Maybe the thought of making the big bucks is scaring the pants off you!!!

A while back I was contacted by an organzation who needed a grant written. This was a piece of cake for me - I've been writing cogent arguments for some time now. It's not something that I have ever thought of doing for a living. I sought out some advice on what to charge for that service. My pricing coach told me that I could expect $16,000.00 to write this grant. 

I cringed at the thought because frankly......

I wouldn't pay it myself....

I chuckle as I recall that moment but let me tell you, I've gotten past that and 

learned how to price a job for the value that I bring to the client. 

My client had a need and a time crunch. It became evident very quickly that he had not given much thought to defining the scope of the project. 

He also didn't have the capacity to do the job himself and he wanted that 1 Million that he would be getting if we were successful. Of course it was worth it to make that happen. 

When I look back on this client, I learned so much about business from this client. I wasn't selling them a grant. I was solving a set of problems as well as opening the door 

to more than a million to add to their budge. They were going to get a dream project off the ground with this money. 

Recently when I spoke with a web designer who was new to business, I could tell that he was struggling with the same issue and I took the deal that he was offering. 

Before we went into the deal, I struck up a side deal with him. I would pay 

the low price in return for me coaching him in 

how to charge large if his product were as good as he thought it was. 

It was a win/win for both of us. 

Are you charging what you're worth or are you selling yourself at bargain basement prices? 

A bump in prices will let you reach your revenue targets sooner while also 

freeing up time. Think about it. 

Join us for our January E-book if you're fascinated with Law of Attraction

Learn more here!!!

or 

Check out our one day Business Strategy on Jan 19th here

A bit of a rant - be generous in July.

We are just coming through a Christmas where I personally got to observe the best in people. It's been tough on the family to see our parents transition - mother into a long term care facility and our grief stricken father transition into losing the one woman he has slept beside for 55+ years. It has been heartwarming to see our family pull together to provide the care that we could provide. We are in the season of change and we've got good people showing up to help us through it.

December saw a lot of people come together in a show of support and generous giving of time and resources to folks who are hit hard by the holiday season.  Whether it was an organization asking for donations or individuals trying to assist a woman who found herself in a precarious living situation - it got me thinking that it takes a village but we need the level of awareness in July as much as we need it in Decembers.

We know that these donations are band aid solutions on larger societal problems that require policy changes. It's important that we remember that we can pull together for our brothers and sisters all year long.

One of the core competencies of entrepreneurship is the ability to vision. It's not the only competency but if we use the analogy of baking a cake, not being able to vision would be equivalent to not having a bowl to mix the ingredients in.  But sometimes when our worlds are turned upside down, survival is the number one consideration. I think we can all agree that some of the folks we have served in December have less than desirable lives. It is tough to look at a better future when you don't have enough food on the table or can't afford to purchase tampons.

I teach people to vision - take time to create a compelling narrative around the life they want to create as entrepreneurs. What if we came together as a community and visioned together. I don't mean that we come together and gripe about what some politician isn't doing. I mean coming together to create a vision of what we want our society to look like. What if we then learned as a group to watch our language and take action when we could. What if we helped people who were struggling to vision by visioning for them - holding them up until they gain a little traction.

Let's collectively come together and learn to vision for a better future.  Let's not just hope that we can purchase a sailboat this year or maintain that lakefront property. Let's speak the truth about people and their starting position. Let's talk about the benefit of privilege and put ego in its place.

Sometimes by the time the disadvantaged get to where they could launch, they're so exhausted from surviving poverty that they take a break. A break that they can't get up from. It's called frustration and you'd have to walk a mile in those shoes to really get it. 

I used to feel sorry for myself - burdened because of vision loss and forced to give up a home and go through bankruptcy but I realise now that I was rich in other ways.  I had friends to lean on and family members who could pick up the slack. I had the ability to learn and communicate. I could write and articulate a letter that opened doors.

Can you imagine what it feels like to not be able to advocate for yourself but at the same time not know people who can advocate on your behalf? Try doing that on zero budget. Don't get me started on the impact of disability on a person without the means to support the disability.

In 2018, let's open our eyes and our hearts and show up for our brothers and sisters in need all year long. Nothing to give says the cash strapped entrepreneur? Try mentoring someone to get to the place that you have arrived at.

Don't say you have nothing to give - it could be that you lend your voice. You freely offer a piece of advice. You open a door for someone (I mean a door to resources that others are struggling to open).  Be as generous in July as you are in December.

Reach out to someone that you see struggling. If you have figured out how to vision - teach another person. It is the fundamental core competency of entrepreneurship - the ability to dream and then take appropriate action.

Drive a bit of business in the direction of someone who is struggling. Open up your networks to people. Offer to be a leaning post to a person in need by lending an ear.

I'm proud of what happens in December - of the generous folks all around me, but in 2018, let's see if we can keep the momentum going.

3 Tips for Surviving a Cash Flow Crunch

I have never met a business person who hasn't at one time or another had a cash flow crunch. There may be someone out there, but I've never met one. I know I have had one or two as I ease myself into this thing called business. You're not alone. Here are 3 lessons that I have learned where the rubber hit the road.

1. Don't beat yourself up over it. You got here because of decisions you have made. Accept it, learn from it and move on. No sense getting angry at yourself. It's counter productive.

2. You won't get out of one hole by digging another one.  As much as you may want to borrow from Peter to pay Paul, avoid the impulse. You're already overextended - think of ways to generate more revenue instead of looking for quick fixes. You're in a place of great learning - hard knocks are like that.

3. Get humble real quick.  The thing about good business people is that they're not afraid to humble themselves. Ask for an extension on payment if you need to but only if you won't inconvenience someone else. You need to get through this and keep your business going. Get humble real quick.

My two cents - something needs to change if this becomes a chronic problem in your business. Think long and hard about that.

Learn more about what we do at PeopleCan here.

It's great to have a heart centered business but let's be serious, feeling good won't pay the bills.

My ideal client is just like me - or should I say -  how I used to be. 

They start a business with great big hearts and they just want everyone to have what they're offering because they care about you and YOUR well being, YOUR health, YOUR relationships, where you live or how your children are faring. Care and a heart to serve motivates them.  The heart to serve is great but it's essential to really get the profit motive that makes a business a business. 

I started PeopleCan Training primarily as a way to make money but I was highly motivated by an ethics of care and a heart to serve. I saw too many blue collar businesses out there working long hard hours at their craft while not bringing home enough to pay the bills.  I saw them slave over their amazing products without an ability to charge what they were worth - hence why I started using the word "charge large" which used to make me cringe I might add.

But a heart to serve won't pay the bills without some kickass practical skills around charging, collecting, professionalism and communication.  You can't live on bread alone, nor can you live for long on warm and fussy feelings. 

That's why I created drop in monthly coaching like Are you charging enough? and why I am offering a full day on the topic of money in the new year. People were out there learning about cash flow but there was a blockage in the revenue pipe that was caused by too much heart and not enough profit motive. 

Making money for your business lets you care more and give more and be better at what you do. That's why I ensure that each of my courses includes a piece about money mindset because frankly, I can't do a financial projection without talking about the elephant in the room.  If you're not comfie with the talk about cash - you're not going to last long in this biz.

So if you're ready to root out those cobwebs that might be holding you back. Stay tuned, the details of the full day program Big Bold 2018 will be coming out this week. Join us for a fully day of planning. 

Check out my candid story about my own Money Mindset evolution.