When Sharon sold her continuing education business, she was still running a vacation home rental business in Arkansas and her grandparents' small organic farmstead in Indiana.
After taking time off, Sharon wanted to build another business, but only if she could be truly happy in it. In 2012, Sharon formed a 501(c)3 nonprofit community health-focused organization, named it "Awakening to Grace," and began testing several ways the company could serve its mission.
You might think it would be easy to start a new business since Sharon had already built three successful ones in two different niches, but she had been lucky to enter those businesses before she had competition, and her effort to be a successful self-published author and learn how to market her courses online had cost her well-being.
In her heart, Sharon felt she lacked essential pieces of business and marketing education, so she attended many of the well-known online marketing education programs that sound so promising. While these programs were interesting, when Sharon applied their lessons, she often had poor results that left her drained, exhausted, and feeling like a dunce.
Lesson 6: Recognize when you need a coach or mentor, and choose them carefully. Make sure their values are aligned with yours and their methods match your business’s stage of development.