Sales are still good, though slow. There was a spike in the beginning but now that everyone has tasted the goods, they’re slow.

One of the lessons learned: keep advertising. People act on what they see but once it’s out of sight, it truly is out of mind. To keep selling we really have to keep advertising.

In our case, that means Facebook. Because we’re local and because our customers are really only our family and friends in the area, we have to keep it in front of them in order to continue selling.

Even when they’re not.

I enjoyed learning more about the importance of customer service and especially appreciated the inclusion of the employees as customers. Good, satisfied employees create loyal satisfied customers. Loyal customers come back and bring their friends.

Employers should strive to hire people with the right attitude, knowing that they can teach them the skills they will need.

Employees should believe in the company as much as the owner does, but the owner (and management) have to show that they believe in it, not just that they’re there for the paycheck.

These were all good reminders to me and something for me to remember as I begin my own business.

In the article “Are Successful Entrepreneurs Born or Made?” Jeff Sandefer talks about an experience he had when trying to find out what it was that made an entrepreneur successful. Was it skill, character or luck?

There were a couple of quotes from the article that I’ve added to the Quotes to Keep page, but I also wanted to elaborate on them a little bit.

The first, and my personal favorite, was “It is adding value to the lives of customers and employees that builds great businesses.” If what you sell or if the service you provide adds value to someone’s life, that’s great. What’s more important is that you take that value very seriously. It should matter as much to you as it does to them.

I know a girl who has started many different business and hasn’t been super successful in any of them. The reason is that, even though the services she has offered  have added value to others’ lives, she didn’t care as much about that value as she did about how much they would pay her for it. Not only should your product or service add value, but you need to recognize and acknowledge that value. It should mean as much to you as it does to them.

The second quote I liked was “Entrepreneurial success isn’t about money; it’s about freedom. The goal isn’t to make more than you need, it’s to spend less than you make. Because that way your free time belongs to you.”

When we go into business to help others and truly add value to their lives, our lives are enriched in the process. Touching peoples lives and making them better helps us to appreciate our own time and use our free time wisely. It’s not about the money we make but about the difference we make instead. It’s about having the freedom to be able to make that difference.

In one of the videos I watched for one of my classes this week, Peter Diamandis said something I’ve been saying in my head for weeks now. (Sometimes it feels really good to be validated.) He said,

“You have to believe in yourself and what you’re doing passionately enough that you’re willing to give this person the opportunity to help you or to be involved.”

Remember why you decided to do this in the first place. What was the reason why you wanted to have your own business? Is it because you wanted to make a difference? How passionate about that difference are you? We need to be passionate enough about the difference we want to make, or the legacy we want to leave, to be able to look at it like an opportunity for others as well.

Believe in what you’re doing. Treat it as though it’s a dream and you’re allowing others to come along on this incredible journey with you. Then go out there and work like you’re making others’ dreams come true. Because you are. And in the process, yours will come true too.