Starting your business with a “forever” mindset is essential for business success.

 

 

First of all, don’t start a business just for the heck of it. If you are going to start a business make sure that you start it for the right reasons and also make sure that you understand that starting a business from scratch and watching it grow and succeed requires plenty of hard work, but with the right mindset in place you could create and watch your business succeed for many years to come.

 

It is essential that you test your business idea before you actually jump all in and get into business. Once you are ready to get into business it means that you have done the pre-work necessary in order to confirm that you have a viable business idea, this is a whole phase or process of its own. It could be as simple as attaining 1 to 3 clients and sometimes can even happen accidentally. I didn’t have a business up and running when I acquired my first business client. For me, it all started with a family member who knew someone who was looking for a CPA to perform bookkeeping and tax services for their commercial real estate business. They were my very first professional client. I provided the services they needed, they were happy, and they paid me. This is when I knew that I had a viable business idea, and it was after that when I decided to go into business. Generally, once you have your first 1 to 3 paying clients then it’s pretty safe to say that you have a viable business idea.

 

Your business can do so much for you, it can be your pathway to financial freedom when done right. Treat your business kind and give it the love that it needs, respect it and be truthful to it. Make sure you take your business seriously from the start otherwise no one will take it seriously and will treat it like a joke — which is a sure path to failure! Remember that you are in business to make money and to succeed while providing value to your clients or target audience.

 

Having a forever mindset doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll stay in a specific business or profession forever and ever (of course once you find your true niche you will not want to ever stop!), it just means that you will commit to having a “forever-mindset” attitude while you are involved in that business – you will be focused and you will be in it to win it. Don’t second guess yourself and make sure to give it all you’ve got. Having this mindset will foster a sense of calmness, centeredness, and patience of course along with persistence (you always have to be persistent in the game of business). This will provide you with a foundation that resonates with prospects and clients alike. When you are serious about your business people will treat you seriously because you will only attract people who are serious themselves.

 

When you foster this positive, long-term business mindset from the get-go you are intelligently placing yourself in the path of business success. Why is this way of thinking important? Because it is indicative for business success especially during the beginning stages when it is the hardest. It will help you deal with challenging situations that is normal when you start a business, and throughout your business journey such as: sticking through the tough times, making sure you are valuing your work, and not settling for anything less than what you are capable of.

 

Stick through the tough times

 

Fostering a forever mindset will give you the strength needed to keep you going through those tough times. Just like we all know that life is not perfect we shouldn’t expect our business to be perfect — it will not always be rosy and dandy, things are bound to get sour every now and then – and they do, trust me! So when you are aware of this, you are mentally prepared for those challenging moments. It’s so easy to point fingers or blame bad luck when things go awry in our business, but this is just a sign of weakness and fear and it is not the way that you want to be handling things (especially if you have a partner) as it may bring resentment and stress – which is terrible for your business, no one wants added negativity or stress in their life, it’s not what you are in business for.

 

The truth is that we have the total power to take control of our behavior and the situation, so it’s up to us to decide how we want to handle the situation. For example, are we going to accept the challenge with confidence and fight through it or will we let the unfortunate situation take us down with it? Every single successful business that you see out there, is where they are at because they decided to push through the obstacles and challenges and move forward.

 

It’s very easy to give up because it’s easy to do. All you have to do is stop, that’s it.

 

A lot of businesses fail unfortunately because of this simple reason. They give up as soon as they are faced with difficult situations. I always say that our mind is the most powerful tool that we possess as human beings. It is with our mind that we are able to achieve the impossible – and with our mind is how we take actions. Purposefully fostering a forever mindset will give you the right foundation to positively believe in your mind that you will make your business work, because it’s something meaningful to you, that you believe in and you will not let anyone or anything destroy this strong mental view.

 

And that is why having this mindset in place will be your shield against giving up – which is why most small businesses fail — along with the lack of self believe.

 

Having the right mindset will allow you to take actionable steps towards solving your situation.  For example, instead of sticking your head in the sand, confront the situation or problem head on, and if necessary get other people involved. Remember there are plenty of others who have been through similar experiences and sharing a problem can often help to ease the burden. It can be a big mistake to plough through the dirt alone. Those who have been through similar tough times will be able to offer you support and practical advice.

 

Value your work

 

This is an important one. I know this is easier said than done and it might take some time to grow into. When I first started my accounting career I was offering free tax services to friends and family in order to get the experience under my belt. I eventually started a business and started offering professional services to close friends and friends of my friends. However, I was soon entering into this black hole of “charitable work” by offering my professional services close to nothing because I wanted to be “nice” and just wanted to help everyone out. Also, it’s typically common for friends to expect discounted services, so be very careful in this area.

 

It’s totally fine to help out your close friends with discounted services if they appreciate what you’re doing for them. They can be great referrals but just don’t let it get out of control to the point you feel that you are being taken advantage of. I was becoming burnt out due to the constant long hours and long days and at the end not really feeling appreciated for what I was doing. One thing I learned is that my time was not being valued because I was not valuing it myself. It wasn’t until I shifted my mindset about my business and where I wanted it to go. At that moment I decided that my business is very important to me and I will treat it with the importance it deserves. It’s when I decided to have a forever mindset. At the rate I was going initially my business was set for failure.

 

I decided to research what my professional services were going for in the market and realized that there are people out there who truly need my help and value what I had to offer and I decided to go after those people. I learned to say no to those who took advantage of my “kindness” and expected everything from me with nothing in return. These kinds of people don’t value your work or time, they just expect it until you are no longer there, which is when they realize your actual worth. However, I do not blame anyone other than myself for this, because It was me who allowed it to happen.

I did not value my own business and time at first and that is why no one else valued it.

 

This is very common especially for those just starting out. It’s ok to offer special or discounted prices especially if it will help your business pick up, but just make sure you know when to stop or when it’s time to raise prices. Because at the end of the day you are in business and to stay in business you must be profitable. People get used to the good things fairly quickly, that is why you must really think before underpricing your services, at the end of the day it will only hurt you and your business. Find the people who find your services valuable and are willing to pay you for it. Trust me there are plenty out there — focus on the right people and you will reap the fruits of your labor.

 

I learned that having a forever mindset will help you handle situations differently in your business, such as valuing your services, by appreciating your business and treating it as such. It is definitely hard to get out there and start a business that you love, especially at the beginning, because it is easy to feel like you are not good enough or that you don’t have the necessary skills etc. – but trust me, this is totally normal and we all feel that way at one point or another — but it couldn’t be further from the truth, so listen up. Do you know how many people in this world need your help? And who are hoping to find you? Well let me tell you there are plenty! When you shift your views to a forever mindset your business becomes more meaningful thus allowing you to truly understand who you are in business for and how you can help them. Once you understand this, it will be so much easier to know that there are plenty of people out there who need exactly what you have to offer and are more than happy to pay you for it.

 

Think of it this way: just how YOU look for help with certain things in your business — is exactly how others are looking for you.

 

For example, I constantly look for people to help me in areas of my business where I either: 1) don’t have the time to spend on 2) don’t desire to spend time on 3) or simply don’t know what to do — Finding the right people to help me in my business has been a total lifesaver, it makes running my business more efficient and makes me happy. Isn’t that the whole point of business? To help others facilitate their lives and help others achieve results faster. When I look to other businesses for help that is exactly what I am after — someone to help me facilitate my life by helping me achieve something that I need, or to help me through a problem that I’m facing with at the moment, or to get better and quicker results.

Sometimes it’s just not efficient to spend the time to learn or research something on your own when you can get someone who has the tools and expertise to help you through it — and this is where the value is and what anyone is willing and more than happy to pay for.

 

Don’t settle for less

 

As human beings we tend to settle for less without even realizing it. We tend to set low standards for ourselves. We may say, I’ll be happy if my business could bring in $5K a month or if I can contract 10 clients in a month instead of saying, I will strive to make $100K a month and contract 50 clients! — Obviously we want to be realistic as well, but our mind is so powerful which is why we need to be careful in the way we think,  because we can limit ourselves through our believes without even knowing it. I rather be overly positive than to limit myself. We are all capable of so much more than what we think. I think is so beautiful how our mind works (I think I probably would be a mind psychologist or something in another lifetime because it just intrigues me so much).

 

I totally believe that our mindset is the engine in our life. It’s the fuel that drives us to make impactful changes in our life’s journey. It’s the determinant in the kind of life that we live. The amazing thing is that it’s ours and in our total control and possession.

 

When you practice a forever mindset in your business – you are in it for the long run. When you are in it for the long run your focus suddenly becomes clearer and your bigger picture becomes more accessible, this mindset opens the doors to bigger and better things and you will soon be striving for the moon. You see how a slight mind shift can change your whole life? Learn to strive for the stars I know for a fact that you are completely capable of so much greatness and you know it too, sometimes you just need a second to step back and recognize it.  

 

Do you have a forever mindset?  Let’s see what you are capable of!

 

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