The Top 10 Things You Need to KNOW and HAVE to Start a Business

1. Passion: That thing that you love to do, that thing that makes you feel good, fills you up, it’s not a hobby, it’s what you’re truly meant to be doing.

2. Support: You CAN NOT do this alone. If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. People may tell you it is a bad idea; they may tell you that it will never make money; get rid of those people. Find the mentors, your peers will tell you to go for it!

3. Vision/ Purpose: Without a vision, your business will drift aimlessly, from task to task, from job to job without a clear understanding of why you do what you do. There’s a great book that I recommend to anyone out there that wants to get deeper into finding their WHY. Simon Sinek, you can also view his Ted Talk about what inspires great leaders.

4. Commitment: Once you’ve figure out WHY you’re doing what you do, now you need to figure out how much time you have to focus on your business and commit to it. This is what I call the reality check. When you work IN it, you’re doing the day to day, the client communication, the grind…. When you work ON it, you’re thinking about the long term, the goals, the objectives and how to reach those goals. You’re strategizing.

5. Confidence: We are who we are… there is nothing more truthful than that. We are creatures of habit and quite frankly, we don’t change. We live in our comfort zones where things are warm and cozy and we ‘fit in’. This is where we KNOW we can survive. And then there’s that space... outside of our warm and cozy place... Outside of the comfort zone where ‘the magic happens’.

6. Have a Plan: If you Fail to Plan, you might as well Plan to Fail. Ladies, I know this first hand. I lived this for years. I used to talk about planning, set up the planning meeting and then fail to actually plan for my business. Don’t go out without a solid plan and that includes knowing who your clients are and the messages that are going to resonate with them.

7. Goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Real and Timely. If you can’t put your goal against all of these, then it shouldn’t be a goal. putting in place your BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goal.

8. Focus: Envision your goal by seeing it, believing it and then going after it and making it happen. Define your mission – outline the goals as well as the tactics and finally simplifying the battlefield by removing any distractions and things that bog you down. Without having this type of focus, you can get derailed and end up doing the common day to day activities as opposed to operating your business at the higher level.

9. Intuition: You know that feeling in your gut, the one that sometimes feels like a stomach ache or gas bubble or a butterfly that’s gone awry? That my friends, is your intuition. Your gut is what steers you in the direction of your dreams if you know how to listen to it.

10. The End Game: You can start a business and work in it and on it for year but if you don’t know where you want to end up, then what are you doing it all for? Remember that every big business, started small. So knowing where you want to go, is crucial to your success. Knowing this from the start, helps you plan and strategize to reach your end goals.