it takes a village to raise a business part 1

12/1/2016

“there has to be more to life than this job”...
“i'm not what I do because I don't love what I do”...
“i want to earn my living my way, on my terms, doing fulfilling work that I enjoy”...
“my freelance side gig needs to become my full time entrepreneurial life”...
“i feel a strong calling on my life that is bigger than being an employee”...
“my skills and talents are underutilized at my job”....
“my manager is not a leader who wants to develop, motivate and inspire his or her team”...
“having benefits and simply earning a paycheck are no longer enough. i desire a FULFILLED life”...
“climbing the corporate ladder doing work i don't love doesn't appeal to me”...
“I WANT TO PLAY BIGGER - I AM ENTREPRENEURIAL”...

the big decision

at least a few of these statements must be familiar since you finally decided it's time to stop wasting your life at a job you hate and start creating your best life now. you decided to stop complaining and start creating! well…

welcome to the 1st day of creating a fulfilled life,
on your terms as a lifestyle entrepreneur!

i'm using my inside excited voice because I get amped every time another should be entrepreneur decides to kick the cubicle to the curb and accept your role as an entrepreneur. i've been there as I once replayed the same sentiments to myself until I couldn’t bear letting life happen without suiting up and claiming my life. i finally decided to flip my side hustle and turned my passion for inspiring others like yourself to live life on your own terms into my every day full time lifestyle...my new normal. you can do the same with whatever YOU love to do.

there’s more to life…

aside from my family, nothing became more important than claiming my freedom from the cubicle and helping other working entrepreneurs create a fulfilled life. i even sacrificed sleep. as soon as I claimed the vision for my truest life, I could not rest until I was completely mentally drained night after night of all of the new ideas, concepts, courses and platforms I wanted to develop. i began to create my exit strategy and help other working entrepreneurs create their own exit strategy. this is my life’s work and I’m eager to share with you. i digress. back to what’s most important...YOU and your transition.

now that you've decided to make your plan B your life plan, you will need a multi-level strategy to create a lifestyle around a successful business. one key component is to connect with your village because it truly takes a village to raise a business. success in business means having the right connection with the right skills serving in the right role at the right time to make your transition to a full-time thriving entrepreneur as smooth as possible. a smooth transition is a transition where you successfully avoid wasting time, energy and resources. don't attempt to learn and execute every task related to running a profitable business on your own. trying to do everything yourself under the reckless belief that you’re saving money or because you can is a dead-end road you don’t need to go down. don’t make the same mistakes I did. learning new things is cool but spending too much time spinning your wheels is counterproductive when someone in your soon to be bountiful network can help you create an minimum viable product much quicker and do a better job of it. time, energy and other resources will all be in short supply as you scale your business so choose your tasks wisely. after learning this lesson the hard way...a few times, the best piece of advice I can give soon to be full time entrepreneurs is:

"do what you do best then
collaborate, delegate or outsource the rest."

said differently, stay in your lane by excelling at your strengths and then collaborate and delegate the areas where others are much smarter, effective and proficient. you are a key influencer in your niche. you and everyone else just don’t know it yet. until then, be it until you believe it and do not fake it until you make it because authenticity is EVERYTHING. become the person that you say you are. take the aspirational you and the actual right now you and start to close the gap to become exactly who you wish to authentically be. in the famous words of Les Brown, "life gives you what you are, not what you want."

start to think of yourself as you envision the confident thriving version of yourself to be five years from now and be that. this is who you channel when connecting with others to build your business and solidify your personal and business brands. see yourself as a well respected influencer in your niche that has helped many people doing your thing whatever your thing is. picture yourself as wealthy, highly sought after and yet just beginning to hit your stride. now think about who you will need to have on your team to make your vision your reality. whoever those people “types” are is who you need to start connecting with now. find the gaps and fill them in. using the Business Relationship Accelerator action plan I’m going to show you how to make authentic connections and build rapport the right way. it’s easier than you think when you are in the right places with the right people.

in part 2 of this post i’ll continue the conversation by sharing;

why it is important to connect with the right people for your business before you need them;
why you need a village to scale and grow a sustainable business and;
what type of giving minded people who wish to add value to others you’ll need in your network.

understanding how solid your own circle (your network) is will tell you exactly what gaps you need to fill when building strong Circles of INfluence. this book from Dulworth helps you do just that.

Michael Dulworth
"we have almost 100 percent control over our ability to build, nurture and leverage our networks".