For a few months now I’ve been musing over what’s happened at my chiropractor’s office. He has finally lost me as a client and I thought I’d capture the “lesson learned” so we all know exactly what to do if you want to chase clients away.

I should first say that I was an absolute raving fan. This guy is very personable, had completely reasonable prices and I believed his values were truly aligned with making a difference. He also had a great office staff that kept him on time and organized.

Within a two month period I probably referred him to over 20 people. So what went wrong?

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When I started building one of my early businesses - a review course to prepare people for the Texas Real Estate exam - I knew I had a great idea, but I wasn’t sure how to reach prospective students. The easiest group to identify were licensed salesmen who might be interested in getting their broker’s license. Active salespeople are required to work under a licensed broker. So I contacted the broker/manager of the largest real estate offices and offered my services to speak to their agents.

I created a flyer with descriptions of 5 topics that were of interest to active agents. The brokers chose the topic and dates were set to speak to their agents at regularly scheduled sales meetings. Timely topics made being invited in easier than I imagined.

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Sometimes I write about topics that may not seem relevant to business or even to life. However entitlement can create real challenges without people even realizing. Let me first say, this is written without judgment or criticism.

What do I mean when I say entitled? The word entitle in the dictionary states that it means to have the right or claim. People who have entitlement issues are usually more self absorbed and also have more feelings of self importance making them think that they don’t have to respect other people in the same way they want to be respected. Talking the talk is not the same as walking it.

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In May, I’ll celebrate 18 years in business. Over the years, I’ve gone back and forth on my answer to this question: Do women make better entrepreneurs? I’ve decided the answer is Yes… and No. The same things that make us great entrepreneurs also make us bad ones. It’s a fine line, a tightrope we walk. Let me explain.

Women are nurturers.

Women have the ability to hang on, to stick with something, to grow and nurture their business despite opposition, heartache, and setbacks. A woman sees the potential in her creations and has the tenacity to stick with them. Her business is her baby. A woman could no more toss her nurtured business aside than she could toss aside her own child. She will hang on because she has a bond with her business. In business this type of tenacity is invaluable.

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Andrea, an exemplary civilian project manager in a military installation, started having sexual fantasies about her new boss almost as soon as she met him. He reminded her of an old lover — a really old lover: their affair had ended 30 years earlier, and she was now very happily married. Her behavior at work remained completely professional, but she feared that her feelings were distracting her and would compromise her job performance.

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Sometimes like the saying, “It takes a village to raise a child,” it does take a village to get where we want to go, whether it’s in a relationship, with a friend, family or professionally. It’s important to have people who can support you in any area of life when you need it.

In your personal life it’s great to have at least one person, a friend, family member or whomever, someone you know and trust that will let you lean on them if necessary. Some one who can lend an ear and encourage you when you’re down. Read the rest of this post »