5 Keys for Being More Authentic in Business - Darnyelle A. Jervey

5 Keys for Being Authentic in Business

When you're a new entrepreneur, it is easy to see others doing what you desire to do and decide that the best thing to do is copy them. I do not recommend that because the grass is seldom greener on the other side. If we just learn how to consistently water our own grass, we will soon have grass that is just as green. The same holds true in business. Instead of trying to be like your competition, get MAD - make authentic decisions about the way you will operate your business.

I recommend that you take some time to "Inspect the Incredible," or complete a self-assessment, business plan review and strategic outline of your business goals and assess why you started your business, what makes you different.

Your Incredible Factor (your secret sauce, signature business move, unique selling proposition and hot undeniable gift all rolled up into a yummy client magnetic package) is the first clue that will enable you to serve your ideal clients despite what's happening on the other side.

To grow your business in true authenticity, I recommend the following tips and you should complete this process every 90 days in your business to ensure that you are always being authentic to your purpose, gifting, goals and objectives and ideally your customers.

1. Clarify the reason why you started your business. Your "why" is not about you; it should be about those who will benefit from your gift. If, when you ask yourself why you are in business you say, "to make money;" "to increase my lifestyle," or "to show my naysayers that I could do it," you've missed the point and should get a job as you will never achieve your goals when you are selfish-minded and narrow-focused.
2. Ensure that your gifting is completely innate in you. As an entrepreneur, you will trade working 8 hours a day for someone else for working 24 hours a day for yourself, so be sure that your gift is innate and you could do it all the time, without break because you will have to.
3. Surround yourself with people who support and edify you. It will get tough and having the right circle of influence will make the difference. You should evaluate your circle as often as needed to make sure you always have the right mix directly next to you and your goals. Don't be afraid to let friends go. Everyone is not for every season and you have lives to change and it's very challenging with lots of dead weight.
4. Set authentic goals. You want to be sure that your goals resonate with you on the deepest level- in your core. Set goals you can't wait to achieve, illustrating a desire to do whatever it takes to make them happen. Ensure that the goals you set for yourself and your business correspond to a problem that needs to be solved in the marketplace. It should be a problem you can solve easily and effortlessly because the solution is innate in you. This, my friend is authentic business at its best.
5. Establish a vision statement, a mission statement, a brand statement and a power statement you can share openly, easily and effortlessly as needed. This will ensure that others understand the value you offer to the marketplace through your authenticity.

Before you can get to the profits and loss of doing business, you should be clear that the business you endeavor to offer to the marketplace not only resonates with you on the deepest levels but it authentically solves a problem. If you solve a problem with your gifts and talents, your business will profit - not only you, but those you serve.

Want to reprint the article? Sure, just be sure to include the following:

©2011 by Darnyelle A. Jervey. All Rights Reserved. Darnyelle A. Jervey, The Incredible Factor Business Mentor and Coach, is the founder of IncredibleOneEnterprises.com and the Leverage Your Incredible Factor System® a proven step by step program for turning your passion into profit. For more information and a FREE audio CD "How to Use Your Incredible Factor to Attract MORE Ideal Clients" visit

http://www.incredibleoneenterprises.com.

Get FREE so your Incredible Factor can THRIVE - Darnyelle A. Jervey

One of the consistent problems I see entrepreneurs attempting to work through is what I will call "getting free." Getting free is essentially the process of eliminating all activities or distractions that prevents your Incredible Factor from solving your ideal client's problems in the marketplace. This could be completing daily tasks that should be delegated to someone else. It could be working in an environment that is not conducive to success. It could be spending time with people who do not add value to you or your business goals. It could be ineffectively acting inauthentic or preventing your true self, purpose and passions from shining through in your business.

I've been there in my own business. I sent my Pink Cadillac back to Mary Kay Cosmetics in April of 2008 because I wanted to live my own dream by creating my mindset, marketing and empowerment firm for women yet; you could come to my house (up until September 6, 2010) and see remnants of my last career and each time I walked past, I got disgusted because my past was still in my present. Don't get me wrong, Mary Kay was an amazing experience, one that I think every woman who desires to understand the fundamentals of confidence and business acumen in a supportive environment should pursue. My challenge was that I would look at the full product display and get sidetracked from the important tasks that needed to be completed in my current and thriving business. (sidebar – I wouldn’t be distracted for long, I’d handle my business BUT its presence was a constant source of distraction and distaste every time I walked by and that was every day.)

Now it would have been easy to get my assistant to break down the displays and such but I didn't because I wasn't really ready to get free. Free from the distraction. Free from the good times. Free from the success. Free from what I thought was failure because I walked away from a perfectly viable business. Maybe I’d go back if it didn’t work out – I was bound and unable to give my all to this new, exciting, passion and purpose filled business.

Honestly, allowing the evidence that I was once a successful Pink Cadillac driving sales director in Mary Kay made me feel important. Did you hear that? Made ME feel. Yes, that's EGO all the way. Ego keeps you trapped in a place that does not want you to grow and succeed. Ego didn't want me to get free from the decision to leave a perfectly good business with a sound marketing plan to start my own business where I had nothing at its inception. You see, perhaps you've felt like I did and as a result your results are suffering because you are bound, bound to someone else's expectation for your business or perhaps your own. It's hard to focus on what is most important when your mind and space are cluttered with outside influences that are not enhancing the experiences of your ideal clients.

So how do you get free, Darnyelle? Well, I'm happy to share what worked for me when I finally did it. I got free.

1. Forget the past; it is over. Good, bad or indifferent, it's done. You can't go back there so free yourself from the clutter and move on. I acknowledged and owned the success I enjoyed while in Mary Kay and now I allow that success to keep me focused on the success of my current business. Clearly if I did it once, I can do it again. I believe that when you get sick and tired of looking at your past and do something about it, you can become the change you desire to see in your business. When your EGO flairs up (and it will) simply remind it that your past is the past for a reason; you stopped that business, ended that relationship, etc for a distinct reason. You have to get tired of telling yourself the stories that keep the past alive for you and when you do, you open yourself up to invite an Incredible future into your experience one that is filled with new products and services and creativity to grow to a new level.
2. Realign to your values, goals and vision for your business- a realignment is always good to assess, especially when you feel clutter impending your business success. I suggest revisiting your business and marketing plans and ensuring that they are sound. As I realigned my goals and completed my 2011-2013 strategic plan, I realized that the display had to go because I needed that space in my office to set up my recording area for all of the high content videos that I would be putting together for my lovely clients.
3. Eliminate distractions - when you get clear on the reasons why you started your business, suddenly the distractions that were once welcome will stick out like a sore thumb and begin to wreak havoc on your business. I made, dare I say it, a non-negotiable goal that I would focus on what I wanted to grow and eliminate all else and that included finally taking down the displays. I must say my basement (the location of my home office) is much bigger than I remember and I'm excited about the changes I will make with the space to grow my business.
4. Expect to shift - when you get free, I mean really free, you can expect a shift to occur in your mindset, in the way you work in your business and in the tolerance of future distractions that you allow to impede your progress. Somehow I think you will be like me and shift the way you work which will invite new clients, new products and services and new energy into your small business.

When you get FREE - your business will thrive, which means your life will thrive. Here's to getting free!

Want to reprint this article? You may by ensuring that you include the following at the conclusion of the article:

©2010 by Darnyelle A. Jervey. All Rights Reserved. Darnyelle A. Jervey, The Incredible Factor Business Mentor and Coach, is the founder of Incredible One Enterprises, LLC and the Leverage Your Incredible Factor System ® a proven step by step program for turning your passion into profit. For more information and a FREE audio CD "How to Use Your Incredible Factor to Attract MORE Ideal Clients" visit http://www.incredibleoneenterprises.com.