By Daniel M. Murphy on 9/24/2009

"Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds." ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt.  As a business owner, do you ever feel like a prisoner to your business?  A prisoner to your employees and customers?  Do you sometimes feel like you work a demanding job instead of owning a thriving business?  If so, you are not alone.

As your virtual business coach, allow me to ask you some additional tough but revealing questions.  As a business owner, could you leave your business today for...

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By Daniel M. Murphy on 9/17/2009

I was watching a professional football game this past Sunday.  While I have always realized that professional athletes earn and get paid millions of dollars, something deeper struck me.  My Growth Coach business coaching antennae went up.  Not only do they earn millions of dollars, but it's for a few hours of actual "game time" a week.  Now that's incredible financial leverage!  Movie stars and rock stars do the same thing, focusing their time, talents and efforts almost exclusively on what they do best and getting paid extremely well for it.  

...

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By Daniel M. Murphy on 9/10/2009

My house is surrounded by dozens and dozens of trees.  Twice a year, my house gutters get clogged with seeds in the spring and leaves in the fall.  When the gutters clog with such clutter, the rains come and the water cascades off my roof like a waterfall.  One year the waterfall filled up a window well and then pored into my basement.  This year I said "no more" and got leaf filters installed on my gutters.  While not cheap, I at least have peace of mind. 

That got this business coach thinking. ...

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By Daniel M. Murphy on 9/3/2009

Business owner, are you a hands-on technician?  Do you tend to get lost in the daily, technical trenches of your business?  Are you working almost exclusively "in" the business instead of "on" the business?  Do you suffer from the condition we business coaches call, The Technician's Addiction?  

If so, that's an exhausting way to run a business and live a life.  You work multiple roles and handle multiple tasks.  Instead of owning a business, you end up working a tough job.  Yet, you still...

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By Daniel M. Murphy on 8/27/2009

Lately, in louder and greater numbers, I have heard small business owners talking about the "good old days".  It's not surprising.  In these challenging times, many entrepreneurs feel like they are "swimming upstream and against the current."  They long for the simpler, easier, better days.  Unfortunately, many owners right now think their glory days are behind them.  That's sad.  Such a mindset is incredibly limiting and damaging.  It causes one's business vision (mental picture of an ideal future) to...

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By Daniel M. Murphy on 8/20/2009

For your business to grow and improve, YOU must grow and improve.  Sorry, there's no shortcut around that fact.  If you stop growing as an owner and leader, so does your business.  For your business to get better, YOU must get better.  You must expand your business vision, knowledge, mindsets, skills, and habits.  Or, be content to stay where you are or worse yet, lose ground.  Your choice!

Please don't misinterpret the point of this business coaching blog.  It's not about the importance of...

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By Daniel M. Murphy on 8/13/2009

When beginning a business, always start with the end in mind.  Eventually, you will one day want to sell your business... that's how substantial wealth is created.  Also, there is usually a time when the original founder needs to step aside and let the business evolve and grow to a much higher level.  Therefore, even if you have owned a business for years, you should gradually be getting it ready to be sold and to survive without you.  It is never too soon or too late to position your business to...

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By Daniel M. Murphy on 8/6/2009

Why do we business owners torture ourselves?  Because we often measure our current results against perfection (our ideal goals).  With that measuring stick, there will be lots of disappointment.  More times than not, we will come up short and feel frustrated.  Are we crazy?  YES!  We seldom take time to enjoy the journey and gauge our incredible progress.  We tend to only look ahead and not behind to see our progress.  I am guilty of this.

Case in point.  The Growth Coach, a North American...

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By Daniel M. Murphy on 7/30/2009

Small business owners and entrepreneurs continually battle against the competition, economy, finances, government regulations, employee issues, busyness, denial, distractions, and a host of other challenges.  Such COMPLEXITY is simply the "price of admission" for being a successful entrepreneur.  However, if you don't learn to manage such complexity, it will crush you and your business.

However, please don't become overwhelmed by all these issues.  In fact, all these issues are not the real...

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By Daniel M. Murphy on 7/23/2009

Business coaching done right is about helping someone else (the client) to discover for themselves what needs to change in their business and life... so that they may achieve greater success and fulfillment.  Coaching empowers the client to solve their own problems and seize their own opportunities.  While a business coach will help open new doors and opportunities, it's still up to the client to walk through them.  When it's all said and done, business coaching is part science, part art...the science...

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