My Motivation For The Cafe Latte Blog
Let me tell you a little bit about the motivation for me to build my Cafe Latte Lifestyles blog.
I became a “home based business women”, because I was looking for a business opportunity to take me from an income of $150 a week (which was far from exciting) at home with a new baby. I was intensely driven to make some extra money and work in a way that I didn’t have to put my son into someone else’s care.
I guess what I did was to grab an opportunity that was right under my nose, and work with all my passion and intensity to grow it into a multi-million dollar turnover business.
The business grew into more than I ever imagined, but here’s the key…
I found something I loved to do… that gave me my dream life… and gave me the opportunity to do what I love best… talk to people and share a cup of coffee
Over the past 14 years I cannot count the number of amazing ideas that have been born in cafes around the world.
Over the last year I have become involved in a business start up that has taken time and effort to bring about and it has make me realize that the thing I miss most is my ability to meet my “girlfriend and my women ‘business associates’” for coffee chats.
To me this is where the real business happens, this is where we get to conceive our ideas, share, network, conceptualize our plans and bring our dreams to reality.
So… my Cafe Latte Lifestyles is all about taking one of the most rewarding journeys we can take… the one that takes us right through our front doors and out into the world to meet with our friends, associates and mentors… because it is so important to share precious moments not only with your family, but also with other women that you can relate to.
Though it may feel like one more thing on your “to do” list, the fact is that reconnecting with other women, and moms, is a way to pamper yourself.
Never underestimate the power of time spent with girlfriends!
Recently I made a conscious decision to make more time to reconnect with some of my special business women friends at ‘our favourite Cafe’s’…now here’s what happened.
Just shortly after I made this intention my phone rang and one of my fabulous ‘entrepreneurial’ friends rang me to catch up for a coffee.
If you understand the Law of Attraction you will know that what you focus on you will manifest in your life. Our conscious and subconscious thoughts create our reality.
As I sat with my friend I got to experience that “delicious feeling’ that emerges when two like minds start to create together, and it’s not surprising that we have come up with a couple of great ideas for joint venturing together, that will not only be FUN but PROFITABLE as well!
I am a firm believer in the Law of Attraction and that what you think you will manifest. Just recently I watched this great DVD called “THE OPUS” which is an extension of the Law of Attraction.
The Opus is an inspirational blueprint for us to take something that is our passion, from vision, to plan, to performance… to create, through our sheer love of creating, something amazing that will leave an indelible mark on our world. Go and check it out at www.TheOpus.com.au
So here’s what I suggest….take your thoughts off “auto pilot” and set some powerful intentions and find some positive ‘friends’ to network your ideas with.
It’s my hope that you’ll spend some time over the next few day connecting with some of your ‘entrepreneurial’ women friends.
I look forward to hearing your stories and I’ll see you in the “Cafe’s of The World!”
Finding Your Ideal Client
Now…I hope you’ve been thinking about your Dream Business….because believe me it’s possible…first let’s begin with how to get started…the right way.
Most people start their business for the wrong reasons –
- they love clothes so they buy a boutique,
- they like cooking so they start a restaurant,
- they like nic nacs so they start a gift shop
No wonder so many business fail within the first 5 years. This is the hard way to do business – because it is starting at the wrong end.
The best way to start a business or any new venture is to “Begin With The End In Mind”.
The best way to start a business is to first find a starving crowd and then feed them, and do it so well, give so much value that they keep coming back for more.
Doing it any other way is like a farmer going out into his yard and scattering grain hoping that the chickens will come. In business it really is a case of finding the chickens and then feeding them the right grain.
Most business go out and get the grain and then wonder why the chickens don’t come knocking at their door.
Of course if you already have a bunch of clients then the best thing you can do is find out what type of grain (product or service) they need in order to thrive.
The first thing you should be looking for is a problem that is shared by lots of people and then set out to solve their problem – sound too easy – doesn’t it.
Let’s look at it this way – people will only buy something if it:
- Solves a problem
- They really, really want it
- They have a fear and they need a solution
- They have a frustration that they want to go away
In other words what are their greatest – Wants Needs Fears and Frustrations?
How do you find your target market or your ideal client?
- You should be offering what you do best (your niche)
- To a group of people (your ideal client)
- Who hang out together in some organized fashion (your marketplace)
- Who desperately need and will pay for what it is that you offer (your target or niche market).
So a good definition for your niche or target market would be:
“Your target market is composed of individuals and businesses that have similar interests and needs, that can be readily identified and can be easily targeted and reached.”
Whatever target market you choose to pursue, make sure it involves something you either care about or want to do.
There are so many choices and opportunities out there that you should be able to find the fit between a money-making business and your passion and talents.
You’ll make much more money attracting a smaller stream of ideal prospects to your business or service than a deluge of wrong ones.
This is the key to operating a successful business. The more focused you can become in defining what you do and in describing the group who needs what you do, the more effective your marketing becomes. Weeding out all those prospects who don’t fit your niche, target market, or ideal client profile will leave you with a much better qualified pool of prospective clients.
So when I speak to you next I want you to be thinking about “who is your ideal client”.
See you in the Café’s of the World!
Can We Really Have It All?
The question I hear so often from my women friends is “Can we really have it all?” – “Is there really a way to have both personal and business success?”
As women, we take on so many different roles: wife, mother, friend, homemaker, business maker and it seems we are so often so busy caring for everyone else that we find it difficult to find the time to care for ourselves and dare I say follow our own “passion”. In fact we are often so busy helping everyone else develop their passions that we lose touch with what our own “passion” really is.
Suddenly we find ourselves at 40+ asking ourselves the tough question “Is it too late for me to follow my bliss and find my own passion”
Well I am here to tell you that – yes it is possible. From one who has been there and done it. To achieve the at home mum, lifestyle business – that I call my “Cafe Latte Lifestyle” by finding the balance to be both a successful home based business woman with time and lifestyle freedom and a full time mum…
Running your own home based business gives you the opportunity to utilize all your innate skills. There is no doubt that women are born networkers, communicators, promoters and story tellers… that is why they make the perfect entrepreneurs.
We seem to have been born with the natural tendencies to promote our products and services, especially the ones that we have had personal success with and we naturally communicate trust. The thing that I have found that holds women back most of all is that they just don’t know where to start.
Over the next few weeks I will be sharing with you some of the strategies that I have learned for getting started… You see, what most people do is they get a brilliant idea that they get all excited about… but then you start to have doubts and start focusing on all the work involved and get bogged down in the details.
My advice to you…before you start to get snowed under with all the things you have to do (or in many cases “think” you have to do), there are some simple steps that you can take to push forward – through the ‘doubt barrier’ and start heading for the success that you deserve.
Right now I urge you to put “Develop my Dream Business” at the top of your TO DO LIST… and work towards turning your passion into a real “Cafe Latte Lifestyle”
See you in the Cafes of the world
