Ahhh – the day of love: Valentine’s Day. I’ll admit it. I’m a sap for Valentine’s Day and the love we celebrate on this day.  The thing about love is that there is this overall consistency and cohesion of love in all parts of our life… but then it does show up differently and in different forms in our partnerships, families, friendships, interests, and, yes, in our businesses.

Whenever someone seeks me out for advice on starting their own business, the first thing I tell them is that you have to love the business part of it.  Most of us start a service-driven business because we love what we do and know we have a gift to share: nutrition, parenting, career, relationships, health, business, and so on.  Yet what I’ve found is that we really only spend 20 – 30% of our time in business doing that ‘thing’ that we set out to do.

So this is where the love comes in.  One of the things that surprised me about running my own service-driven business is how much I love the business part of it: client attraction, marketing, online tools, strategic alliances, learning, growing, and so on.  It is such a challenge that you kind of have to love the business part of it. Otherwise the difficult and frustrating times will break you.  And trust me: There will be frustrating and difficult times (to say it lightly!).

It’s not always roses and chocolates but I do know that my love of entrepreneurship and my love for helping my clients is what carries me through and helps me to keep going.  So, pause today to consider what you love about being an entrepreneur.  And, please, share your thoughts here.

Happy Valentine’s Day! As my Valentine’s Day gift to you… please join me for my upcoming webinar on Feb. 24th. Get started here >>>>>>

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Kelly Harrington is an expert at helping coaches and conscious entrepreneurs to transform their business to achieve their big vision. She is dedicated to helping this amazing group of transformational experts to serve more people in record time and make (way) more money… even while sleeping. Please contact her any time.

I’ve taken some amazing business training courses that teach me about sales, attracting clients, branding, messaging, and so on.  These seminars have transformed my business and has allowed me to serve many more people in a more meaningful way.

Yet when it comes to the systems / tool / technology part of the business, something really gets in my craw.  Many of these well-meaning experts (smartly) remember that they are there to deliver upon their promised skill: sales, enrollment, client attraction, writing, and so on.  So when someone in their audience starts asking a lot of ‘how’ questions about tools, technology, web solutions, opt-in boxes, scheduling systems, etc., I often hear this reply, “Just outsource it!”

Argh! This makes me cringe and just makes me feel bad for the person who asked the question.

Yes – the truth is that every entrepreneur should aim to outsource anything that isn’t their genius. Yet when you’re first starting out there are two ‘problems’ to the outsourcing equation:

1 – New entrepreneurs often can’t afford to outsource everything when it comes to business systems, tools, and technology.

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2 – Even if they could outsource everything, they often don’t know who to hire, what to ask them to do, and whether the person they hired is delivering excellence.

It is so, so important to be a powerful, confident business owner when it comes to the systems part of your business.  This is why all of my programs and coaching include step-by-step solutions to understand how to implement and utilize tools that save you time and make you more money… but also show you how to powerfully master the outsourcing relationship when the timing is right for you.

My main tip for now:

1. Understand the essentials of any part of your business before you outsource it.
2. Do your homework on who to outsource to.
3. Manage the outsourcing relationship closely.
4. Expect excellence (and course correct when you don’t get it).

>>> Please, leave your comments here on the blog as to how you have mastered the outsourcing element in your business (and/or questions!).

>>> And please join me for my upcoming webinar where I share more secrets and mistakes on how to serve more people, in less time, and make more money… even while you sleep. It’s my gift!

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Kelly Harrington’s yin-yang approach to coaching and business building allowed her to build 40% of her income in her first year through leveraged group and product programs so that the one-on-one coaching was her premium service.

She does not need or want you to become an IT geek like her (unless you want to!). Rather, she wants to geek out for you and show you her easy breezy step-by-step solutions to achieving your clients, business, service, and income goals.

Kelly is available for coaching, training, and speaking. Please contact her any time.

Photo credit goes to sheelamohan

Today I’m feeling stressed! Worried, confused, tired.  Hmmm…What’s a coach and business owner to do?  On the one hand, I believe that everything is energy and that we attract what we vibrate. On the other hand, life is life and it brings it’s ups and downs and busy times and light times. You know, the ebb and flow.

You know the thing is that being an entrepreneur will have times of stress… We wonder: Will all of my ideas come together? Will I attract the clients I crave? Will I make the money to pay the bills and the lifestyle I desire? Will anyone really know the truth about me? C’mon… if you’re an entrepreneur you’ve thought and/or said these things.

So today I challenge myself and all of you to use stress as a tool for change and for the ‘going for it’ energy that I need and want to make my business the best it can be. As I pointed out to one of my clients recently who is feeling burned out on her old business as she moves into her coaching business: If she didn’t feel a bit stressed and burned out on the old model, she likely wouldn’t be working with me on a new model for her business.

Ahhh… now that feels better.  So tell me. How do you use stress as a change agent in your life and business? I welcome your comments here on the blog!

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Kelly Harrington’s yin-yang approach to coaching and business building allowed her to build 40% of her income in her first year through leveraged group and product programs so that the one-on-one coaching was her premium service. She now teaches other coaches and conscious entrepreneurs to take step-by-step action to do the same thing… Easy Breezy!  Kelly is available for speaking on various related topics and looks forward to speaking with you!

I went to the ICF-LA monthly dinner meeting last night. It always feels great to be around a group of like-minded entrepreneurs who are dedicated to transformation of self and others. As we were mixing and mingling and people asked me what I did, I told them that I help coaches and conscious entrepreneurs to get over the ‘technology hump’ so they can get their leveraged and passive income programs in place once and for all.

A lot of people said, “Oh yeah – I need help with social media.”  Hmmm… I guess I need to tweak my message (something we are always doing!).  But then I realized in talking with people further is that most of them just didn’t know what they don’t know. In other words, they didn’t know they were missing out on a lot of online tools and systems that would make their business more efficient, streamline processes, and attract clients and money to them… even while they sleep.

And, you know, the thing is that coaches are genius at being coaches. That’s why they do it and that’s why they love it. So it doesn’t surprise me that most coaches either don’t know about the options and/or they roll their eyes and sigh when it comes to all of the online tools, systems, processes, and software choices they have to make (and master!) …

So it’s my mission to stay open in life and in business to what I don’t know. I wonder where my blind spots are???  And please share your comments here on how you move past the “I know that” phenomena too!

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Kelly Harrington is an expert at helping coaches and conscious entrepreneurs to transform their business to achieve their big vision. She is dedicated to helping this amazing group of transformational experts to serve more people in record time and make (way) more money… even while sleeping.

She does this by helping this amazing group of people to get over the ‘technology hump’ so they can do what they are brilliant at… helping their clients live their best lives.