Why It Pays to Be Prepared
There are times in life when it’s exciting to be spontaneous. You can decide to take a last-minute weekend getaway on a whim or be daring on a date and try a new ethnic cuisine.
But there are also times when it pays to be prepared. Pregnancy is one of those times. A pregnancy may not be planned, but once you learn you’re expecting, you need to prepare almost immediately! Who will your doctor be? What prenatal vitamins will you take? What do you need to buy to set up a nursery? These aren’t questions you can afford to be grappling with when contractions begin!
A member of my all-star team is expecting her first child. Of course, she and her husband have been doing their due diligence, running to appointments, and preparing for the baby. But there have also been preparations to ensure business will run smoothly in the weeks immediately following the baby’s arrival.
It Pays to Plan in Business
In business, it always pays to be prepared. My marketing strategist and I have had to think, strategize and PLAN ahead to prepare the materials I will need when she’s off enjoying her new addition. Without that forward thinking, she’d be working under stress and I’d be under-prepared, neither of which are conducive to a smooth-running business or marketing strategy!
Planning isn’t only essential in special circumstances. It is absolutely integral to the success of any business, whether you’re starting a new venture or looking to take your business to the next level.
As we enter the last month of the 2016 calendar year, ask yourself: Do I have a strategic plan in place to ensure 2017 is a prosperous year?
Many well-meaning entrepreneurs will enter the new year without a clear plan and measurable goals in place, and then wonder why they aren’t seeing the GROWTH AND SALES RESULTS they desire.
At Celeste Giordano Coaching, I teach my clients the importance of having a Legacy Business Blueprint that maps out your goals as well as the specific daily, weekly, and monthly actions you need to take to transform those goals into a profitable reality.
Without a step-by-step blueprint, you’ll be starting 2017 at a serious disadvantage.
Prepared in the Process
In a recent sermon, renowned preacher Joel Osteen talked about how processes prepare us for success. He shared a powerful insight about how we must go through a process in order to achieve our end goal.
In pregnancy, you have nine months to prepare physically, emotionally, and spiritually for a major life change. You don’t discover you’re pregnant in the 9th month for a reason! Month after month, you have time to adjust to new physical changes, from weight gain to aches and pains. But more importantly than the physical challenges, you have 9 months to prepare mentally and emotionally for an monumental life change. In this time, you can reflect on the type of parent you want to be, learn child-care basics, consider how a new addition will change the dynamics in your family, and build a support network around you so you are set up for success when the baby arrives. Without this divinely designed 9-month process, new parents would be terribly ill-prepared for the important task of parenthood ahead.
The same is true in business. Successful entrepreneurs understand that achieving goals and attaining success is a process. The early stages of that process involve investing in your personal growth and professional development, learning the proven strategies that entrepreneurs before you have used to succeed, and creating a detailed action plan.
It’s also important to recognize that parts of the process will be challenging. In pregnancy, women deal with emotional highs and lows, nausea, back pain, swollen feet, labor pain – the list goes on! Day after day and month after month, new challenges arise. But they persevere knowing that these are normal parts of the process. Not only is it normal to feel uncomfortable, but it’s also a powerful learning process. Pregnant women learn to endure these challenges because they intuitively understand they are doing so for a great cause: their growing child! For their perseverance, they are blessed to usher new life into the world.
Business entrepreneurs can learn a tremendous lesson from this. Even with a strong business strategy in place, there will be obstacles, uncomfortable tasks, and difficult times. As you make daily prospecting and sales calls, you’ll need to learn to overcome a multitude of objections. As you build a support team around you, you’ll have to learn to let go of complete control, trust others and manage multiple projects. And as you work to build recognition and brand presence in the industry, you’ll have to push yourself to take advantage of public speaking opportunities that may make your heart race and stomach turn (at least at first).
When you face these obstacles in your personal life or in your business, you have two choices: you can get discouraged and throw in the towel or you can persevere knowing that the obstacles are a normal part of the journey.
Being “prepared in the process” means understanding that struggle isn’t a sign a failure. In fact, it’s often a sign that you’re on a road to achieving greatness. When you face an obstacle and push through it, you learn from and grow through that experience. With the right mindset, mentorship and perseverance, you can transform obstacles into opportunities with tremendous pay-offs.
Here’s the Good News: It’s Not Too Late to Plan for Success in 2017!
I’d like to invite you to attend an action-packed, full-day workshop I’m co-hosting with Dr. Natalie Forest on Thursday, December 8th at the 1818 Club in Duluth, GA called Revolutionize Your Legacy Business Blueprint Workshop.
With the new year just weeks away, it’s the prime time to develop your blueprint for success so you can “Double Plus” your income in 2017. This workshop was designed to help you develop the right attitude and implement proven practical strategies that will empower you to make 2017 the most profitable year yet.
Some powerful lessons you will take away from this intensive workshop include:
- How to build a profitable business that serves your highest core value
- The 3 C’s of a “Legacy Mindshift”
- The ultimate system for generating more quality leads in the new economy
- How to maximize your brand potential to achieve your best personal performance
- Practical action steps for boosting productivity and time management
- Business systems: How to prioritize, follow through and be accountable
- How to align your mission and vision with your brand
- The secret to improving your network marketing skills
- How to move from selling to serving your clients
Meet Our Breakout Session Hosts!
Sara Poe, Poe’s Accounting Services and Lighting Tax Services
Sara is a Certified Public Accountant with 30+ years of industry experience helping clients smoothly navigate their finances.
Dannella Burnett, Oakwood Occasions
With experience in the events industry since age 16, Dannella executes personal and professional events for celebrities, networking associations, non-profits, and large corporations.
C. Nicole Henderson, WSG Consulting, Inc.
A leading expert at her solution-driven consulting firm, Nicole has been advising domestic and international business and non-profits for over 27 years.
Debbie Kerr, Plan Bee
Debbies helps entrepreneurs and small business owners delegate tasks they can’t do or don’t like to do, as well as create professional documents for their intellectual property and marketing collateral.
Joan Williams, Williams and Associates
A former school system administrator, Joan utilizes her 30 + years of organizational leadership and business development to help individuals and organizations fulfill their purpose and goals..
In addition to attending Breakout Sessions led by industry leaders with expertise in accounting, grant writing, team building, and event planning, you’ll have the opportunity to network and strategize with other entrepreneurs in the community. If you follow my blog regularly, then you know my philosophy that networking is a critical component of a successful Legacy Business Blueprint.
Don’t leave the fate of your business to chance. Hoping sales will take an upturn next year is not an effective business strategy. The time to PLAN for success in 2017 is NOW.
Don’t wait until the end of the first quarter of 2017 to recognize that you’re seeing disappointing status quo results and need a game plan. By investing in yourself and your professional growth TODAY, you can create the momentum necessary to become a top producer in 2017 starting in January. With the practical tools you’ll learn at this workshop, your Legacy Business will become a reality this year.
Click here to reserve your spot today!
A big thank you to our sponsors:
Presenting Sponsor: Dannella Burnett, Owner of Oakwood Occasions, Chef and Consultant
Gold Sponsor: Jody Humphrey, Mega Team Builder and National Marketing Direction of HGI
Celeste Giordano’s mission is to help business owners develop the skills, knowledge and attitude necessary to “double-plus” their income and become effective and inspirational leaders in their fields. Whether it’s taking your successful business to the next level or starting a new venture, she will teach you the exact skills and strategies you need to enroll more quality prospects, build a rock-solid team, and break through obstacles to achieve real profit and lasting success. Celeste is a professional business growth specialist, a master sales strategist, and dynamic speaker with almost 40 years experience in direct sales and managing high-performing teams.
To learn more about Celeste, click here.
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