Nothing is more important in business today than to build a brand that others want to follow. It is better to be a BIG FISH in a small pond than a small fish in a BIG POND. What this truly refers to is building a niche, a specialization with your brand, that creates a targeted market.

Women entrepreneurs must avoid the compulsion to be all things to all people. Early in your business customers will ask you to perform services that are not compatible with what you offer. Resist the urge to provide these services. Of course, if you are a CPA you can provide bookkeeping services, but if this is not your brand you will only be selling yourself cheap.

Of course, if you are a human resource consultant you can  recruit, but there are only so many hours in the day and spending any time on what your business doesn't do only takes away time from building a business and a customer base interested specifically in your niche.

Writing a business plan and referring to it often helps keep you on track with why you started the business in the first place. If you don't have an elaborate business plan, please take the time now to write down on paper the vision for your business. (Go to www.chic-ceo.com to get started)

For example, I meet too many women entrepreneurs who are completely torn between being a bricks and mortar business or an online company. The model for these very distinct businesses requires very different strategies. If you find yourself going one way and than wishing you had gone the other, it is more than likely that you did not plan adequately to succeed understanding that the startup phase would be slow.

Take a look at the image above - can you envision yourself as the BIG FISH? Can you perceive your customers getting in line behind you, following you to be part of something new and exciting?

With a carefully prepared vision, written down on paper so others on your team can participate in it, you can develop a niche business that will attract customers away from the competition to follow you.

Every small business will hit a bump in the road as it goes along regardless of how well the plan was conceived. But, if you allow yourself to say yes to customer demands or market demands that alter your strategic plan early in the game you will become that small fish in the BIG POND ----trying earnestly to compete with those companies that had a head start on you.

Be Bold - Be Daring - Be Adventurous - Be Visionary - Be Extreme - Be Bigger than you ever thought you could Be - Be a Big Fish and all the little fishes will get in line to follow you to victory.

Need help with creating the vision for your business, email me for a free 30-minute consultation.