Indie Business Blog

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

Assemble Your Dream Team

Last week, I spent several days at a corporate retreat at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. The event was designed to strengthen existing business relationships and build new ones. This photo shows all of us after a pit crew competition. The team in the red shirts won. My team wore orange. We came in last, but we had a lot of fun doing it.

         

That's me in the orange shirt, right, front row.

During my time with these great people from around the country, I celebrated the connections between our lives and our businesses. Even though we wore different shirt colors and came from different backgrounds, we were one big team for 3 days. Our goal was to have fun, honor our host (Stratus Insurance Services, the broker for IBN's groundbreaking products liability insurance program) and strengthen the ties that bind us.

The experience made me think about how, as Indies, we must surround ourselves with a good pit crew -- a collection of team members who support and encourage all aspects of our lives. Teammates come in all shapes, types and sizes. I have found that the best way to incorporate them into an Indie lifestyle is to categorize them as follows.

Indie Confidential: Prepare For 5 Indie Business Pitfalls

What You Don't Know Could Hurt You

This post is about the stuff most people don't talk about because it hits too close to home. But I don't want you to be caught like a deer in the headlights as you grow your business, so I'm telling you the real deal on some of the most personal issues you will encounter if you are successful in your business.

         

These things apply to just about any business, but they are especially important to prepare for if you are Indie, meaning you are not only running a business but also managing a home and trying to have a fulfilling personal life at the same time. Like any girlfriend worth her salt, I'm going to tell you like it is. If you don't know already, it's not all sweetness and light, as some would have you believe.

Boots and Hard Hat Required

No Hard Hat, No Boots, No Business

As rewarding as small business ownership is, sometimes, it stinks. You often have to do the same things over and over for many months before seeing tangible results. You spend more than you plan to spend. You make less than you plan to make. To be successful in small business, you have to be ready for everything. This sign says it all.

          

Your hard hat is the tough skin you need to stick out the difficult times. Thin skin will earn you a thin profit margin. You have to ignore nay sayers and haters and push forward with your mission no matter what.

Position Yourself As An Expert In Your Field

A Book Solidifies Your Position In a Crowded Market

These days, it's not enough to offer a great product or service. Of course, what you offer still has to be wonderful, but in order to sell it, you have to bring more to the party than quality and customer service. You have to bring you, and you must be an expert in your field. This segment of Indie Business TV shares how whether or not you are an expert in your field is directly connected to your financial bottom line.

            

My Media Leads Program was mention in this video, so click here to find out more.

Suggested Indie Business Radio Shows on The Topic of Book Publishing

How to Pitch Your Book Idea: interview with Deborah Balmuth
From Dream to Reality
Become a Published Author

Success Excess

Success. It's different for everyone, yet everyone wants it. But sometimes beneath the surface lurks an attitude of destructive pride and selfishness which I call Success Excess.

Everyone wants to enjoy as much success as possible. Yet success cannot be enjoyed when it is defined by what someone else is doing or not doing. Consider this promotional copy for a new business book: "You want to keep up with the Joneses, be my guest. You want to trounce the Joneses, don't just read this book, act on it." What is that all about? Selling books of course. Still, I'm tired of the attitude that says, "No matter what you do, it's insignificant because I've done it better, and made more money at it."

(And how about the Lending Tree online mortgage banking services commercial where dad tells viewers that he has a gorgeous house, a wife, a few kids, a pool, a great lawn, an SUV and a country club membership, all of which he maintains because he says, "I'm in debt up to my eye balls.")

Blah blah blah. Let's get out of the sand box.

Success can be enjoyed for a lifetime when you use your particular talents and gifts to honor your Creator, enjoy your life and provide for your family. Satisfaction with your accomplishments simply because they are "better" than someone else's is an illusion. It's Success Excess.

What's the antidote? Success and Be Blessed. Catchy yes, but it's more than a rhyme. It's a lifestyle. As an Indie thinketh, so he or she is. So if you think about making the most of your abilities, you probably will. If you then purpose to help someone else do the same, you probably will again. And then you can denounce Success Excess once and for all, and live the Success and Be Blessed lifestyle.

After all, do you want to be remembered for trouncing the Joneses, or for helping them?