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MICHELLE'S
​ MORSELS

How to Define What Success Looks Like for You

2/23/2021

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Everyone has their own idea of what success looks like, but have you stopped to consider what success means to you? Many of us just assume we’re not successful until we’ve reached some benchmark society as set for us, whether it’s making millions of dollars or having a huge team of people working for us.

But success isn’t always about how much money you make or how famous your clients are. Those are great goals to have, but they’re not a part of everyone’s dream.
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The problem with going along with society’s definition of success without stopping to think about what YOU want is that you can end up burned out, stressed out, and unsatisfied. To make sure that doesn’t happen, let’s go through a few steps you can take to identify what success looks like for you, so we can create a roadmap to get you there.

​Visualize Your Ideal Business

By now, you probably know about the power of visualization in helping you identify where you want to go in life, so take some time to visualize what you want your life to look like. What kind of people do you want on your team? Do you want employees, or would you prefer to outsource your work to independent contractors so you don’t have to worry about benefits and the pressure of being someone’s only source of income? Do you always want to be at the helm of your business, or do you eventually want to hand over the reins to someone else?

It’s important to have a vision for what you want your business to look like so you and your team can start working toward those goals.
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Visualize Your Ideal Life

When we talk about success, so often we tend to talk about our business, but it’s important to remember that you can be successful personally and professionally - and, yes, you can have both. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.

So, once you’ve mapped out what success looks like for your business, it’s time to map out what success looks like for your personal life. Do you like working from home, or would you prefer to be in an office? How many hours do you want to work each day? Each week?
If you love working all the time, by all means, structure your business in such a way that you’re always on the clock. But for those of us who prefer more life in our work/life balance, it’s important to remember that wanting to limit our work hours does not mean we’re lazy, or that we’re not committed to our business. It just means we have a different definition of success for ourselves and that’s OK.

Compare and Contrast

Once you know what you want for your business and what you want for your personal life, it’s time to see if those two visions match up, or at least overlap. If you want to run a business that involves managing hundreds of employees, but you also want to be able to take time off unexpectedly if your kid gets sick, you might have a hard time achieving both of those goals. That’s OK. That means something’s gotta give, but you just have to find the areas where your two visions overlap and focus on how you can make that a reality.
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​Helping small business owners spend more time at home without sacrificing their income is where I excel as a business coach. If achieving a work/life balance that works for you is something you’ve been struggling with, schedule a FREE clarity call now to talk about how I can help.
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The Importance of Taking Small Actions in Your Business

2/16/2021

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Most businesses start with a big idea. Entrepreneurs want to change the world … or at least their industry. I love big goals, but I also know they can be overwhelming, and sometimes that leads to paralysis. If you’ve been getting frustrated because you don’t have time to work on the big projects for your business, I have good news for you: small actions are just as valuable, if not more so. Taking just 15-30 minutes each day (or even each week) to work on your business can have a significant impact. If you’re not convinced, I have a few reasons you should rethink your position on small actions in your business.

​Small Actions Add Up

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​A small action taken once might not have much of an effect on it’s own, but small actions taken each day, each week, or even each month, can add up over time. The size of the action doesn’t matter nearly as much as your consistency, so if you only have a few minutes to work on your business, take those few minutes and make them count.
​You can also tackle large projects for your business by breaking them down into small actions. For example, if you want to create a series of courses to draw in leads for your business, don’t try to tackle the whole thing in a day, or even a weekend. Just focus on coming up with a good title one day. Then create an outline on another day. A day or two later, you can record a video. Later on you can record another video. Before you know it, you’ll have a complete course that’s ready to launch and be promoted!

​Build Accountability

When you give yourself a big goal and you don’t accomplish that goal, you feel like a failure, and that feeling can discourage you from even attempting to accomplish other things in your business.
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By contrast, small actions are less intimidating, and therefore more likely to get done. When you go to check them off your to-do list, it creates a sense of accomplishment and pride. By proving to yourself that you are capable of taking action in your business (however small those actions may be), you build a sense of accountability, which makes it more likely you’ll take more actions (big and small) in your business later on down the road

It Forces You to Prioritize

We are at our most efficient when we’re on the clock. When you only have a few minutes to work on something, it forces you to think about the most important actions you can take in your business, and that strategic approach is the key to success. You might be surprised to find that some of the most important actions you can take in your business are also sometimes the smallest actions.
​For more tips and tricks on how to set yourself up for success in your business, you can get my book. It leads you through every step of creating a successful business: from your foundation to your marketing plan. It also includes worksheets to help you keep track of your brilliant ideas and all the awesome progress you’ve made.
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How to Love Your Business Again

2/9/2021

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We all start our businesses with love, either because we love what we do so much we want to do it all day every day, or just because we love helping people (or both). But running a small business can be overwhelming, and sometimes when you’re running around trying to do all your marketing, billing, networking, and serving your clients, all those tasks on your to-do list can overwhelm the reasons you started your business in the first place.
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Since this is the season of love, I want to encourage you to take a moment and remember why you started your business, and hopefully learn to love it again. Here are some tips to help you do that:
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Take Some Time Off

No matter how much you love someone, you don’t want to spend every second of every day with them. Maybe you feel that way in the beginning, but as time goes on and you get more comfortable with each other, chances are good you’ll both need your space.
The same goes for your businesses. When you first launch, you’re super excited and ready to work 24/7 on your business to make it a success. But then reality hits as you realize it’s just not sustainable to spend that much time working, and no matter how much you love your business, eventually you’re going to need some time away.​

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So, take that time off and make that time all about you. Go for a walk. Do some yoga and/or meditating. Spend quality time with your family (not checking your phone). When you come back to your business refreshed, you’ll be more productive and might even have had a chance to come up with some new ideas by letting your brain work through problems in the background while you were focused on something else.

Get Help

As solopreneurs, we often have to do everything ourselves, especially when we’re just starting out. That’s a big reason we end up feeling so overwhelmed, not only because it leaves us with a to-do list that goes on for miles, but also because it means we end up spending time on things that aren’t our strong suit and/or we just don’t enjoy. 
Hiring someone to handle those tasks for you, not only means you get to spend more time doing what you love (which helps you love your business more), it can also be better for your business because it’s more likely to thrive when the tasks that need to be handled are done by the people best equipped to handle them. So, whether you find yourself putting off marketing or billing or any other aspect of your business, consider the possibility that it’s time to look for someone else to take those tasks off your hands.
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One of the reasons I started my business was because, even though I loved the work I was doing, I didn’t love working for someone else, and I didn’t love how much of my time it took away from my family. So, I started my own business with the intention to work smarter, rather than harder, so I could spend more time with my family without sacrificing my income. What I love about my business is helping other entrepreneurs find that same freedom and find success in their business by focusing on what they love about it and focusing on those aspects of their business, so schedule a clarity call now if you’re ready to get started.
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The Difference Between a Hobby and a Business

2/2/2021

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Many entrepreneurs end up as small business owners because they loved doing something and they realized they could make money doing it, but making money off something isn’t enough to qualify it as a business. Nor does it have to be your main source of income in order to be considered a business. If you have a day job and a side hustle that’s making you money, that side hustle can still be considered a business… if you treat it like a business. The question is where is the line that determines when a hobby stops being a hobby and starts being a business?

Are You Making a Profit?

I started out by saying it’s not all about the money, but money is a factor in determining whether you’ve gone from a hobby to a business. For example, let’s say you’re making jewelry that you sell online. If you’re selling them at such a low price point that you’re just breaking even after buying supplies, then it’s still a hobby and not a business. If, on the other hand, you’re selling them to make a profit, and you’re actively trying to make a profit, then you’re in business.

That’s not to say you can’t suffer a loss as a business and still be a business. Most businesses don’t make a profit for the first two years, and even after that, there are things outside of your control that can affect your income, the current pandemic being just one recent example. But as long as you’re actively trying to make a profit from your business, and you adjust the way you do things during lean times to try to make a profit, then it’s no longer a hobby.

The IRS has specific requirements businesses need to meet in order to be considered a business, so be sure to consult with your tax professional to make sure you’re meeting all those requirements before tax time comes around.
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Incorporating

Incorporating your business is one of the best ways to demonstrate how serious you are. Even if you’re not working on your business full time and it’s not your main source of income, incorporating is a way to show you’re serious about growing it into a viable business. It’s also a way to protect your personal assets if something goes wrong in your business and you become liable for losses and/or damages.

Branding

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Branding your business is another way to demonstrate you’re serious about it. While your name can certainly be an important part of your business, branding involves using more than just your name. It involves a logo with recognizable colors and a recognizable font that you consistently use in every aspect of your business, from your invoices to your social media profiles.
​Hiring a business coach is also a great way to demonstrate you’re serious about your business. If you want to see how a coach can help take your hobby to a business, reach out now to schedule a free clarity call to get started.
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    Why Morsels? 

    Business advice,
    like chocolate chips,
    is best digested
    a handful of morsels at a time.  I think we'd all agree that devouring a lot of either all at once can be too much for the average person to handle..

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  • Services
    • Consulting
    • Coaching Programs
    • ECOURSE
    • Year End Specials
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    • Events >
      • Living Room Sessions
    • Merchandise >
      • Book
      • Success Binder
    • Client Resources >
      • Group Coaching Calls
      • It's Call Time!
  • About
    • Tools & Software I Use
    • Testimonials
    • Where's Michelle? >
      • Past Speaking Engagements
      • Past Community Events
      • SCORE- Boardroom Business Bootcamp for Businesswomen
    • Free Resources >
      • How To's
    • Become a Guest Expert
    • Why Z&B
    • signup
  • Blog
  • Online Academy