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Smart Women Get an “Entrepreneurial” Checkup

Written by: Joy Chudacoff

Article Overview: This article is about giving your business a checkup to make sure that everything is healthy and working properly. It’s important to stop and focus on how everything is working to make sure that you are moving your business goals in the right direction. Taking a look at how we manage our time and spend our day is essential in taking our businesses to the next level.

Smart Women Get an “Entrepreneurial” Checkup

When we get sick, have the flu or some other ailment that we can’t seem to cure on our own, we go to the doctor for a checkup. The same is true in our businesses. If you feel like your business is not growing the way you had envisioned, maybe it’s time for an “entrepreneurial” checkup. This week, I’m going to share some simple, easy solutions that you can use to give your business a “checkup” to ensure healthy success.

1. Join a Mastermind – Recently, my husband Greg was ill and had to be admitted to UCLA Medical Center, which is a teaching hospital. Students follow the heads of different departments around to visit patients, learn from the experts, and also mastermind together to figure out the best plan of action or solution to follow with each patient. I facilitate several Mastermind Circles for women and I personally belong to one myself. They are an excellent way to stay on track with your goals, meet with other people who have a desire to grow their businesses, and get good, quality feedback on your ideas. You can join a Mastermind or start one of your own. The key is to have positive people who are committed to possibility thinking and create an environment where everyone feels safe. Meeting one time per month is ideal.

2. Find a Care Partner – Greg had several “care partners” each day when he was in the hospital. These people were there to support Greg, care for him, and make sure that his daily progress was monitored and that the doctor’s plans were being carried out. Who is the “care partner” in your business? If you are a solo entrepreneur or launching a new venture, chances are you are trying to do everything yourself, which is a big mistake. I learned this the hard way. When I first started out in business, I used to say I worked “8 to faint” because I was trying to do everything. I didn’t think I could afford to hire any help. Finally I realized that having someone just 5 hours a week in the beginning made a big difference. It allowed me the time to focus on the bigger picture and attract new clients. If you want to grow your business and take it to the next level, it’s essential that you find someone to outsource the administrative tasks that must be done. Having someone part-time to do your filing, going to the post office, or doing some of your clerical work can create the time and space you need to do your “genius” work and think about projects that will make your business grow and earn you income.

3. Plan for the Day – Each and every day, the doctors and care partners would review Greg’s progress from the day before and make decisions for the current day with one goal in mind: To move Greg forward in a positive direction. Are you spending time each day taking steps to move your business in a positive, income earning direction? This is a big topic in my Women’s Success Circles. Discovering how to manage your time effectively so that you are working on “High” priority items rather than wasting your valuable time on “Low” priority items is key to achieving goals and realizing your vision for your business. A quick tip: Just because the phone is ringing doesn’t mean it needs to be answered right now. Get a good voice mail system. This can be a huge time-waster. Being able to prioritize what’s most important to the growth of your business is a skill that needs to be nurtured.

Why is a checkup so important? One of the questions that I regularly ask women in my Mastermind Circles is: Imagine it’s December 31, 2009: What will you be celebrating? What will you have accomplished in your business this year? Every choice, every decision you make, leads up to the December 31 outcome. It’s the choices we make that shape our businesses and our lives.

Spend some time this month giving your business an “entrepreneurial” checkup.

Anything is possible. Everything is waiting for you.

*****

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Article Tags: ailment, big mistake, care partner, care partners, circles, daily progress, desire, easy solutions, flu, mastermind, possibility thinking, quality feedback, solo entrepreneur, teaching hospital, ucla medical center



Related Forum Posts
Re: History of Women in Business in the United States - Yes. Women have increasingly made positive economic contributions to society and their position is being recognized more and more as seen on the Forbes List of Executive Women. In general, women can be a bit more practical in their approach as entrepreneurs too.
A ton of Great Women - You might want to profile Teresa Cascioli of LakePort Brewery. She has an amazing story! I met her at at the celebratory luncheon for the Profit/Chatelaine Top 100 Women Business Owners. The Top 100 list is also a great resource for inspirational stories of Women Entrepreneurs.
Re: Are entrepreneur women more organized than men? - Women are generally more organised than men. They have good instincts more than men. Women are generally aggressive when it come to business. You don't want to mess up with them.
Re: Are entrepreneur women more organized than men? - The issue of women being more organized than men is true, start from you home, just see how messy the boys are. Women are also very cautious, unlike men who take any risk, a woman will analyze the risk first. Women are also go getter when it comes to business, once they make their mind, then they go for it.
Re: Why aren't there more women entrepreneurs? - My opinion on this (being a women, and being disabled), is; Women in general like security. Women are the caretakers, in general. In the work environment we are the one to have children. We are the ones who leave work to do this. We deal with a stigma that we are bad mothers if we work, but we are a bad mother if we do not work. I feel there is no way a man could ever understand this. Sure they can try, and some do a good job of it, however they truly do not understand. How could they?? Being a entrepreneur is throwing cation to the wind. It takes believing in yourself. It takes a women who can have someone say no, put us down or just plan old negativity and for us to turn it around. Women who can do this are called names, while men in the business world are just expected to have a thick skin. Studies show in the work environment that women are more apt to be bullies. Women are more apt to turn on each other. We expect more out of each other. Many women also use the work environment to socialize and to find a mate. Men and women are not created equal. Once we understand this and take what we are and "run" with it; the better all of us will be. Women business owners, women entrepreneurs are still considered a minority. Since there are more women then men in this world, some day this will turn around. This too is why men need to protect themselves and keep us under some kind of control. What bothers me to no end is when women give in to the mans world using sex as a selling tool. We need strong women leaders, not those who use their bodies as a step up. This is just my opinion on this subject.


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