The Entrepreneurial Success Ladder

Entrepreneurs are not born. Entrepreneurs are made and more importantly, they are self-made. There are no “Donald Trump” success stories out there that can proudly display a certificate issued by a world-renowned Academy for Successful Entrepreneurs. If there was this, it might suggest that the success of the candidate in question was due to the high quality of their studied curriculum content. Not so. In fact, there are a startling number of not just uneducated but downright lazy people who have excelled at entrepreneurship. This implies that if there was a school for entrepreneurs that one of the key lessons would be the correct positioning of the effort versus return ratio and it is on the foundation of this ratio that I train business owners to structure their businesses.The effort versus return ratio is all about getting really good at something you don’t necessarily have a natural ability for. 

I was born to a family of gardeners and grew up surrounded by lush garden and family conversations filled with botanical names and classifications that I couldn’t understand or be bothered to learn to be really truthful. Shortly after I got married my husband and I accompanied my parents on a holiday to the Kruger National Park in South Africa where they enjoyed identifying the endless range of very similar looking thorn trees. Whilst on a game walk deep into the African bush my mother turned to my father, pointed to a thorn tree nearby, that looked remarkably like every other one in the vicinity to me and exclaimed excitedly “look dear, an Acacia nigrescens”. My new husband stared thoughtfully at the source of this excitement for a few minutes and commented, “really? … And here I thought that was a tree”. Clearly I had married the right man and we sailed happily off into the “zero gardening” sunset together.I didn’t escape that easily. Soon after our move to New Zealand we settled on a lifestyle block in the country and my friends and associates seemed quite offended that we had the space yet none of the inclination to grow our own produce. A vegetable patch of sorts existed and so I yielded to the pressure to make some effort to bring it back to life. On the well-meaning advice of a friend we had some organic compost delivered, which we spread around liberally, and I planted a range of zucchini, carrots, lettuces, strawberries and tomatoes. Within a few days the first few weeds had sprung up and before I knew it I was spending close to two hours per day fighting back the onslaught of weeds that never seemed to abate. I hated every minute of the battle and eventually gave up in disgust, back in touch with the reasons I had never tried before.

Not being one to give up easily and due to the obvious difference in the quality of the vegetables that we had managed to scrounge from the weed patch to those available in the supermarket, I felt compelled to give it another try. I reconsidered an approach where the effort versus return ratio might be more in my favour to my previous attempt. This involved calling in a landscaper and between his practical knowledge and my “ideal” knowledge we designed a raised vegetable patch consisting of 3 big boxes, filled to brim with a special kind of high quality, no weed soil and an automatic watering system.The results were quick and really easy. Enough said. I am sure you get the point.But how is this story relevant to EnQ? 

Of the many clients I have mentored, by far the most common challenge that they face is the personal time taken to build and run a successful business. I approach business building in the same manner that I approached my vegetable garden and in my view the “effort versus return” ratio is the foundation on which all other aspects of the business are built. If this foundation is correctly designed all that is placed upon it functions more strongly. Is this something that you would like to learn? If so, I would like you to consider that I might be the right mentor for you. I have a small number of mentoring spots opening up shortly and this is a great time for you to make an enquiry.Here is what my clients have had to say: 

I had been self employed for 24 years before I met and engaged Sandy and she was able to show me the method and allow me to use the tools necessary to both increase my business, and for the first time actually work on the business, rather than in the business. This is a concept I have been aware of for virtually the whole time I have been in business. I just had no idea how to go about it, or what it really meant. Now I have what I sought but couldn’t find, which for me was Freedom. Thanks Sandy, you have made a tremendous difference to my life. (Financing Franchise Business Owner)

Sandy has become a very influential and important person in my life in just a very short time since I have employed her as my business mentor. Her dynamic, enthusiastic and positive approach to life is motivating and addictive so if you are someone with the same drive she will only enhance them. Her ideas and success comes from her own life experiences, which I believe can only be the best advice anyone can give. Not from a book, a course or someone else’s program. I would highly recommend Sandy to anyone looking at making your business even more successful than it is. (Personal Fitness Business Owner)I’ve struggled to communicate the value of what I offer and to structure my business so that I feel energized, not drained by my work. Sandy understood instantly what sort of an unsustaining loop I had wound myself into, and showed me – with a few simple but powerful tools – how to give more, be drained less, make more money and reach more people. Her insights as a woman entrepreneur are unique. I can’t think of anyone else I’d turn to for business advice in the future.’ (International best selling author)I find Sandy’s knowledge amazing in such a wide range of subjects. I also love the fact that the knowledge she has is current and not some out of date old school ideas, which are not relevant in today’s world. And her philosophy of contributing rather than treating her knowledge as some state secret is refreshing. (Accounting Business Owner) 

Would you like to know more about how I can help you? Email my Personal Assistant, Letitia at letitia@enqpratice.com for more information on the mentoring offers available that might be just right for you, regardless of where you are located.All you need to do is make the decision to strengthen your business, expand your knowledge and free up your time. As a special offer to all my subscribed readers for April you can download a complimentary whitepaper on the 3 categories of entrepreneurs and the full Effort versus return EnQ Success Ladder HERE – Where do you fit?