Smash The Bottom Line Maddie Brown

When your car’s suspension is out of alignment it can make driving difficult… even dangerous. The same goes for your business, says branding expert and business coach Helene Scott. She advocates creating guiding principles for your company that will inform every decision you make, from how you speak with customers to your marketing campaigns to the partnerships you take on to your website.

Neal Parker’s dad didn’t buy him a car at age 16… and that set him on a lifelong journey of entrepreneurship. Along the way, he’s learned many lessons in business and life that he shares today that can impact your financial success… while making sure you don’t lose yourself in the process. He admits that there is a luck factor in success. But in order to take advantage of that lucky opportunity, says Neal, you need to have skills and knowledge to take advantage of it fully.

Leadership is something that most people think is an innate skill… something you’re born with. But leadership can be learned. And, says Rocio Perez, founder of Inventiva Consulting, even natural leaders should be examining what makes them effective… and figuring out how to take it to the next level.

Deb Brown, founder of Touch Your Client’s Heart, loves to surprise and delight her coaching clients. How does she do it? It’s something you already do… but probably only with friends and family. It’s just one strategy Deb uses and promotes to strengthen the most important element for success in any business: relationships.

Are you charging enough for your services? There’s a good chance you’re not, says marketing consultant M. Shannon Hernandez. She’s seen too many coaches and consultants setting fees that make it impossible to make a healthy profit. They have a hobby – not a business… and don’t even realize it.

Leadership coach Dawn DelVecchio presents a harsh reality: 80% of entrepreneurs out there right now are going to crash and burn. In our interview, Dawn explains what sets the other 20% apart. It’s not their startup capital, number of clients, marketing plan, or anything like that. She calls it the “inner compass.” We get into the nitty-gritty of what that means and face some harsh – but also enlightening – truths.