I was writing this morning about why people decide to do business with someone. It’s almost always because there’s a problem. The person has finally decided that doing nothing is no longer an option (see yesterday’s post). The person who called for help has finally decided to lean into their problem and do something about it instead of pretending everything’s fine.

We as business ownerscan help our clients understand that facing their problems and solving them with our help is actually easier and more fun than pretending the problems aren’t there.

How do I do this in my business? Marketing in every form; all the time, in all I do. This includes blogging, asking for referrals, and providing testimonials so potential clients can hear from an unbiased third-party about what it’s like to work with me.

How do you do it?

How do you convince people that working with you is better, faster, more profitable for them, less expensive (and more fun) than doing nothing? I’d love to read your comments below.

Today’s subject was competition.

Who is it, really? For the people in this group, is it other therapists or healing practitioners? In other words, is it other people or businesses who do the same thing? That’s certainly the obvious choice.

But I don’t think that’s the whole picture.

One of the biggest competitors that we don’t often think about is doing nothing.

In the case of therapists, trainers, coaches,( and even other businesses), doing nothing is often fueled by people’s beliefs (as created from their experiences). For this particular group of healers, doing nothing sounds like this: “therapy is for wimps,” or “the last leadership training I went to was a big waste of time and money,” or “people can’t change.”

What does “doing nothing” sound like in your business? I’d love to hear. Comment below.

They also offer smaller classes where a trainer leads the group in doing Pilates using machines called “Reformers.” These classes are good, too, slightly better than the “free” ones, but they cost extra money.

 Guess which classes I actually show up to? Yep, not the free ones.   

 I’m also taking a meditation class. No gear at all needed here, so clearly I could do this myself. This class is by voluntary donation. But you don’t have to donate. I donate. In fact, I donate a bit more than feels comfortable; but it’s still not a lot of money.

 Guess how many of these meditation class sessions I’ve missed? In the last five months, I’ve missed two sessions, one because I goofed up the time, and the other because of a work appointment. Otherwise, I’m there.

I pay Credible Communications to help me with this newsletter. And it gets out, twice a month, without fail.

I don’t pay anyone to help me with my blog or Facebook posts. Hence…

Do I have to pay someone to help me with everything?

Not quite. Evidently I only have to pay for help on things that are the “Important, Not Urgent.”

Everything else seems to get done, or skipped–whatever seems right.  

I guess it comes down to my figuring out what’s really important, and then if I have to spend money on it to get it done, I do that. If something is important, it’s worth spending money on. And when I do spend money on something, I show up for it. 

What’s your experience? Are you more accountable to things, classes, projects, etc. that you have to pay for? I’d love to hear. Comment below.

–James Joyce  

I’ve made a few mistakes lately. Frankly, it’s an everyday occurrence.  

I bet you make mistakes every day, too. Most of mine aren’t catastrophic: Forgetting to pay a bill, running an orange light, staying up too late (my one resolution is to have a reasonable, consistent bedtime).

Most of us make mistakes every day. We’re designed that way. It’s how we learn. It’s a cliché, but true–mistakes–if you pay attention–are your best teachers.  

But sometimes when we make a mistake we feel shame, anger, denial, blame and/or–my personal favorite–the need to punish ourselves.   

The psychological explanation for this is that as kids we have to learn the mores of our tribe or we’ll die.  So our caregivers reinforce the “don’t do that again,” lesson with anger, shouting, shaming, and castigation. It’s a matter of life and death, after all.

A New Response to Mistakes  

But now, as an adult, when I make a mistake, the same responses aren’t as useful.

 I can’t control other people’s reactions to my mistakes. Many of them have inconvenienced, embarrassed or hurt other people, and they get angry when this happens. Seems fair. I need to do my best to right the wrong and move on.

I don’t think it’s productive to react to our mistakes with shame and punishment.   

What if instead of thinking, “I made a mistake therefore I am defective,” we shifted the perspective to, “I made a mistake. I need to learn something here. What is it?”

So, in addition to my “reasonable bedtime” New Year’s resolution, I’m adding one more. I’m going to work on creating a culture that embraces mistakes in my business and my life.

 How about you? Have you considered the possibility that you could embrace mistakes? What would that be like for you in your business? In your personal life?

If you want to experiment with an alternative way to handle your mistakes besides the tried and true “I’m so stupid! How could I have done that??” method, choose a mistake you made today, and ask yourself: 

1. What was the mistake? 
2. What lesson or lessons is the mistake trying to help me learn?
3. Why is this lesson important?
4. What will I do differently now that I know this?

How do you feel about the mistake now? Learn anything? Comment below.

 The second article was an opinion piece entitled “The Joy of Silence,” by Pico Iyer, about a business meeting in a a luxury “black hole” hotel, which had no Internet access, TV or cell phone reception. Instead of being constantly interrupted by technology, people used the downtime to think and be quiet. (Mr. Iyer has gone further than most people in his quest for more silence, by moving to rural Japan.)

These articles had two things in common that relate to us as small business owners:   

1. We need to spend time on research and development, just like larger businesses.
2. In my case (and probably yours too, if you’re the business owner), this R&D might need to include downtime, away from the phone/internet/TV and all other screens.

Here are some ways small business owners can do research and development for their businesses:

1. Take classes and read print publications (you can read them online, but reading print will get you away from screens). For example, I would like to know more about what helps people change, and incorporate this research into my individual and group client work.   
2. Create more downtime in our schedules.
3. Keep closer tabs on the competition.
4. Do research with  clients about what works and doesn’t work for them.

I’d love to hear what you think. Now, I know we don’t need more things to do as small business owners. But have you ever thought about incorporating research and development into your business plan? What’s the best way to do R & D for your own business? Comment below.

Long before I ever thought about writing books, I was a dedicated self-help book reader. When I moved two years ago, I downsized my book collection and donated 75 (!) self-help books to my local library.

 Although the books I write are about business, they’re essentially self-help books.

 This is funny, because I know from experience that self-help books–even self-help business books-don’t work.  

 It’s not that they don’t contain great information. Many, including my books, do.    

My friend Sonja in Canada is the only person I know who’s read a whole self-help book cover-to-cover, and done all the exercises in it. Most of us stall out somewhere around page 92.  

 People like Sonja don’t need help. But the rest of us do.   

 There are lots of ways to get help:  

1. If you’ve found a book that speaks to the problem you want to solve, read it and do the exercises with a buddy.  
2. Take a class that focuses on the problem you want to solve or the subject you need to learn about.  
3. Join a group that focuses on your issue.
4. Get free help from your local Board of Trade (Canada), Chamber of Commerce, or a governmental agency in the U.S. such as Score or Small Business Development Center.

Or my personal favorite: Get a coach (I have two).

 Bottom line: It takes support from other people to make the changes you want to make.

 This is my opportunity to mention Journey of the Small Business Warrior. If you want support, encouragement and accountability as you create and help your business grow and thrive, it will help you. Contact me  (cmssmallbusinesswarriorcom?)   for more information.

 Here’s what two members of the Journey that started in October, say about it:

“I’ve made more headway on my business plan and set specific goals. I’ve also gotten clear about my services and branding my new business. Before this, I had excellent excuses for avoiding looking at my numbers, but this program makes the scary tangible. The support of the group makes it fun. My business is becoming a reality.” Nancy Shelton, Life After Athletics.

 ”I’m taking my business in a new direction and I’m terrified. But with Christy’s guidance, business savvy, and the support of other businesspeople, I’m moving toward this new venture with courage and excitement. ” Lee Doyle, Credible Communications.  

 If you’re trying to make changes in your business (or your personal life), get some help. This is the time of year everyone makes New Year’s resolutions. If you want them to materialize, don’t go it alone.

Clients come and go. That’s the way of business.

 My M. O. is to not get too attached any of my clients, because when they go as the eventually must, my heart often breaks.

 Frequently (okay, very frequently), however, I do get attached.

 It makes sense that I would grow to love my clients since I’m a coach, and in the coaching relationship we end up talking about things that really matter.

But this heartbreak deal isn’t new for me. I felt like this in my previous businesses too.

 Last week, I was talking to my own coach about loving people (and clients), and how hard that is if you’re constantly trying to manage future heartbreak. This is like having one foot on the gas, and another on the brake.

 She asked: “What if you took your foot off the brake?”

 I was telling her about the pilot group I started in October called The Journey of the Small Business Warrior.

I’m starting another group in January with five more people, and I’ve been talking with potential participants about what they can expect to go out of the experience. 

 What I haven’t told these people about the Journey is that they’ll be seen. Acknowledged. Championed. And possibly loved.

 I’m cautiously taking my foot off the brake of car. Not just in work, but in the rest of my life too. Heartbreak happens. I think it’s delusional to think it can be managed.

 How about you? Do you love your clients? Or are you too scared to? Are you trying to manage your heartbreak? Is it working? I invite your comments below.

In other words, if you live in an industrialized country, you’ve already got a leg up, and it’s time to go out and to the work you were meant to do.

Seth’s post made me feel, again, how important it is for us to all do our work. I wanted to jump up from the Thanksgiving table and get to it right then.

I know I wasn’t alone.

 I’m sure plenty of other people who read Seth’s post also wanted to jump up from the table and start doing their work. And yet, how many of them don’t know where to start or what to do first? It’s one thing to want to do our work, and entirely another to know where to start.   

 This is especially true if you’re unemployed.

 I can’t help you if you’re looking for a job. What I do know about is how to start a business and make it sustainable. If you want to do that, here’s the (not) patented one-step process:   

1. Get some customers.

This may sound like my Datsun 510 wagon auto repair manual; the first step to fix a problem is, “Remove engine.”   

But getting customers is easier than you think.  

How to Get Customers 

 Recruit a small group of people you know, who will give you honest feedback. It’s best if these people are at least a little bit like the ones you want to have as real customers, but practicing on somebody is better than not practicing on anybody.

 Test your product or service on them. Make them pay something for it. People don’t value things, and don’t participate fully, in stuff they get free. If they pay, they’ll pay attention, too.

Study their reactions. Get to know what they like. Understand what they need and how you can best deliver the results they’re looking for. Negotiate up front that for a cheaper price on this amazing new thing, you’ll be asking for extensive feedback.

Adjust based on their feedback, ask your customers to recommend other people who might be interested, and repeat the process.

If you’re ready to get structured help with this process, check out the Journey of the Small Business Warrior beginning again in January 2012.

Have you tried this? What worked for you? And if you’re ready to try it, where will you start?

That’s What Happened to Me  

When I started my business, I thought that bringing “Clarity to Business” would be enough to help more small businesses succeed.

Turns out clarity is a necessary, but not sufficient component for business success.  

This is especially true for people who are “mastering the business of their life’s passion.” 

When you build a business around work you’re passionate about, you face massive fear and resistance. Fear of failure; the vulnerability of putting the work you love  into the world and possibly being rejected; ups and downs with money; not to mention the resistance that always appears when you begin to master the business side of your business.

 Facing All This Takes Courage

Huge courage. The courage of a warrior.

That’s why I changed. To recognize what it really takes to succeed in your own business, and to supply a wider scope of tools and help for people who want to take this risk and increase their odds of succeeding. 

I still work with people one-on-one and in groups. I’ve expanded my offerings in coaching and in my work with groups, to recognize that as business owners we need more than clarity. We need a workable, down-to-earth business plan; a way to understand who are best clients are and where to find them; a way to sell to our clients that’s congruent with who we are; fluency with our business numbers; and most important: support.

 Here’s The Credo of The Small Business Warrior   

 The Small Business Warrior has the courage and commitment to build a foundation so that he/she can answer the call of his/her life’s passion.

 The Small Business Warrior knows herself and her business and how to communicate with customers effectively and consistently.

 The Small Business Warrior learns the simple language of numbers.

 The Small Business Warrior understands his journey is ongoing, and achieves new levels of mastery and financial success over time.

 Is This You?

 If it is, and you want to master the business of your life’s passion, I can help. Start here. 

Call to Action: Courage