There are many ways to learn about something, but most people learn and gain valuable experience from doing.

Whether you want to start a new business, grow the business you have, or learn how to drive a big boat, you can read, study, and even watch YouTube videos and gain valuable knowledge.

However, the real experience comes from doing.

Having said that, I also know from experience that you can significantly shorten the learning curve, and greatly enhance your chances of success, by connecting with a seasoned mentor and doing what they tell you to do!

There are of course those of us who prefer to “figure it out” on our own and “chart our own course.”

Nothing wrong with that; that was my strategy for most of my life.

In fact, I prided myself on diving in and figuring stuff out – solving the challenge of the day and in my own way, “making it happen.”

A few years after launching my first business, I came to realize that this strategy of “going it alone” might work well for fixing a broken washing machine or replacing a hot water heater, but it wasn’t the best strategy for growing a more profitable business faster.

The last word, “faster” is the key word.

Could I figure everything out by trial and error and eventually have the business success I have been blessed with today?

Perhaps.

But my guess is I’d still be going through a lot of trial and error and guess work.

Sure, I’d be gaining valuable experience, however achieving my goal of financial and time freedom would very likely still be eluding me.

For entrepreneurs and small business owners, experiencing countless humbling lessons of how to build a fun and profitable business can be difficult, and it can take years.

Some of these lessons knock you down so hard you question getting back up to try again!

As an entrepreneur, the turning point for me was when “achieving my goal” became far more important than me doing it on my own.

I put my ego aside and started working with experienced mentors and coaches.

And I began to implement what they said, and shazam, the learning curve to growing a more profitable business faster shrank dramatically.

I’ll also admit that the “my way or the highway” strategy was because I might have been a little cheap!

I did not focus on the ROI for making such an investment, but that would be a conversation for another day!

If you’re in struggle mode right now, or your dreams and goals of growing a business that provides financial freedom for you and your family is taking longer than you’d like, consider this possibility.

What if there was a way to know the outcome of the game before placing your bet?

Yeah, it’s a metaphor, but it works really well in the game of business!

Anyway, knowing the outcome ahead of time removes all the risk!

That would be like in the movie Back to the Future, Biff Tannen got a copy of the Sports Almanac with the final scores of games not yet played.

Score!

Could it be possible to have a ‘Small Business Owners Almanac’ that would give you the answers you need when you’re ready to place your bet?

Turns out there is something very similar to having a Small Business Owners Almanac that can likely give you the answers you’re looking for, without having to go through the painful trial and error process.

This so-called “Almanac” is called a Business Coach.

To be more precise, it is an experienced business coach with a proven track record of success, not merely someone with a fancy website who shares Jim Rohn and Zig Ziglar quotes.

Think about it: by working with an experienced business coach, one who has already endured countless tests and has real world experience doing what it is you want to do – whether

• building great brands,
• authoring books,
• launching your podcast,
• filling your calendar with lucrative, high-ticket client accounts
• selling from the stage like a pro,
• hosting live or virtual events, or
• creating multiple streams of revenue

you are as close to having the Almanac as you can be.

Of course, like me in the early years, you might prefer “slow and steady” and spending years and a lot of money to gain the real-world experience on your own.

You might even be cheap, like I was, and not focused on the ROI of working with a mentor and instead just anguish over the investment.

Whatever is holding you back from achieving the business success you dream of, I hope that the one gift you receive this holiday season, is the gift of clarity, focus, and a new-found determination not to wait years to achieve your goals.

I hope that, like me, you come to realize the incredible benefit of putting your ego aside and decide that achieving your goals is far more important than how you get there.

Being temporarily landlocked, I now have more time for coaching entrepreneurs than I’ve had the last five years while we traveled the East Coast on Floating Home.

Therefore, I have opened up some spots in my Dream Business Mastermind and Coaching Program.

Why not apply and see if we’re a good fit?

This could very likely be the ultimate holiday gift to yourself!