I am a firm believer in living each day loving what you are doing. This philosophy has grown even stronger as I mature through life. As a young individual you are so concerned about becoming an adult and wanting the opportunity to have choices. Then you realize that with those choices comes a lot of responsibility. Sometimes we are ready for it and other times we are not. One day I woke up and realized I was exactly where I needed to be. How did I get here? By chance? Perhaps…most likely it was a variety of options, choices, and unknown guidance that lead me to this place. Sometimes we are not sure of where the path will take us, but that’s half the fun and craziness of being an entrepreneur. Who knows where you’ll end up? You have to be in for the long haul and know that the road will be twisting and winding. You may not feel in control throughout the process. Are you onboard? Or are you just standing along the side looking at everyone else? It’s time to follow your passion. Others may not agree or understand, but don’t let them control your destiny. Life is about choices…not doing anything is a choice. Is it the right one for you? Who knows? Take the leap of faith in yourself and see where your passion leads you.

I’m a strong believer that you have to enter business with a lot of passion for the business to be successful. If you are passionate about the things you love, then it comes through in everything that you do. Don’t think only of money. If you are passionate about what you are doing, then it is a natural element for the money to follow that path of passion.

If you won the lottery, would you still do what you are doing today? If the answer is “NO”, then you are not passionate enough about what you are doing. If the answer is “YES”, then you have passion. This is a question often asked in a group of professionals and it always amazes me when less than 1% are still standing after the speaker asks if the audience would do what they are doing if they won the lottery or if they didn’t get paid anymore. Most of them laugh and sit down saying “No way”. Not me…I’m included in that 1% that is still standing. I love what I’m doing. I have the best opportunity as I get to help other business owners be more successful. What more could I ask for?

I’m not naïve or stupid. I understand that money is important. Money is necessary for your business to continue and your family to survive, but that shouldn’t be your main focus. If it is, people will see that and be less in tune with you. I don’t want to buy from someone who is selling a product only to make commission. I realize they are going to make a commission. I want to know about the benefits of the product and how it is going to change my life. I want you to be passionate about the product or service you provide and that will be evident to me in the way you interact.

Are you Passionate? Ask yourself these 7 Questions to determine your level of passion:

Would you do what you are doing today if you didn’t need the money?

1. Do you wake up before the alarm, excited for the day?

2. Do you smile during the day or dread the next appointment?

3. Is helping others your main focus?

4. Do you feel you have a choice in what you are doing with your life?

5. Do you spend your days with people you respect?

6. Do you feel you have control of your own life?

7. Would you change your path if you woke up one day and no longer liked what you were doing?

If you answered “YES” to all of these questions, then it is a sign that you are passionate about what you are doing and I’m sure it shows in every step you take. You love what you are doing and feel blessed with each moment the day offers you. That doesn’t mean you won’t have your moments of being overwhelmed and stressed. That’s part of the package. The key is knowing that it’s all worth it.

If you answered “NO” to more than 3 of these questions, you better reassess what you are doing with your life. We only have one shot to make this life the best that it can be. Are you okay with the path you are on? If you answered “NO” to more than 5, then you are in serious trouble and it’s time to take control of your life TODAY! It’s never too late to start taking control and making this life the one you always dreamed about. It may not be easy, but it will be worth it. No pain, no gain applies here and it’s time for you to save yourself. No one can do it for you. Take control now…one step at a tim

The lack of strong boundaries is one of the chief causes of stress, overwork and overwhelm in the business environment.

Clearly set boundaries help other people to understand how you want to be treated. They are the rules, if you like, that apply when others deal with you and your business. Many of us aren’t good at establishing boundaries, something that probably stems from way back in our childhoods.

As children we are often taught that other people’s needs are more important than ours. That we should obey others without question. And we were rewarded for pleasing other people and sacrificing our own needs. Sometimes we do not set boundaries because we dislike confrontation or anger, or because we think we will hurt other peoples feelings. If this behaviour of putting ourselves last carries over into our adult lives, it’s likely to stop us from telling other people what we want.

The good news is that setting boundaries is a learnable skill, and one that can make a huge positive difference to the quality of your life.

The first step is to identify which boundaries you need to set. These seven are suggested for easing the pressure on you in your business life:

1. Learn to say no.

Don’t feel uncomfortable about saying no to an unreasonable request. If it is going to have a negative impact on you, or you don’t really want to do something, then just say no. And don’t feel as thought you need to explain why. After all, we don’t offer an explanation when we say yes.

2. Be clear about what you do and what you don’t do.

If something is outside the bounds of your normal scope of work, then simply say so. It is easy to get caught up agreeing to do unusual things or one-offs that take up a lot of extra time. Your time is valuable and you want to spend it accordingly.

3. When it’s OK for people to contact you.

If you get customers and suppliers calling you at all hours then you need to establish this boundary. You can take control in this situation by looking for a win-win outcome. For example, “I know that you would like to speak with me. Right now, I am spending time with my family. What time tomorrow can I call you back? I guarantee that you’ll only need to say this once, and people will get the message very quickly.

4. Payment terms.

If people aren’t respecting your payment terms you need to let them know that this is unacceptable. Be clear upfront about what your terms are (yes – actually advise new customers verbally), and consider using payment options that give you control. For example, the timing of credit card deductions and direct debits are controlled by you, rather than by the customer.

5. Working hours (Value your own time).

You are in control of your diary, not your customers. If you find yourself consistently working excessive hours, or longer than you want, then you are taking on more work than you can manage. Be honest about how long it will take you to complete the job. For example, “ I can start working on this on Wednesday, which means it will be ready for you on Friday afternoon”.

6. The way in which people can speak to you.

Some people use aggressive or abusive language to get what they want. You need to let them know that this isn’t OK. For example, “ I can see that you are upset. We do need to discuss this but I am not prepared to do so while you are angry. Let me call you tomorrow at a better time”.

7. Pricing.

There are times when we are happy to provide a discount -to valued and regular customers. At other times we can just get talked into it before we realize what has happened. Be very clear in your own mind about the circumstances in which you are prepared to drop your prices, and those in which you are not. And just stick to your guns. You’ll find that most people are just trying it on to see if it will work.

The bottom line in setting boundaries is asking for what we really want. There is no need to defend, debate or over-explain your boundaries. If questioned, simply say something like “it’s a business decision”. When faced with resistance, repeat your statement or request. Stay strong. If you give in, you are inviting people to ignore your needs.

Each of us has a right to set boundaries. . While others may not always get what they want in the short term, you will garner more respect from them and for yourself by standing up for your needs.

It’s a common problem and we’ve all seen it – business owners that are just ‘too busy’ all of the time, and as a result, do not enjoy the success in business they had hoped for. Let’s not kid ourselves, there is a lot to focus on: technology, employees, sales, marketing and so on. These functions are essential and need to be well organised and managed.

But there is a second aspect to business success that is often overlooked – the effectiveness of the person running the show. Businesses are a reflection of the people who run them. If those people are ‘too busy’, stressed, or poorly organised, then these characteristics are reflected back in the business. The underlying behaviour and values of the business owner drive how much control they need, how they will delegate and how they use their time.

Growth of the business and the business owner need to match up.

Any business that does not grow will ultimately decline. This may sound black and white but it is true. Growth can mean different things depending on the owner. For some it may be growth in revenues, for others it may be expanding product lines, or increasing the distribution channels. Whatever the definition of growth is, if it is not well thought out and planned, the business will soon become marginal and eventually fail, dragging the owner with it.

If the business is to grow, then the owner has to take the necessary time to learn the new roles and skills that a growing business will demand. Imagine for one moment where you would like your business to be in 5 years time. Then ask yourself: “Is it possible that I can be exactly the same person in 5 years that I am today and fulfil that growth strategy for my business? The answer has to be no. Business owners need to be prepared for new learning and taking on new, different, and bigger responsibilities – without fear or hesitation. The reality is the owner will be the limiting factor in growth – the business can only grow to the extent to which the owner grows.

When owners feel out of sorts, overworked, and like they are running faster and faster, it is almost always because they have fallen victim to the reactive “let’s go faster” management approach. They are forced to live from problem to problem, and as a result are unsuccessful and may become unwilling to see their own (lack of) self-management as part of the problem.

The major reasons that business owners don’t manage themselves better are:

* Being comfortable – we all do what we are comfortable with – it’s human nature. So we keep doing what we have always done.
* Not knowing what else is possible.
* Not knowing that there are other ways to do what they are doing.
* Actually getting energy (and maybe some identity) from being stressed and overworked.

There are 5 steps to take in the road to better self-management:

1. Clarify personal goals for the future.

Many business owners lose sight of these as they get immersed in the day-to-day running of the business. Articulating your personal goals can reveal any issues about whether these support or conflict with their business goals. These goals need to cover both the immediate and future plans. What do you want to achieve personally in the next 1 to 2 years. And where do you want to be in ten years time?

2. Clarify the business goals.

Having spent some time expressing personal goals for the future, take a look at your business goals and rethink them. Are your personal and business goals working together, or are they working against each other? If they do seem to be mutually exclusive, what choices will you make next? Putting the business goals ahead of your personal ones will inevitably lead to stress and feelings of overwhelm. Determine instead whether the business goals can be re-oriented or modified to support what you would like to achieve personally.

3. Identify the owner’s ideal role 3 years from now.

Think about who you want to be – what role you want to have in the business – in 3 years time. Will you still be doing the majority of work? Will you have others doing the work and your capacity is more advisory? Or perhaps you would like to remove yourself completely from the operational parts of the business and focus on product or business development?

Thinking about what you want as an owner in the future can give you great insights into what strategies you may need to put in place now.

4. Conduct a detailed personal time analysis for a one-week period.

This is where the rubber hits the road. If you really are true to yourself when you do this exercise you will learn a lot about where the potential lies for making changes. How are you really spending your time? Break your day down into at least half hour slots and write down exactly what you do in each 30 minutes.

5. Create a plan of action for the next 30 days.

Based on the data from steps 1-4, create an action plan to cover the next 30 days. Your plan should include:

• steps to align personal and business goals
• strategy for moving to the role the owner wants to play in the business in the future
• analysis of the results of the one-week detailed monitoring exercise
• deciding which activities add the most value and planning to spend time on those
• identify how much time is spent on low value activity and planning to delegate or stop doing those things

There is never a better time than right now for planning to do things differently. Take charge of yourself and your business by choosing a direction that allows you to meet both your personal and business goals, and still retain your sanity!

Are you like your competition? I hope not! If so, how boring you must be! The key to having more customers is providing something that no one else does and doing it better. If there is nothing different about you, then why should I buy your product or service? Price? That’s not a good pricing model for most businesses. There is always going to be someone else out there that is willing to decrease their prices and go out of business faster than you (hopefully). Competing on price provides you very little opportunity to have a profitable business.

The key for having a profitable business is differentiation. That is what allows you to add value and receive compensation for it. Your business can not be successful over the long haul without profitability.

So what are 5 ways that you can differentiate yourself from your competition?

Write about what you do and help inform the public by publishing your articles or newsletters. It will increase your outreach and new customers will come to you for advice.

Be personable. People buy from people they like. So add your personal touch to the products and services that you provide and customers will be appreciative.

Do something out of the ordinary. Who says you have to do something like everyone else? What can you do that sets you apart? My example: I’m a business consultant who hosts a radio show targeted to my ideal audience. This is a way that I can help them learn more and introduce myself as a resource.

Be an active part of your community. Involve yourself with the community that is full of your potential buyers. It becomes a win-win situation when you work together to create success for all.

Specialize for your niche. A jack-of-all-trades may work for some, but it is usually not a good fit for most. With the amount of information that we have available to us today, it is difficult for an individual to be an expert on many things. So pick the one or two things that you enjoy and just dive into the information so that you will then be able to provide specialized information to your clients. People pay for knowledge…so gain it and you’ll be rewarded.

There are so many other ways that you can find your way through the wonderful world of business. The key is don’t just be ordinary…be extraordinary. You’ll then be rewarded with great customers and a profitable business. If there is nothing special about your product or service, then people will have no reason to return. Provide them with a memorable experience.

Setting goals are key to improving performance, but how often do people set goals then never measure them or quit halfway? A better way to approach goal-setting is to decide what your intentions are (i.e. what kind of performance you expect) and start from there.

According to Jeffrey Gitomer, “What you intend to do is what you actually do. Goals notwithstanding, it’s all about your intentions.”

In the world of personal growth and development, it’s generally accepted that goals and intentions are linked. Intentions actually precede goal setting. If you fall short of intention, or don’t focus on your intention, you are not likely to achieve the goal you set.

The same is true in the business world. Sometimes, the intention is so off the mark that the identified goals (and subsequent results) take business performance way off track. The best example of this I’ve ever seen was reported in the April 16, 2001 issue of FORTUNE magazine about Gateway Computer:

One policy put a time limit on customer service calls; reps who spent more than 13 minutes talking to a customer didn’t get their monthly bonuses. As a result, workers began doing just about anything to get customers off the phone: pretending the line wasn’t working, hanging up, or often–at great expense–sending them new parts or computers. Not surprisingly, Gateway’s customer satisfaction rates, once the best in the industry, fell below average. What’s more, many customers stopped recommending Gateway to their friends and families; Gateway’s referral business, once 50% of total sales, fell to about 30%

The intention was reducing call times, the goal was 13 minutes or less or no bonus. The result was painful!

You may have a goal for a training class, or you may have been given goals for training your workforce, but your intentions will dictate the job performance related to your training effort.

Be clear about your intentions for each training effort:

• Write down the performance intentions before you write the course goals.

• When creating a course, keep the intention in mind at all times. Ask the question “Does this [information, task, activity, exercise, etc.] lead to my performance intention?”

• For each course goal, make sure you can identify the content that addresses the goal.

• Finally, develop a method to confirm when the performance intention is fulfilled on the job.

Nearly every organization I have ever worked for or with has a serious problem with training. They concentrate on training rather than learning.

The first indication of a problem is that the mediums chosen to impart learning are the poorest at retaining learning but are the easiest to organise.

Learning retention rates vary depending on the medium that is used to impart the learning. The usual training methods of lectures, reading, audio visual and demonstration (including role plays) have average retention rates of five, ten, twenty and thirty percent, respectively.

A chief financial officer revising these numbers would not have an anticipation of a high rate of return from training.

The average retention rate for discussion groups is fifty percent. Good role plays will result in discussion groups occurring. Unfortunately, most role plays are unstructured with the roles given cursory attention as to what impact they need to have on the learning required and the discussion which follows is as much about the acting ability of participants as it is about the key learnings.

Good role plays will structure the background of the individuals, the behaviour of the individuals, the environment in which they are operating and the responses required to specific situations of at least one of the participants of the role play. The discussion at the end of each role play will be similarly structured, looking for observation about content, not style.

Practice by doing has a retention rate of seventy-five percent. And yet, repetition of a task or a method seems to be considered as demeaning in many organisations. There is still much to be said for drilling concepts into people during and after the “training programme” to aid retention.

By far the most effective ways of ensuring that learning is retained is to immediately apply the learning in a real situation or be required to teach others. I have not seen either of these alternatives to improve retention of learning employed except by the occasional individual diligent manager or supervisor.

When it comes to the medium of training, the tried and true lectures with audiovisuals and a few role plays are the norm. The training department generally checks whether the training was enjoyed and was considered relevant by use of the reaction sheet. This is always in the affirmative of course if the training was conducted overseas or in any location considered exotic.

Reaction sheets bring me to the second indication that training departments concentrate on training rather than learning. Whilst a reaction sheet is important to determine whether the trainer and the programme delivered are suitable, they are only a fraction of the story if the focus is on learning rather than training.

What is more difficult and more important to measure is whether the learning is actually relevant to the participant’s workplace not just intellectually stimulating and theoretically relevant to the workplace, which will score high on a reaction sheet.

Learning which cannot be used in the workplace is not only forgotten, but it has no chance of changing behaviours at the workplace and changing the bottom line of the organisation.

Kirkpatrick’s four levels of training evaluation has been around, discussed and built on since 1994 and yet few organisations actually measure beyond the first level, which is the reaction sheet. Kirkpatrick’s four levels are reaction, learning, transfer (to the workplace) and results. Kirkpatrick’s evaluation model is a model for evaluating the level and impact of learning and not training.

A good instructional designer will insist that the determination of the measures to be used at each of the four levels is completed as part of the instructional design. But this rarely happens as organisations remain focused on the training and the trainer rather than learning.

The third indication that organisation’s focus on training rather than learning is that whilst most training is lectures combined with audio visual and role plays with a low retention rate, hardly ever is there an attempt made to increase retention rates by providing a means to revise the material learnt.

People who participate in traditional training methods and have no intervention which requires them to revise the material will forget over eighty percent of what they learnt within eight weeks. People who have some intervention forget about twenty percent of what they learnt.

If organisations introduced something as simple as a revision test, the potential for a return on training investment increases by a factor of four.

Some organisations truly see training as an investment. However, most pay the notion of training being an investment lip service. It is not hard to understand why, when the concentration is so much on training and so little on learning applied to achieve an end result.

Organisations need to learn that training is about the organisation, learning is about the person.

Have you ever stopped and thought about why you got into business? What was the driving force behind your decision to lose the security blanket of having a regular paycheck, benefits and regular vacations? Do you lay awake at night, worried about how you are going to feed your family, the unresolved client issues, or just the stress of an employee upsetting one of your best clients? These are some of the questions entrepreneurs ask themselves on a regular basis when trying to figure out why they ever got into business for themselves.

When I decided it was time for me to take the plunge, and start my own IT consulting business, it was after many years of procrastination. My best clients encouraged and told me I had what it took. I knew I was ready when I experienced several nights of upset stomachs from worry. I was lacking the challenges that sparked my excitement in the position I held, so I invited a couple of other highly qualified technical experts, whom I trusted, to assist me with the business and we were off and running. I am an entrepreneur now at heart and always looking for the next opportunity.

Many business owners, are just like it is stated, in the E-Myth book by Michael Gerber and are always the constant technician. The reason they decided to get into business for themselves is because they figured out since they had a great technical skill or understood their jobs inside and out, it was a no brainer for them to attempt starting a business. They quickly learn there is more than doing the work. There are worries like getting clients, sending out invoices, doing taxes and account collections. All these are things new business owners do not truly forecast when they start out. When you stay in the technician role, you will never experience the true independence and flexibility entrepreneurial business owners are lucky to have.

Passion is one of the most important things an entrepreneur can have! With a true passion for your business, success will have a better chance of landing on your lap. I have met many business owners who do not have a passion for their business. I get the sense it is just a job to them. They are not free to practice vision exercises, risk analysis or just have fun in their business. “I enjoy teaching people how to live longer. I love seeing peoples’ health improve” states Magnus Mulliner of MT Energie.

In my old role, I was just a regular IT Consultant; I wasn’t the best technical person in the company. However, I possessed a great skill of being able to talk to clients in a simple language they understood, without confusing them with TLA’s or other technical jargon. This skill, combined with a technical understanding, led to increased sales, revenues and an ever increasing client base. The sales game came to me without much effort and it is the area of the company I am truly passionate about. The joy of seeing a client succeed or strike a huge find knowing the technology or solutions my Company put into place (or assisted them with), is truly amazing!

Many business owners quickly realize they need vision to grow their businesses. After a few years of being in business for myself, I realized it was time for me to steer the ship instead of rowing it. You can hire the rowers. I found all of my rowers were much better rowers than I could ever be, and my ship would move ahead much faster. With this new momentum in place, the ship just needs to be guided.

Having the ability to constantly improve my own education, having the freedom to do the things I like to do and understanding I am totally accountable for my own results is very powerful. It is important entrepreneurs learn to delegate the tasks they do not enjoy doing or are not good at and concentrate their efforts on what they do well and enjoy doing. This will guarantee results in your business. “Ownership has its privileges” states Ernie Sherman, President of Ottawa’s Harris Computer Services.

When I asked other small business, IT business owners and entrepreneurs if they would ever do this again, they all said YES. Some would continue in the same business line and others would move into something totally different like “buy a resort on a lake” says Doug Geary of GearyTech Inc, a Toronto based Microsoft Small Business Specialist Partner.