***Are You Ready For Your Own Success?

I have seen it happen to many of my coaching clients. They work hard, put in the hours, follow their business plan and then their business grows. Sometimes almost too fast and they are not prepared for their own success.

Who would have imagined? You’ve heard the saying: Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. That also applies to growing your business. What many professionals don’t realize is that rapid growth is the most dangerous phase in a business because all of a sudden you are adding more clients, which means more work than you might be set up for.

All successful businesses grow in a variety of ways. For example, growth can require changes in personnel, size, income and jobs. And with growth often comes growing pains, not the physical kind, but a shift in how you see yourself and your business. If you treat your business like a real business, it is going to act like a real business. Look at how Oprah’s “Dream Big” winners did it. http://goo.gl/m4hFO

Let me give you an example of one of my clients. She is a very talented photographer, had worked hard, gone through trials and tribulations, the perfecting of her craft, and then things started to pay off. The shift came suddenly, but only after she started to focus on running her studio like a business. She wanted to get bigger clients and charge higher day rates. In order to do that, and take her business to the next level, she realized she had to work with “next level” people.

Her old team--assistants, hair, makeup, styling—weren’t the right fit anymore and, for one reason or another, they would not be able to help her get to the next level. So my client had to find new people. Sometimes you need people with different or specific skills, or you need more of a time commitment than they are able to give.

The bottom line is: If your CPA or lawyer or anyone on your team isn’t supporting you, maybe it’s time to let them go. There is a subtle difference between constructive behavior and passive aggressiveness. Rule of thumb - if they argue with you and challenge you as the boss - it’s time to let them go. Not an easy thing to do sometimes, but growth in all facets of our lives rarely comes without some pain.

Please ask for and envision all the success in the world but when it comes, will you be ready for it?