“What is Success?”
What is success for you?
Most small businesses think that getting more sales is the answer; but success starts long before that.
Or they think their location or their brand is the answer; but I’m here to tell you success starts long before that.

The first secret that I want to share with you today is about how you determine what success is for you.
• What does success look like for you?
• Can you describe it?
• What does success feel like for you?

Unfortunately, many of my clients, when we first start working together, can’t define their success in these terms.
Most clients describe it in money terms. Money is certainly important but it is not necessarily the sole measure of success. Having a crystal clear vision of what success looks like for you is critical and fundamental to achieving profitability in your business.

The one action toward success that I want you to take is to first define who you are and what you do.
• What are you famous for?
• Why should I buy from you?

Without a crystal clear understanding of you and your business model, success can be a very tough road. If you do not know specifically what benefit or service you provide, and how you provide it, your customers won’t know either. If your customers do not understand what you are selling, you won’t sell it!
I want you to fill in the missing pieces in the following sentence and once you do, you will begin to get very clear on what success might look like:
Are you ready?
I help __________ (Fill in the blank. Let’s insert who your ideal customer is, or the target market you want to go after).
For example, in my company, I help retail business owners and manufacturers…
Now let’s fill in the next part of the sentence:
Do, or be, or get, or achieve __________ (Fill in the blank and insert here the result that you can get for them).
Using my earlier example, I help retail business owners and manufacturers get more customers and sales…
And now we’ll insert into this sentence an adverb that defines your business:
Differentiator: __________ (for example, are you faster, does it take less effort to use your product, or do you offer a more streamlined process, or make things easier for your customers, etc.)
Using my earlier example, the sentence reads like this,
I help retail business owners and manufacturers get more
customers and sales faster and easier…

Do you see how this sentence is beginning to define who I am and what my business model is?
Are you ready to fill in the final part of the sentence in this exercise?
Even if __________ (and here I want you to insert the biggest objection your customers can have about your business or service).
So here is the complete sentence using my example: I help retail business owners and manufacturers get more customers and sales faster and easier than they ever thought possible.
The sentence that you eventually write should clarify for you a crystal clear understanding of you and your business model. And that leads to success!
Let me read another example so you have a good understanding of the end product of this process. Are you ready?
I help convenience store owners achieve incremental sales and profit in the alternative tobacco category, faster and easier, even with restricted space availability.
Do you see how simply writing out a sentence like this can help to create a better picture of the success that you want to achieve?
I hope this little exercise was helpful for you. It might not be easy the first time that you try it, but keep working on it, writing and re-writing, until you are able to develop the best description of what you and your business model will look like.
Now let’s move on in our discussion about defining success.
Did you know that you create your life with every decision you make and
every action or non-action you take?

This is a very important concept; so let me repeat it again.
You create your life with every decision you make and with every action or non-action you take.
This is a really important concept because once you have learned about my 7 Secrets to getting more sales and customers; you will have to implement them!
That’s right, you have to take action on the 7 Secrets if you want to create greater success in your business.
Right now, I want you to take a minute and do an exercise with me that I call “Imagine the Possibilities.”
When most people think about their business, they do not think in terms of how big can I be? Imagining the possibilities, and then taking action to get there, is a key step in obtaining business success.
With that in mind, here are a couple of questions I want you to think about:
• Can you envision your business as the leader in your market? Is your dream to be the “go-to” business?
• When customers think of a product, do they immediately think of your business as the place to go and get it?
• What have you done to differentiate your business from your competitors?
The relentless pursuit “to be famous” for the product or the service you offer is one way you can increase sales and profit margins!
And while you are “Imagining the Possibilities”, I also want
you to practice something I call, “Thinking Big”.
So how big can you become?
Now, I’m not talking about getting a bigger facility or a larger store or adding more locations. That will come later, after you begin to implement my 7 Secrets all day,
every day!
What I am talking about is learning to “think big” in your own mind. If you want to achieve the success that I know you can, you must be relentless in your pursuit of the concept of “thinking big” and being the best at what you do.
Here are a few more questions you should ask about “thinking big” and success:
• Are you the best at what you do?
• Do you want to be viewed as the best by your customers?
When you begin to think bigger about yourself than you are today and then take action toward that goal, I know it will produce extraordinary results for your business.
I have seen it happen to my clients and they were astounded by the results.
You will be too.
I asked you earlier if there was any negative self-talk going on with you.
• Do you ever find yourself doubting your abilities?
• Do you ever find yourself thinking about all the reasons why something won’t work?
If you answered yes to either of these questions, what you are experiencing is fear. And fear is a very normal response for most people.
DO NOT LET FEAR IN!!

I know that’s easier said than done, but giving into fear will undermine the positive steps you are taking to finding success in your business faster than anything else.
We’ve all been through tough times in our lives, experienced a time when fear raised its ugly head and stopped us in our tracks.
But I have a tip you can implement right away that will take away the fear!
Are you ready?
The best way to eliminate fear in your business and in life is to walk directly into it. That’s right, walk directly into it and then watch what happens to the fear.
It disappears.
You might be asking; how can it be that easy?
Well, it’s not easy. But when you decide to face fear head on and when you take action against your fear, you will immediately begin to feel more powerful and in control. You will begin to have faith in your abilities and the fear will evaporate!
Helping my clients learn to face the fears they have about their business and then giving them the tools to overcome the fear, is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job when working with my clients.
Now let’s talk about something else closely related to fear, and that is disapproval.
• Are there people around you that tell you every chance they get that something will never work?
• Do you have family or friends that openly doubt that your
business will be successful?
• Do they tell you this often?

There will always be someone who disapproves of what you are doing.
So get used to it!
But DON’T LET THEIR DISAPPROVAL DETER YOU in finding YOUR success!
Choose to be positive, choose to be optimistic, choose to surround yourself with cheering friends, family and customers.
Choose success!!
Positive thinking about your business and having positive intentions are extremely powerful factors when it comes to success!
Now, we’re about ready to wrap up our discussion on defining what success is for your business. You have created your success statement and stretched yourself to “Imagine the Possibilities” and to “Think Big.” You have learned how to walk through your fears and learned how to face down disapproval.
I want you to get ready to play big, because there won’t be any room for smallness in your business once you have defined your success.