This week, I am celebrating 5 years in my business. And, I am so excited because I have crossed over; I have become part of the 50% of small business owners who last more than five years. That is so exciting to me.
What is also exciting is that I became a part of the 3% of all business owners who understand the value of personal development and invest in themselves through coaches, consultants and mentors.
Now, don’t get me wrong. There was definitely a time when I didn’t understand why people would give exorbitant amounts of their hard earned money to consultants and coaches. Mind you, I was also a very broke coach and consultant at that time :-). The fact that my mindset was not big enough to believe that I, in and of my own strength, could grow my business.
Yup. I can admit that I used to think with a lack mindset. That was more than 5 years ago, I’m happy to report.
But after a year of great ideas and no revenue, I started to hang on that old quote – If you want something you’ve never had, you have to be willing to do something you’ve never done.
And that, Incredible One, is exactly why I got excited when I saw Marjorie’s question, which we are answering this week on Incredible Factor TV:
“Hi Darnyelle. I simply love Incredible Factor TV. Your nuggets each week give me so much to do to improve my life and business. I’m a business owner at the point where I think I need to hire a coach. I’ve gotten as far as I can on my own but I’m a little confused. Can you help me to understand the difference between a coach and a mentor and how does working with one work, I mean should you look to work with a different coach/mentor each year?”
See my response to Marjorie here:
At the end of the day, there are a few things I want to ensure you understand.
1. You can’t do it on your own. There will come a time in your business that you will need to hire a coach or mentor to help you to grow it. Now, you may think I’m just talking and you may even think your business is okay. But let me assure you that you don’t know what you need to know to truly accelerate your growth. And, that’s regardless of how successful you are. I had a client who had gotten their business to 6 figures with little to no guidance then, they hired me and grew their business to a quarter of a million… and we just made small tweaks and created systems. And everything we added, you guessed it, were things they didn’t know that were stunting their growth.
2. Hopping from program to program and coach to coach does not give you time to implement and truly grow yourself and your business. My recommendation is that you avoid being a spectator and start being an action taker. Spectators believe the hype and enroll in everything that comes their way convinced that one more piece of knowledge is going to change their business. Wrong. The only way to change your business is to access a proven system from a qualified mentor and to take action. Consistently. And you need to give yourself time to learn and then implement the systems that they are teaching you.
3. Choosing a coach or mentor is a serious decision and commitment and you should take the time to decide who is the right fit to help you to grow your life and business. Be sure to do your due diligence and research and look for proof that they can help you to grow your business. BUT also make sure you are willing to do the work in order to get the results. As you sift through the many in the marketplace, consider this article.
4. Take the time to get clear on what you need – a coach, a mentor, or a mastermind. Now, each is a viable option to grow your business, so it really is going to come down to you getting crystal clear on where you are in the growth process in your business and what you need most to accelerate. Picking the right one for you is going to be the key to getting what you need.
5. Commit to the process and doing the work. If you aren’t going to be willing to pay close attention and do the work, don’t bother making the investment. What made the difference for me is that I have always been an action taker and not a spectator. You have to know your strengths and how you relate to doing hard work in order to validate that the investment will be worth it. Remember that less than 3% of all business owners see the need for personal and professional development so you have to decide if you want to be in that number or not.
As for me, I am so glad that I got off my high horse and went to find what I needed to get growth. And, I plan to continue to learn from those who know what I don’t know.
Now, I want to hear from you. What’s your two cents? Are you in a place in your business where you realized that you need help? How did you choose between a coach, mentor or mastermind? What would you add to this list to help others realize the importance of having access to those who can stretch you and help you to grow your business?
©2013 by Darnyelle A. Jervey. All Rights Reserved. Darnyelle A. Jervey, MBA, The Incredible Factor Speaker, Business Coach and Marketing Mentor, is the founder of Incredible One Enterprises.com, Incredible Factor University® the Leverage Your Incredible Factor System® a proven step-by-step program for more clients, more income and more leverage in your business. For more information and a FREE audio CD “7 Critical Mistakes Entrepreneurs Must Avoid When Unleashing Your Incredible Factor So You Attract More Clients, Make More Money and Gain More Leverage” just fill out the form below.
