An Entrepreneur Who Knows Her Why - business serving a higher purpose

Kortney Olson , founder of the GRRRL  brand

Kortney Olson is carving out a niche space in the multi-billion dollar industry of women’s active / leisure wear. She is the founder and dynamic CEO of “GRRRL”, a brand that reflects a spirit of physicality, independence and authenticity.

Traditional sportswear brands tend to target women of “standard” sizes, whereas the GRRRL brand caters for women of all sizes and their marketing specifically features women of large plus sizing.

Like any entrepreneur, Kortney’s motivation and determination in establishing and growing her business is fuelled by a vision – but it is one that is deeply rooted in driving social change and female empowerment. The brand is associating itself with leading female ambassadors from sports that include weightlifting, martial arts and body-building. High profile brand ambassadors (such as Holly Holman, the UFC mixed martial arts champion) get on board because they share the same values of inspiring women to become more self-accepting of their body image.

"We want women to find the awesome and extraordinary within themselves”

The company’s tagline “It’s Time to Change the Game” speaks for what the business stands for. The website explains “…..Our clothes won’t change the world, but the women who wear them will….. We want women to find the awesome and extraordinary within themselves”

A brand that says to women - "Be true to who you are"

Since the establishment of the business in 2015, growth has been phenomenal - with over 30,000 customers spread across more than 20 countries. 

Kortney established the business as a means of generating funding for her “Kamp Konfidence”, a training and personal development program that aims to inspire teenage girls to develop stronger foundations of self-respect and self-love. 

The incidence of suicide and self-harm amongst teenage girls is alarming and Kortney believes this can be reduced through educating young people to develop their skills in resilience, assertiveness and self-esteem, so they are more capable of with-standing peer group pressures that exist around drugs, sexuality, bullying and body-image.

Kortney’s passion is encouraging women to stop looking for acceptance and approval outside of themselves and instead find it within. Her zeal is partly fuelled by her own early struggles with depression, drugs and rape. She readily admits that for several years she seriously lost her way and was barely surviving in a deeply dark place - but eventually regained a sense of direction, faith and clarity of purpose in her life.

Strong is the new pretty at GRRRL

Kortney is using these experiences to connect with young women who may be facing similar struggles and she seeks to inspire them with the confidence to follow their dreams. 

Kortney agreed to share some of the lessons, tips and insights she has gained so far as an entrepreneur who is building a successful business (which recently featured in Forbes magazine). However she explains it is a business whose higher goal is more than just making a profit .....I asked her 5 questions –

1   
      1. Running and growing a business takes a lot of stamina and inner fortitude. You were a professional athlete Kortney, and perhaps thereby possessed the benefit of bringing an ability to focus and persevere to your business. But what about other aspiring entrepreneurs, what advice would you offer them for getting through the difficult times?

That’s a great question Brian.  I believe my dogged attitude actually comes from something other than having an athletic background.  It comes from being a recovered drug addict/alcoholic!  Upon completing treatment, many of us still carry traits of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder).  I realised a long time ago that I could turn that OCD into something incredibly powerful. 

Recovering alcoholics and addicts are often given labels by society – and a social stigma will often accompany this – however we don’t have to allow these to hold us back.  For me, it was about a flip of perspective – turning a weakness into a strength. 

An integral part of my growth as a business owner has been accompanied by my commitment to personal growth and self-development.  Something I found incredibly helpful back in early 2015, was taking the “natural gift assessment”.  As part of an intensive self-improvement program, I learned that we are all born with various inherent gifts and that I have 3 “primary” gifts ….. The gift of Encouragement (explains why people like and trust me); The gift of Evangelism (explains why if I have love or belief in something or someone, then the world is going to know about it), and the third (which apparently is rare to have as a primary gift) is The gift of Giving. 

The gift of giving means that when I see a problem in the world, it’ll keep me up at night until I see that it’s fixed.  I have come to believe that if we are able to understand what our primary natural born gifts are, then we can harness these powers to our benefit (and to the benefit of others around us) - and better understand the reason why we are programmed the way we are.

Also let me add Brian, I have recently found myself being invited to speak at business conferences, and I have developed a keynote speech which I call “Goals Not Controls”.  In a nutshell, I share my experience that as entrepreneurs many of us often get TOO caught up in all of the details of what we think things are supposed to look like - right down to the very smallest detail.  Instead, as we learn to focus more on the overall end result, and less upon the means of achieving that result, we free ourselves up for the possibility that sometimes the Universe will have a different plan for how we will get there.

     2. What have you learned about surrounding yourself with the right team of people, in order to grow a successful business?

Yes, surrounding yourself with positive, uplifting people is CRUCIAL!  I believe we eventually become the sum of the 5 top people we most hang around with....

Since I’ve been in Singapore, I’ve been searching for mentors to help guide and direct me because I know how important this is.  I am convinced that the growth of my business is directly proportional to my on-going growth as a human being ….. and the people with whom I most regularly associate with will influence my learning and growth …..  

In my business (and my life), I want people around me who possess strengths and qualities that complement my own, people whom I can trust – and people who ultimately help to bring out the best in me.  

I recall reading once that Warren Buffet said that when he was hiring senior people to join his business, there were three qualities he particularly looked for – Intelligence, Drive and Integrity. But above all – he regarded integrity as the quality that he valued most.

     3. The “GRRRL” brand is carving out a real niche in the women’s active/leisure wear industry. You have built a HUGE social media following …. What marketing advice would you offer to small business owners – who typically however are operating with a very limited marketing budget.

We’ve bootstrapped this brand to the moon and back.  It may surprise you that we spend very little on marketing - in fact, less than 5%. 

What people are drawn to, is authenticity……  I believe we’re at a tipping point where people are really starting to cut through the nonsense and wake up to who genuinely resonates with them and helps them see-through all of the “smoke and mirrors”.

For me, business is about showing up on a consistent basis.

With social media, it’s about putting myself out there in ALL states which has really spoken to my audience and enabled me to connect with them.  I don’t sugar coat anything.  I’ve posted pictures of myself crying in complete and utter frustration. …… Even though I once had a mentor tell me that leaders don’t show emotion and cry, I have made a conscious decision to always keep it real.  For me, authenticity is the way forward.

      4. What would you say has been one of the major hurdles you’ve had to overcome in your business journey so far – and what did you learn?

The biggest hurdle has been cash flow.  It’s probably a headache that many other owners of small and medium size businesses can relate to!

At this point in the growth of my business, ever cent is going back into inventory…… But- one thing I have learned is this – the power of prayer and trusting that the Universe has a plan……. I believe that as long as my business goals are such that others will gain benefit – as opposed to goals that are purely about self-benefit, then I believe that the Universe will provide me with the necessary means for achieving my goals. This faith has kept me showing up time and time again. 

When I say the word “prayer”, I’m not necessarily meaning in a religious context.  I know that it can be a loaded word, carrying connotations of some type of “God”. 

But even an atheist can simply look around and keep an open mind that there is SOMETHING else out there beyond this material world that we have access to if we ask for help.  Every entrepreneur should read the classic book Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.  It’s here he talks about “the ether”.  It’s this ether that I refer to as “The Universe”. 

I do not wish to sound like a zealot. But at the end of the day, all I know is that for me, there is a God, and I am NOT it. 

If I show up on a daily basis, and ask this higher power (God, or whatever you want to call it) for guidance, and to show me how to serve humanity through my business, and not my selfish, self-centred ego -  then things always seem to have a way of eventually working out. 

It also takes some of the pressure off of me personally, as I believe there is a “higher power” that can help guide and inspire me in the way I run my business (and my life) which can enable me to better serve our planet.

      5. Kortney, so much of what you are doing with “GRRRL” and “Kamp Konfidence” is motivated by your passion for women’s empowerment….. Do you believe that an entrepreneur can succeed if their motivation is solely about making money by providing a “solution to a problem”, or does it need to be more than that?

Providing a solution to a problem is the fundamental premise of how business has been done for the last 100 years.  If you’ve watched the recent film “The Founder” about the McDonalds Brothers and Ray Kroc, I think it reveals a lot about the most basic principles of traditional business.  Value is in the eye of the customer; quality is about maintaining an expected standard consistently; and ensure the customer and accessibility is kept at the forefront of all product development decisions. In addition to these basic business principles, the film also displayed how the pursuit of profit could sometimes be ruthless – presenting Kroc as someone who eventually cared more about money than the relationship he had originally built with the brothers.

However I think we have seen some shifts in the business landscape over the past ten years …… There has been an emergence of brands like GRRRL – and also for example, Tesla and The Body Shop, which exist for a purpose greater than just solving a problem and turning a profit. ….. Whilst we are solving a problem, it’s a much higher level problem than just plugging a gap in the marketplace and meeting a consumer need. At its core, there is a cherished vision of a social benefit that is driving the business – which is one that I believe our customers, associates and staff can all genuinely become engaged with.  

Each of us must find our own way.... For me, building a business that is as much about serving a "Higher Purpose" as it is about being profitable, has provided me with a sense of meaning and personal fulfilment that I had been searching for in my life. 

Thank you for sharing your experiences with us Kortney.  You can find out more  about the GRRRL story at - https://www.grrrl.com/au/  More information about the self-empowerment workshops that Kortney Olson runs for teenage girls can be found at Kamp Konfidence on Facebook - enquiries from potential new corporate sponsors for the workshops are always welcome.

Other articles that might be of interest - The Inner Game of Business and also How To Flourish - lessons from positive psychology

5 Simple Ways to Improve Cash Flow in Your Business

As a startup or even home-based business owner, it can be hard to establish a name for yourself. One of the early challenges is that you are initially relatively unknown to the market, with an accompanying challenge typically being that you don’t have enough resources and network connections to build the profile you need.

This is the reason why many startups often don’t blossom into a sustainable business. Aside from the early lack of financial resources, there is the harsh reality of ensuring that you have found a way to differentiate yourself from your competition.

Cash flow strain is another one of the most common difficulties for many small business owners. However here are a few simple tips that can help to increase cash flow for your small business .....

1.   Accept different modes of payment.

Making the customer’s purchasing experience as hassle-free and efficient as possible will enable better cash flow. This includes sending out your invoices immediately and also accepting various modes of payment (whether through credit, PayPal or cash on delivery). This gives the customer more options to settle and they can choose which is the most convenient for them - making transactions with you easier and faster.

2.   Implement “pay on time” incentives.

One way to motivate your customers to pay right on time is to implement incentives whenever they do. This can be through small discounts or rebates whenever they pay on time (ie. before or on due date). Additionally, you might consider implementing penalties for customers who pay late.

3.   Affordable marketing .

Obviously improving sales will improve your cash flow. This can be achieved either by selling more to your existing customers - or by increasing your customer base. Winning more customers means thinking about how you market your business and how you will stand out from your competition, so as to be "front of mind" for your customers.

However, haphazard marketing and promotions can easily drain your business capital and expenses - but by using affordable and targeted strategies, you can maximize your sales return. 

One way is through content marketing, where you aim to inform and educate customers about your industry and establish yourself as an authority in that niche. This type of marketing is more affordable and it can give you high returns when it is done right. An increasing number of businesses are using social media marketing to communicate and engage with their customers more effectively.

4.   Keep track of your expenses.

If you have a hard time maintaining records of your cash flow and expenses, it is usually best to hire an accountant or book-keeper to take responsibility for that. Getting the right accounting program or app for tracking and reporting your finances will make your life easier – and make tax time less stressful.

It is important not just to accurately record your cash inflow and outflow – but also to monitor this regularly. This helps you measure your actual return on investment - and to determine whether your operating expenses and promotional tactics are in any way worth it.

It is also important to be able to separate your personal expenses from actual business expenses (which is usually mixed up when you run a small business).

5.   Cut costs - wisely.

You can improve cash flow by reducing operating expenses in your business. However be careful that in a frantic zeal to cut costs, you don’t strip away what could be important drivers of your business. Sometimes you’ve got to be willing to spend money to make money…….. For example, you can cut costs by no longer doing any advertising, sponsorship or promotions – but it’s likely your enquiries and leads will eventually start drying up……. So, it’s all about the wise pruning of expenses. 

Maybe you can look at negotiating better deals with your suppliers. See if you can get a better rate for example from your power company - otherwise consider changing suppliers. Even a home-based business can have significant power bills. 

Another idea to consider is getting shared office space at a lower cost – instead of leasing your own private office or premises. A novel idea is whether you might allow staff to sometimes work from home on certain days, which would help save on phone and power bills.

In closing, let me say that being a startup entrepreneur is not easy, especially if you lack experience in things like accounting, marketing or doing sales projections. But with the right preparation, a positive mindset and a desire to continue to learn and improve, then these challenges can be overcome.

Guest Author

Gemma Reeves is a seasoned writer who enjoys creating helpful articles and interesting stories. She is an entrepreneur who aims to assist other aspiring entrepreneurs in finding the best office space for their business.  You can check out her company here: -FindMyWorkspace

Small business and how to boost your sales success

Making a sale begins with finding a prospective customer

Attracting a customer and making a sale goes to the heart of any business. It’s sales that pumps money into your business. But this can’t mean sales at any price! It’s got to be a profitable sale and a win-win for both parties - particularly if we’re talking about you as an entrepreneur building a sustainable small business that is viable for the long term.

Quite often the entrepreneur is a brilliant technician. Maybe you’re like the bulk of small businesses in Australia - people who started out as “self-employed”. That is for example a mechanic, or plumber, or consultant, or hairdresser, or electrician, or musician, or artist, or accountant, or lawyer, or landscape gardener, or ……

Sales require strategy + process + selling skills

Sales and selling is often something that isn't particularly easy for many people in business – certainly this was the case for me when I began my consulting business over 25 years ago!  Perhaps this could be because many of us retain a distasteful stereotype of the old-school “pushy” car salesman seeking to manipulate us with tactics. None of us want to be seen like that …… And selling can become even more uncomfortable if you’re not naturally a so-called extroverted personality!

But in business – sales is as much about having efficient customer-friendly processes and procedures in place as it is about having selling skills. There's not much point to gaining an order for your product or service, if it's not delivered in good quality and on time as promised.

But let's return to the people side of the equation ..... I am convinced that anyone can improve their selling skills ….. It is about a combination of gaining techniques to help you listen better, to help you understand what your customer is wanting to achieve, and to help you present your solution in a clear and enticing way.

Effective sales comprise identifying opportunities and potential customers, generating leads from these opportunities and converting these leads and enquiries into sales at a profitable margin.  Sales is about attracting new customers to your business – just be careful it’s not at the expense of retaining existing customers …. And sales is about being alert for up-selling and cross-selling opportunities that genuinely benefit the customer.

I had a fascinating conversation recently with Ingrid Maynard, the founder of Melbourne, Australia based business The Sales Dr, who has more than 20 years’ experience working and consulting in the field of sales. She conducts master-classes in Selling Skills and advises business owners around Australia, Asia, the U.S and the U.K on how to leverage both their people and their technology to increase sales

1.     What was your early motivation in starting up your own business and what do you find most fulfilling about running your business now ?

I’ve always known that I wanted to create a business doing something that I loved.  It became a must for me even when I was working with The Body Shop….I just didn’t know what it would be!  What I discovered was that a business finds you, and that’s what happened to me. 

I won’t go into the whole story, but an opportunity I had grew and grew and grew to the point where I knew I had a business on my hands and could use a little help!  When I started Harvest (my first business), I wanted to bring some of the values I’d lived from The Body Shop into my own business.  So part of that was employing mums returning to the workplace and providing them with free childcare.  This meant that I was able to attract and retain loyal employees: Two of them stayed with me for 6 and 7 years respectively.

I love the creativity of having my own business, knowing that I can express what I love in a way that brings value for others.  I also love that my business will only grow to the extent that I grow, and to me, having a business is the best personal development tool in the world.

2.     You talk about the sales machine of a business comprising three core inter-dependent elements – prospecting, conversion and retention. .... In larger organisations these may be quite separate functions, with different staff specialising in each different part of the sales process  However as you know, the small business entrepreneur starting out will typically attempt to wear many different hats themselves. When should they look at outsourcing prospecting – which can be most time consuming - and what advice would you offer with this?

When I talk about creating a sales machine, what I mean is creating a sales system that works for your business.  Like any machine, it works for you not the other way around.  You program it, you monitor it, maintain/service it and make any adjustments or improvements as required.

The machine needs to have 3 key elements:

       i.         Attract new customers

     ii.          Convert contacts to sales

    iii.          Delight customers so they become part of your sales team

When it comes to small business, these functions don’t necessarily need to be people like they would be in a larger organization so leveraging technology, processes and content, with software such as InfusionSoft, sales machines are more readily available to everyone.

As the business owner, know which element of this process is your greatest strength and ensure you own it.  With the elements that you’re not as strong, get support.

Prospecting is something most people avoid, so if you know you’ll get more leverage meeting more of the right sales opportunities to convert than spending time on the phone, then it makes sense to outsource this element. 

When selecting the right provider, you’ll need to consider:

·         Investment vs return: don’t just choose the least expensive option.  Remember that for many of your prospects, this call will be their first impression of your company, and you can’t afford to get it wrong.  And you’ll also need to determine your budget or cost of acquisition.  It shouldn’t cost you more to acquire a new client than you’ll generate in revenue.

·         Training: how do they recruit and develop their callers?  How confident are you that you’ll be represented in the best possible way?

·         Reports: how transparent are they with their activity and what is their expected rate of conversion from hours to meetings

·         Be realistic: remember it’s an opportunity to meet with more of the right prospects so be clear about what is important for the callers to identify, and focus more on relationship and first impressions than on “selling” your service at this very early stag

3.     Let’s take a look at converting leads and enquiries to sales ...... Why do some businesses fail to effectively convert –  have you found that the fault tends to lie more commonly with the poor quality of  leads generated or is it with deficiencies in the personal selling skills of sales people?

Failure to convert leads and enquiries is usually a combination of both poor quality leads and deficiencies in the personal selling skills of sales people.  

Start by having absolute clarity as to your company’s why.  Once you know this, you can determine who to target and how to target them.

Without wanting to sound clichéd, take time to understand the pains and pleasures of your prospective clients and develop a question deck to use in a face to face meeting with prospects that will help you both identify their pain fast, and identify what they want to achieve and why in order for you to establish the best way for you to create value for them.

Train your team to enable them to confidently understand how to skillfully navigate these questions to qualify prospects and enquiries.

In addition, even if someone has made an enquiry, they may still have fears about working with a service like yours and it’s your job to bring any objections or commonly asked questions out on the table first.

And your process needs to reel them in gradually so that at every opportunity you’re building a sense of what it will be like to work with you, and get them keener and keener as you go.

Ask your team to individually write down your sales process.  If you have more than one version, it’s a sign that you need to regroup, and ensure everyone is on the same page for maximum momentum.

So essentially, it comes down to:

       i. Knowing why prospects have come to you  

     ii.  Possessing a comprehensive sales toolkit

    iii.  Training your staff, so that everyone is singing from the same songbook

    iv.  Efficient processes to ensure your customer receives what was promised

4.     Through your sales coaching work, you’ve observed hundreds of sales people – what are some of the most common mistakes that you see them making? ..... Do you still see sales-people out there, attempting to too quickly “sell a product” rather than find the right “solution”?

All the time!  And it’s an easy trap to fall into. ….. I’ve found the most common mistake is when we get into a scarcity mentality: “I’ve got to make my target!” and then desperation in achieving a sale at any price will flavour any conversations with prospects.  Prospects will sense this and will rarely be attracted or engaged.  Because the conversation or meeting is all about what the salesperson wants/needs and ceases to be about the prospect. 

This is where salespeople get locked into a narrow “convince and persuade mode”, where prices/margins are squeezed needlessly, where a transaction instead of a long play approach is taken and when a salesperson won’t say no, even when they know the outcome won’t be good for one or both parties.

Coming from a mind-set of abundance means you can be totally present with a client or prospective client.  The conversation becomes about solving your client’s underlying pain and creating value.  Even if that might mean not taking them on as a client. 

When you are a business owner who is also a sales person, your job is to find prospective Raving Fans, so you’re qualifying prospects “out” as much as you’re qualifying prospects “in”.  If you’re not a good fit for one another, it will be better for both parties that you recognise when to walk away and refer them to someone else.

5.     What are the differences and similarities with B2B sales compared to B2C selling?

To me, sales is about building relationships and making connection and treating every person as a client (knowing they’ll either buy today, in the future or refer someone to you or all 3!)

Every customer should have an exceptional experience as they have their pain points addressed and their desires fulfilled. 

The temptation with B2C sales is to treat customers as transactions as the sales cycle is shorter than it is with B2B clients.  While that’s true, having a” long play” mentality will create a tribe of Raving Fans who are so connected to you, to your brand and organization that they drive others to your business as well as choosing you over anyone else in your space.

With B2B, you’re able to be more selective with the prospective clients you want to target and proactively approach them as well as using other marketing strategies to generate inbound enquiries.  With B2C it’s more typical to use attraction strategies such as advertising, brand and marketing to drive business to you, in order to then capture them.

6.     I know that you’re passionate about the need for small business owners to have the right mind-set..... Can you share some thoughts on this theme?

Absolutely!  “State” or mind-set is key to achieving anything. 

It’s difficult to be resourceful when you’re fearful or in a scarcity mindset because your brain literally shuts down.  So you need to have practical ways of changing your state of mind to be as useful to you as possible in order to achieve what you need to!

Regardless of whether my clients are part of a sales team, are sales leaders or business owners, I teach them why the following mindsets are crucial to their success, and how to build rituals around creating and maintaining them:

Abundance: creating a sales and business philosophy that recognizes that there is more than enough for everyone, and where I create the most value is where I’ll be the most successful

Accountability: recognizing that there is always part of an outcome that has been the direct or indirect responsibility of you as an individual.  Owning your part in it, learning from it and then moving forward

Commitment to ongoing growth and improvement: when we enter into any situation with an open mind and a sense of curiosity, we are open to learning something new.  As soon as we think we already know, we close ourselves off to possibility and new information.  It’s never ending, and as such, is exciting.

Having a clear why: when you have clarity around your purpose as a business owner, it crystallises what you need to do, how you need to do it and creates a stronger sustained desire for taking action.  Clarity of purpose enables you to eliminate activities that are not core and aligned to your purpose.

Part of my role as a sales coach is to help business owners develop rituals and routines that will empower them and anchor them in positive mindsets.  These are as individual as the person themselves, so I work to explore what works for each client, and help them to ritualize them so they can go into that state whenever they need to.

 7.     Any final tips?

Keep on learning and growing.  As a business owner you’re always selling:  whether it’s an idea to your team, selling your value to customers, getting a bank loan or marketing to your database.  Because selling well is both a science and an art, there is always more to learn about yourself so you can build on your strengths to let the world know about you and support yourself in the areas where you need help. Whether you do this formally through training, coaching or study - or informally through podcasts, books or networking, make it a regular habit. Investing in your own growth will invariably grow your business.

Thank you to Ingrid, for some great tips on both sales strategy, process and selling skills

About the interviewer
Brian Carroll is the founder of Performance Development, a training business in Melbourne, Australia.  He is an experienced management coach with a passion for helping people achieve their goals in life and business. You can find out more about Brian at his Google + profile

For Entrepreneurs -- The inner game of business

Self-awareness is essential to succeed as an entrepreneur

When you're preparing your business plan, you do a careful assessment of the external business environment. You look at your target market, your current competition, ease of entry for future competitors, consumer trends, and how you will differentiate yourself from your competition..

Well, that's all well and good. It's essential, no question about that. But just as important as understanding the dynamics of your external environment is understanding the critical dynamics of the "inner game" if you want to be successful in business. You've got to have self-awareness to succeed.

What am I talking about, you might ask? ....... In the same way that you look "outside" and study your competition as part of preparing for potential threats to your business, so too you need to look within. You need to check  "inside" and see if there are any obstacles that  could get in the way of you enjoying success as an entrepreneur. Here are three to watch out for ....

1. Procrastination & "over-thinking" it

Investigate, analyse, plan, act and review ...... Isn't that how it's all meant to go? Except the problem with procrastination is that we can get stuck in the analysis stages - thinking, thinking and then maybe doing some more thinking.

Hey, by all means make sure you've got all of the information that you need - and think through the risks and the various permutations - but there comes the time when you've got to recognise you've done enough research and it's the time for action! Otherwise it becomes paralysis through over-analysis.

So what can underlie procrastination? ..... Sometimes it can be the fear of making a mistake. Sometimes, it can be waiting until we feel we've got the "perfect" plan or product, so that we won't make a mistake.

But so often in business, there can be advantages in being "first to market" - there can be recognition and profile in achieving this. Although obviously this should never mean delivering a shoddy product that will damage customer goodwill! It does mean however that you don't want to continue to delay release of your product whilst you keep on refining and  incessantly adding further enhancements to the design. Quite often product design enhancements can continue to occur after release, as long as the product has been functional and offered value in the eyes of your customer. In other words - you don't necessarily have to wait for perfection.

Innovation is not about coming up with a good idea - it's about acting upon the idea. A good idea is worthless until its converted to action. And if you are able to achieve "first to market" then at least for a while, your rivals will be chasing you whilst you have been able to gain important market share, as well as build some brand loyalty.

2. Impulsiveness

Then there can be a quite different type of inner obstacle at the other end of the spectrum - action without adequate thought or analysis. This can be the entrepreneur who is driven by an uncontrollable sense of urgency - and the fear that someone else will steal their idea and get to market "first". At the extreme, it's like jumping out of a plane with a burst of adrenaline, and later checking on the way down if you've got your parachute on properly, if at all. It's captured in the old phrase "Ready. Fire. Aim"

Other times it's just the passion and enthusiasm of these entrepreneurs that creates this overly-optimistic expectation that the market will love their idea or product - what's not to love!! ..... So they recklessly rush to market neglecting any proper due diligence in testing the concept and may risk over-capitalising in the business before realising they've seriously over-estimated the level of demand or under-estimated the strength of their competition. .

3. Worry and anxiety

There are many variables that you can encounter when you're starting-up and running a small business. Some things are outside of your control - whether it's the state of the broader economy and it's influence on consumer confidence, or even the weather itself (flood or drought) and it's impact on your operations. Interest rates, fuel prices, the reliability of your internet service provider are some other examples.

There's stuff that happens that we can't control and to which we must be able to accept and adapt.

As an entrepreneur, one of the toughest lessons can be learning not to worry about what "might happen". We simply have to focus on what we can control. If the market changes - then we pivot. Sometimes we will alter our tactics - sometimes it requires a bigger adjustment and our game plan and strategy must be altered.

But the point here is, there's no benefit thinking and dwelling on what can go wrong. We prepare a contingency plan of course .... But then we've got to control our mind and our thinking, so that we don't lose sleep imagining these worst-case scenarios. We identify the risks - but we also step back and assess their likelihood and probability, so as to keep some perspective. So do not allow your mind to regularly indulge in fantasising about what can go wrong.

Otherwise it's like carrying around a little imp on our shoulders who keeps whispering in your ear negative chatter that fuels your fears and escalates your anxiety. Remember, your mind is meant to serve you  - in the same way as your car does. After all, you don't climb into your car and let it take you where it will. You drive the car, you determine the direction you want to go. Same with your thinking - take control.

Besides, I'm often reminded of the Mark Twain quote 

"I've wasted half my life worrying about things that never happened"

Winning the inner game

There's no point beating your competition if you can't also win the inside game. It takes self-awareness, a healthy level of emotional intelligence and a dose of humility to continue to work on improving yourself.

Ever seen someone winning a race - several strides ahead of their nearest competition. And then they stumble just before the finishing line? And there was absolutely nothing on the track that could have caused them to stumble ..... Or have you ever seen a tennis player just a point away from winning the match, who had been serving superbly throughout much of the game - and yet all of a sudden, double faults on match point up - then finds a way to lose

Well, I would say that fear of success might just possibly have come into play. After all, you've got to feel deep within that you deserve to be successful and that you deserve to be happy - otherwise  unknowingly you will find ways to sabotage yourself.

The inner game, the mental game, is one that you can't afford to ignore as an entrepreneur. Mental toughness is an essential quality to cultivate. Whether it's to help you achieve your goals in life, sport, or business, the psychology of the inner game adds another dimension to success that you need to seek to understand.

About the author
Brian Carroll is the founder of Performance Development, a corporate training business in Melbourne, Australia.  He is an experienced management coach and a qualified psychologist, with a passion for helping people achieve their goals in life and business. You can find out more about Brian at his Google + profile