This week I want to share with you 3 simple steps to boost your authentic business success. Let’s be honest here. It doesn’t matter which stage of your business building blocks you’re currently in, you can be either a start-up solo-entrepreneur or a more advanced authentic business owner (Enlightened C.A.S.T.L.E. – coach, author, speaker, trainer, leader, and expert), you’ll always welcome simple, practical ways to boost your authentic business success and improve your current results. For example, finding and attracting more ideal clients, making a greater positive impact and income, creating new packages (programs, products and services), leading live events (virtually and in-person), growing your client database, upleveling your brand, etc.

Where most passionate professionals (Enlightened C.A.S.T.L.E.) struggle and sometimes even get stuck is in knowing what to do first on a daily basis, meaning which activities they need to prioritize first and place it at the top of their “to-do” list, and more importantly, how to hold on to the mind-set, heart-set and soul-set that it takes when the business you’re running daily is still far away from the business of your dreams.

This is where having the right business model (the one that is true, authentic and works for you) along with the right systems, structures and strategies in place pays off in a big way.

For example, if you’re not yet consistently making a positive impact and income doing the work you were born to do (making a difference sharing your passion while being handsomely rewarded for doing it) so you can successfully and authentically attract more ideal clients and finally build a thriving business you love, then your focus is best spent on generating your first 5-10 clients at higher fees, rather than spending your time on launching something new like a membership website.

Trust me on this: Every time you move to the next upper level and elevate your business you can expect to experience a bit of confusion, frustration and overwhelming. It’s because whenever you step out and step up on your authentic business success stairway a mix of the old and the new “phase” happens. One moment you’ll be very excited and completely clear about your new direction for your business development, then on the next moment, you find yourself crying, confused, overwhelmed and wondering what you’ve gotten yourself into.

What I do during this time of transformation and business growth is to follow 3 simple steps to boost my own authentic business success so that I keep myself centered, confident and focused, without struggle and out of overwhelm. I’d like you to take notes of these tips and post them near your computer or board so they can also help you make this transformation and boost YOUR authentic business success with enthusiasm, grace and ease!

Simple Step #1: Transform Your Mind-set, Heart-set and Soul-set From the Old to the NEW Paradigm of Authentic Business Success

Yes, that’s right. Shift the old way of thinking, doing, feeling and being (your thoughts, actions, habits, behaviours and emotions) to the NEW one so that you can, what I love to say, Enlighten Your Mind, Empower Your Heart and Inspire Your Soul to achieve Authentic Business Success as an Enlightened Entrepreneur. So, how do you do that?

Here’s how: The best way to explain that is to give you my favorite mind-set (heart-set and soul-set) tip, which is to ask yourself, “What would a super successful authentic business owner do?” or “What would your role model/business mentor do?” or “What would your favourite enlightened entrepreneur (C.A.S.T.L.E.) do? This is the kind of question you need to ask yourself in order to give you a new perspective of looking at things. I always do. Whenever I’m looking to make a decision and move forward in my business I ask myself this type of question so that I can not only take tiny little steps every single day, but also have quantum leaps and make transformational shifts upwards in my impact and income, all while creating a thriving business I love.

The transformational truth is: it works, and even better it works so beautifully and authentically because it pulls you out of old patterns (old way of thinking, doing and being) and it challenges you to think, feel, act, behave and believe in a NEW way as the authentic business owner (Enlightened C.A.S.T.L.E.) you desire becoming – the most successful and fulfilled person you dream of being.

Simple Step #2: First Focus on IPAs (Income Producing Activities) to Create Consistent Cash Flow in Your Business

Income producing activities are the most important activities and you definitely need to focus on them seriously first because they are going to create consistent cash flow in your business, and cash flow is the “Queen” of your business. Again, no matter what stage of your business you’re in, decide how much cash you need to create to make the positive impact and income you most want, starting from covering your expenses, paying yourself and giving you peace of mind. The key here is to be specific, clear and committed to knowing your amount first, then focus on the “how-to’s” to get there. This alone (along with other strategies I teach on this topic) will keep you in a proactive, prosperous mind-set (heart-set and soul-set) with regard to your impact and income, rather than in a reactive, passive or disempowered place. So, always ask yourself: “Is this an income producing activity? If so, it goes at the top of your priorities. Always remember to create consistent cash flow by focusing on income producing activities (IPAs) first!

Simple Step #3: “How You Start Your Day” Determines Your Authentic Business Success

Another transformational truth here is that the way you start your day or what you start your day with influences dramatically your authentic business success. Why? Because in every stage of growing and elevating your business you’ll need to let go of old habits (tasks and activities that represent the old you), in order to make way for the new actions that put you on the path of authentic business success at a more evolved and empowered level.

My best tip here is to start your day with the top 3 priorities (= key action steps) that will help you bring in either consistent cash flow or new clients, partners and referrals. Make a daily, weekly and monthly plan (your roadmap to more impact and income) and decide in advance which income producing activities (IPAs) you’ll focus on, write them down and do them first – before getting distracted with other tasks such as, checking your email, seeing what others are doing or hopping on to social media.

Your Authentic Business Success In Action

Although these 3 steps, I’ve just given you, are simple, they might not be so easy to start doing and keep on doing them on a daily basis. That’s why I’m here and always happy to help you. So, be sure to hire an authentic business success mentor to guide and support you on your own journey as an inspired leader, empowered creator and enlightened entrepreneur. Whoever you resonate with – be sure to mentor with someone who is where you authentically aspire to be.

Enlightened Entrepreneurs, (C.A.S.T.L.E.) or soon-to-be one, are energetic sponges for the people (mentors, partners, peers and clients) they surround themselves with. Which means it’s critical for you to invest in spending time with an authentic business success mentor and get in a coaching/mentoring/mastermind group filled with like-minded, like-hearted, like-souled authentic business success achievers who are continuously and consistently pulling themselves – and you! – forward. You’ll be thrilled and delighted how quickly you too, become one of these high authentic business success achievers that others are inspired, empowered and enlightened to be around!

In business it’s easy to become demotivated by making your business too complex. To succeed it’s important you find a way to keep the overview, get back to basics and understand exactly what the important elements are in your business that you want to be focusing on.

Get Access To Outside Information

You’ve got to keep yourself motivated by listening to outside information. This is a must. It helps you to broaden your perspective and puts what you are doing into a wider context.

If it’s about building your business, learn from those who are successful, and who have built successful businesses. Decide what success means for you, and focus on that whilst taking on board what others say. Investing a small amount of money in order to get the information needed that’s going to widen your view will pay you in the long run.

Want To Do Something Different

You also need to want to do something different from what you’re currently doing. If you are in business, and you want to expand your income by doing the same as what you’re currently doing, chances are that income is going to stay the same.

Unless you have a strong desire to move beyond what’s comfortable and familiar to you, things probably won’t change much on the income and profit front.

You have to make business a priority in your life. That means that you have to study it, get to understand it inside out, and keep going until creating a thriving business becomes second nature to you. This may well involve you, again, doing things that you wouldn’t normally do:

1. Listening to audios on business development or watching videos
2. Going to training seminars
3. Getting some coaching, mentoring or business advice
4. Learning new material
5. Trialing and testing things that may or may not work out

It is all part of the business journey, and you have to be OK with all of this.

Be Prepared To Take Calculated Risks

In order to be successful in business, you have to be willing to take risks. Your business will get to a stage where either you need to invest more into it to get the resources you need to expand. This could be:

· Time

· Money

· Effort

· Energy

Not wanting to make those investments may mean you are stifling the development of your business.

You may well find that you are faced with cashflow issues for instance, where there’s no physical money available in the business to pay the bills that are coming in. You may need to make a decision in that moment that you need a quick loan. But the risks you take need to be calculated.

Are you guaranteed the level of income you need in the next six months, year or five years to cover the loan repayments? If not, is it wise to take out the loan? If you can’t see any funds coming in on the horizon to cover the bills that are facing you, you have to take a cold hard look at your entity and ask yourself whether you have a business or a hobby.

Ask Your People

You have to go out and physically ask people to buy what you have to sell. You have to ask people whether they even want what you’re selling. If they don’t, and you’re passionate about the thing you’re trying to sell, you have to sell to them exactly what they’re going to get out of investing in your product or service.

If they are still not interested, maybe what you have is, again, an expensive hobby. You need to make that decision. Maybe you need to keep the hobby and find something else you’re passionate about to sell.

If you have nothing else right now, partner with someone who has. If what you have to sell is not quite what people want then tweak what you have (asking people as you go along) until it matches what they want.