The Top 3 Money Killing Mistakes In Business

I want you to imagine this image....

There you are, a motivated business owner, working like crazy to create a business that is profitable and yet serves your life at the same time. And right in the way is a big, fat mountain. That is the thing that stands between you and that pot of gold you are working toward. And there’s no way around. In fact, the only way around is through as they say.

Your ‘mountain’ is actually all of the blocks, beliefs, learning curves, mistakes, missteps, fears, doubts, missed opportunities, that as an entrepreneur you will most certainly bump into.

So let me talk about some of the things that make up that ‘mountain’ of obstacles that interfere with you and your ability to create a profitable business.

Some of these are mindset issues – meaning they originate inside you. And then there are places where you just lack the experience or knowledge to make happen what you need to. And finally, there are just some bad habits like not following up with great opportunities.

Let’s get started on some of the top money-killing-mistakes – since I’m going to cover this more live on the call next week, we’ll summarize the three biggies here:
Mindset, Business Model, and Bad Habitsr
In the area of mindset the biggest leaks are between your ears! Sorry, but that’s why I always start here. It’s the thing we have power to change. These are some common themes I hear that are costing my beloved business owners buckets of cash:

“I’m not that unique...loads of people already do that.”
“What should they hire me?”
“I feel a bit like an imposter because of __________”
“I can’t charge that much, because _______(fill in the words here. It could be I haven’t been in biz long enough, haven’t gotten a degree, etc)
“If I don’t give away the farm, my customers will leave me.”
“I can’t say NO because what if that opportunity doesn’t come around again?”

Alrighty, raise your hand if you have ever said or thought one or more of these dreaded cash-killing statements. But the truth is – WE ALL HAVE! This is pretty standard stuff, particularly when you are starting out.

The biggest place we lose money is that we get in our own way. Part of it may be lack of marketing savvy, but that can be learned and added in. Most of the problems my clients bump into are because they have yet to step up and believe in their worth. When I challenge folks to raise their fees or look at the value they bring, there is a bit of gasping and gulping, but if they stick with me...they get it.

So your task is to look at those questions and keep hammering at them until you answer them in the positive. If you don’t know why someone should hire you or what makes you the best choice, ask your clients what they have gotten from you. Ask your mastermind buddies, or have a coach draw it out of you.

I just had this experience with my beloved coach, Nancy Marmolejo. When she held the space for my greatness and asked me to step up and play waaaay bigger, I must admit to more than a few moments of the gremlins in my head having a hey-day with all the reasons why she was insane! But because I do this work, I was able to notice the uncomfortable (i.e. ‘freaking out’ feelings) and just allowed them to pass while I worked my way into saying YES to her grand plans for me. You can move through it too! I would love to support you in that part of your journey.

Next we are looking at your business model. How is this a place where money is running away from you? Let me give you an example...

Just yesterday I coached a business owner who could charge $400/hr in doing some of the specialized things he does. And when I asked him what he needed to let go of (as we were starting one of my 90-Day Marketing Ramp Up Programs) he immediately went to one activity that took him 5-8 hours a week and in the end, probably generated him $50/hr. When we looked at how much it cost him to do it in terms of time and where else he could put those hours to better use, he agreed to drop that piece of his business at that rate. When he devotes those 5-8 hrs a week to marketing/social networking, he’ll get a far better return of the investment of his time.

So now Auntie Therese is gonna come over with her chopping block and ask you to start putting on there all the things in your biz that you are doing that should be outsourced! I feel like a broken record because I say this all the time, but it’s a huge cash flow killer and leads to nothing but overwhelm! Most of us get into this habit at the beginning because we don’t have the resources to do it differently, but moving forward please set a goal to be working only in your brilliance and doing the tasks that you love and that generate you the big dollars.

Now let’s talk about those bad habits, ‘ey?

There are many, so let me list them here:
• Saying yes to every opportunity
• Following every guru and buying tons of programs (without getting a good ROI)
• Not following up with contacts
• Being in touch with your list only sporadically
• Thinking that you have to have all your marketing materials just perfect
• Not managing your energy
• Getting swept away in distractions
• Pricing too low
• Spending too much time on FB and Twitter (I’m totally guilty of this!)
I think we could start a list and come up with a hundred or more of these, so I want you to identify your top 10. You can focus on one at a time and make a plan to change that.

All of this begins with awareness. Just a few tiny tweaks will ‘shore up’ your leaky places and get you on the track to keeping that beautiful money that you have earned and deserve to see more of. And not only that, when you take care of these things you’ll feel more empowered, turn into a better business owner, and make a much bigger difference in your life and the lives of those around you. Now how cool is that?