The 7 Stages of Small Business Success has been featured in the newly released book titled “Blueprint for Success” Proven Strategies for Success & Survival.

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Read below for a free ‘7-Stages’ excerpt from Blueprint for Success

BLUEPRINT

blue•print [bloo-print]

–noun a detailed outline or plan of action: a blueprint for success.

–verb (used with object)

Carl’s Thoughts…

Having grown up in the construction industry, I was surrounded by tradesman, craftsman and other construction professionals. I built, renovated, demolished and re-built many structures in my life. Many of those buildings were constructed from the ground up. Before the first nail was hammered, a screw was turned, or a shovel went into the ground; a blueprint was drawn up. You wouldn’t even consider starting without a detailed blueprint. In order to have a successful project, you needed to plan out the entire building…in advance and on paper.

Blueprints were a way of life. They were dynamic documents. Every day we would read, review and discuss them in great detail. We would strategize how we were going to accomplish what was written on paper. We took notes in the margins, dog-eared the corners, and treated our blueprints as crucial a resource as any other tool in our tool belt. True success was our ability to create in physical reality what was on our blueprint. Success in business requires a blueprint also. Just as you would break ground on a building project using a blueprint, you would build a ground-breaking business with the proper blueprint.

‘Blueprint’ Definition. Source:Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)

SUCCESS

success1 [s?k?ses] noun

(the prosperity gained by) the achievement of an aim or purpose

Example: He has achieved great success as an actor / in his career.

After conducting more than 50,000 coaching and mentoring sessions with Executives and BOEs (Business Owner-Entrepreneurs), I have observed that success comes in many forms. Each and every one of my clients, from the Fortune 500 CEO to the Entrepreneur, defines success differently. They all have one thing in common though. They are visionaries. Success, although expressed differently, is a vivid picture in their minds. The challenge? How do I make my dreams a reality? This is a common question I am asked around the world. Achieving your definition of success is about clarity of purpose; and the roadmap to get you there. The 7 Stages of Small Business Success was developed to help you become clear about your purpose and then map out the journey. Every journey has one destination: Success!

‘Success’ definition. Source:Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary

“.. the personality of the business will mirror the personality of its owner. There is no one personality type that’s better than another. Personality and performance have no correlation. Any personality type can succeed in growing a business.”

Carl L. Gould, Author and Creator of The 7 Stages of Small Business Success™ and contributing author of Blueprint for Success, Chapter 13, Page 177

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Blueprint for Success pages 178-179

The Success Cycle is predicated upon developing your strengths and protecting your blind spots. In turning around your struggling business, we focus on the road ahead. In some regards, turning around an existing business can be easier then starting a new one. You have to make some tough decisions as an entrepreneur.

The main distinction you need to recognize is that you cannot take everyone with you. Think of your business as life in a fish bowl. The water inside the fish bowl is your organization. The fish inside are the people in your company. Your business might not be as successful as it can be because the water is too muddy. You need to clean the water. In order to clean up the water, you’re going to find that you have a number of fish that thrive in muddy water. As you clean the water, you will expose the muddy-water fish. Those muddy-water fish are going to feel “outed.” These muddy-water fish will either sabotage your turnaround efforts or they will quit. You must facilitate their exit from the business. If they do not de-select themselves from the new organizational culture (i.e., the clean water), you as the leader need to find them a new role within the company that supports and aligns with their strengths or you need to encourage them to find a job at another company that drinks muddy water. You can’t take everybody with you. It is not the people you hire who create a problem in your business, it is the people you are reluctant to fire, even though you know they have worn out their welcome, that drain you.

In the new reality of your business, you will be swimming in cleaner waters. You’re going to a new level in your business, you’re going to clean up the water, and there is little place for muddy-water fish in your future. Muddy-water fish need to be inserted very strategically and monitored very closely in your organization. Muddy-water fish are one of the biggest blind spots to an entrepreneur. Because you, the entrepreneur, are also a muddy-water fish, it would be very hard for you to recognize the damage they could potentially be doing (and are doing) to your organization, thus the need for your emotionally-neutral board of advisors.

It is one of the hardest realizations for owners to make that they can not drag their employees across the finish line. To the contrary, as an owner you need to make sure you have the right people in the right jobs doing the right work and supporting the future of the business. Your employees need to carry you across the finish line. If this is not the case in your company, you will fall victim to the same level of stress and lack of success you had in the past. You can’t take everyone with you. Clean up the water and hire clean-water fish to work in it.

Carl L. Gould, Author and Creator of The 7 Stages of Small Business Success™ and contributing author of Blueprint for Success, Chapter 13, Page 178-179