**This is a guest post from my wife, Erica. She has her bachelor's degree in business administration and marketing. I am happy to say that her expertise is part of the Joe Martino Counseling business and we would be happy to meet with you to discuss how we might be able to help your business succeed.**
I have been an entrepreneur for 17 years now and have
successfully started 11 businesses. I love helping people who have a dream for
their life be successful! After 17 years of business I have decided to pursue a
masters in counseling. I am not giving up what I do best only enhancing it!
My husband often asks people he is counseling 3 questions
What do you want?
What are you willing to pay?
What are you willing to risk?
I ask people who want to start their own businesses the same
3 questions
What do you want to accomplish?
Short term thinking when starting or operating your own
business never works. In order to be successful you must ask yourself
Where do I want to be in 5 years?
How much do I want to make?
Who will I be reaching?
These three questions should drive everything you do in the
short –term in order to be successful.
What are you willing to give up to accomplish it?
In order to accomplish success you have to give something
up. There is 3 well known A’s to marketing and they are: Accessibility,
Availability and Affordability.
When thinking of these three things what do you need to give
up to be successful?
Is it family time?
Gym membership?
Alone time?
Unnecessary bills?
Commitments that involve your time that does not help you
reach your goal?
What are you willing to risk?
My favorite saying, which is not original with me, is “You
have to spend money to make money”. This is a scary thought for many of us
because we have very little money to risk but I promise you that if you are not
spending time and money on daily/monthly basis to help your business then you
will not make it. Time and money are both commodities necessary to make your
business grow.
My challenge:
Create a plan and get rid of everything in your life keeping
you from reaching that goal and do not be afraid to risk because I believe you
can do great things!