So here’s the thing: I had the very best intentions and absolutely NO customers.

I spun my wheels for months. There’s no question I was working hard. The problem was that I didn’t really know what I was doing. You see – I was an expert at financial education – I wasn’t an expert at marketing and client attraction and all of the elements of building a business that ensure you have a steady stream of prospects who can benefit from your products and services.

All of that changed the day I found a marketing mentor. I made the decision to invest in my business and signed up for 8 months of private coaching with someone who had a proven track record of helping entrepreneurs attract clients. I listened, learned and applied her teaching and my business grew with a speed and consistency I could not have imagined. There’s nothing better than learning from someone who can honestly say they’ve been there and done that. Something about hearing from someone who has conquered the very hurdle you’re about to jump gives you an edge you would not be able to get any other way. Let’s face it, it’s faster (and less painful) when we have the opportunity to learn from mistakes that were made by those who have gone before us, rather than always learning from the mistakes we make ourselves.

Unlike the game of chess, the business world does not really have specific rules. Because of the lack of rules, those who have experienced the challenges you are about to face first hand are your best allies, in navigating the often unpredictable waters.  Sure, you know a lot. But do you know everything? Of course not. There will always be things you can learn that will help you take your business to the next level. This is why constantly seeking out and working with mentors is so crucial in your pursuit of success.

Never take the job of selecting a mentor lightly. You want to learn from individuals who have themselves created success. Small business owners who are considering working with a mentor, should take the time to speak with them directly. Ask if you can talk to one or more of their former or current clients. Make sure their coaching style is a fit for you and your personality. Remember that over time you will most likely have multiple mentors – experts in different areas who can help you to develop the skills you need to keep moving forward. The magic of the internet and the ability to receive quality coaching via teleseminars and webcasts, means we are not limited by geography as we seek out the best people to help us learn and grow.

At Abundance Bound we strive to create a community that brings the experience, mentoring and encouragement you need to be successful in your business. Visit http://www.AbundanceBoundSystem.com to learn more about this powerful support network today.

In the years that I worked for other people, I was so frustrated by the complete lack of control that I had over my life. We all know the drill…showing up and leaving at the same time each day, being told when we can have lunch or take a vacation, trying to look busy even when we’ve finished our work because heaven forbid we should just be able to go home early…

It was a desire for independence that led me to start my first business. I certainly had good intentions and a strong work ethic but I also had absolutely no clue what I was doing. The truth was that I lacked the fundamental understanding of money that was required to keep a business afloat. Once I realized this, I focused on studying with the best financial experts I could find, gaining the financial tools, knowledge and understanding I needed to be a successful entrepreneur.

The results I saw in my own life were what led me to the creation of Abundance Bound – a company that focuses specifically on the niche of helping people start and build their own businesses with the strong financial foundation and planning in place that allows them to grow and thrive as entrepreneurs. I love being able to spare my clients from some of the many, many costly mistakes I made in my early years of being small business owner.

A small business that tries to do too much can, often times, have difficulty achieving success.  Small business ideas that focus on a niche market can quickly surpass competitors who only dabble in that area.

Take for instance a small business that makes only rice pudding.  But they make rice pudding in every flavor imaginable.  Or a restaurant that only serves macaroni and cheese, but the combinations of flavors makes it a unique treat.  If I want great rice pudding or macaroni and cheese (two of my personal favorites by the way…) I am far more likely to seek out the specialists than I am to just run into my local grocery. Those two companies are focused on a niche market and even if a large chain restaurant opened on the same street and offered macaroni and cheese plus rice pudding on their large menu, those two small businesses would still rake in the customers who want the specialty that they offer.

The ideas mentioned above are real examples of two businesses that exist in Manhattan that have achieved success.  Small business owners can follow this type of focused model can achieve and maintain the same success.  The secret is to find something that you have a passion for and will appeal to many people, add something unique to it and focus solely on making it the best that it can be.

A great niche business with a web presence has an advantage over a small business on the web with no specialty.  It is easier to get targeted web traffic to make a purchase than general web traffic going to a site that has a variety of products or services to offer. Small business websites that offer their niche product in a unique way can turn a great profit in a small amount of time.

I encourage you to make sure that as an entrepreneur you are not trying to be all things to all people. Visit http://www.AbundanceBoundSystem.com – We can help you to find that need that you fill better than anybody else, focus your efforts there, and you’ll be well on your way to success with your small business.

“The secret to my success is determined by my daily agenda – by the daily decisions I make, and the daily disciplines I practice.”– Dr John C. Maxwell

I heard that statement a few years ago, and it is something that has always stuck with me, because I fundamentally believe that it is true. Another way of saying it is that, if what and where I am today is a direct result of my previous actions, what I am tomorrow depends on what I do today. The problem is, most people underestimate what they can do today, and over estimate what they can do tomorrow.

Now, if you think about this for a minute, you will see how true it is.  You constantly hear “I’ll do it tomorrow.”  I know I say that, and then, when it doesn’t happen tomorrow, it becomes “the next day,” then the next, then the next, until either we hit a crisis and do it at the expense of something else, or we just never quite get around to it.

Let’s take an entrepreneur building a coaching business as an example: how can you get new clients if people don’t know who you are? And how can people know who you are if you’re not publishing informative articles on your area of expertise, and attending networking events to expand your circle of contacts? So how many articles are you posting on the internet this week? What networking are you doing today? But maybe you’ve got writer’s block, so you put the article off to tomorrow, and traffic is really bad tonight, so that networking event can wait.  You get the picture.

The same is true in your finances. If I am struggling with debt, what can I do to get out from under it? Can I call the credit card companies and beg for a break? Can I tear up my bills, move, and hope they won’t find me? You certainly could, but it wouldn’t be recommended. Instead, wouldn’t it be better to look for ways to generate multiple streams of income, shave some money off your expenses, learn how to pay a little less in taxes, put a solid debt plan in place, and move forward freely, rather than constantly worrying about how you are going to handle those student loans?

What expenses can I track today that can be used as tax deductions? How can I work a bit more today to earn the money I need to cover those expenses? What financial seminar can I take or what book can I read today to build the money management skills I need to take control of my finances?  How can I alter my spending habits today so that I have to worry less tomorrow?

Oscar Wilde said “every action of the common day makes or unmakes character,” and, beyond that, everything you do today affects where you will be tomorrow.

All of this is a process. No one expects you to flick a switch and suddenly have amazing organizational skills, perfect credit and financial savvy.  But there are two kinds of pain in this arena: the pain of discipline, and the pain of regret. Now, especially when it comes to ensuring a strong financial foundation, we can play now and pay later, or we can pay now and play later. The problem is, payment compounds, and increases with time and missed opportunities. So if you suffer the pain of paying now – of discipline, of doing the things you need to do long after the mood in which you said them in has gone, of paying attention to your actions today – tomorrow’s rewards will come far sooner than you imagine.

Visit http://www.AbundanceBoundSystem.com and join our community of entrepreneurs, committed each moment to creating the success that they deserve.

The next critical step to creating success as a small business owner, is figuring out exactly where you would like to end up.  Where you are going is almost as important as your starting point.  It gives you a destination, a target, a place on which to set your sights.Think about an entrepreneur that you really admire – whose business has the size, scope and profits that you imagine for yourself. You can be very sure that behind the scenes there is a business plan, one that was put in place when the organization was born and one that is centered on a Vision.  In this business plan, the entrepreneur will have laid out where they want to be in 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years.  They will know what their ultimate goal is in very specific terms.

But for many small business owners, our Vision doesn’t extend that far beyond just wanting more money.  We know we are tired of struggling to pay the bills.  We hate the fact that we’re buried under debt.  But because our financial vision is not SPECIFIC, our plans tend to be equally vague – leaving little mystery around why they are often never actually implemented.

Think of your financial life as a road trip.  You know where you are starting – New York.  How many of us would actually get in our cars and start driving, without having actually decided where we want to go?  Now let’s say that you choose Miami.  Well, because you have your starting point AND your destination, you can plan exactly how you’ll get there.  You may plan it in stages.  You may stop to see some of the sights along the way.  You may even take a wrong turn now and again, but because you know where you’re headed, you’ll quickly be able to make corrections that will put you back on track.

Continuing this analogy, let’s say that you had indeed made a wrong turn on your way to Miami, and ended up in New Orleans. You might like it there, maybe even enough that you consider staying, and giving up on ever getting to Miami at all. You have a nice place, are happy with the climate, and have made a few friends. If your concept of Miami is simply “somewhere nice”, then you may be content to stay where you ended up, because it is simply too much effort to move on. What does it matter if the weather isn’t exactly what you wanted, or your house is not quite what you had imagined? Where you are is an improvement over where you were, so you give up your travel plans, and settle in.

How different would it be if your general dream of “Miami” became an actual vision of what your life would be when you got there? What if you had researched and found the exact condo you wanted on South Beach? You knew the purchase price, the mortgage payments, what your view would be, what the good local restaurants are. You knew what friends you had down there, what car you would drive, what you would wear on the beach, and where to find the best snorkeling. Your vision of your life in Florida encompasses everything, from lifestyle to partner, business success to financial abundance. How content would you now be to settle in New Orleans? Chances are, not very. And yet that is what we all do. Repeatedly. Because where we are is better than where we were, and the immediate discomfort it might take to move on overshadows the pain of staying.

At Abundance Bound, we take entrepreneurs through an exercise of creating a “3-Year Vision.” This involves writing down a detailed vision of where we want to be in 3 years time, and being as specific as possible about it. It is not enough to say “I will be rich”: you need to know what that means. To some that may be a passive income of $8,000 per month, living in a condo in a respectable part of town, and driving a new Jetta. For others, making $20,000 per month, and living in a house in Beverly Hills with a Porsche in the driveway would only be halfway there.  When you read your Vision you should feel happy – you should feel a sense of excitement and joy as you paint a vivid picture of where you want your life to be. And you should use that excitement to fuel you as you move forward.

Writing down your Vision will play a huge role in whether or not you reach your destination. From this will develop your action plan, which is your journey broken down into manageable pieces, and the specific, measurable goals that will comprise each step of that plan. It is absolutely critical that you fully visualize the end result and know clearly and vividly where you want to go.

Come to http://www.AbundanceBoundSystem.com for all the help you need drawing your personal entrepreneur’s  road map from point A to point B. We’ll support you along the journey and make sure you reap the benefits of careful planning and hard work.