People With Attentional Challenges are 300% More Likely to Be Entrepreneurs

People with attention challenges are 300% more likely to be entrepreneurs

People with attention challenges are 300% more likely to be entrepreneurs

Turns out some of the characteristics of ADHD are some of the same ones that make a good entrepreneur. That’s the message Laurie Dupar, ADHD Coach, imparts in her interview for the upcoming This Is The Year Biz Telesummit. I loved interviewing Laurie because I learned so much – and I know many of my clients will too!

The trick, as always, is learning how to compensate for the challenges of ADHD (like follow-through) while maximizing the strengths (like creative thinking). Laurie has a terrific free gift for This Is The Year Biz Summit Participants: her e-book Unlock the Secrets to Your Entrepreneurial Brain Style & Discover the Innate “Success Secrets” of thriving entrepreneurs!

What’s fascinating to me is how many people hear the checklists of characteristics of ADHD and say “That’s me!”. And it may be … but I asked Laurie to define what separates ‘normal’ from ADHD. Her strategies for coping with ADHD challenges are helpful to all of us – because we all are challenged with the same issues from time to time.

Remember, Laurie is just of  21 experts interviewed for the telesummit. Grab the recordings here.

 

 

 

Did You Design Your Business, Or Did You Let It Re-design You?

Your business plan is the blueprint for your businessWhen I was a teen-ager, I wanted to be an architect. My father, unusual for his generation, assured both his daughters they could have a career in whatever field they desired. Of course, to him – literally a rocket scientist for NASA – that meant a science-based career, and  in high school I was the only female in my architectural drawing class, and one of only three in my physics class. By the time I was applying to colleges, I had decided on pharmacy as my career, but I never lost my love of good design.

Which is why I spent Saturday happily touring 17 demo homes in the Solar Decathlon (there were 19, but my husband started whining after 5, and I could only park him at the food court for so long…). Not familiar with the Solar Decathlon? It is an extraordinary event that occurs every two years, and challenges collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive. The winner of the competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.

One of the fun parts of the Decathlon is the way the teams are judged. Of course they are judged on architecture, market appeal, and energy balance, but they also need to host two dinner parties and one movie night for neighboring teams, who award the host team points based on the quality of the meal, ambiance, and overall experience. The point is that the homes have to be livable, which is one measure of good design.

Which brings us to your business. Does it feel livable to you, or are you working 24/7? Do you flow through your days with ease, or are you constantly encountering obstacles (especially the same obstacles over and over again…)? How often do you mutter “There has got to be a better way”?

Whether or not you have a formal business plan, your business must also be designed to be livable. The good news is that the problems can be fixed — by implementing the principles of good design. In a business, this starts by analyzing where the problems are, why the problems occur, and then designing the solutions. It may not be your area of expertise, but it is mine, and together, we can transform your business. I have several options of how we can work together; call me and we can discuss what would be the best fit for you.

What Hiking Can Teach You About Running a Successful Business

It’s a struggle for me to write a weekly blog post – which is one reason I love it when you comment, and I know something I have shared hit home for you.

For me, just getting into the habit of blog posting weekly was a big step. But, as the terrific infographic below (courtesy of DonCrowther.com)  shows, there is so much more that needs to be done.

However, it’s good to remember that a system does not need to be built all at once. It’s the same ‘one step at a time will get you to the peak (and back again)’ lesson I learned from hiking. Instead of getting overwhelmed, the key is to pick one additional thing to add. Once that is working well, I will return to the infographic and pick another area to add to my blogging process.

I’ve chosen to work first on the ‘On-Page Factors’, because I think I can create a system with my VA to make sure these items are addressed. In fact, after our monthly strategy call this week, she installed Yet Another Related Posts Plugin, which gives you a list of posts and/or pages related to the current entry, introducing the reader to other relevant content on your site. This will be a great help to include a self-referential link on each page.

What will you pick to implement first? Share your commitment in the comments (and help make my day!).

[stextbox id=”info”]If you want to learn more about how to build systems to help your business grow, register for my FREE TELECLASS  How to Work Less, Make More, & Love Your Business Again! coming up on Aug 21.[/stextbox]

Embedded from DonCrowther.com

 

 

Accounting – The Rodney Dangerfield of Your Business

Business reportIf you are a typical business owner, you complain mightily about email, but you completely ignore your accounting, hoping it will go away if you don’t think about it. Like Rodney Dangerfield, it just gets No Respect!

Look, you don’t need to do the accounting; your job as business owner/CEO of your business is to make sure it gets done. But there is more to it than handing it off – you do need to review the reports on a monthly basis. Why? Because the reports tell you if you are making money, and what brings in the most profit. They can provide an early warning that an area of your business is in trouble, giving you the chance to make changes before you begin hemorrhaging money.

I have many clients who hire a bookkeeper and never look at the reports – and have no idea the bookkeeper may not be producing reports that give you the info you need to make the decisions that will make you more money. Start by sitting down with your bookkeeper monthly, and asking them to walk you through the reports. If the information is not clear to you, or too difficult to see easily, ask for it to be provided in a different way – you are the boss, after all. The goal is an easily scanned report that will give you the key data you need without taking a lot of your time. At a minimum, you should be able to answer five questions:

  1. How much do you need to make each month to break-even? [This should include your salary]
  2. What percentage of your net income is provided by each product or service you offer?
  3. Who are your top grossing clients or customers? [Important not only so you can thank them, but also to minimize risk – if one client provides 80% of your income and you lost that customer, your business would probably fail]
  4. How much money do your customers owe you? How long do they take to pay you? Are any payments overdue?
  5. If you have inventory, what is the cost of your inventory? What is its average turnover time?

Your call to action is to calendar a monthly time to review your financials.

By the way, did you know that another comedian, Bob Newhart, was an accountant before he got his break in comedy? He didn’t like accounting either, but I’ll bet he reads his P&L report regularly!

Why You Need An Accountability Partner

Recorte de papel texto ACCOUNTABILITYThere’s something about these hot summer months that makes us remember that glorious time as students when we counted down to the last day of classes, listened for that final bell, and threw our papers in the air as we bolted out of the building chanting “No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers’ dirty looks!” We were free from responsibility for 3 whole months and it felt amazing.

When you’re a grown-up business owner, it can be tempting to slack off in the summer, justifying our lazy days (and there are lots of great justifications for sure!). But can your business afford for the CEO, the CFO, and the top sales person to take 3 months of mental health days? Definitely not.

[Note: This is a guest post from Rachel French of Protea Coaching. One secret to our successful partnership is that we each feel we get ‘more’ from the other; talk about the power of synergy!]

I have found that one of the best ways to keep my priorities straight—and I’m talking both professionally and personally—is to have an accountability partner. And I’m one lucky girl, because my accountability partner is Maura Raffensperger, a seasoned business owner with loads of experience getting through summer months, holidays, vacations, and even personal crises while keeping her business going strong.

Maura and I met in a phone-based group coaching program and were paired up to do an assignment, and that was, as the saying goes, the start of a beautiful friendship. We continued to talk for an hour or more every week, helping each other set professional goals, providing feedback on ideas, and sharing our knowledge and expertise. When we finally met in person nearly a year later, I think we both felt like we had never NOT known each other!

There is absolutely no way my business would be where it is today if I had not formed an accountability relationship with Maura. Because this is my first experience as a business owner, I assumed everyone had an accountability partner! I was shocked when Maura told me one day that in her 18 years of business, she had been in 5 different Mastermind/accountability relationships, and that ours had been by far the very best. I was humbled, to say the least, and asked why she thought ours was so effective. When she gave me the list of reasons why we worked so well together, my response was, “Wow…it sounds like finding a good accountability partner is harder than finding a husband!”

So, what makes a great accountability partner? You’ve found a good match when you both:

  • Commit to talking every, single week.
  • Have a strong dedication to your business.
  • Have similar levels of intelligence.
  • Have complementary skills and knowledge.
  • Like and respect each other and have good chemistry.
  • Genuinely want to see the other person succeed.
  • Can give feedback and even criticism in a supportive manner (be a good coach).
  • Can receive feedback and criticism without being defensive (be coachable).

Sounds pretty easy, but you may have to try a few people out before you find someone who really clicks with you on every level. Where can you find a person who might be a great accountability partner? Look for them at conferences, networking events, professional meetings, seminars, and even online in Facebook and LinkedIn groups. No one builds a great business—or a great life—alone. Everyone needs a partner!

If you can’t find a perfect fit right away, don’t give up hope…just keep looking. And in the meantime, you might consider working with a coach. She’ll give you all the feedback, support, and accountability you need, and you won’t even have to return the favor. You’ll become more coachable and confident so that when your perfect partner does show up, you’ll be more than ready!

Rachel French is a Certified Professional Coach and the Success Coach for Smart People. She believes that our businesses and careers should create the lives we want–not compete with them. Rachel helps entrepreneurs and executives get clear on what they really want so they can set the right personal and professional goals. To find out more about how working with a coach can help you succeed, visit Rachel’s website: www.proteacoaching.com.