Well known author and Co-founder of GSL Coaching Lmtd., Sarah Tottle, is an authority when it comes to organizational health, well-being, as well as leadership development. In this episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, Sarah reveals a few interesting tips and tricks for maintaining positivity in the workplace, lowering burnout rates and increasing productivity of employees and team members.

Key Questions Asked:

What is one remarkable or positive outcome that came about as a direct result of working with Sarah? If there’s a business owner in the audience who is considering having a consultant come into the organization to help them, what would be the necessary steps they need to do to identify what’s needed and who’s the right person to have? What is the tip Sarah wishes somebody had shared with her right in the beginning? What sort of challenges did Sarah face as she was moving away from being an employee to become an entrepreneur? How did Sarah go about getting her first client? If she were to do it all over again, knowing what she knows now, what would Sarah do differently?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Organizational Practices

The global workplace is completely changing and we need to teach employees how to manage that. Before she started her business, Sarah saw three problems in the workplace, namely, lack of engagement, low morale, and the management not actually talking about what was taking place. When there are ambiguity and lack of coping, people’s stress levels rise, they don’t know what’s happening so their engagement suffers, morale suffers, and the workplace almost becomes toxic to working. According to Sarah, these problems can be solved by managing organizational expectations of the employees as well as the employees’ expectations of the change in the workplace and linking that up so that the psychological contract that they have is aligned. A consultant can go in an organization and issue surveys, but also run focus groups and ask the key questions and come up with the themes that are arising within the workplace that are causing stress, lack of engagement, any toxicity. After which, they can provide solutions based on their responses to these key questions.

Tips and Tricks

Sarah suggests that new business owners who are just starting out should make sure to lay the foundations while they are still in their full-time job and then stepping out once the foundation is already in place. Another thing that Sarah suggests business owners do is get a mentor, someone who has knowledge in the industry and someone that can see your potential and would be able to guide you in achieving the things that you want to achieve. We’re on a journey and often it can feel quite lonely when you set out on your own, but there are a lot of people who will be willing to help you if you ask them to.

What else can you do to boost your online presence? Linda Waterhouse helps small business owners gain clarity, take action and increase revenue with digital marketing solutions. In this episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, she shares important tips business owners need to know and other skills they need to have in order to succeed in today’s market.

Key Questions Asked:

How did Linda get into this world of digital marketing? How is she picking up new clients? What is the attitude or the mindset one has to have in order to succeed with networking events? If she were to start all over again today, what would Linda do differently? In her experience right now, what is something that really works in her business? What skills do business owners need to have in their business in order to succeed in digital marketing? What aspect of digital marketing have higher rate or return in terms of time or money? Where does Linda see a lot of business owners make mistake when it comes to the digital marketing today?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Building Online Presence

One of her first tests was to get more leads and get more clients. Linda recommends any business owner to look around and start joining some local business networking. Going into these networking meetings, a wise business owner can’t go in there just to sell. Instead, you need to come from a place of “How can I help other people?” Digital marketing is only one piece of a pie, you need to have multiple ways of finding clients. Given the chance to do it all over again today, Linda would have focused more on building up her email list, which would have been her primary focus instead of just going out and meeting people and not doing anything about it. There are only two things we really own in the digital marketing space, one is our website and the other is our email list. Building your website is like building a store but then the marketing is what turns out the light on the store.

Skill Set and Strategies

The first digital marketing skill that entrepreneurs need to have is the knowledge of how to make a simple website or a landing page in order to have a home base. You can either do your website through a free website building tool or hire somebody to do it for you. The second skill is figuring out what they want to say and not to be afraid to spread the word, which means if you’re whispering your marketing now, you need to get a megaphone and really get that marketing out there. Business owners also need to know what types of keywords or keyword phrases that their clients are typing to search for people like them and they need to figure out ways how to incorporate that into their websites and a whole list of other activities which is – in general – called search engine optimization. E-mail marketing has the highest return on investment. It was revealed that for every dollar spent on email marketing, there’s an average of $40 to $44 in return on investment. The biggest mistake Linda sees is that business owners don’t do enough with digital marketing, a lot of people would put their website up and then would fail to maintain the site.

Zondra’s story is a testimony that with faith, (coupled with hard work, of course) one can create something that’s truly wonderful. Zondra is the only female African American owned manufacturer and distributor of a skin care company with USDA certified organic accreditation in the United States.

Key Questions Asked:

How did Zondra end up running a skin care business? What challenges did Zondra face during the early days of building her business? If she were to start all over again, what would Zondra do differently? How has faith helped Zondra in building and running her business?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Zondra tells the story of the major turning points in her career which led her to start a skin care business. Given the chance to start all over again, Zondra would trust my gut more, and would not try to do too much too soon Another mistake that Zondra wished she had not done when she was starting out in her business listened to too many people. Ultimately, it was faith, prayers and hard work that brought Zondra’s skin care business to where it is today, claiming that she wouldn’t have made it if it were not for God’s guidance and direction.

Margarita Rozenfeld is an organizational effectiveness and leadership development expert from Washington, U.S.A. As the CEO of an award-winning professional training and coaching company, she has got some important insights on starting a business. Margarita shares her amazing journey of self-discovery and transition into fully embracing the life of an entrepreneur.

Key Questions Asked:

What advice would Margarita give to business owners who are very set in their ways? Why is it important that your business is around your personality? How did Margarita overcome the fear when she was first starting out? What mistakes are usually committed by many business owners and how can they avoid them? How did Margaret come to identify the areas that she was not so good at in her business and what necessary steps did she take to get people or a system on board?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Overcoming Fear

The Impostor Syndrome: Most successful people have this attitude of constantly questioning themselves which is very prevalent the first few years. That is why it was really important for Margarita to be surrounded by people who were supportive and encouraging. How to best overcome fear? Margarita suggests dealing with it by surrounding yourself with a really strong community of other encouraging people who are doing amazing things. Aside from that, you also have to have a coach that really sees something for you that you may not see in yourself or really stretches your boundaries and helps you think differently, among other things.

Avoiding Mistakes

Margarita thinks it’s really important for business owners and leaders to be very honest with their competencies and weaknesses. Another mistake business owners do is falling too much in love with what you do that sometimes you forget to stop and check in with your customers to make sure that what you’re doing is still relevant and important to them. As business owners, you need to be in tune and listen to what our customers are asking for.

In this episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, Darren Pierre, author of ‘Invitation to Love,’ talks about his own experience both as an entrepreneur and as an author. Darren shares important points from his book which talks about the topic of love and the barriers of love that hinders it from being fully expressed, and why business owners today are getting affected by this.

Key Questions Asked:

What was Darren’s experience with love and to fully express it? How did all this sort of not so well relationships affected other areas of your life or your other relationships? How can people deal with not-so-great personal relationships? What can business owners do when they realize that their business life is being affected by their personal life? What are the main concepts of ‘Invitation to Love’? What challenges did Darren face as an entrepreneur and as an author and how did he overcome them? How does Darren deal with difficult days? Knowing what he knows now, what would he do differently?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Darren shares that a portion of his book talks about his relationship with his dad and that the reason why communication between them wasn’t as strong as he would’ve liked it to be was because of the differences that they have. If you’re not having a fully functioning home life or personal life, your business life cannot be fully functioning, they have a direct correlation with one another. The key is to figure out where is the root of the problem, then you’ll be able to have an authentic and honest conversation with the people involved. Nothing great is ever done without fear, and fear is a natural bi-product of moving into greatness. One of the principles that Darren had to learn to accept was that the success that he was looking for takes a little bit longer to get. When you don’t find your business the number one business in your field, know that that’s okay and that you need to continue to innovate yourself. A lot of times we get so caught up in climbing the mount Everest that we don’t realize that the step to get to the peak is the next step that we take, that’s one step closer. Knowing what he knows now, Darren would have set his expectations up differently.

In this episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, Joanna Finney, a full-service agent, talks about her journey and transition from working in the entertainment industry as an employee into going independent and starting her own business. Joanna shares a few useful tips on how to get started with business in today’s world and what skills all entrepreneurs need to have in order to thrive and succeed in their chosen field.

Key Questions Asked:

What were some of the things Joanna had learned early on in her business? What sort of changes had to take place when she moved from being an employee into a business owner? What advice would Joanna give to business owners who have just moved from the corporate and entered into the business world? How can they go about having the same results without the big budget? What sort of changes had to happen in her mindset and how did that change take place? How did Joanna get her first client? If she were to start all over again, what would Joanna do differently? What business skills do new entrepreneurs need to develop in order for them to stay in the business for a long time? How can business owners develop their own identity?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

One of the things that Joanna has learned early on was that the people that truly care and helped her along the way were those that she never expected to. Losing the support of an IT department was the biggest challenge Joanna faced when she was finally starting her own business was. Joanna’s way of overcoming challenges with start-ups involved a lot of reading, a lot of trial and error, and not trying to be someone bigger than herself. One of the biggest things that helped Joanna push through was her mindset of setting goals for herself and making sure she delivers the service she promised herself and her clients. Given the chance to start all over again with her business in today’s world, Joanna would do more of promotion and research. Every business owner needs to develop a unique identity, which means figuring out what you enjoy doing and growing from there. Another skill is consistency, as well as transparency. If you believe you can do it and you are consistent and are constantly wanting to learn more, then you have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Another thing that helped Joanna with her business when she was starting up was listening to podcasts that talk about the skill set and knowledge that she lacks at that time. Developing your own identity as a business depends on what your platform is, what you do, and what your short and long term goals are. Figure out how you want to portray yourself but also how you want others to perceive you.

In this episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, financial expert Tammy Johnston talks about three critical skills every entrepreneur needs to have and develop if they are going to succeed in their business. As a highly successful financial adviser with 23 years of experience on financial services and insurance, Tammy has graciously shared a few useful tips about finance that a lot of people, both in and outside the business realm, can benefit from in improving how they manage their finances.

Key Questions Asked:

What is the first critical skill that every business owner needs to develop when it comes to their finances? What tools can business owners use to become aware of what’s happening with their finances? For those who have already given the bookkeeping task to somebody, what are the ways around for them to get back to that awareness? What is then the second skill every business owner needs to have? What is the next stage that they need to focus on? What sort of planning tools does Tammy currently use in her business when it comes to finances? What is the right mindset that business owners need to adopt? How does Tammy go about finding like-minded and reliable individuals? What are the challenges that she faced and how was she able to overcome them?

Highlights of Lessons Learned: 

Skills and Other Tips

The first skill every business owner must develop is awareness. Most people are often so busy making money that they have no idea of what is actually going on with their finances. When Tammy starts working with somebody, the first thing she asks them to do is handle their own bookkeeping for a minimum of six months. For those who have already got somebody else doing their bookkeeping, make sure to sit down with your bookkeeper or having a phone conversation at least once a month and having a look at your reports. The second skill that business owners must develop is planning. Plan for where you want to go. Next stage you need to focus on and figure out is what brings in profit to your business and what can you be doing to improve your marketing strategies.

Mindset, Challenges, and Tactics

As for the mindset, business owners need to be open-minded, they need to find competent and qualified individuals who will help bring out the most in them. The biggest challenge that Tammy had to deal with when she first started out in her business was the stress of not having the steady paycheck and not knowing exactly what’s coming. As a new business owner, you have to find ways of coping and keeping forward and being able to pay your bills. One way Tammy was able to do this was by reading good business books, another thing that helped her was having a circle of friends who knows she’s trying to do acts as her immediate support system.

In this Episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, finance expert, Donovan Ryckis answers seven financial services questions every business owner needs to know the answers to. He emphasizes the importance of how to go about managing your taxes, student debts, and insurance.

Key Questions Asked:

What would be the smarter way for any business owner who is just getting started to pay off outstanding balances that could hold them back from moving forward? How much then do they need to set aside or to start to contribute towards their retirement? What roadblocks did Donovan face throughout his entrepreneurial journey and how does he overcome them? How did Donovan get his first client? What is the role of mentors in his early years of running a business? Knowing what he knows now in terms of running a financial services provider, what would Donovan do differently if he were to start all over again? What things would he do more of that resulted to increase in his return on investment?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

It’s not always the best case scenario to pay off all the student loans all at once just because you have it. A better way to do this is to keep making the minimum or regular payment of your student debt and use your extra money to start a private pension for yourself. Because the industry is so vast, opening a very defined business became the first roadblock that Donovan faced when he was starting out as an entrepreneur. Donovan has tried every marketing technique possible from making cold calls, following up on people, knocking on people’s doors, buying internet leads, to networking and attending seminars, using direct mail, getting client as well as professional referrals. Anybody can be an entrepreneur. It’s not always the smartest person getting it done, it’s usually the person that’s working the hardest, so if you want to do it, just do it. Everything he did and his accumulated experience from when he first started his business all contributed to Donovan’s success that he doesn’t think he will be able to reach his current status otherwise. Donovan would have worked harder to have more clients right from the start because a lot of times people focus first on making their product or service perfect, but the most important thing is having the clients for it.

In this episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, finance expert, Katie Christy shares important points of her journey as an entrepreneur, particularly how she got started after having to basically put her dreams on the back burner for a couple of years in order to support her husband who is serving in the military. Katie helps businesses, organizations and individuals to make the most out of their natural talents, to make sure that they are activating, finding those talents and leveraging them in a more meaningful way.

Key Questions Asked:

What was it like for Katie to put her dreams aside in order to support her husband? What advice would Katie give to people who are feeling like they are having to put their dreams aside? After leaving her dreams behind for a little bit, what had to happen to finally get to where she is today? What is the number one skill that business owners need to develop in this journey of entrepreneurship? In her experience, what makes people don’t want to be adaptable to a situation and how can they change that? What is the second skill business owners need to develop? Looking back, what has produced so much result in Katie’s experience? What type of mindset do business owners need to cultivate if they’re going to succeed in this journey of entrepreneurship? If she were to do it all over again after knowing what she knows now, what would Katie do differently?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Skill Set

There are two ways Katie makes connections, the first one is to take advantage of and maintain her network people in the army which reach across the country and even across the world. The second is by putting herself out there as often as possible by attending local events, joining meetups that she sees on Linkedin and just any organization that she feels drawn to. Number one skill that business owners must have is grit and adaptability. What makes people not adaptable is not having the emotional intelligence or the ability to think outside themselves and put themselves in their client’s shoes. According to Tony Robins, the reason why people don’t change is that they fall so much in love with their product than they do with their customers. In order to change, they will need to open up their mindset from an outward based approach and really look inward. Another skill that Katie believe is really important for business owners to develop is the emotional intelligence or being able to go into a situation and really feel the mood of the room and their customers.

Expert’s Advice

What produced the most result for Katie is putting positivity out in the environment. According to her, when you have a giving mindset it comes back to you a hundredfold. As a business owner, you have to be able to brainstorm and see a better brighter future because of your contributions. In the beginning, Katie felt like she had to have all the answers before starting out on her journey. But looking back, Katie said she wouldn’t have been hesitant to start and to continue learning by experience and by taking more coaching sessions. According to Katie, it’s good to spend time with yourself and remember what it was that you loved to do as a child because those are the clues to the things that we should be doing as adults.

In this Episode of Enlightened Entrepreneur Podcast, renowned credit expert, Jeanne Kelly shared vital tips and insights about, credit, credit report, and credit scores. Jeanne emphasized three credit management mistakes everyone needs to avoid in order to build a good credit record.

Key Questions Asked:

How did Jeanne achieve a good credit record? What surprised her the most with all her research on credit? In her opinion, what are the number one mistake business owners make when it comes to managing their credit? What are the consequences of making these mistakes? What is the mistake that most often causes business owners to fail completely with credit management? What credit management practice do business owners think is right but is actually wrong? What type of activities can help build a good credit score? How long does it take for somebody to move from having a bad credit record to a positive one? How have coaches made an impact in Jeanne’s life? How does she market her business today? How does her typical day look like? As an entrepreneur, what does Jeanne know now that she wished she had known when she was getting started?

Highlights of Lessons Learned:

Expert’s Advice

Researching the credit industry, coupled with numerous attempts and failures were just some of the ways Jeanne obtained her extensive knowledge of credit. Back then what surprised her the most is there wasn’t really a lot of information about credit. In contrast to where we are today, we now use credit practically every single day, except people rarely know how to really use it. The best way to balance out the negative on your credit report is by starting today: pay bills on time, be aware, or obtain a new line of credit.

Mistakes and Solutions

The first mistake business owners typically make is people don’t pay attention to their credit scores at all and don’t look at what’s being reported about them or their business with the credit bureaus. People just aren’t aware. It’s best to either monitor it with a service or just make sure at least minimum twice a year you’re looking at it. Sometimes putting other people in charge will cause business owners to fail completely. The key is to always make sure you’re looking at your credit and monitoring it yourself A lot of people don’t think they need credit and thus don’t realize that it’s a healthy activity to keep your credit line open and use it every once in a while.