Lessons Learned from a Mastermind Group
Written on November 8, 2007 by Amanda M. Gladden
Coach Sandra Martini offers up new challenges in this weeks article.
If you were a fly on the wall during a powerful mastermind meeting, you’d quickly realize how the sooner you learn the following lessons, the faster your business will grow.
Knowing and implementing the following business lessons will exponentially propel your business forward:
1. Maintain focus
As simple as this sounds, one of the primary reasons for small business failure is a lack of focus on those items which will propel the business forward.
The most simplest, and best, advice I can give you with respect to this is to create a plan and work the plan. Make changes to the plan as necessary, but always work the plan — otherwise you become susceptible to “bright shiny object syndrome” and nothing gets done.
2. Learn your numbers
Not knowing your business’ numbers ranks right up there with lack of focus as a primary reason for small business failure.
Small business owners and entrepreneurs are often afraid to take a close look at their financials and it’s this fear of the unknown which allows things to get out of control. No matter how good, or how bad, your numbers are, you need to know what they are in order to move forward.
3. Have a mentor
I can’t urge you enough to find a mentor, hire a coach or otherwise find someone to whom you become accountable. Family and friends mean well, but will not push you to stay on track.
I currently have two coaches and belong to two Mastermind programs which consistently pull me forward. My business would never have grown as quickly as it has, and continues to grow, without the support and feedback of these groups.
Your Coaching Challenge
I challenge you to pick one of the three lessons above and implement it within the month.
Take time to create a plan for your business, learn your numbers or hire a coach. Once done, pick another of the three for December and then the last for January.
This will insure your business is positioned for success in 2008.
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Sandra P. Martini, the Automatic Business Coach, is creator of the “9 Simple Steps to Creating an Automatic Business” system. To learn more about this step-by-step program for small business success, and to receive her FREE “5 Simple Steps to Putting Your Marketing on Autopilot” e-course/audio mini-series and how-to articles and teleseminars, please visit http://www.SandraMartini.com
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November 9th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
Great article. allot was said is so true. the lack of focus is a big reason why small business fail. I have seen it time and time that small busyness owners try to diversify too much and don’t concentrate on their core competencies. In the end, the lack of focus is their demise.
November 9th, 2007 at 8:25 pm
Focus and and motivation are very important. Always have to keep an eye out for the light at the end of the tunnel. Keep a business with a strengthened core as opposed to spreading yourself too thin.
November 11th, 2007 at 9:07 am
These are all such good points. I suffer from analysis paralysis - always refining, researching and doing stuff that feels good at the time, but doesn’t seem to be taking me where I know I need to be. So, OK - get a coach - that sounds like a great thing to do and one I’ll work on this week. Thanks!
November 30th, 2007 at 7:31 pm
Your advice is right on the money, I run a strategic thinking blog for businesses and your advice is exactly the kind of techniques and skills we teach. The info in this post works and is beneficial to implement.
December 11th, 2007 at 11:55 pm
As a virtual assistant, I know all too well the dangers of “bright shiny object” syndrome - it can be crippling to a business. Great post.