Let’s face it. Running a successful business enterprise is not easiest thing to accomplish.

Your struggles could be result of factors beyond your own control or factors within your control --- your own actions and decisions.

FACTORS OUTSIDE YOUR OWN CURRENT CONTROL

If your business is stagnating or dying, there are several factors that could be cause of your current financial discomfort:

· Your local economy could be suffering stagnation or negative growth. · Your competition might be fiercely competing for your customer base. · The building, into which you have signed a lease, might be seen by local residents as home of businesses that fail, so they will not support you until you have proven your long term viability. · You could be in a terrible location and trapped by your lease.

FACTORS WITHIN YOUR OWN CONTROL

On other side of coin, there are several more factors that could be causing you pain that are well within your control:

· You are not spending enough time planning for future of your business. · You are not spending enough time or resources on developing and distributing good advertising. · You do not have enough staff available to fill incoming orders or to serve interested customers. · You are simply mismanaging your financial or human resources.

THE MOST ABUSED HUMAN RESOURCE IN MOST BUSINESSES

By watching activities of many small business owners, one has to ask themselves if business owners are masochistic?

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com MASOCHISTIC - adj : 2. The deriving of pleasure, or tendency to derive pleasure, from being humiliated or mistreated, either by another or by oneself. 3. A willingness or tendency to subject oneself to unpleasant or trying experiences.

How is it that I can even venture to suggest this definition fits behavior of many small business owners?

Simple. Small business owners often submit themselves and their families to demands of their business. Sometimes to detriment of those involved in their lives.

Of course, one could argue that small business owner is sacrificing his or herself for long-term benefit of their families and themselves.

1. What am I really afraid of?

Addressing this issue right here is worth of an article all by itself! You may have heard somewhere that FEAR really stands for False Evidence Appearing Real. However, some fears are needed and rational. You wouldn’t stick your hand in a burning fire place or run into oncoming traffic, for example!

But some examples of common fears that don’t really serve you are: fears of success (I’ll lose my friends), of failure, of unknown, of never having courage to go for it, of losing your social life, and so on.

Instead of letting these fears paralyze you, write them down, and then consider confronting them and making new opportunities for yourself. Visualize fear as shell of a nut that needs to be cracked. Use your mental nutcracker to break shell.

Pushing through your comfort zone can be frightening sometimes, but if you just push through it and do it, you may surprise yourself. An amazing amount of growth can take place each time you do. Courage is a wonderful thing. It comes from within, but can be brought out faster if you’re surrounded by people who can encourage you to move forward.

2. How is money or finances holding me back?

Financing and money are two of biggest factors that people claim hold them back from reaching a big dream or goal. This is a fallacy. Resources, especially in area of people and social capital, do not always come with a financial cost.

Tap your creativity. A good start would be to write down your dreams, big and bold, then tell people you trust about your dreams. At least one person will be able to hook you up with someone who knows someone else who can help you.

If financing is really an issue, work gradually. Have a garage sale or auction some of your items on Ebay. At same time, pay attention to your expenses, and do some trimming on your personal budget.

If starting a business is your passion, please check out your local Small Business Development Center. Visit http://www.sba.gov and find a center near you. They can advise you and also give you sources for small business loans. Also remember that internet and library are wonderful resources. The library is free, and internet is inexpensive. You can’t go wrong with those two.

3. How are my conversations about "a lack of time" stopping me in my tracks?

I understand probably more than most how life can sometimes get in way and really upset a schedule, but if you think you never have any time, a couple of things could also be at play: You could be procrastinating and letting distractions interfere, or you may have a very optimistic time frame for your list of goals or “to-do” lists. Big dreams don’t happen in a day, but build daily.

If you feel you’ve taken on too much, see if you can delegate some of that responsibility to someone else. Taking baby steps daily will help make sense of overwhelm subside—that, and a good cup of Tension Tamer Tea! If you’d like to change relationship you have with time, you might be interested in my free six-day e- course. You can sign up here: < http://unlimitedpersonalgrowth.com/ >.

4. But shouldn’t I only be in this particular role?

You aren’t tied to one identity. You encompass many personas as you go through life. It’s actually possible to be wife (or husband or partner, etc.), mom or dad, friend, business owner, employee, all at once, if that is what you desire and you learn balancing act. The point is that there is only one “you”. Even identical twins have nuances that are unique from each other. So choose your role, and go for it!

5. How do I go about pursuing my dream? Where can I find a good support system?