Willingness Questions to Ask Entrepreneurs

Whether you’re a seasoned entrepreneur or just planning to start a small business, you may be questioning yourself and your business owner's mindset when you’re putting every waking hour into your dream but just not finding quite the happiness you’d expected. When it comes down to it, willingness is key.

Understanding and harnessing my own willingness to do what it took was the difference between being broke and getting paid my value and living life on my terms with the freedom, love and money that I want.

Today, I’ll share my four startup questions to ask business owners to help them find freedom, love and money in their businesses. By the end of this video, I hope you’ll have a clearer picture of your own willingness and ability to do what it takes to make sure your business and life goals coincide.

What are you willing to do to get paid your value,

and what are you not willing to do to get paid your value?

Many years ago, I found myself drowning in startup motivation. I was trying to partner in a new retail business while raising children, working full-time and going to school full-time. Yep, I was crazy!

I spent every hour of my life juggling all of these noble goals and I was too busy to realize I’d dropped one until I finally had a day off. That day, as I was eager to spend time with my kids, my youngest daughter told me I no longer had authority over my children because parenting had become her older sister’s duty. DAMN!

Until that day, I was willing to do whatever it took to fulfill my business goals. I was willing to work hard, stay up late, give up my personal freedoms. But I was not willing to give up being a parent. That’s when I realized I wasn’t willing to work the number of hours it would take to make everything happen the best I could, because that would mean some things wouldn’t happen the best I knew they should.

What are you willing to give up to get paid your value, and

what are you not willing to give up to get paid your value?

In business, we all have to give things up – whether it be rationing financial resources or budgeting time – in order to succeed in business. Some of those sacrifices are forever, while others are temporary in order to get us to the next phase of whatever goal we’re working on.

About two years ago, as I was writing The DAMN Plan, I realized I was spending way too much time binge-watching my favorite TV show when I didn’t let an episode go unwatched, but the pages weren’t accumulating for my book as quickly as they should. So, I gave up Netflix and that damn TV, because the benefit I got out of watching NCIS wasn’t as precious to me as I knew finishing my book would be.

Now, I’m not telling you that, in order to be successful, you can no longer unwind in front of the television. What each of us gives up for the sake of our dreams is a very personal choice. You need only be aware of what you’re willing to give up in order to chase your dreams.

These four questions are not merely intended to be a startup guide for those planning to start a business. If you revisit them throughout your journey, you likely will find – like I have – that your answers will shift as the seasons of your life shift. But, routinely pondering these business coaching questions will help with successful entrepreneurs’ motivation down the road and give you a clearer picture of how to plan for the future and how to plan for success.

If you’re ready to go after your dreams, order The DAMN Plan and get started! And if you’d like a reminder to revisit these four questions routinely, schedule your FREE 30-minute business coaching call with me so I can help you get a DAMN attitude!