I’ve been an entrepreneur for 25+ years but it took me 17 years into my journey to learn my greatest lesson, which came in the midst of my BIGGEST mistake! After 17 years into my business, I had accomplished much more than I expected. I had launched 10 chapters of my youth program in 10 states, I had a full coaching client roster, a successful book, and speaking engagements all over the country. Anyone who looked at me from the outside would have sworn I was successful but one peek at my bank account would have told them otherwise.

Here I was, doing the exact thing I knew but I was only generating $13,000 a year. I wasn’t generating ANY profit! At that very moment, I realized that I needed help so I immediately hired a business coach and she pointed out to me that I had done what so many of us who do when we discover what we’re passionate about and good at, I had fallen into the passion trap. I had become so focused on helping other people through doing what I loved that I neglected to implement a strategy for myself that would make my business profitable and unfortunately, that’s why a lot of entrepreneurs aren’t successful today. According to an article I read in Forbes, “8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail. A whopping 80% crash and burn.”(https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2013/09/12/five-reasons-8-out-of-10-businesses-fail/#2c844f276978) One of the main reasons for this was, “inability to nail a profitable business model with proven revenue streams.”

I’m sure you’re familiar with the popular Marsha Sinetar quote, “do what you love and the money will follow,” and while that’s an inspiring bit of advice, we have to realize that the money is not going to magically appear without some kind of plan of action in place. So, how can you take your business from broke to bankable and avoid being part of that 80% of entrepreneurs who, unfortunately, don’t make it past their first year of business? Here are three steps you can follow that will help take your business from broke to bankable:

1. Ask yourself, “Am I putting all of my eggs in one basket?”- Take a look at how your business services are structured and ask yourself, “am I relying on a one-on-one model to generate money in my business?” Meaning, are you solely relying on your time spent face-to-face with your clients as a means of generating income? If so, when you do this, you are only selling your time for dollars because you can only serve so many people. Here is a brilliant way to start taking those eggs and moving them from one basket to many: Look at the system or process you have set in place to serve each individual client and build a business model around it that allows you to do the next step:

2. Develop Multiple Streams of Income. Once you developed this step by step system for yourself, multiple revenue streams came easily. Multiple revenue streams allow you the ability to, not only serve more clients without having to be present but also the opportunity to make money while you sleep! As I mentioned earlier, you can only be in one place and help so many people at a time, but creating multiple revenue streams allows you to be able to do this without always having to be present and only effective in a one-on-one setting. How? Here are a few examples;

• Each step in your system can become its own stand-alone program.
• You can also create various tiers of programming using a combination of 2 or 3 of the steps as a lower price point product that could get a potential client a jump-start toward a longer-term program. One program becomes more of a deep dive than the next.
• Each step could be an individual workshop or a weekend retreat experience where you move participants from step to step.
• Each step can become a chapter in a book

I could go on; the possibilities are endless!

3. You Must Have a Month-to-Month Strategy. There is a saying, “when you fail to plan, you plan to fail” and for years I was failing to plan. Once you’ve created a formula and used it to develop multiple ways to serve those who need you, you can design a clear strategy to get there month over month, quarter over quarter. Having this blueprint will help you begin to generate predictable revenue in your business.

Following these three steps changed the trajectory of my business almost overnight! My first program I developed from my formula generated $10,000 in 60 days! Soon after that, I developed one program after the next that moved the revenue I was generating in my business from $13,000 to over $200,000 within a year. When you learn all the ways that are possible for you to serve those who need you, then turning it into multiple streams of income flowing into your business is easy! It allows you to achieve revenue generation in your business, all while doing what you love and making a significant impact in the world. Do this, and I guarantee you, your passion will produce a paycheck.

WRITTEN BY FMC2020 Speaker Nicole Roberts Jones

I’ve been an entrepreneur for 25+ years but it took me 17 years into my journey to learn my greatest lesson, which came in the midst of my BIGGEST mistake! After 17 years into my business, I had accomplished much more than I expected. I had launched 10 chapters of my youth program in 10 states, I had a full coaching client roster, a successful book, and speaking engagements all over the country. Anyone who looked at me from the outside would have sworn I was successful but one peek at my bank account would have told them otherwise.

Here I was, doing the exact thing I knew but I was only generating $13,000 a year. I wasn’t generating ANY profit! At that very moment, I realized that I needed help so I immediately hired a business coach and she pointed out to me that I had done what so many of us who do when we discover what we’re passionate about and good at, I had fallen into the passion trap. I had become so focused on helping other people through doing what I loved that I neglected to implement a strategy for myself that would make my business profitable and unfortunately, that’s why a lot of entrepreneurs aren’t successful today. According to an article I read in Forbes, “8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail. A whopping 80% crash and burn.”(https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericwagner/2013/09/12/five-reasons-8-out-of-10-businesses-fail/#2c844f276978) One of the main reasons for this was, “inability to nail a profitable business model with proven revenue streams.”

I’m sure you’re familiar with the popular Marsha Sinetar quote, “do what you love and the money will follow,” and while that’s an inspiring bit of advice, we have to realize that the money is not going to magically appear without some kind of plan of action in place. So, how can you take your business from broke to bankable and avoid being part of that 80% of entrepreneurs who, unfortunately, don’t make it past their first year of business? Here are three steps you can follow that will help take your business from broke to bankable:

1. Ask yourself, “Am I putting all of my eggs in one basket?”- Take a look at how your business services are structured and ask yourself, “am I relying on a one-on-one model to generate money in my business?” Meaning, are you solely relying on your time spent face-to-face with your clients as a means of generating income? If so, when you do this, you are only selling your time for dollars because you can only serve so many people. Here is a brilliant way to start taking those eggs and moving them from one basket to many: Look at the system or process you have set in place to serve each individual client and build a business model around it that allows you to do the next step:

2. Develop Multiple Streams of Income. Once you developed this step by step system for yourself, multiple revenue streams came easily. Multiple revenue streams allow you the ability to, not only serve more clients without having to be present but also the opportunity to make money while you sleep! As I mentioned earlier, you can only be in one place and help so many people at a time, but creating multiple revenue streams allows you to be able to do this without always having to be present and only effective in a one-on-one setting. How? Here are a few examples;

• Each step in your system can become its own stand-alone program.
• You can also create various tiers of programming using a combination of 2 or 3 of the steps as a lower price point product that could get a potential client a jump-start toward a longer-term program. One program becomes more of a deep dive than the next.
• Each step could be an individual workshop or a weekend retreat experience where you move participants from step to step.
• Each step can become a chapter in a book

I could go on; the possibilities are endless!

3. You Must Have a Month-to-Month Strategy. There is a saying, “when you fail to plan, you plan to fail” and for years I was failing to plan. Once you’ve created a formula and used it to develop multiple ways to serve those who need you, you can design a clear strategy to get there month over month, quarter over quarter. Having this blueprint will help you begin to generate predictable revenue in your business.

Following these three steps changed the trajectory of my business almost overnight! My first program I developed from my formula generated $10,000 in 60 days! Soon after that, I developed one program after the next that moved the revenue I was generating in my business from $13,000 to over $200,000 within a year. When you learn all the ways that are possible for you to serve those who need you, then turning it into multiple streams of income flowing into your business is easy! It allows you to achieve revenue generation in your business, all while doing what you love and making a significant impact in the world. Do this, and I guarantee you, your passion will produce a paycheck.

WRITTEN BY FMC2020 Speaker Nicole Roberts Jones