*** Growing the Seeds of Your Business

Copyright © 2007, Donna Pricenwww.compassroseconsulting.com www.BuildYourBusinessSuccessNow.com dprice@compassroseconsulting.comnnnAfter working with many business owners and several holistic practitioners I have come to the conclusion that the seed of business is vision. Before you can build an abundant practice or business you must have a clear and compelling vision. The vision is the seed that you grow. It goes beyond the daydream of success and deep into what that business will look like. How you as the owner visualize it. Am I talking about using visualization? Well certainly that can't hurt and can even help you in manifesting what you want. But more importantly I am talking about having a clear vision, written down of where you want to go. Your vision statement becomes your roadmap. It guides you on your journey. A clear vision helps you to make good decisions for your business. Often there are tempting distractions that get us off course. We decide to add a new product line or create a new service, and down the road we find that it doesn't feel like the right fit. When we look back at our vision, there it is clear as day. The new service or product wasn't a part of the vision. That's why it didn't fit or wasn't successful. It didn’t fit into the company mission, vision and values. Sure, we want to be creating new services, new products, new opportunities for business growth, but we want to stay on our path. If the new service takes us too far off the path then it might not be the right choice and as the owner it's your role to evaluate that.nnDo you have a compelling vision? When you write a compelling vision statement it inspires and motivates. It has the detail you need to move forward. Business owners that have been working with me will tell you that I keep coming back to this with them and in my own business. What is the vision? What does the company look like? What are the services, the clients, the products? What growth has the company experienced? What does it feel like, sound like? Writing a detailed vision that includes all of the emotion helps you to develop a clearer plan. I recommend writing your vision statement in as much detail as possible. Write it in the present tense, as if it is happening now. Include the details of who, what, where, when, how... And the emotional details – the feelings you have living that vision, the feelings of the clients/customers/staff, what it looks like, sounds like, and smells like. For example: “My practice is booming, new clients appear each week, easily and effortlessly. My clients love the service that they receive and they tell their friends and family. During each session with a client, I feel totally present and connected to them and their needs. I am able to easily provide the exact service they need that day....” Once you've created a written vision story, next make a picture. The picture doesn’t have to be that of an artist, just one that represents where you are headed. Hang it on your wall where you can see it. Read your vision regularly, every day if you can. This keeps you inspired and excited about the business that you are building. If you vision story doesn’t inspire you then you need to rethink it, rewrite it. Your vision of your business and life should make you feel great! Share the vision story and picture with your staff, your colleagues. Letting people know what the vision is gives them the opportunity to help you achieve the vision. nnVisions don’t just happen because your vision them or visualize them, write them or draw them. They happen because you take action. Reading your vision each day keeps you inspired and on track for taking the inspired actions that must happen to realize the vision. Develop strategies based on your vision to move that vision forward. The vision is the seed that you have planted. Now you have to grow the garden. The strategies become the tools that help you grow the garden and get you to your destination. Set your strategies in terms of goals. Goals are set based on your values, your lessons learned and a clear and positive mindset for moving forward. Focus this year on your top 10 priorities. Write goals that are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time Bounded. With SMART goals you can track your progress and see your success. Selecting the top ten helps you stayed focus on what's really important. Keep your plan in front of you and work it. Working the plan and making it happen is the real key to producing the results that you want. nnBreak down your goals each month into smaller monthly goals, and even better is to break them into weekly goals. Establish a system of accountability. Most people start out the year with a great plan and great strategy and as the year moves on, they lose focus and the plan drifts. Our coaching provides you with the ongoing support and accountability to produce results. nnStaying focused on goals and the things you desire is one of the greatest challenges many of us face. Perhaps you set a goal or a desire this year but in the day to day of our busy lives we lost track of it and as a result we end up abandoning it until next year. Keeping ourselves accountable can be accomplished in a few ways. Here are our 11 tips for creating a focused and fun approach to success:

1. Take the goal and break into smaller steps and review it each week , even giving yourself a score.
2. Make a chart to chart progress, each step of the way n
3. Hang signs around the house, in the car, at work --- saying: "Stay Focused".
4. Tell family and friends about the goal and intention n
5. Create your own mastermind group to help you stay on track and support your ups and downs n
6. Partner with a friend or colleague to be an "accountability buddy", share your plan with them and talk once a week to let them know how you are doing n
7. Hire a coach to help you identify your goals and keep them on track all year towards extraordinary success.
8. Create celebrations of success, reward yourself -- gold stars, dinner out, a new something!
9. Meditate each day on focused goal attainment n
10. Write your vision and goals down and read them everyday n
11. Have fun with each success and acknowledge it!

nTo move yourself into the success you desire spend some time now, creating your vision and focused plan for success. Building the business that you want is possible. With a focused vision, strategic plan and implementation plan you can achieve what you set out to.