How to Become More Creative Right Now (ALLISON MASLAN INTERVIEW)

Hi, I'm Mary and in the latest article I wrote for Entrepreneur magazine, I spoke with some of today's top entrepreneurs about what really has set them apart and helped them grow from entrepreneur to seven figure enterprise. Alison Maslin coined the phrase and she's built more than 10 businesses from the ground up. Here she is with her best advice to help you break through to your next level.

I'm excited to be here. I run a company called Alison Maslin International and we are a global business mentoring company. We support the growth of business owners all over the world, entrepreneurs, small business owners that just want that continued support accountability strategy to always take their business to the next level.

Fantastic. And so for this story, really it was so interesting to me to attend your event in Coronado and talk to so many people who are applying the strategies that you advise them on that really help them break through, perhaps earning six figures really to earning seven and sometimes even eight figures annually when they look at their annual revenue. So tell me, what are some of the things that you see in terms of the secrets, especially when you look at what they've done to scale, what are some of the secrets that they've all employed?

Well, the thing is that when you are starting a business to when you scale a business, it's a very different conversation. It's a whole new way of looking at your business from when you are entrepreneur and making that shift to, to enterprise. Because in the beginning sometimes the motivation is I'm just trying to make it, I want a change in my life, I have a passion, I'm leaving this corporate job or I want to create a better lifestyle for myself, or I'm just ambitious and I want to reach my potential. But then once you get past that point and you start making some decent revenue, you're into the six figures, you start to hire some employees and then all of a sudden you see, wow, this is a whole different picture. I need to be a leader, I have to lead this team. I have to put systems in place and strategies in place and see myself as a much bigger business owner, business and future for this company. And so it's for to be able to have that ability to make that shift. And I think that's where a lot of business owners struggle because there's only, you know, a few percent that make it beyond that seven figures because they have to make that mindset shift. I think is the biggest thing is for people to believe, yes, number one, that I can do this and then to take on that responsibility and have the thick skin to do that and to really be the leader, make the tough decisions and you know, there are other things too. Focus, I think is probably the biggest asset of a business owner. Business owners that are able to really focus and focus on the main objectives of the company and so that everybody within the company feels in alignment with the focus of the company as well. Learning how to say no and let go of things, which is often sometimes harder, but, and even taking on opportunities and really focusing on what are the highest impact activities, what's gonna bring the most profit to the company, what's gonna offer the most growth, what's gonna offer the most support to the customers, to the clients, and keeping the momentum, moving.

Forward with that, that is all fantastic advice. One final takeaway, Alison, if you could give folks one piece of advice for maybe those entrepreneurs who are successful well into the six figure range, but really not seeing how maybe just stuck in what they've been doing and not seeing how they could really elevate to that next level of success, what's your advice for them?

Well, number one, they should not go it alone. They need to surround themselves with other business owners that get them that have been there in the trenches, that can also share what their best practices have been and also have a coach and being a mastermind. I've been in business for over 30 years, I've run 10 companies, built them from scratch, and I could not have done it without having the mentors that I've had in my life continue to have a coach. I'm in a mastermind now and I believe as entrepreneurs we can get so isolated and we can get mired in the challenges. If you can just make that one shift in perspective and, and you see something as a stepping stone rather than a roadblock, it just changes your experience. So that would be the one thing, I'd also say that for business owners, when you're making that breakthrough to seven figures and beyond, the company really has to be revenue focused. And what I mean by that is that the CEO, I say the CEO, is still the Chief convincing officer, meaning that even if you have a sales team, you need to really be involved, making sure that there's ongoing training, that everybody knows what the revenue goals are. And so whether it's the person answering the phone or the janitor, everybody understands the goals of the company, the vision of the company, so that they can all get behind it and so that everybody knows what they're working towards. So what happens there is that you're spreading that responsibility. It takes the pressure off your shoulders and you feel like you've got a team behind you moving this beautiful vision forward instead of carrying the weight on your shoulders and dragging everybody along. That changes everything.

Such great advice, Alison. And clearly you know what you're talking about because you, like you said, have built 10 businesses from scratch and been incredibly successful. So really appreciate you sharing your wisdom with the viewers here today and look forward to talking to you again soon.

Thanks a lot, Mary. This is awesome.