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7 Signs You are Solving the Wrong Problems (and Its Keeping You Broke and Stuck) by @Melcoach

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7 Signs You are Solving the Wrong Problems (and Its Keeping You Broke and Stuck)

by Melanie Benson | Featured Contributor

How did you learn to solve cash flow problems in your business? Did you have a mentor help you flush out the root of a chronic issue? Or do you fall back on how you solve other problems in life? Maybe you just follow your instincts?

How we go about diagnosing problems and creating solutions is a pretty big deal for a small business owner. It can literally mean the difference between feeling stuck or keeping your business, your team, your cash flow, and your enthusiasm in momentum.

There’s typically one big problem that can cause you to throw your hands up in the air and wonder if you really have what it takes to be a success. Often that problem is a lack of consistent cash flow.

What if you knew, that your current approach to fixing cash flow problems is actually keeping you stuck there and that you are solving the wrong problem in your business? And by solving the RIGHT problems you could experience more money and success?

When Jessica joined my coaching program one of the first things we did was assess her cash flow (and in the process we uncovered a few hidden profit drains.) Jessica, like many of her peers, was surprise to learn that activities she thought would GROW her business were actually draining away funds and causing additional stress.

Here are some of the indicators you could have hidden profit drains:

  1. You have more people leaving your programs than you do joining them (which, by the way, is a pretty common problem these days.) Even though your offering is rock solid and full of valuable content, you just can’t seem to flip sales so that more people join than leave.
  2. When you need cash flow, you tend to create new offerings and launch them within 4 – 7 weeks. You and your team always seem to be in launch mode to generate desired cash flow.
  3. If you review the list of tools, plug-ins, integrations and systems your business needs to run, you’ll discover overlap or resources that aren’t being used (but you are paying for.)
  4. You can’t keep good people on your team – or the people you hire or contract with never seem to deliver the results you want (hint: it’s probably you not them.) You find that you are often training new people instead of focusing on growth opportunities.
  5. New opportunities for speaking, interviews or partnering with peers fall by the way side because you don’t have the bandwidth to respond to, let alone pursue, them.
  6. You have so many balls in the air that you can’t keep up and you are exhausted mentally, physically and financially. Your mind is cloudy, your energy is low, and you know you are not performing at top speed.
  7. Up to now, you fly by the seat of your pants, deciding what you will do tomorrow instead of creating a revenue plan (not to mention you have no systems or procedures to help guide predictable results.)
  8. If you saw yourself in one or more of these situations, and started to get down on yourself that you’ve been struggling with these hidden profit drains, here’s what’s super important to know. First off, it’s not your fault that you are here. Most highly creative, visionary people are not wired to think about these nuances. And most of us are conditioned just “work harder” to make up the difference in revenue.

But if you add more income to a business that has a profit leak, then you will always have to work a hundred times harder to keep up. Ultimately, you are solving the wrong problems in your business.

Here’s how to solve the right problems (and kick start your momentum again.)

  1. Make a decision to thrive and be profitable.

You don’t even have to know how to pull this off in the moment. Just as I teach in the Own Your Bold Challenge, when you make a decision to experience real profits, and to feel like you are thriving as you grow, your very clever mind starts to see new ways to fulfill on that decision.

  1. Recalibrate your Growth Plan

Take the time to solidify your foundation before you push for more growth. It may FEEL like you are going backwards but truthfully, you are plugging holes so that what you add in doesn’t go down the drain. Create a revenue plan (you can even use a tool like the Profit Explosion Toolkit if you need a little help.)

3. Choose to Optimize instead of Create
Most entrepreneurs “go-to” is to create more stuff. More books, more products, more programs, more webinars. But as we already covered, more is not the answer. Learn how to optimize what you already worked so hard to create BEFORE you add more stuff. Optimize means you learn how to market it, sell it, and increase the profit on it to people who already love what you do. It’s the easiest and fastest way to boost income.

Now, imagine yourself a few weeks out from today. Won’t it be nice to see all your hard work starting to pay off? You might even notice that areas you felt blocked by are dissolving and now opportunities are flooding in. I can’t wait to hear how you fill your profit drains and start thriving again!

 

What a Business Mastermind Can Do for Your Success by @Melcoach

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by Melanie Benson | Featured Contributor

A mastermind is a group of highly motivated people who share common goals. And for most entrepreneurs, you might not realize how valuable it is to your success as a business owner until you’ve been in a really good group.

Mastermind is a term that’s been stretched and watered down by many marketers over the last 10 years. Traditionally, a powerful mastermind would be made up of peers who come together to support each other’s success in business. But self-run groups can quickly fall into peril as the individuals get busy with their own lives. Today coach-facilitated masterminds have become a powerful support system. A good group like this is not the same as a lecture type mastermind where one “guru” shares their message repeatedly. Nor is it a huge event with lots of speakers. The best groups are shaped by the facilitator and require an application.

I’ve been in and facilitated mastermind groups for over 22 years now. I can’t imagine trying to grow my small business without being constantly challenged to be the best version of me through my mastermind partners.

There is something magical that happens in a mastermind group (at least the way I run them) that just doesn’t happen when an entrepreneur is on their own. It’s even difficult to access in private coaching. Think of it as “collective wisdom meets a flood of new opportunities.”

Napoleon Hill in Think & Grow Rich talks about the ability to access a “third mind.” The energy created in a mastermind is a lot like a think tank with soul and deep-felt connection – the synergy of different ideas, experiences, business models and knowledge comes together to create an out of the box idea you just can’t connect to on your own.

I’ve witnessed this collective wisdom unleashing a brilliant idea as I watch my members in action: one person shares, another builds on top of it, then as the coach I swoop in and put a structure around the idea so the member can be in action.

In my own personal mastermind experiences I’ve uncovered gems around marketing, leadership and client fulfillment that I never knew existed. I was able to tap into a wealth of marketing experience that would have taken me 20 years or more to uncover on my own.

So why should an entrepreneur with so little time invest in a mastermind? Let’s just say it’s one of the most powerful result accelerator’s I’ve ever found. Here’s a few of the outcomes you would expect from a good mastermind group:

  1. Mastermind partners often see the opportunities that are in your blind spot. Something you’ve dismissed a thousand times the mastermind will present to you in a way that you see the million dollar pay off right in front of you.
  2. Masterminds are like new business epicenters. Often deals come together quickly because the people in the group are exposed to your superpowers in a safe, non-salesy environment.
  3. The relationship bond is opens doors fast. Lifelong friendships, powerful strategic alliances, and access to privileged industry secrets – it all comes pouring out.
  4. It’s an idea incubator. Before you launch that next great idea, running it by your mastermind can help you flush out issues and work out kinks without the costly launch mistakes hitting your bank account.
  5. Accountability is paramount. The cherry on top is you know you can’t play small because your mastermind partners are holding you accountable – they are challenging you to play bigger and get outside your comfort zone.
  6. A mastermind should challenge you while making you feel unstoppable. The right group will often feel slightly intimidating as you should be surrounded with people who are up to amazing things. But as the bond grows, you should feel that they’ve got your back and you can talk about anything you are facing.

Ultimately, the right mastermind group for you should inspire you to play a bigger game, will help you access new possibilities and help you shake that isolation feeling that most business leaders feel.

5 Common Overwhelm Triggers You Can Learn to Avoid by @Melcoach

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by Melanie Benson | Featured Contributor

As a small business owner, chances are you’ve felt overwhelmed as you try to grow your business. When overwhelm kicks in for you does your mind starts spinning and you find that can’t think straight? I think most entrepreneurs operate a lot like the Tasmanian Devil:  multi-tasking themselves into a spinning whirlwind of activity. One urgent or unplanned situation can send you right over the edge.

Overwhelm is a significant derailer in your ability to get the right things done. When you are in a state of overwhelm, you may feel confused, unable to make a clear decision or focus on what really needs to be done next.

A while back I surveyed my community of thought leaders, visionary entrepreneurs and change-makers to find out what their biggest source of overwhelm was. Here’s what I discovered were the five most common triggers:

1. Financial Stress

Over 45% of my community said they regularly feel overwhelmed by financial stressors. Feeling confident that the bills will be covered to the stress of the up and down income rollercoaster, entrepreneurs often find the lack of consistent income one of the biggest sources of overwhelm.

A helpful strategy to keep cash rolling in is to create a revenue plan. A revenue plan allows you to plan for the revenue you desire – and get crystal clear on the action steps necessary. I use my Profit Explosion Toolkit to help my clients identify their best six figure revenue plan.

2. Clutter & Disorganization

39% of my community claimed disorganization as a trigger for overwhelm. The time lost looking for an email or paper due to clutter tends to add to an already stressed mind. Take the time to organize yourself so that it’s easy to locate important information when you need it most. I’m a huge fan of using a project management tool like TeamWork.com to track tasks, documentation and procedures but you can also use a free tool like Google Drive.

3. Time Constraints

Time constraints scored a 37% for creating more overwhelm. Feeling pressed for time isn’t a new issue for anyone. But when you constantly feel like there’s never enough time to get everything done, you’ll never feel peace of mind. If running behind is a pervasive pattern, chances are that you routinely overcommit your time. When you say yes to opportunities that aren’t aligned, you’ll quickly run out of bandwidth. Consider these factors:

  • What can you start saying no to in order to make more room for more aligned opportunities?
  • Could you delegate more routine activities to increase your availability for exciting projects?
  • Do you have offerings that aren’t performing as well that burn up valuable time?

4. Lack of Team Support

At least 32% of my community felt overwhelmed due to a lack of team support. When you have way more to do than you can possibly pull off, it can feel daunting. If you believe you can’t afford hiring a virtual assistant or employee, it can add even more stress as you fall further and further behind.

Often the fastest way to conquer overwhelm and start growing again is to hire someone who is good at the tasks you never have time for (or don’t do well.) Look for a virtual assistant or professional who can free you up to do the things that only you can do to grow.

5. Not Knowing What To Do Next

Not knowing what to do was a common overwhelm trigger for 28% of the people who took my survey. And that doesn’t surprise me one bit!  When you have big, bold goals, you won’t always know how to achieve something you’ve never done before. If running a business is a new role for you, there are a lot of things to figure out.

The good news is you don’t have to struggle with not knowing what to do. Get a coach, create a plan then dial down into your action steps. With that level of clarity, you’ll feel clear-headed and focused again.

Do you recognize one of these triggers as a source of overwhelm for you too?

If you do, then you are in good company. Every entrepreneur and business leader I know finds themselves feeling overwhelmed at least once a week. The key is having strategies to recognize when that feeling is starting to could you judgement and move back into a flow state.

Feeling overwhelmed is a temporary mindset not a permanent condition. Remember that when overwhelm kicks in, you’ve probably experienced one of the above triggers. You’ll experience a shift back into flow by implementing my suggestions.

Using The 80-20 Rule to Grow into The CEO of Your Business by @Melcoach

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by Melanie Benson | Featured Contributor

Most people who built their own business from the ground up feel a lot like their business is their baby. They’ve worked so hard to birth it, nurture its growth and help it mature into a sustainable small business that they will protect it with everything they’ve got. Many entrepreneurs want to make sure that everything about the business is carried out perfectly. This constant daily attention to every little detail can quickly become a growth bottleneck.

There is only so much time in the day and if you are spending your whole day making sure that everything is done perfectly, you have no time left to expand your business and move up to the next level of success.

This is where the 80/20 rule can help provide valuable insight into your business activities. For a few days, make a list of everything that you do all day long in running your business. You might write down your follow up activity as you try to close sales with customers, emails you write to your team, or your social media posting. Sometimes it’s getting the invoices out on-time or following up on over-due billings. Be sure to track the time you spend paying business bills, managing projects and developing new strategic partnerships.

After one week of tracking your activities, review the list and try to determine which of these business growth activities ONLY you can do. If the activities you wrote down do not help you in this way, it’s time to delegate those activities to a virtual assistant or team member you can trust.

Now I’m not suggesting you give up control of your business. This is where 20% of your time must be on our “control points” – tracking, measuring and ensuring that what you’ve delegated is on track. But when you spend 80% of your time on your business expanding activities, you’ll move the needle forward faster.

Part of the success of this growth strategy will come from a change in your mindset. Like many of my clients, you may overly identify with the role of doer and feel uncomfortable with what you would really do if you shifted into CEO. Trust me, once you are out from under the daily activities you will quickly find your new, more productive growth activities are deeply fulfilling. It may take a bit to get accustomed to the new role, but start out every morning thinking that today your job is to find new ways to increase the revenues at your business.

It won’t be long before you will be able to spend most of your time in this new role of CEO. Just think of the benefits it will give you, your family and your employees if you can step back and see the forest in spite of the trees, you will be able to have space to be more creative and connect to your bold vision.

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How to Avoid the Dreaded Contractor Hiring Mistake by @Melcoach

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by Melanie Benson Strick | Featured Contributor

Last week one of my new clients called in for coaching, feeling super frustrated that the online marketing service professional she had hired was not getting the job done. Ninety days after her desired “go live” date she still didn’t have a functional website.

This is not the first (nor the last) time I’ll hear this complaint I’m sure. So I started asking her what her interviewing process was like.

Her response is pretty typical of most entrepreneurs.

“Well she was a referral so I didn’t really interview her.”

Oy. Not following a solid interview process is usually a bad start. About 5% of the time, a referral works out right the first time. But trust me…you don’t want to be in that 95% that doesn’t work out!

Everyone knows they should ask good interview questions. But when you are hiring a virtual contractor to do a specific project or type of work there is a VERY different way you need to evaluate their ability to deliver.

So I’m going to share a few of the tips that I teach all my clients in my Build Your Dream Team system to help you flush out weak or bad fit virtual contractors BEFORE you waste your time and money.

  1. Ask About Their Service Model

Many service professionals have learned how to leverage their time more effectively by building a team of sub-contractors. The problem is, most are not learning how to hire, train and manage these people effectively. So they end up with poor quality control. Or missed deadlines. Or subcontractors who are so overwhelmed that they aren’t able to keep up. Find out if they will personally do the work or if they are having someone else do it. You’ll also want to know if they have a backup plan if they are away from work for a period of time.

  1. Explore Work Availability

Believe it or not, if you don’t have compatible work schedules you can go from “excited” to “distraught” within a matter of days. Many virtual service based professionals are balancing multiple roles (working full time while building the business at night, full-time parent who only does this work at certain times, or some only work a few select hours a week!) Make sure their availability to work on your project fits with your needs and expectations.

  1. Ask About Boundaries

Yep, you need to have THIS conversation. You need to know if they have the courage to push back on you if something isn’t right. Don’t hire someone who can’t say no to you. But you also don’t want someone so stringent that they can’t adapt. Ask things like:

  • If you don’t agree with me what would you do?
  • If there’s a late night or weekend of work, will that be a problem for you?
  • How many other clients do you work with?
  • Do you have a limit to the number of new clients you’ll take on?
  • Is there anything that might happen that would cause you to want to leave?
  1. Get to Know their “Energy”

We all have a unique way that we communicate, filter information and see the world. If you hire someone who is just like you but you need them to do tasks that you hate, you are going to be hugely disappointed! On the other hand, someone who is your “opposite” will most likely drive you crazy. Find out what their core processing style is (driver, creative, supporter or details) and how it fits with yours.

  1. Vet Their Experience

I know it’s tempting to fill that gap in your team quickly but PLEASE don’t just have a “first date” then get married approach to hiring. A good service professional is trained to sell you on their services. You need to do your “due diligence” and ensure their ability to deliver.  Ask for work samples. Check references instead of just reading their online testimonials. And perhaps even have them perform a sample task for you to see how well it goes. You’ll learn a lot that’s important to your decision by properly vetting out their experience.

Most importantly, trust your gut. If you have a little voice that says, “don’t do it” then listen to it. You might not know why at that time but down the road you will be thankful when you find that perfect person.

Learning how to hire and manage a team isn’t always second nature for entrepreneurs, visionaries and creatives – but that doesn’t mean you can benefit from learning how to leverage the power of other people’s time and talent in your business. Get support, hire a coach, and most importantly, commit to following a proven process for hiring and you’ll end up with much better support teams.

 

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8 Signs Your Inner Critic Has Taken Your Goals Hostage by @Melcoach

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by Melanie Benson Strick | Featured Contributor

Most people have a voice in their head that generates doubt and fear. Actually, almost business owner I know has had these kinds of thoughts at some point…

“What if this doesn’t work?”

“Am I really capable of pulling this off?”

“Holy crap, is anyone really going to pay me THAT MUCH?”

“What’s wrong with me? That was a stupid mistake to make!”

The inner critic likes to nag at us and cast doubt over our goals and dreams. As normal as doubts and fears are, if your mind surfaces fear, doubt and worry over and over again, it begins to sabotage your ability to grow your business. That’s when your inner critic has taken you hostage.

Obviously, if you are in business for yourself, you can’t afford to have your inner critic take the lead when it comes to making decisions. Not only will that critical inner voice hold you back, it erodes your confidence and courage to pursue your dreams.

Here’s eight signs that your inner critic has moved in:

  1. You talk yourself out of taking big risks with thoughts like, with “What makes you think you can do that?”
  2. The fear of “what people will think” keeps you from taking action towards a goal.
  3. Because you’ve made mistakes before, you’ll do whatever you can to avoid making one again, and end up staying in your safety zone.
  4. Your self-talk is often full of negative, critical thoughts that you would never say to your best friend.
  5. You’ve caught yourself bad-mouthing someone else who is more successful, perhaps judging or criticizing their approach.
  6. When something goes wrong, you relentlessly beat yourself up and blame yourself for not doing a better job.
  7. Always focused on your growing list of what you didn’t accomplish (instead of what you did), you often feel overwhelmed and stressed out.
  8. You make investment decisions for your growth based on your current bank account versus what you could do to recoup the investment.

The inner critic is often hard to detect. Many who struggle with this type of inner harshness were trained by a parent, authority figure or close friend to be critical. Left untamed, this type of self-talk can cause depression, not to mention a pile of unrealized dreams. This is often where a mindset coach can help you break free of limiting mental patterns.

To turn your thoughts around and start creating an internal “thrive” program, try this:

  1. Recognize when your inner critic has been unleashed.
  2. Stop immediately. Call yourself out and say to yourself, “This is not my truth anymore.”
  3. Give yourself a new, more empowering thought to think. For instance, replace “I’m so disappointed in these results, this is hopeless, I’m never going to get it right!” to “Okay this isn’t what I’d hoped for, I’m willing to learn and try for better results next time.”

In my Rewired for Wealth book, I outline the entire “rewiring” process that will help you permanently recode your head trash so it no longer derails your goals and dreams. It can help tremendously to identify where your inner critic came from. Often those mental patterns of doubt and fear were programmed in during childhood. When you become conscious to their origin it’s easier to remind yourself that those old doubts and fears no longer serve you so you can “upgrade” your thoughts to be aligned with today’s goals.

 

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Three Ways to Boost Cash Flow in Your Business by @Melcoach

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by Melanie Benson Strick | Featured Contributor

One of the biggest challenges every entrepreneur faces is increasing cash flow. There are ten proven strategies I use in my Rapid Cash Strategies tool. But these three techniques are my favorites (and easiest) ways to generate more revenue each month.

  1. Sell More to Current Clients

Selling more is obvious. But what most people don’t realize is that selling more to current and past clients is a far easier way to increase cash flow. Someone who has already invested in your offerings is 90% more likely to buy again than someone new. Think about what other challenges you can solve for them or solutions they don’t yet have and create a campaign tailored towards current clients.

  1. Raise Your Prices

One of the biggest mistakes many entrepreneurs make when they feel a cash flow crunch coming on is to arbitrarily slash all their prices in order to increase cash flow. Not only does this reduce your revenues significantly; its sets you up for MORE work for less money. Not always the best move and it actually backfires.

Raising prices can attract better, more qualified clients. You need less sales to make your income goals and often you’ll work less to deliver your offerings. Raising your works best when you’ve got the right model and positioning for the market you are approaching.

My Awaken Leadership client Joanny was experience low cash flow until we raised her rates and re-positioned her as an industry authority. She found it a lot easier to enroll her ideal clients at a four-figure rate than her previous $100/hour rates.

  1. Use Creative Business Financing

I didn’t know how to do this until I was probably in my eighth year of doing business. When you offer creative business financing, a business owner offers a discount for paying in full up front for a package spanning several months.

I call this front-loading your revenues and it can quickly generate a boost of cash into your small business. Another variation on this is to get a significant deposit then finance the remaining amount due through monthly payments.

Either way this approach helps your clients experience greater buy-in to your process while you improve your cash flow (and eliminate payment chasing!)

Use all three techniques and you’ll be able to not just improve your monthly cash flow but also create a nice financial reserve as a cushion for growth investments.

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Melanie Benson Strick is known as America’s Leading Small Business Optimizer because she knows how to boost profits and results with her secret weapon — LEVERAGE. With over 12 years in corporate project management, Melanie works exclusively with thought leaders and visionary entrepreneurs who want proven strategies to monetize their big ideas and catapult their success without giving up their life.

Melanie is author of Rewired for Wealth, serves on the Executive Leadership Team for Women Speakers Association, is co-author of Entrepreneur.com’s Start Up Guide to Starting an Information Marketing Business and has her success tips featured in magazines such as Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Parenting Magazine, Woman’s Day and American Express FORUM. Melanie is a proud lifestyle enthusiast and spends her free time in search of the best spas and beaches in the world. Find out if you are using all of the right Profit Boosting Factors with this FREE downloadable guidebook on SuccessConnections.com.

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5 Peak Performance Habits to Improve Profits by @Melcoach

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5 Peak Performance Habits to Improve Profits

by Melanie Benson Strick | Featured Contributor

Increasing your business revenues might be easier than you think. If you knew that improving profitability had less to do with selling more and more to do with improving your own productivity, wouldn’t that be a relief?

Back in my corporate career days I was introduced to the work of Steven Covey the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. One of the insights that stuck with me to this day is the idea of sharpening your saw. When you keep your own saw sharp, you invest in enhancing your single greatest asset – you. By improving your own productivity habits and mindset, you can multiply the results around you with less effort.

A common approach to increasing profits for many small business owners is to try to increase revenues with the creation of more offerings and driving new traffic and leads. But spending countless hours building up their marketing tactics and figuring out how to close more business isn’t necessarily the answer – that’s just a formula for getting more of the same results you have right now.

Masterful productivity habits are the key to generating consistent results. Over the next 90 days you can position yourself to achieve more than you ever thought possible by simply mastering the five peak performance habits.

Habit #1: Focus on the One
In a world full of bright shiny objects and the compelling need most entrepreneurs have to create, focusing on “one” thing can start to feel a bit boring. The reality though is that a business with too many offerings can quickly lose profits to keep up with a lot of moving parts.  When a business owner has ONE main offering that is optimized for profits, it can make a significant difference in growth. A valuable habit to master is having the discipline to take one key offering and optimize it. That means you have to have the discipline to stop creating new offerings when you are restless or worried that your current offerings aren’t performing well.

Instead of jumping to the next exciting idea, stick with the one key offering. Dig deep and really understand who the ideal client avatar is. Tweak your marketing message and strategy to connect with your ideal clients. Then refine your offer and sales process until you reach your sales goals.

Habit #2: Clean Up Your Act
A fast paced entrepreneur often leaves a wake of incomplete projects and forgotten opportunities. Between your email, multiple social media platforms and a wide variety of connections, many business leaders find themselves woefully disorganized – and disorganization is the enemy of productivity.

One of the fastest ways to speed up results is to invest a few minutes getting your act together.  Organize your paperwork. Set up systems to eliminate costly breakdowns. Hire an assistant to help answer incoming emails and phone calls so you don’t miss out on amazing opportunities. Set up a calendar to block out time for each of your priorities. When you invest a little bit of time on getting yourself organized, you’ll be able to find what you need quickly and stop wasting precious time.

Habit #3: Communicate Better
If you move at the speed of light and have a million of ideas, you might be guilty of this productivity culprit: communication breakdowns. Entrepreneurs who have lots of new ideas on a daily basis tend to forget to communicate these ideas to their team – and at the last minute expect them to move at the speed of light to handle it. When the business leader routinely forgets to communicate changes and updates to their team, it can create a pervasive stress that takes a toll on their performance.

Make a commitment to communicate regularly and masterfully. Instead of doing the dump and run with your ideas, take the time to map out what your expectations are and when projects must be completed by. If you are having team performance issues, ensure that you are using proper project management tools that outline tasks and due dates. When you communicate better you will become a more effective leader – which translates to better team performance.

Habit #4: Manage Your Monkey Chatter
This habit is one that most people don’t even know they need – managing the on-going negative monkey chatter in your mind. Your mind is the most powerful resource you have but most of us let our thoughts become gremlins that destroy productivity. Every time you beat yourself up or focus on what you should have done better, your motivation tanks.

Whether you are conscious of it or not, your thoughts are dictating your habits and actions. If you spend a lot of time solving problems or thinking about what you should have accomplished but didn’t, your energy and momentum will pay the price. Learn how to train your brain so you can focus on what is working.

Habit #5: Say No
An often overlooked peak performance strategy for all business leaders is having the discipline to steer clear of distractions and goal derailers disguised as a high payoff opportunity. From speaking at live events, being a guest on other people’s platforms, to collaborative projects and the exciting leadership position on someone’s executive board, if it’s not aligned with your priorities and goals, just say no. Get clear on the sneaky situations that look aligned but later turn into a big disappointment. When you can confidently say no to unaligned opportunities and stay focused on your most important goals, you’ll accelerate results.

New habits don’t form overnight; be willing to ask for support from your coach, spouse or mastermind partners to help you stick with your peak performance habits.

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Melanie Benson Strick is known as America’s Leading Small Business Optimizer because she knows how to boost profits and results with her secret weapon — LEVERAGE. With over 12 years in corporate project management, Melanie works exclusively with thought leaders and visionary entrepreneurs who want proven strategies to monetize their big ideas and catapult their success without giving up their life.

Melanie is author of Rewired for Wealth, serves on the Executive Leadership Team for Women Speakers Association, is co-author of Entrepreneur.com’s Start Up Guide to Starting an Information Marketing Business and has her success tips featured in magazines such as Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Parenting Magazine, Woman’s Day and American Express FORUM. Melanie is a proud lifestyle enthusiast and spends her free time in search of the best spas and beaches in the world. Find out if you are using all of the right Profit Boosting Factors with this FREE downloadable guidebook on SuccessConnections.com.

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4 Ways Fast-Paced Entrepreneurs Can Avoid Burnout by @Melcoach

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by Melanie Benson Strick | Featured Contributor

When you wake up in the morning are you fired up and ready to take action? Or do you dread the tasks on your to-do list? If the idea of growing your business sounds about as inspiring as a root canal, then chances are you are heading towards burnout.

Motivation is the fuel every small business owner needs to accomplish a bold vision and big goals. When you dream about your goals, inspiration kicks in and you have the energy and stamina to get up and climb those crazy big mountains every day.

With long hours and countless days grinding out goals, a fast-paced entrepreneur can start to lose enthusiasm and hit the wall. There are a lot of ways that burnout can show up. If you are aware of the early signs, you can reboot your motivation before the energy drains becomes a drag to your business.

Here are some of the warning signs:

  • You are exhausted before lunch time (and maybe the minute you step out of bed.)
  • Your motivation is waning — ideas that used to be exciting are now being met with procrastination and avoidance.
  • You might find yourself in an abnormal amount of confusion or overwhelm, and missing a clear vision.
  • You can’t imagine anything bigger than your current business. Just the idea of fitting more in makes you feel more overwhelmed.
  • You get easily frustrated with your clients, colleagues or team members.
  • Problems that used to roll off your back now become mountains that you worry about.
  • You don’t remember why you started your business and it now feels more like a job than an extension of your passion and purpose.

Fast-paced, creative entrepreneurs are highly susceptible to entrepreneur burnout.  For a visionary entrepreneur, ideas can be like babies –you give birth to something new. You invest your heart and soul in every facet of bringing this idea to life — which creates an attachment to your idea.

Sometimes, when you fall in love with your idea of what’s possible it can be frustrating when it doesn’t happen fast enough. And quite frequently, the business owner’s identity and self-esteem gets wrapped up in the success of their business.

If you suspect you are heading towards burnout, or even fully steeped in it, here are a few ways to get your inspiration back:

1)      Take some Time Off.

I know this might sound completely insane, especially if your cash flow is tight or you are behind schedule. But it works. Several years back Jim Palmer, author of Stick Like Glue, was hitting the wall. After a short conversation, I recognized the signs of burnout and I prescribed a “recharge day.” After a bit of “how on earthy will I make that happen”, he took a day off to fuel his sports passion, spent the day at the ball park and came back to his desk feeling completely recharged. Schedule a day, week or even two weeks off to reconnect to your passion. Sometimes a break does the mind good.

2)      Go Back to your Bold Vision.

When you reconnect to WHY you wanted your own business in the first place you can re-spark all of the passion you originally felt. It’s easy to get distracted from your original vision as you grow. Your business often demands you to make quick decisions – and if your vision isn’t anchored strongly enough, you can find yourself off track. Reconnect to your big why through questions like:

Who did you want to serve?

What did you want to accomplish?

What was important to you about being in business for yourself?

Perhaps you got off track from your original mission and all you have to do is reconnect to your why again. That passion should start coursing through your veins. It will help you make fresh decisions that light your fire again. And chances are you’ll quickly see where you got off track and course correct.

3)      Spend More Time in Your Genius.

One of the most common reasons for entrepreneur burnout is spending too much time on activities that drain you. If you love speaking and putting together deals but you’ve been stuck in paperwork and putting out fires, chances are you’ll feel drained.

A quick remedy – figure out how to spend 50% more time in your zone of genius. Be sure to know the difference between what you do because you must, and what tasks actually fuel you. For instance, spending time in your zone of genius means you could get lost in those tasks for hours. Most likely, you’d do those things whether it makes you money – nor not.

4) Activate your Support Team. Once you discover all the tasks on your plate that are draining you, the next logical step is to hire people to help you accomplish everything. Outsource activities that you don’t do well, that take up way too much time, or that is in someone else’s zone of genius.

Once you free yourself of energy draining activities, you’ll spend more time on tasks that drive profit back into the business. And that’s a great way to overcome burnout, wouldn’t you say?

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melanie strickMelanie Benson Strick is known as America’s Leading Small Business Optimizer because she knows how to boost profits and results with her secret weapon — LEVERAGE. With over 12 years in corporate project management, Melanie works exclusively with thought leaders and visionary entrepreneurs who want proven strategies to monetize their big ideas and catapult their success without giving up their life.

Melanie is author of Rewired for Wealth, serves on the Executive Leadership Team for Women Speakers Association, is co-author of Entrepreneur.com’s Start Up Guide to Starting an Information Marketing Business and has her success tips featured in magazines such as Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Parenting Magazine, Woman’s Day and American Express FORUM. Melanie is a proud lifestyle enthusiast and spends her free time in search of the best spas and beaches in the world. Find out if you are using all of the right Profit Boosting Factors with this FREE downloadable guidebook on SuccessConnections.com.

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Surviving “The Crunch” Phase in Your Business Growth by @Melcoach

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Surviving “The Crunch” Phase in Your Business Growth

by Melanie Benson Strick | Featured Contributor

Janine had a quickly growing business – lots of new clients flooding in and no shortage of opportunities to expand. Many of her colleagues envied her fast growth and wondered what the secret sauce to her growing income was.

But there was one big problem — Janine had become the bottleneck in her business.

Janine was a solopreneur who was working 10 – 13 hours, 7 days a week. Fatigue was kicking in and her stress level was through the roof! Knowing that something had to change in order to achieve the dream business, Janine hired me to coach her on building a team. As we developed her plan to scale her business beyond the early six figures I noticed that she gets more and more anxious.  She can’t seem to make time to follow the hiring process and is sucked into more and more breakdowns that drain her energy daily.

Janine is in The Crunch.

The Crunch is that horribly overwhelming and quite daunting phase of knowing WHAT to do but not having the TIME to do it. The Crunch begins when thoughts like this start plaguing your mind throughout the day:

  • I know I need to outsource more tasks but I’m afraid to spend any more money on my business.
  • Bringing clients in the door fast is essential to my cash flow but when I do that I’m overwhelmed with too much to do.
  • Tasks and deliverables are falling through the cracks but I can’t slow down enough to hire or put systems into place.
  • There’s never enough time in the day to get everything done so I always feel like I’m slipping farther and farther away from my dream business!

The Crunch is not a fun place to be but I see so many fast-growth entrepreneurs fall into this challenging phase over and over again.

Why? Because most small business owners want results faster than they can realistically achieve them.

Here’s a little formula to survive “The Crunch” phase:

  1. Decide to set realistic expectations of what’s possible.

The reason you feel so frustrated and down-trodden is because your expectations are not realistic and your internal dialogue is to beat yourself up for not moving fast enough. Here’s a news flash: you can’t do it all at once. Introducing new leverage strategies takes time. Rome wasn’t built in a day and your business won’t turn around in a week – or probably even a month. Find the patience to do what’s right for your next phase of growth.

  1. Prioritize your new strategies.

Take time to identify what strategies should come first. You can’t get them all done at once (really, you can’t, I promise) so set proper expectations. Make a list of what you want to implement and prioritize based on what will solve your biggest challenges first.

  1. Get that you have to invest to grow.

Whether it’s investing in a team, a good mentor or the right growth opportunities, it takes money to elevate your business and take your success to the next level. If you freak out when you have to invest money then you might as well just decide to stop growing. Consider each expense an investment and determine what has to happen to turn it into a profit.

  1. Indulge in a little (or a lot) of support.

You can gain a fresh perspective by recognizing you are not alone, and this phase is an important rite of passage as you grow to new levels. Most business owners don’t know how to be the leader of a six or seven figure business until they arrive their – and get some help learning new thinking, habits and strategies to thrive at each stage of growth.

Make a point to hire a good coach, invest in a high-level mastermind, or even join a leadership retreat. It’s important to surround yourself with people who get where you are and can inspire you into smart actions at each stage of your evolution.

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melanie strickMelanie Benson Strick is known as America’s Leading Small Business Optimizer because she knows how to boost profits and results with her secret weapon — LEVERAGE. With over 12 years in corporate project management, Melanie works exclusively with thought leaders and visionary entrepreneurs who want proven strategies to monetize their big ideas and catapult their success without giving up their life.

Melanie is author of Rewired for Wealth, serves on the Executive Leadership Team for Women Speakers Association, is co-author of Entrepreneur.com’s Start Up Guide to Starting an Information Marketing Business and has her success tips featured in magazines such as Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Parenting Magazine, Woman’s Day and American Express FORUM. Melanie is a proud lifestyle enthusiast and spends her free time in search of the best spas and beaches in the world. Find out if you are using all of the right Profit Boosting Factors with this FREE downloadable guidebook on SuccessConnections.com.

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