Build Your Foundation, Build YOU

 

                                 Before you build your business you must build yourself.

     You want to have a rocking business, have tons of clients, and earn great money right? Who doesn’t? But if you have all that and you are not prepared it can be disastrous. How are you preparing yourself for success?

Skills skills and more skills. Having the right skills is not about how many you have, but what your specialty is. I say this as a cosmetologist that does every service in the book, however it took many years to develop each area of expertise.  If you have a cosmetology license and you are not offering nail services you are leaving a good chunk of dough on the table, literally. There is this wonderful thing called the Internet with crazy sites like YouTube that offer amazing education, for free. If you have access to it, there is nothing you can’t learn from rockin nail art to stuffing grape leaves. I know because I have learned both from YouTube.  As in anything the first grape leaves I stuffed were not the prettiest things you’ve ever seen. You know why? Practice.  Just like you I watched the video once and thought I would be able to have my fantastic dish on the cover of Bon Apetit. They never called. My leaves were pathetic. The next time I attempted I knew what I did wrong, watched the video again, OK like 3 more times and you know what? My leaves were gorgeous. Why is it we thing we can begin a skill and master it right out of the gate? Skills require practice and practice requires discipline. Which brings me to my next point.

  

   You must be disciplined. I teach all over the country and one of my biggest mantras is you must set aside the time to work ON your business, not just in your business. Discipline is what sets apart the good from the great. Great professionals invest back in themselves in more than just one area. Are you disciplined to read a good book on communication, on customer service, maybe a biography of a famous person? All these nuggets of the good stuff you put into the mix of your world will completely change your world. Don’t complain about where you are or what you don’t have. Put together a plan to get where you want to go and have the discipline to do what it takes to get there. Fore go an evening of reality shows, or dancing contests and find the information that will build the areas of your life and business that need work. Practice techniques in your downtime. Make up a schedule and stick with it. Make times that are non negotiable, teach the people around you that these times are sacred and cannot be altered barring emergency. It is very easy to get nudged off this schedule to where you find yourself saying what was I doing again? I love the quote don’t practice till you get it right, practice till you can’t get it wrong. Never stop growing. Which brings me to my next point.

 

   

       Mentor ship is all around you. You might just need to widen your lens. Watch the masters, watch beginners, and learn from everyone. The checkout clerk that has a positive attitude. The waiter that give incredible service, your fellow professionals giving a great client experience.  If you don’t have a mentor, get one. It is what will carve years off your learning curve. Don’t just learn though; put what you’ve learned into practice. Evolve with each new nugget you learn. Change up how you do business until you are a master. Dig in and learn what you need to grow.  Plug up the holes in your boat so you can stop bailing out water. Study others success and try to imitate it in your world. It will make all the difference.