CHAPTER ONE

The Essentials of Building a Business

Building a business is one of the most exciting journeys upon which you will ever embark. As a business leader, you will encounter a continual succession of adventures. There will be moments of learning, failing, moving forward, and upward. Even when times are challenging, keep in mind that you will eventually succeed beyond your wildest imagination. Why, you ask? How do I know? Because you are fueled by your never-ending, limitless passion and purpose, the secret to success.

Ask any entrepreneur, including myself, the amount of time, effort, and energy that go into all of the different aspects of creating a business, and they will tell you, it is astonishing.

When you think you know everything, you will find there is still more to learn. Don’t be concerned. If you are passionate enough and have a clear vision of what your success will look like, you will find the energy and enthusiasm to learn everything you need to know along the way. With enough passion and purpose, you will be unstoppable, and the essentials of building a business won’t overwhelm you.

As a successful entrepreneur, I found that my passion and purpose have served me well. As a prosperous entrepreneur, I know for a fact that it is the only way you can be. Passion is what fires you up along the way, and your purpose sustains you through anything.

The only wish I have is that someone would have created this book for me when I was starting. There is so much to learn about building and growing a successful business. You need to understand funding, networking, creating new products, implementing strategy, launching viral marketing campaigns, the ins and outs of public relations, and yes, building branding strategies as well. Moreover, this is just the beginning.

What I’m delivering to you here is a guide to give you clarity, focus, and an amazing action plan for growth. I have drawn from everything I know and also best practices from business leaders around the world. The information has been organized into a convenient workbook to help you operate and market your business successfully.

The only thing you need to bring to the table is your passion, your purpose, and a willingness to learn. You will learn several things in the workbook. First, some of
the best tips, advice, and recommendations I give my clients.

Secondly, you will be taught practical ways to structure your business for growth and how to market your products and services daily. Thirdly, you will receive access to my growing community of smart, ambitious, and inspiring entrepreneurs.

Warning! You will get your hands dirty with this workbook. It is made specifically for you, and no two people will use it the same way. It goes deep and wide and will get you thinking about all the different aspects of your business and yourself. It takes you from A-Z in business and includes everything you could imagine and much that you might never have thought about until now. For example, you will learn how to craft the ultimate customer and client promotions, along with how to develop unique incentives to help you launch competitive sales strategies, and exciting and new ways to collaborate with other entrepreneurs. Finally, my favorite topic, how to share your authentic and original story with the world.

There are many business books out there for small and large business owners. Why another one, you may ask? Why is this book special? Well, after working with many entrepreneurs and business leaders, I have noticed an unfortunate bias that holds many people back from succeeding. You see, there are many essential aspects involved with the start of every business, but most entrepreneurs only focus on opening doors and building revenue. They lack the necessary strategy and forget (or don’t know how) to be thoughtful about designing a successful brand that will grow into a sustainable company.

Whether you already have a business or you’re just beginning to start one, this workbook was developed to help you take it to the next level and beyond.

The workbook is written from my professional experience with many ambitious and intelligent people who are based not behind a desk at a university, but in the real world. They are creating exciting businesses just like yours, and they are fired up with passion, just like you. I am not saying that formal education doesn’t matter. I, myself, have an MBA. My point is, this workbook will help you fast track your way to success with the essentials you previously might have only learned from an additional four years of schooling.

This workbook is for anyone starting any business, from women and men who are teaching students the peaceful power of yoga and meditation, to those launching new tech
startups that are disrupting the way we live, work and play; this book is created for you. It’s equal parts motivational and instructional and meant for anyone launching their dream
idea.

Whether you are designing dream homes or websites, making beats for Hollywood soundtracks, or just getting your training or life coaching certification, this business advice and process will help you.

You will gain an organizational structure and customized marketing plan for any business. Perhaps you fancy yourself a spiritual healer and want to open a spa, or maybe you have a non-profit helping the underserved become leaders in their field, or you could be empowering women through teaching self-care. It doesn’t matter what you are creating, the same business and marketing rules apply.

I have held nothing back because I want you to succeed.

When used correctly, this workbook will help you create momentum, make an impact, and deliver huge value to youraudience.

It’s all in here, From Idea to Reality— An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Meaningful Business Growth. This proven strategy is a step-by-step guide that provides everything you need to create a brand that prospers.

So, what are the essentials of building a business? We just went over the first two key ingredients – passion and purpose. What else is there? The essentials include branding, identifying your target markets, learning about industry trends, performing competitive analysis, and a promotional pricing strategy, along with understanding your strengths, weaknesses, obstacles, and threats.

The essentials also include creating a five-star customer or client experience, developing an actionable, integrated marketing plan, sharing your story on appropriate social
media platforms, optimizing your cash flow and finances, and understanding how to measure your success.

Yes, there are many moving parts to running a business, but you need not get overwhelmed. Rome was not built in a day. If you have a strong mindset and you plan for tomorrow, if you work smart and not hard, and look for expert guidance while collaborating with intelligent and creative people, you will succeed.