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If I can, you can … learning from your mistakes
This blog is for business owners, anyone in business that has to go out and put themselves out there in front of people, especially home-based and small businesses or even salespeople. And my message is simple: learn from what you’ve done. I’m not saying that everything you’ve done wrong or bad is a mistake. This isn’t a judgment, but if something didn’t work for you, learn from it and turn it around.
First, here’s my disclaimer. When I went into coaching, I did everything that you weren’t supposed to do. And I’m okay with that. So when anyone’s telling you that you haven’t done it right, tell them to take a flying leap because what I talk about on this show is that everything you do is fine. I’m going for progress, not perfection.
#1: If it doesn’t work, do something else.
How many people do we meet that say they do the same thing over and over again and it’s not working and they keep telling you how it’s not working, but they still do it? Let me put a Susan-ism caveat on that one: if it’s something that you really want to work, and it hasn’t been working, that is a different matter. Here’s an example. Let’s say you’re out there and you’re networking, and you’re still not getting clients, should you still try to get clients? It’s a no-brainer. Tweak it, throw it out, try it again, but take note of what didn’t work.
#2: Ask for help from other businesspeople or those who are supportive.
Why is it so hard to ask for help? I don’t have a problem in asking for help. It’s a learning process. Go out right now and ask for help, and you will find out right now who ignores you, who ignores your requests and that’s okay. If they don’t want to help, move on. And be specific too. I need this, and what can I do for you in return? Pay it forward.
#3: Find supportive people and don’t engage in non-supporters.
If someone is being negative, you have the option to have them in your life or engage them or not or to get them to try to stop being negative.
I want to put a big note here: A lot of times, people in your family are not your supporters, and that is also okay. You know what, they either do or they don’t. If they don’t, let it go and move on. Don’t go to them for support.
#4: Find people who can help you with your business/life weaknesses to help you get stronger.
Hey, coaching can help. That’s me. Find a team, get a team. Get into collaborative business. Surround yourself with people who can help.
I love it when my clients call and say, kick my butt. I’m like “bring it on.” In my business, I have a team of people to help me, and I couldn’t do it without them. Tell people what you need from them and how they can help push you – that’s what the relationship is. This is your business, so be responsible.
#5: If it doesn’t feel right, then don’t do it.
This one’s close to #1, but I’m talking about how it feels here. Here’s my example: sometimes, I don’t want to go to a networking event, and I have to go. I know that I need to adjust my thinking, but go and maybe just sit and not try to network. I went to an event last week that was somewhat icky, and I did make two really good connections where I usually make my typical 10-20-30.
#6: Just because it works for most, or some, then it still might not work for you and that is okay!
Some training’s will not work for you, some things will not work for you. When I coach, everybody is taught differently how to ask for business. Do I always have to? Yes. Do I always want to? No. It depends on the day. But what works for me may not work for you. Look at what you’re taught, try it and if it doesn’t work, change it.
#7: You really need to love what you are doing.
I used to be in corporate, and I made a lot of money in IT and telecom, and I had a nice team and I loved it, but it got icky. Over the years, it got icky. Don’t get me wrong, the paycheck was wonderful, but it wasn’t worth it. Re-evaluate your work if you are not happy with it.
Also, you need to love what you do, so you really need to be careful who you partner with too. A business partner burn is not great at all.
#8: You need to have realistic expectations.
Expectations in your business are like goal setting, visioning and writing everything down. When you start your own business, you need to go easy on yourself, seriously cut yourself a lot of slack. Because you don’t know what your business is going to do. If you’ve had a business and it’s in the same realm, then sure you can have the same expectations. You need to be really clear and …
#9: Don’t expect to be up and running in a year.
Ponder this … How do you set an expectation about something that you don’t know? I set monthly and weekly goals, but I don’t know if it’ll work out that way. You don’t know what will happen. Can you put a timeline on when you want your business to be done? You may achieve part of it, or most, but will it ever be done?
#10: Don’t dwell on mistakes or what you didn’t know. Just keep moving forward!
So many people beat themselves up about everything. Take what it takes for you to get your clients, write it down into steps and number those steps. Know what it takes to get you a client, because this is super-important. Instead of dwelling, take a look at what steps you missed.
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