One of the greatest challenges in starting your own business is to select the right business for you.  You may think that this is the easiest part.  What I have found from years of experience and hundreds of clients is that if you select the wrong business the rest really doesn’t matter. 

I have three free products to help you in this process.  That’s right.  They are free!  There are no strings attached.  I have a free audio mini course–The 10 Deadly Mistakes Entrepreneurs And Solo Professionals Make And How To Avoid Them.  There is second free course focusing on successful character in self-employment–Winning Character Traits.  And the third free course deals with a critical aspect to self-employment success–Winning Personal Development. 

Owning your own business is more than just a statement.  It is owning the investment, the systems and the emotions to make that business successful.  All three are critical to your success.  What I see most of the time is people getting into a business because they have had experience in that type of business. 

They usually bring one of two skills to the business.  They either know how to deliver or make the product or service.  Or, they know how to manage the business.  Very seldom, do they truly know how to do both.  They may think they know how to do both but the reality is that, more often than not, this is not the case.

Small business growth and to have your small business successful is about both delivering the product or service while doing a great job of managing.  It does not matter how good your marketing business plan is if you can’t give exceptional customer service in the quality and delivery of your product. 

Is selecting a business because you have experience in it wrong?  The general answer is no.  That is a good place to begin the selection process.  The key is to select a business that emphasizes your strengths.  And, if you are getting into something that does not make sense financially and whose systems have you doing things you don’t enjoy then the odds are that you will experience the negative emotion of unhappiness. 

And, unhappiness will lead to burnout.  Obviously, there are many things to consider when looking for a successful performance strategy in starting your own business.  Whether it is a bad economy or a good one, the key to your long term success, more often than not, is in the happiness that you feel. 

If you aren’t happy in your business it is like putting yourself in jail every day.  You only have so much time on this earth.  You might as well make it count by investing your money time and energy where you will be happy.  Check out my three free offerings.  They are free now but that will probably change.  Here’s wishing for you to have the freedom and abundance you desire.

In the three previous posts we have looked at three other challenges you face in starting your own business in a bad economy.  In fact, they are challenges you would face even if the economy were good.  They assume even greater importance when things are not as good and your margin for error is smaller. 

The three earlier challenges were:

1.  Do you have a market for the product or service you wish to provide?

2.  Is the market you wish to pursue vulnerable to economic cycles?

3.  What type of business should you get into during an economic downturn?

The last challenge is:  What should you stay away from?  This may ruffle some feathers. 

The first type of business that I would be very careful about is multi-level.  Most of them provide great products or services.  But, are the products or services necessary?  Will the products or services save the customer money?  If your answer is yes to these questions then I would pursue it further. 

Multi-level is easy entry and it takes hard work.  There is nothing wrong with that.  Just remember that getting rich overnight or well off quickly happens to a very small percentage of those involved in multi-level.  If you have a good network of people who would be receptive to you, your product or service then you have the right things going for you that could move you forward more quickly. 

During a bad economy the second thing about multi-level, or any business for that matter, is whether or not you have to create a market.  For example, if your product has to do with weight loss you are in a good area.  This is an accepted market.  You are not having to create anything new.  People are already spending money in this market.  And, weight loss ties directly to people’s health, sense of well-being and their image. 

In summary, stay away from businesses that have you creating a market or doing a lot of pioneering.  Pioneering is necessary for any new product to get established but pioneering by its very nature has lots of casualties. 

In looking at businesses to stay away from I would avoid anything that promises you overnight success.  Yes, overnight success can happen.  But, the odds are less than one in a thousand.  And, even if you read a long string of testimonials about the success of the business remember that, more often than not, thousands failed and lost their investment for the very few that succeeded. 

A successful performance strategy is to look at these businesses very closely and skeptically.  Small business growth is about having a good marketing business plan.  The marketing business plan may look good but is it really executable?  Growing your small business will be about being able to execute a workable marketing business plan. 

Obviously, there are many more questions and answers about starting a business in a bad economy.  The goal of these blog posts was to give you some things to think about from a different perspective.  My wish for all of you is to have the best in business and life.

In the previous post we looked at the first challenge of what type of business to start in a bad economy.  The first challenge was to determine if you have a market with some depth for your product or service. 

Challenge #2 is about how vulnerable the market, you wish to pursue, is to economic cycles.  Most products and services can and will be affected by economic cycles.  The key is how large are the fluctuations will be. 

Of course, that is hard to know.  But, I would suggest that you research some history of how your market fared during previous economic downturns.  If your product or service falls more into the category of a “want” rather than a “need” then the probability of failure is increased. 

But, that is not always the case.  Let’s look at the leisure or recreational industry.  You may say, and correctly so, that leisure or recreational activities fall in the “want” area.  Yet, people still are going to do something to enjoy themselves.  Very often they will possibly go to more movies instead of concerts because of the expense.  Or, travel may be limited to seeing things in their immediate area as opposed to a large or expensive trip.

The goal is to find a market that will still be needed during a downturn.  Basic services such as cleaning, caretaking of others and bookkeeping are examples of services that should see a reduced negative impact during a downturn.

When starting up your own business, especially in a bad economy, you will move ahead much more quickly if the down cycles are shallow.   A successful performance strategy demands this.  And, to have more consistent small business growth it is critical that you know as much as you can about your market. 

Growing small business is not just about having a great marketing plan.  It is about having a product or service that is needed or will be in demand even when economic times aren’t good.

In the previous post we looked at four challenges or questions that must be answered to starting your own business during an economic downturn. 

Today we’ll take a look at Challenge #1: 

Do you have a market for the product or service you wish to provide?

You may be saying that answering this sounds pretty simple.  In many cases it is.  One of the major considerations in starting a business should be where is your business going to come from?  To whom are you going to market your product or service?  Are they ready to receive your product or service?

Very often I have watched people who work for a larger company and develop relationships with that company’s clients.  In fact they may have had conversations with the client about going out on their own and that when they do, the client will come with them.

There are a couple of problems with this scenario.  Studies have shown that for every 10 clients that will tell you that they are going to switch that only 2 do.  Secondly, in today’s litigious world, depending on the stipulations of your employment, you may be subject to a lawsuit. 

Even if you are totally in the right, a lawsuit, because of the time and expense it requires, may very likely sink you.  I have watched companies sue former employees in an effort to kill their business by tying up a major amount of time and resources. 

A better performance strategy for success and to grow your small business is to stay away from any legal problems. 

The second point to consider in whether or not you have a market that is good for your product or service is to study the obvious.  Too often, what may appear to be obvious to you may be full of problems. 

Too often it is easy to fake yourself out by thinking that your passion and enthusiasm for a product or service will make you successful.  Passion and enthusiasm are important ingredients in the success process.  But, they are not a guaranty. 

Look beyond your passion and enthusiasm for your market and be as realistic as possible.  Be realistic as to whether or not this market is a good market.  Be objective.  Once you have determined that the market is good, then you can let your enthusiasm and passion loose to create the business and life you desire.

Is this a good time to start a business? 

There are no right or wrong answers.  With the unrelenting focus on the “bad economy” this can definitely influence your decision. 

Let me know your thoughts. 

If you are already running your own business let me know how you see things.  

If you are starting your own business or thinking about starting one it would be great to hear your thoughts.

Having a dialog on this can be fun and helpful.

All of us need water to survive and to thrive.  But, the quality of the water you are drinking will determine your success or failure.  The water, in this case, is what you choose to let your mind drink in.  Are you drinking in thoughts of success?  

Years ago in Africa there was this tribe.  They were healthy and prosperous.    All their water came from a beautiful spring that supposedly had medicinal and healing properties. 

Suddenly, people started to die or get very sick for no apparent reason.  Experts were called in to determine what was causing the problem.  Here’s what they found.

The experts went back up the mountain to the origin of the spring.  It turned out that a mother pig and her piglets had drowned and were stuck in the opening where the spring came out.  The water was contaminated. 

The mother pig and her piglets were removed and the water was once again pure and the health of the people of the tribe was restored. 

The key to having the success you desire in business and personally rests on your ability to keep your water as pure as possible.  Be careful about what you let your mind drink in. We all have bad things that happen to us.  Starting your own business or running your own business is about challenges and overcoming them.

The problem is that too many business owners will hold onto the negative.  They will keep drinking in defeating thoughts.  They will remember the negative customer or they will not forgive and employee.  Over time the anger that they carry simmers.  It becomes the fertilizer in which the root of bitterness takes hold. 

There are many keys to having small business growth and to taking future steps to have your business successful.  But, to truly move forward you cannot let the root of bitterness take hold.  It may sound trite but it is true. 

First, forgive yourself.  Stop using the past as a weapon on yourself.  The past is past.  There isn’t anything you can do about it.  Secondly, you must forgive others.  Without forgiveness you set up an invisible wall that may protect your anger but at the same time it will keep opportunity from coming in. 

Develop a successful performance strategy.  Get clear of your past and uproot any bitterness you may have.  Focus on keeping your mind as free as possible of the negative.  When you do, you are more likely to attract the success you desire.

I will finish up this series on starting your own business with a look at “flexibility”.  There are many things that go into having a small business successful, to small business growth and ultimately to the success you desire. 

I have purposely chosen to take some topics that are on the road less traveled.  They are crucial steps to business success and very often they are overlooked. 

Flexibility is one thing that is often overlooked.  Think about this.  Whether it be a marketing business plan, a sales strategy or the decision to hire someone, all of these start with a thought.  If you aren’t flexible between the ears then you have embraced a prescription for “not much is going to happen around here.” 

As I heard someone once quote.  “Embrace change or you will be run over by it.”  When you get run over by change you have been flattened.  When you are flattened, like one of those cartoon characters who is run over by a truck, your business and life become one dimensional. 

To avoid being flattened by change you must remain flexible.  When you are flexible in your thinking you will be agile.  With increased agility you will be able to grab opportunities when they present themselves (one form of change) and avoid disasters (another form of change). 

Just remember that all flexibility and agility starts with that 5 inches between your ears.  Flexibility is something that you must practice.  There are some areas where you are flexible.  Others where you are inflexible.  Take a look at the areas where you are inflexible.  Loosen up a little bit and you will find more energy and opportunity coming your way.

To have a successful business whether you are starting your own business or running your own business you must have positive, forward momentum. 

In the last post, I spoke about your small business being like an airplane.  If it is carrying too much baggage then it can’t take off and get you where you want to go.  Small business growth requires momentum. 

The first step to gaining momentum is to lighten your baggage.  Then you can take the plane of your business down the runway and take off.  Small business growth is dependent on keeping your momentum. 

Now you are up in the sky.  You are sailing along.  You are above the clouds.  It took a great deal of energy to take off.  What should you do now?

Pull back on the throttle.  Too many business owners burn out even after they have achieved some degree of success because they never pull back on the throttle and cruise for a while. 

They don’t fully comprehend the importance of their mental and emotional health to their business.  They are the engine that drives their growing small business and creates the steps to business success. 

Yet, they run at full throttle and eventually that engine wears out.  The key to personal and business success is to keep the momentum but at the same time pulling back on the throttle when appropriate. 

Without pulling back on the throttle it is hard to keep perspective.  You make your own business decisions.  But, with a loss of perspective that comes from burnout or overwork you increase the odds of killing your momentum and taking the plane of your business back down through the clouds to a crash landing.

Growing your small business requires many things including how to cope with overwhelm.  When you are starting up your own business or running your own business you are very likely at times to feel overwhelm.

This is normal.  Somehow the orderly small business growth you dreamed of is just that, a dream.  It is easy to have too many things coming at you at one time.  When you do, that is when overwhelm can set in. 

Why is overwhelm dangerous?  Because it can cause you to lose your focus, enthusiasm and desire for productivity.  None of these ingredients are in the recipe for small business success. 

Most importantly, overwhelm can cause you to lose your energy and your edge leading to a meltdown.  What do you do to combat overwhelm?

1.  Have a plan for each day

2.  Identify what is important

3.  Prioritize your day to do what is important

The more you identify what is important and do it, the less things that you will have that will become critical.  When you have too many critical things and your day is taken up with them it drains you psychologically and emotionally. 

Being drained psychologically and emotionally is what leads to a feeling of overwhelm.  Know your steps to business success.  Your daily performance strategy should be about your priorities.

Know your priorities and take care of them.  When you do you are more likely to avoid overwhelm.

You have started up your own business.  Or, you are running your own business.  Regardless, even successful business owners will get stuck.  But, they won’t stay stuck for long.

With multiple challenges it is easy to get stuck.  One of the steps to business success is to minimize the time you are stuck or on hold. 

How do you go about getting unstuck?

• Have a Plan B in everything you do.  What is your alternative if Plan A does not work?
• Be ready to execute Plan B.  This is where many business owners get stuck.  They have thought about Plan B but they are not ready to execute it.

Why is having a Plan B important?  Having a Plan B forces you to get bigger than the challenge or problem? 

You get bigger than the challenge or problem by having a larger vision of how you are going to succeed.  Without this larger vision you will stay stuck. 

You will take the same problem and just dress it in different clothes without getting to the root cause of why the problem remains and you remain stuck. 

The root cause for staying stuck is that you won’t change your thinking.  Change your thinking and you will change your activity and that will change your results.  That’s success.

Whether it is your marketing business plan, personnel, sales or any other area where you can get stuck have a Plan B.  Small business growth is about having a Plan B.  When you do you will enlarge your vision, grow bigger than your challenge and move to greater success.

And, here’s the most important part.  You will do it in less time.