy. Instead start counting from 100 until you either stop the negative thought train OR reach 200. Trust, this works. Then replace your negative thoughts with positive, progress thoughts. Thoughts of success and prosperity. Look for ways to overcome whatever obstacle had you on the negative thoughts before.

Join our email list to get our helpful P.A.S.T. Checklist to help you level up your business mindset! Just fill out the form below to get your FREE checklist...or don't. (could this be one of those small action steps that makes all the difference in your business success?)