All businesses start with a dream. Sometimes it’s a dream to be wealthy beyond your wildest dreams or a dream of one day seeing your name on the door. It could even be the dream to be able to take your family on the vacation of a lifetime or to start your own business so that you can call all the shots. Regardless of the business, it all starts with a dream of the kind of life you want to have and how you see yourself living it. In order to achieve, you must have a big picture vision for your life. You need a life plan first, then build your business around that. Begin with the end in mind, as Steve Covey says. You need to know how big you want your business to get. Do you just want one great bakery or a chain of bakeries with wholesale and retail operations? Regardless of your choice, you need to understand how much money you need to start a business that can exist like that. You also need to be careful that your dreams do not convince you that you will be an overnight success. There are few very of those. The formula for success in a small business is dream + plan + pray + hard work = success
The best thing you can do for your business is pray every day. One of other key ingredients in a successful business is patience, which can only come about through prayer. In business, things rarely happen as you’ve planned them. The big contracts never seem to come in as you’ve projected and the checks are not always as big as you need them to be and sometimes that’s a hard pill to swallow. Keep in mind that when a contract that you just knew you had falls through your fingers, it’s really a gift. That client might have been a nightmare to deal with or did not pay timely. After all my years in business, I’ve learned a critical lesson about business: God and I do not wear the same watch, and his timing is perfect. You must wait on the Lord.
My favorite bible verse is Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; Lean not on thy own understanding, in all thy ways honor him and he will direct thy path. When you pray there’s no need to worry about anything. Things always work out, even if you have to change course.
The bible also says in James 2:20 Faith without works is dead. You should not pray for a big check, and then make no sales calls. You must have a business plan with a marketing plan that spells out your sales process. Do you have a system for cultivating sales? How many sales calls must be made in for you to close the book of business you need to pay all your bills in a month? Do you use a CRM or Customer Relationship Management tool to track your contacts? You need a sales plan and you need to make sure that you working your sales plan so that you put yourself in a position for a blessing. A good friend of mine likes to say God already did the hard work for us, all we must do our small part here on Earth.
What work do you need to do so that you can prove that the formula works?
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For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com.
Melinda F. Emerson, known to many as SmallBizLady is one of America’s leading small business experts. As a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach, she develops audio, video and written content to fulfill her mission to end small business failure. As CEO of MFE Consulting LLC, Melinda educates entrepreneurs and Fortune 500 companies on subjects including small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. Forbes Magazine recently named her one of the Top 20 women for entrepreneurs to follow on Twitter. She hosts #SmallBizChat Wednesdays on Twitter 8-9pm ET for emerging entrepreneurs. She also publishes a resource blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com Melinda is also the author of the national bestseller Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works. (Adams Media 2010)
i am bless to read iam now boss on my own God richly bless you all the more i learn i get to know i know nothing…
where can i get some of your books / the study outline
Hello my name is Fritzie Ursal. I am from the Philippines. I am 19 years old. I work as a call center agent and doing networking as my sideline. I am pretty amaze how the 4 keys can help me achieve my goals. Its a simple formula with a sure results. It is important to dream so you can plan on how to make it into reality. Prayer is a big help to direct us into the right path and hard work will take us there. I am not that religious but somehow it made me realize how important it is to know the bible and understand the word of God. Thank you so much for the inspiring bible verses. This can help millions of people who is willing to succeed but doesnt know yet the formula. Keep on inspiring people. More power! God bless!
Thanks Melinda for this post! I love the verses you referenced too…definitely going in my office for daily reminders and inspiration!
It is a true blessing that God allowed me to click onto your blog. I thank you for this article. Thank you again and God bless.
This post was so reassuring to me , at the age of 25 I’ve come to realize that I’m so much more than I thought I was. I’m in the process of developing my own business and plan to go just as far as god allows me to take my business, which I know is beyond my imagination.It’s only due to the fact that I’ve been leaning on the lord, that i have come to the terms of understanding all of my strengths and weaknesses. Now I can finally put them to use it’s great to get wisdom from a prudent woman like yourself i cherish this post as it is very wise.