Adrienne Dorison is a business strategist and podcast host who helps entrepreneurs get better results in less time. She is the founder of Good Businesses Do Good, a growing global movement amplifying generosity amongst entrepreneurs.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• how to find a mentor for your business
• how to make money now, so you can invest in your business long term
• what you should be doing in the phase of your business

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Tell us a little bit about you, Adrienne Dorison, and what you do.

I came from a corporate lean six sigma background and left my job just over a year ago to start working with entrepreneurs on some of the same things that I focused on in my corporate career. I help entrepreneurs  focus on the right things so that they can get results in less time in their businesses. That seems really logical, but the truth is most people are focusing on all the things and with not a lot of focus and not getting the results that they want from putting in a ton of effort. I can come into a company and really help them streamline the processes and work flows and really understand what they should be working on to get better results. I also have a podcast. I love podcasting and talking to really interesting humans about their journeys and how they view success. My whole business and life goal is to continue to become the best version of myself. That’s a daily process, and I talk about that a lot as well.

Why do you think entrepreneurs, once they leave their job, run from the thing that they’ve been really good at for so many years?

Because we’re typically jaded. We think that wasn’t the thing for me. I want to start this new business. I want to create this new identity. You should embrace and love the creative freedom that you have as an entrepreneur, but also just because you didn’t love the structure, format, or container that you’re expertise was in doesn’t mean it isn’t really valuable expertise. I had to learn how to leverage my expertise properly in my own business.

How do you have your clients figure out where they are and what are the main things they should be working on in their stage?

I had this “Aha” moment while I was on a run. I was like, “Why don’t people get the results that they want if they are doing some of the ‘right things?’” You might be building a sales funnel, and I believe that’s a right thing to do but only if you’re at a certain stage of business. That’s why some of these things don’t work at certain points because you’re working on the wrong things for where you currently are. You’re probably comparing yourself to people or looking what other people are doing in this other phases of business and then trying to just bandaid your own business that way.

3 different phases:

1. Profit Phase. You are in the profit phase if you are not making consistent profit in your business. Now, that doesn’t mean you’re not making money. You might be making revenue or you might not. You may not have even made a dollar or your business might just be an idea but if you are not making consistent profits in your business right now, whatever profit means to you, then you are still in profit phase and there’s nothing wrong with any of these phases. I never want people to be like, “Oh man! I’m in profit phase.” Accept where you are. Then you will be able to focus on the right things for that phase. I tell those people you need to be just focus on cash injection as quickly as possible because that’s one of the number one reasons businesses fail. We can only run for so long if we don’t have cash flow. All you should be focused on is how do I get cash in the door.
2. Momentum Phase. Momentum is you are making consistent profits in your business and things are going well, not exactly crushing it, but you’re making consistent profits. You’re able to sustain yourself and now you are really looking to leverage that. Maybe you are starting to do some sales funnels now because you have the cash flow to do it. You’re not worried about what’s coming in next month. You are a little bit sustainable at this point and you can leverage that. You can start building some more authority in your niche and really focusing on some of these growth and leverage strategies in the momentum phase.
3. Leader Phase. You definitely have consistent profits in your business, you are working on maybe team development and scaling. So, scaling up your business to a place where maybe you’re making passive income at this point. Your sales funnels are not only launched, but there also leveraged and optimized. You can spend more time and energy on those things, maybe you’re hosting bigger live events if you’re in the content space or information space market. Maybe you’re growing a team and delegating a little bit more, but you’re really starting to step into that CEO role where you are not doing all the things anymore. As you progress from profit to momentum to leader you will start to let go of more and more tasks and start growing and scaling your business to a bigger level.

What I see normally happening is people seeing what other people are doing, comparing themselves, and then they start cherry picking hodge podging their business together. If you’re in profit, you really just need to focus on cash injection. When you’re on momentum, you need to focus on authority brand building and leveraging what you already have going. If you’re in leader, you really need to focus on becoming the CEO, delegating more, and scaling your business.

I would love to hear the top things that you invest for yourself and your business.

I definitely invest in good mentors. I invest in mentors pretty much all the time at some capacity. Right now I’m working with Todd Herman. That’s mainly for my business. I invest in a good team. Now that my business is at leader phase, I would say we’re scaling at this point. I invest in a good team because that is giving me some of my freedom back. It gives me the freedom to do the things that I love to do and hand off all the other business tasks that I don’t love which definitely makes me a better person. Some of the other things I will always invest in is definitely my gym memberships. I go to crossfit everyday. I also just started going back to Pure Barre because it was a different kind of workout and I’m enjoying that. I’m investing in good food. I think it’s important to eat right and to fuel my body properly. I would say that those are my top investments are investments in me growing, myself and my business and taking care of my health and my fitness because it’s like a sanity outlet.

How can entrepreneurs find a mentor or someone to work with?

First, there is tons of free content out there. I would tell people to commit to either one person or one specific thing that they are focused on. Most of the time, when people get these freebies, they have nothing to do with their highest priority goal. I would love for people to go on a freebie famine and only get freebies that are directly related to their highest priority goal. Second, you can find a smaller price program, such as Profit Track which is for people in the profit stage of their business and is $97/month.

You have a new piece of your business, Good Businesses Do Good. I would love for you to share a little bit about that.

A big part of my business in my business model is giving back anytime someone invests in me as their one-on-one consultant or in one of my programs or retreats. 10% of our profits go to an organization that we support called the Adventure Project. I am really driven to give back. I want to give back as much as possible and I knew that that was a bigger calling on my heart to share with other clients and with other business owners about how they could be giving back in bigger ways. I feel like we’re at this point in the world, in this age of technology, where anyone can go and start a business. I see people creating really incredible like limitless income for themselves. I see a lot of flashy lifestyles, luxury cars and boats, and experiences. I don’t want to judge that.  That’s great. You can have that lifestyle, but what else are we doing to change the world? My goal with Good Business Do Good is to amplify and highlight businesses and entrepreneurs that are using generosity as a part of their business model. We want to highlight those people. We want to amplify them and that’s what Do Businesses Do Good is all about.

Adrienne Dorison is a business strategist and podcast host who helps entrepreneurs get better results in less time. She has a passion for real relationships, growth efficiency, and  impactful work. She is the founder of Good Businesses Do Good, a growing global movement amplifying generosity amongst entrepreneurs.

Find Adrienne!
Website: adriennedorison.com
Instagram: @adriennedorison
Twitter: @adriennedorison
Facebook: Adrienne Dorison and Society of Self Mastery
Podcast: The School of Self-Mastery: Business, Money, Life

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