Startups and even seasoned entrepreneurs need to listen up here with this particular key. Not defining my own niche many years ago is what I attribute to not making any money at all in my first two years. 

Once you've decided what your niche is, don't stop there! You need to have proof of concept before you sink your money, time or effort into building your business. 

There is a bit of a mindset issue with this tip slash strategy. Most clients that I work with don't want to take the time to do the market research. They are shy about it and don't really know how to go about it. 

This is what I go into depth about in my Sales & Confidence Mastery program. Just because you know WHO you want to work with, you need to make sure that it's a viable option. Meaning, can these people pay you? Are they the type that wants to do everything themselves. 

You've got to get into the research and find out if people are already doing it too. Entrepreneurs look at this as if they don't want to get into a niche if others are doing it thinking it's saturated or what could they add to the conversation but let me say this is backwards. 

You definitely want to know if others are succeeding at what you want to do. This is called proof of concept and it's critical BEFORE you begin.

Your business model is something you should think about in the beginning because it's likely that you'll get side-tracked over time and wonder what you're doing. 

This is where having a good, old-fashioned business model comes in. 

In the beginning, you may be excited but unclear about the future of your business. This  unfortunately creates tunnel-vision. I once thought that I "just" wanted to be a coach where I was coaching one-to-one but I had forgotten the lessons in business that I learned so many years ago. 

Here we are in the digital age and getting ready to enter the second quarter of 2021. You'd have to be living under a rock to not understand how 2020 rocked our world and forced us all to do more business on line than ever before. This means that even if you're starting a business that is traditionally brick and mortar or at least performed in person, you'll likely want to consider getting some skill for doing business online.

Let's take this a step further. 

When setting up or modifying your business model consider other avenue where you can create income. Some great ideas to get you thinking are:

• Drop-shipping
• Physical products
• Coaching
• Blogging
• Affiliate marketing
• Kindle publishing
• Digital products

One of the downfalls that I've discovered by working with entrepreneurs all over the world whether new or seasoned is what I call, dabbling. 

I completely understand what it's like to start a new business and still have to juggle the 9-5 along with raising a family but that's no excuse for dabbling. 

It's very true that entrepreneurship will stretch you and likely cause you to work harder than you ever have-to the point of mental exhaustion. Yes, it happens all the time. This point to remember her is you, have to be smart about your time and your energy.

What's more, you need to be patient and have realistic expectations about how much time and effort it will take for you to master your industry. You need to master the activities in your business too but understand that this is what will make you so valuable when you're ready to outsource and build your team. You'll know EXACTLY what goes into the work and can't be bamboozled. 

Times WILL be tough in your business and if you're reading this and you already have a business then you know exactly what I'm saying here to be true. 

Your business will have ups and downs. It won't always be a cake-walk and when times become a little difficult, it's simply too easy to give up. 

This is when you need to flex your commitment muscle. You absolutely MUST be dedicated to seeing your efforts through. One of the characteristics of millionaires is persistency. 

This again is a mindset issue that literally every entrepreneur that I've ever worked with deals with. You can't keep your mind focused on what's not working. Drive forward with persistence and you WILL be rewarded. 

Some entrepreneurs seem to have a knack for marketing. It almost seems like it's second-nature. You've seen all those influencers on social media writing post after post advertising their products and services getting TONS of engagement and you're wondering how they do it. 

Aside from the algorithms that they work very hard to play along with, they've mastered something that you should too. That is understanding their prospects problems.

In order for you to promote your business, you'll need to get really good at marketing. I should say rather, you'll need to be GREAT! This is a HUGE turn-off for most entrepreneurs starting their businesses. In fact, this aspect is one of the BIGGEST problems they have. 

If you've got the money, you can hire someone to do all of the writing for you but most people don't have that kind of money. This means that you'll need to learn about how to maximize your marketing efforts. 

This starts with a clear understanding of what your ideal client is going through. What are they laying awake at night thinking about? What do they worry about?

You'll want to consider yourself, a problem solver. With regards to your messaging, you'll want to understand on a deep level how to close the gap between the pain that your client is going through and their ideal result. 

Ultimately, this is what will be a game-changer!

Your startup isn't going to succeed at all if you don't have something AMAZING to sell. This may sound like a no-brainer but you can't sell mediocre products or services. 

When you're putting all the pieces of this startup guide together, you'll realize that what you're offering to the world needs to stand out. Your offer needs to be better than your competition because it shouldn't surprise you that your ideal client is seeing other experts just like you. 

Creating that irresistible offer is easy but only if you've followed what I've already outlined for you here in this startup guide. It only becomes difficult when you don't know who you're trying to attract, what their problem is or if you're not out there in the online space being visible giving them solutions. 

Create an offer that's so good that they can't resist!

I've spelled out to you that entrepreneurship isn't a bed of roses at least it's not for new newer or struggling entrepreneur. It's full of frustration, overwhelm and even burn-out. This means, not only will you need to be persistent like we talked about above but you'll also need to constantly be learning.

Just like with what happened in 2020, it's proof that the entrepreneurs that made it somehow innovated. If you aren't investing yourself into your business in good times and in bad by learning and pivoting when you have to, your business simply won't be around very long. 

Bootstrapping is generally where most entrepreneurs start when they are in the startup phase. In most cases, you can grow your online business without any money whatsoever! Sounds great doesn't it?

Well not so fast Grasshopper!

Take it from someone who went down that path, it's a great place to start but over time something will happen and it sure isn't what you want. 

Nearly every-single-time I'm talking to a prospect in a discovery call, they're telling me that they've been marketing their business for YEARS on social media and they're at their wits-end and frustrated out of their mind because they can't get clients!

The burnout is real. Sorry Gary V!

I know, I know... you've ben taught by Gary to get there and show up in a massive way and guess what, he's 100% right. Here's what he's not saying. 

You can only do this so long before you lose your passion and your mind. 

So what do you do? Invest real money into promoting your business. If that means $5 a day for Google ads or even investing in your own business coach, give a serious thought. 

I'm not just talking about investing in promoting your business here, I'm also talking about investing in the learning process. 

It's really sad how many entrepreneurs think they can build a 6 or 7 figure business on a shoestring and live to tell about it. 

I'm am absolutely not saying it can't be done. The problem is that most people can't make it that far before their subconscious mind begins to be flooded with internal dialog about how it's not working or what's wrong with them and why they can't make it. 

Do yourself a favor and add investments in your business on your business plan. It's just smart.

Typically we start our businesses thinking about what we want but our businesses go much deeper than that. At the end of the day, your business is about your clients or customers. 

I get it. You're passionate about a specific topic and you want to just talk about that topic. The problem with that is whether or not you're talking about it in a way that your prospects feel like you're speaking to them.

The mistake here has everything to do with running our business in ego and forgetting that it's a big-giant world full of competitors. This is where we need to be thinking about what we can do to stand out. 

The secret sauce here is to over deliver. In #5 we talked about marketing and your clients problems. The steps that you need to follow here is to constantly be adding more than what your competitors are giving. 

Maybe your prices are lower but you are giving a money-back guarantee. Maybe you're more expensive but you're offering bonuses that they aren't.

Whatever you do, as an entrepreneur in the startup phase, you MUST be thinking about over-delivering in some fashion so that people will see you as an expert but more than that, they see you as someone who is generous... and isn't that a switch in a world full of so-called gurus showing you their Lamborghinis. 

This entrepreneur startup guide has been exhaustive and I hope you've stuck with me so far. There's no doubt that I could have continued further than providing these 10 keys but all good things come to an end.

Before I wrap it up, you remember that I've mentioned mindset and your subconscious mind several times so far. In just about every step here in this startup guide which is geared towards all types of entrepreneurs, your mind can play tricks on you. 

That's why I added it here at the end. Mindset MUST be a factor that you consider to be of the utmost importance if you truly do want to make enough money that would allow you to live the freedom lifestyle you dream about. 

What can you do?

It's really simple. Do the inner work. This looks like analyzing your procrastination, your disorganization, your lack of ability to reach your goals and anything else that represents results that differ from the life you see in your mind's eye. 

As an entrepreneur, you must build a strong mind. You must be able to deal with fear, defeat, imposer syndrome and rejection. 

I'm not one of those coaches who sugar-coat things. Entrepreneurship can be magical and everything you could ever want. It can also be a LOT of frustration so your mindset is truly everything when it comes to building a successful business. Period!