In one of my past posts, I wrote about the importance and necessity for entrepreneurs to create a Business Accountability Group (BAG) http://yourstartupstory.com/?p=204 Trust me, this group will become your life line and your flotation device when the strong tides come in.

Many folks have asked me to guide them through the process of beginning their own BAG.  Below are group guidelines and questions that will help you and your partners stay on task and motivated.

• Your group should be composed of no more than four individuals.
• Meetings should last 45 minutes to one hour.
• The person answering the questions gets all of the attention and absolutely NO interruptions.  Should you have questions or concerns, jot them down and chat about it at the end of the BAG.
• It’s important that you “actively” listen.  It is up to you to help keep your partner accountable.

B A G ~ Weekly Questions

1) What business practices helped me to meet my goals this week?

Networking groups

Internet (face book, LinkedIn, etc.)

Email/phone

2) What books/articles did I read that related to my work and helped me to grow?

3) When was I most aware that I was “on track” and focused on achieving my goals?

4) What happened this week that did not turn out the way I planned as I attempted to achieve my goals?

5) Were there any opportunities I did not take advantage of?

6) Was my plan to achieve my goals fulfilled last week?

7) What is my plan for this week?

Dream it. Believe it. Achieve it.

Let me think: weekly paycheck, health insurance, possible bonus, company car, laptop and blackberry or starting up solo without any security?

In this economy, with so many folks out of work, even the most driven (but struggling) entrepreneur, if given the opportunity to work for a large corporation making six figures, would jump from their start-up ship yelling “Yes”.

In this week’s Fairfield County Business Journal, one savvy entrepreneur, passed up large company security and $160,000 to remain just that, an entrepreneur.  Rebecca Hendrix, founded “Ladies Who Launch”, a company that provides networking and support through seminars and workshops for start-ups throughout the tri-state area and in  Chagrin Falls, Ohio.

In recent days, she received a call that tested her entrepreneural driven spirit and company premise.  A Manhattan job was hers for the taking and along with it came the usual big company perks.  Hendrix declined the offer.  Would you?

Your probably thinking: Well, it depends…How viable is my idea? How is my present company cash-flow? Is my start-up strong enough to weather possible storms ahead? Let’s face it, for young entrepreneurs (and I don’t mean young as in age), the past year has been a beast and the beast is still hanging around.

My opinion (not that you asked), is that the article doesn’t give the reader enough information about Ladies Who Launch, it’s success, it’s struggles, it’s loyal client base.  Hendrix’s staying power speaks volumes but I would like to know more about why.  How about you?

visit: www.westfaironline.com to read more about Rebecca Hendrix

Dream it.  Believe it.  Achieve it.

Internet2Go (http://internet2go.net) ,an Opus Research advisory service in conjunction with MerchantCircle, (www.merchantcircle.com) , the largest social network for small business, conducted an online survey of more than 2,000 US small business and found that these companies depend largely on social media to get there brand and business name out there. In fact, nearly half of the small businesses surveyed utilize online media sources to promote their company.

Why? Well, as I mentioned in my last post, Twitter and Facebook allow small businesses that may have a shoe-string budget, free advertising and a means to reach thousands of potential clients and customers.  The social media craze is great news for start ups.

If you don’t already have one, get your company name on Twitter and Facebook.  It’s free.

Dream it. Believe it. Achieve it.

According to www.MediaBuyerPlanner.com, ad pages are down across the board.  Here are some of the titles that saw the biggest decrease in advertising sales:

• Architectural Digest: -49.4%
• Town and Country: -45.2%
• Conde Nast Traveler: -45.1%
• Gourmet: -42.7%
• Ebony:-40.1%

Well guess what? Advertising sales are UP on top blogs and social network sites.  According to The Nielsen Company, the amount of time online Americans spent on social network and blogging sites in August 2009 accounted for 17% of their total time spent on the internet.  This figure is almost triple the percentage of time spent a year ago.

Here is another amazing stat from the same company: estimated online advertising spent on top social network and blogging sites increased 119% from about $49 million in August of 2008 to $108 million in August 2009.  Wow.

Start-ups, with sometimes no budget for advertising, take note.  If you do have a few bucks to spent on advertising, go online with it.  It’s cheap and it reaches the masses.  Remember, grass-roots marketing: linkedIn, Facebook…that’s where your customers are and now it’s easy to go right to them.

Dream it. Believe it. Achieve it.

“Don’t wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” —Mark Victor Hansenauthor, speaker

Dream it. Believe it. Achieve it.

Entrepreneurs should not take the new ABC series “Shark Tank” too seriously.  I mean, seriously (pun intended), if you are a TRUE entrepreneur, you believe in yourself  and your concept 100% and you DON’T take NO for an answer.  I mean, who do these “capital controllers” think they are to squash your idea?  They are not the only investors around and they probably know very little about your industry and the business concept you are pitching.

It just killed me last night (as I watched with my mouth open, shocked) that these five investors told one entrepreneur after another that they would go absolutely no where  with there business model.  They are wrong.  Part of what makes you an entrepreneur is that you stick with it.  You keep going when the going gets tough.  You don’t take no for an answer.

Remember, you are the brand and you need to sell yourself.  This is the only one absolute.  But, as far as my eye could see, those entrepreneurs did a darn good job marketing themselves.

Thoughts?

Dream it. Believe it. Achieve it.

What is hindering your performance and success?  You didn’t plan on it taking so long to get “off the ground”.  The economy seems to be coming back, why isn’t the money flowing in?  These are some questions that have puzzled my mind as of late and I found an article written by Barry Selman, a renowned psychotherapist from Chapel Hill, who specializes in business coaching and consulting.  Here’s what he has to say:

5 Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Fail to Reach Their Full Potential

The entrepreneurs are thinking “inside of the box”. If an entrepreneur wants to move past the “dream it” state, they need what he calls “a vision of extraordinary possibility”.  My take on it:  Think creatively.  Don’t always consider the conventional ways of achieving your goals.  Move beyond the thoughts you had yesterday and maybe even out of your comfort zone.

Entrepreneurs need to let go of control. The ideal situation is for the entrepreneur to do the least amount of work possible while achieving the greatest amount of success.  From experience, this is the biggest problem for entrepreneurs.  Inherently “control freaks”, they want to micro-manage every detail.  It doesn’t work.  They need to “outsource” a lot of their daily tasks while spending their time on what they are good at (it’s not usually getting that last minute mailing out the door).  Outsourcing can often times be achieved through interns or high school students which can prove cost effective.

Entrepreneurs feel that they must do everything themselves. Selman says, “If you can’t let go of the decision process, you have probably started doing everything yourself.” Again, let go of some control.

Entrepreneurs have problems focusing on the task at hand. Not surprising, many successful business people and entrepreneurs have ADD.   They need to address their issues and learn to work around their  obstacle.  I’ve seen it happen in my own life.  Again, letting go of control and the need to do “it all” will help an “unfocused” entrepreneur concentrate on what he/she is good at.

Entrepreneurs who are failing to reach their full potential may have grown up in a dysfunctional family.  That being said, who hasn’t? Anyway, the issue here is that  according to Selman, “they often replicate those dysfunctional relationships in the workplace.”  He goes on to say, “experts in business coaching maintain that these dysfunctional relationships are a major reason that entrepreneurs fail to take their brilliant ideas any further than the idea stage.”

For more, visit: www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach

Dream it. Believe it. Achieve it.

You may already know about Sara Blakely’s journey to creating a multimillion dollar enterprise known as Spanx. I encourage you to renew your motivation by pondering this woman’s success and reminding yourself that if you seriously believe in your product and/or service, you can achieve it.

With absolutely no business background, Blakely took a concept and product she believed in and created a company that is presently worth over $150 million dollars.  Two of the key things I always talk about on my marketing and branding blogs are common sense and starting with a good product, says Susan Gunelius of Womanonbusiness.com.

Ms. Blakely believed her product fulfilled a need in female consumers.  They wanted to  look their best without compromising comfort.  She personally used Spanx and enthusiastically went into the world with the “every girl needs this as part of their wardrobe” attitude.  She never doubted the benefit of her product.

Luck? Not really. The product is amazing.  She pitched her product to many reputable stores before Neiman Marcus put Spanx in their store.  It was a few short weeks later that The Oprah Winfrey Show called to tell Blakely that Oprah had chosen Spanx as one of her favorite products of the year.  With only two weeks notice of Oprah’s big TV announcement, boxes of product filling Blakely’s apartment, and no shipping department, she had her work set out for her.  The rest, yes, is history.

Dream it.  Believe it.  Achieve it.

Today on the site: blog.hubspot.com, Colleen Coyne equates her relationship with exercise to a small business owners relationship to blogging.   “It is important for any business of any size to build, grow and nurture a strong funnel of leads to keep the business healthy. In my experience as an Inbound Marketing Consultant, I would argue that as a small business owner, blogging is your running,” says Coyne.

Everyone knows that running burns calories…well, blogging brings traffic to your website.  Coyne advises small business owners to spend “an hour or two per week” blogging on your business site to see the positive effects this activity has on the company.  And like exercise, if you  make it part of your daily routine, the easier it will be.

How about you? Are you blogging consistently?

I’ve considered writing a book with this title.  Right now, I’m trying to figure out what my plan “B” actually is, and I think for most individuals, this is the issue…planning ahead so, if plan “A” is not working, you are prepared with an alternative.  Many optimistic entrepreneurs do not have a secondary plan.  Make one NOW.

I’ve always held on to the attitude that failure doesn’t exist.  How can it? If you learn from any process or risk, how can there be failure? Learning certainly does not equate to failure.  So, where does that leave me?  Bills are high, revenue is low, debts are incurring, but I’m learning.  Is that failure?  No.  (One of my prior posts is “Re-defining Failure”). It means it’s time to switch gears.  If bankruptcy is a concept you are considering, you need to think long and hard about your business model and ask yourself, “Is there something I can do to save my start up?” Plugging along and hoping for a miracle is not smart (done that).  Now, comes plan “B”.  That “rainy day” plan that you had hoped you’d never need to resort to.

If you are a true entrepreneur, plan “B” is never taking a job with a corporation and being an employee.  But, that being said, your plan “B” may be taking a part time job to make ends meet until the storm is over (as I mentioned in my prior post).  Or, plan “B” might be cutting down on advertising, down-sizing staff or moving to smaller quarters, or even moving your business to your home to reduce your overhead.  There may come a time when you need to consider these as the only means of survival…the only way you will be able to keep your door open.  Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket, have a plan “B”,  believe it in and don’t think you’ve failed because you need to use it.

I’d love to hear about your plan “B”.

Dream it. Believe it. Achieve it.