kickstart

guide

Startup
Success
10 essential ingredients to start, grow and
sustain a truly successful business
by Nicola Huelin

© 2015 Nicola Huelin. All rights reserved.

Creating a successful
business is a journey…
You may not realise it yet, but creating a business is a real journey…
…and I can tell you from experience, that starting, growing and sustaining a truly
successful business, is THE most amazing journey of a life time! I’m Nicola Huelin,
award-winning business coach & mentor, transformational speaker, author of The
Invisible Revolution and founder of Mpower for mums in business a business
community specifically for mums in business like you.
I am on a mission to empower one million Mumpreneurs.
Over the last 3 years, I’ve had the honour of bringing
together, coaching and mentoring hundreds of women
across the UK, giving them the support, inspiration and
connections they need to get their dream business out of
their head and into the world and create a family life money
can’t buy in the process.
Why am I on this mission? Well it’s not just because I’m
a business coach with over 20 years in business, and it’s
not just because I’m a Mum, it’s so much more than that.
I hold a deep, personal belief that mums in business are
a very special group of women who’s collective journeys
are helping to shape a new world; a world where we are
redefining success, creating a new definition of what it
means to live a „rich’ life, and in the process we are leaving
a richer legacy to our children which is about so much more
than money alone, and ultimately we are raising future
generations who will be truly empowered to make this
world a better place for everyone.
This guide is specifically for mums in business; female
entrepreneurs, freelancers, soletraders and small business
owners, who dream of having a successful, fulfilling business
that gives them the flexibility and financial freedom they
need to enjoy family life and motherhood to the full.
From my early twenties I’ve been blessed to be able to
follow my two greatest passions in life; being in business and
being a Mum. My 22 year journey in business has been a
rich and rewarding one. After a successful 10-year career in
the corporate world I left the world of business consultancy
to pursue my own entrepreneurial dreams. Despite all my
business experience (and being qualified up to the eyeballs
with various business and marketing degrees and postgrad
studies), my first years as an entrepreneur were really
tough, frustrating and disappointing and almost led me to
complete burnout.
2
But these early challenges taught me so much. They ignited
my personal mission to figure out what it really takes to
create a truly successful business without sacrificing my
health, sanity and quality of family life. After all, it had to be
possible, right?
With time, I learned there are 10 essential ingredients for
creating and sustaining true success.
I saw so many women struggling, buying umpteen different
training courses, copying ‘gurus’ instructions to the letter
because they were told this was the ‘magic formula’, and
spending so much time, energy and effort without getting
the results they deserved.
When I starting sharing these 10 success ingredients with
women through my one-to-one coaching programmes,
often what was holding them back from the clients and
results they wanted was just one missing ingredient.
I knew I had to share these lessons (lessons I’d had to learn
the hard way) with more women, and that’s why I created
this guide.
The Startup to success journey (and I’m talking about
success in a way that allows you to enjoy the journey as
much as the „destination’) isn’t always easy, if it were, then
everyone would be a super-successful business owner (and
there’d be nobody left to working in the corporate world
hahaha). This said, with the right ingredients in place, and
armed with the blueprint and tools for success that’s right
for you, the journey of turning your big vision into reality can
be a simple and more enjoyable one.
I want you to enjoy the kind of life that money
cannot buy!
That’s why I’ve created this Startup Success kickstart guide
and all of the other Mpower resources – to give you the
support and inspiration you need, and to guide you step by
step in your journey to success, whatever success looks like
for you, in a way that’s right for you!
Are you ready to turn
your vision into reality?
I’ve met a lot of mums in business over the years, in my community, and through
my talks and events, and what I see so often is that so many are often really
struggling, overwhelmed and feeling lost.

Maybe this feels a bit like you right now…
l 
Perhaps you have lots of ideas but you don’t know
where to start, and the idea of starting your own
business feels daunting.
l Perhaps you’re struggling to get noticed or can’t
seem to get enough clients, worrying where the
next client is coming from, spending too much time
spinning the Marketing wheels and cashflow is ‘feast
or famine’.
On top of all this, you are a good Mum, and as good
Mums do, you have the additional worry about being
able to keep all the balls in the air; being there for your
children and partner (single Mums, the challenges can
feel even tougher for you, I know I’ve been there too),
the washing, the cleaning, the ironing, the shopping, the
‘generally having to be everyone else’s rock and support
system’ when you’re not too busy running around
tidying up after everyone. Sound familiar?
And now we want to add starting, growing and
running a successful business on top of all this …?

l 
Perhaps you often feel overwhelmed and lost, …of course we do!
like you’re going round in circles or in a fog, or
procrastinating over an ever-growing to-do list.
You would love more clarity and focus.

l 
Maybe deep down you know you have so much to ? ?
give, a real talent, experience, ideas and gifts, but
you’re not sure what it takes to turn that into a ? ?
viable business.

l 
Your results and growth simply don’t reflect the
time, money and energy you’re putting in and you
don’t have the flexibility and quality family time you
went into business for in the first place.

l 
Maybe you’re up and running, but it all feels too
hard, too overwhelming, too draining; like pushing a
big bolder up a hill.

l 
Maybe you’re worried that if you have to keep doing
things in the way you are currently doing them it will
lead to burnout.

3
W h a t i f
Becoming your own boss is one of the most personally
and financially rewarding adventures you can embark
on, and the flexibility and freedom it allows us to create
in our family lives, is priceless.
The reality is though, no matter how talented, smart
and determined you are, it can also feel pretty scary.
Even if your heart dreams of becoming a successful
business owner, that little voice in your head could be
saying something like:
l What if I’m not good enough?
l What if I fail?
l What will people think of me?
l What if I lose money?
l What if I become too successful?
l What if I can’t cope?
l What if I get it wrong?
l What if I get taken advantage of?
l What if people think I’m a fake?
l What if I don’t have what it takes?
l What if I can’t get enough clients?
4
Creating a successful business can seem overwhelming,
I know, I’ve been there many times. However, I would
argue that the most challenging part is not to earn
money, it’s to build and sustain a successful business
without sacrificing your health, sanity or ability to enjoy
the journey, and finding the right formula so you do it in
a way that ADDS to your quality of family life.
Every business owner, sole-trader or freelancer I’ve
ever met in the last 20 years has wanted their business
to be successful. Nothing surprising there!
However, what has always surprised me is that although
these same people say they want to start their own
business in order to create a better life for themselves
and their loved ones, the majority of these business
owners admitted to feeling overwhelmed, stressed,
anxious, confused, frustrated, fearful, or exhausted in
their daily attempts to learn and do enough to get their
business off the ground and achieve and sustain the
sort of results they deserved.
In the vast majority of cases, any ‘quality-of-life’ benefits
were still something they hoped they would start to be
able to enjoy once they had invested more time, more
money, more energy...the ability to enjoy success always
seemed to be something that they would be able to
experience ‘one day’!
I don’t want this to be you!
The aim is to achieve your OWN definition of success,
not somebody elses. In a way that feels right for you
and authentic, carving your own path, not following
somebody elses, and most importantly, to be able to
enjoy the process.
Whether you fit into the category of ‘Business Start-
up’ or ‘Business Builder’, you will want to take time to
complete the rest of this guide because it will teach
you the 10 foundational ingredients you need to have
in place, not just for Startup, but for every stage of the
journey.
If your business is something you’re very passionate
about, which indeed it should be, there is a huge
temptation to want to get ‘stuck in’, to rush out and buy
domain names and get your first set of business cards
done, build your website and come up with a company
name so you can get it registered and crack on with
getting clients.
This is totally understandable, but before you do any
of that please take the time to read each section and
reflect on the questions asked.
5
In the remaining sections of this guide, I will help you to:
l Discover the 10 essential ingredients that all
successful business owners need to have covered
in order to start and grow a successful business,
and be able to sustain that success without
compromising their quality of life.
l Understand why each of these ingredients is so
important and the impact on you and your business
if you don’t get the mix right.
l Understand which of these 10 ingredients you
might be missing or not have enough of, limiting your
results, future success and ability to enjoy
the journey.
l Discover what you can do to get all 10 of these
ingredients.
What’s NOT in
This Guide?
Let’s start by saying what’s not covered in the guide. I’m not going to talk to you about
the one-off logistics of setting up your business, the more administrative aspects, this is
information you can easily find from official sources on the internet or in a good book.
and in reality, that is NOT the hard bit, it’s not the most important information I can share
with you at this stage of your journey.
I want to focus on what it takes, the essentials you will need
on an on-going, daily basis to build, grow a business which
will really be the keys to getting your dreams of business
success and a happy family life out of your head and into
the world, and on your way to creating a life that no amount
of money can buy.
Together we’re going to reflect on what I call the ‘Yin and
the Yang’ of your own unique recipe for business success.
What do I mean by that?
Well, the Yin of essential business knowledge, the more
‘tangible’ stuff if you like, proven strategies and techniques
that you need to know about; like Marketing, Sales and
Planning, for example. Then there’s also the Yang, the
‘internal’ equivalent of business critical resources, the
knowledge, resources and potential you have inside you
already that we need to tap into, nurture and activate.
Together, these internal and external elements form the
critical ingredients you will need to create ‘Foundations and
Flow’ for true success: strong foundations for your business
and lifestyle and ‘flow’ in your being, doing and thinking to
get results with more ease, fulfilment and joy.
I know from years of experience that it only takes one
missing ingredient to hold you back from getting the
success and lifestyle you are capable of and truly deserve.
It’s a bit like baking a cake. There are a number of different
ingredients, and the sort of cake you want to make requires
flour. What are the chances of your cake looking and tasting
like you want it to if you don’t have enough, or any, flour!
Also, although there are many great business resources out
there, they often only represent one tiny piece of the jigsaw
puzzle. When we don’t have the full picture, it’s easy to get
lost searching for ‘the next best thing’ that’s going to be the
answer to your marketing, business and lifestyle prayers,
but this can often lead you down different costly and
timewasting paths, because you don’t have the big picture.
6
You need to have the complete and balanced overview
of everything you need for your personal and
professional success.
Think about it, if you were going to build your dream house,
you wouldn’t start to try and build it without putting the
proper foundations in place…what would be the chances of
it being sustainable, I can guarantee the cracks would start
to show after a certain time. In business, the first place the
cracks start to show are in YOU!
The last 10 years I spent as an entrepreneur starting and
growing various online and offline businesses gave me the
personal experience of how easy it is to fall into one of the
three common traps traps, all three have happened to me
and now I see it so frequently with the women I work with
today as a business coach:
l 
The amazing business ideas which never see the light
of day
l 
The business which offers amazing quality services/
products but never gives you the results you were
hoping for despite all the time, energy and money you
invest in trying to make it work.
l 
The business which is massively successful financially,
but grows into a success monster, and before you know
it has taken over your time, your quality of life and
being in business looks nothing like the type of success
you initially dreamed of you’ve create a brand new
“time trap”.
One of my favourite words is “AND”, I don’t believe t
hat things have to be so “EITHER-OR”! By the end of this
guide you’ll have the complete overview, you’ll know what
it takes and where to focus to avoid these three scenarios,
and have business success AND a great life AND be able to
enjoy the journey!
Why is This Guide Free?
Have you ever wished you could go back and give advice, knowledge and answers
to your younger-self’?

Have you ever wished you could give your younger-self all
those ingredients which would make things SO much easier;
the wisdom of the lessons you’ve had to learn the hard way?
Perhaps you’d like to tell yourself how to avoid the mistakes
it’s so easy to make, show yourself the big picture which
you’ve only been able to piece together through years of
personal learning and discovery. Show yourself how to avoid
re-inventing the wheel, give yourself all the ingredients you
need to achieve what’s important to you, and be able to
enjoy the journey every step of the way... no time or money
wasted, no regrets!
Well that’s me!
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and although I cannot go back
in time and advise my younger-self, I can share what I have
learned about what it really takes to start and grow a truly
successful business in a way which enhances your overall
quality of life, with YOU!
All I would ask in return are two simple requests:
If you find this guide useful and would like to share it with
others you think might benefit, please don’t just forward
them this guide. Ask them to visit www.mpower.global and
download their own free copy directly. Why? Because I’m
continually improving this information and they will get the
latest version, they will also get notified when more free and
invaluable resources become available.
The 10 success principles and information I share in this
guide are taken from my book The Invisible Revolution
where you can find out more about how mums in business
are succeeding and using the 10Ps and four other
ingredients to make things happen.

I’m hugely passionate about empowering women in business

with the lessons I’ve had to learn the hard way during my 20
years in business. Not learning some of these ingredients for
success earlier in my entrepreneurial journey came at a very
heavy personal cost to me, my health and my family.

Sharing and teaching these invaluable success principles is

more than just my business as a Women’s Business coach
& mentor, it is a ‘Calling’, it is my mission in life to empower
one million mums in business across the UK, helping them to
literally transform their business success and their ability to
enjoy life to the full, on their terms, every step of the way.

7
Who am I To Talk
about Success?
I’ve already told you a bit about myself in the intro, but if you’re intrigued about my
success story, here’s more juicy details…if you’re keen to just get stuck in to the 10
ingredients I won’t be offended if you want to just skip this chapter and move on!
Can you remember the main reason you wanted to
start your own business?
l 
Perhaps work-life balance was an issue for you, and
by starting your own business you wanted to have
more flexibility, choice and control in your life?
l 
Perhaps you simply wanted to be your own boss,
and do business on your terms?
l 
Perhaps it was about doing something you really
loved, that would make you look forward to
Mondays and have you jumping out of bed every
morning?
l Perhaps a combination of all three?
I remember the reason I decided to start up my first
business…
A piece of Ribbon that would change my life forever…
If you’d have been with me on March 23rd 2003, you’d
have been sat next to me on a train returning home from
London staring at a small piece of ribbon in my hand.
And if I’d have told you what I knew about that piece of
ribbon, it may have changed your life forever too!
But first come back in time with me, ten years earlier,
where as a university student, I had already met the
first love of my life: Business! University was a great
time, I made some wonderful friends, but I was already
very focused and ambitious:
I didn’t want to get married…
I didn’t want children…
I wanted a career!
I remember how convinced I was when I said to my
closest university friends ‘Children, no way, there’s
8
no way I can have the sort of career I want and have
children. I bet you dinner at the Ritz that I will never
have children’. As a poor student that was the most
extravagant thing I could imagine!
When we graduated, all my friends went travelling, not
me, I launched my career!
A Meteoric rise…
I’d started work in Marketing, in a high-tech company
based in Sophia Antipolis, France (often referred to as the
‘French Silicon Valley’.) I was quickly given more and more
responsibility. I loved it and I was good at it! My career went
from strength to strength: I did postgraduate business
studies, I was frequently promoted, and led teams on high-
profile, big budget projects. I was already very successful
and moved into the world of Business Consulting!
Of course, I lost my university bet! Having met my husband,
we’d started a family. When my daughter was born, I
enjoyed taking 6 months maternity leave, but I remember
how ‘desperate’ I was to get back to my work. When I did go
back, with the right childcare in place, things were great and
it was very much ‘business as usual’.
It wasn’t always easy. Business consulting was a very male-
dominated world to work in. I was only 1 of a handful of
women out of 150 consultants, and by my late 20’s I was
managing men 20 years my senior. Awkward! (but they got
used to me hahaha).
Now, there were moments when this rate of progression
and level of success felt quite scary, but my hard work and
love for what I did paid off, literally…I had an army of people
taking care of things for me (gardener, housekeeper…), I had
become the main breadwinner of the family. My career was
really rewarding, I got a great sense of satisfaction from my
work and I felt proud of my professional success.
Things were relatively easy in the beginning. With
only one child I juggled everything without too many
problems. But as time passed, our family and careers
grew and so too did the challenges. My roles became
more and more demanding, and with more children
came increasing family demands. I had more and more
to do with seemingly less time to do it. Luckily, my
project management and organisational skills were my
saving grace at that time.
To anyone looking in from the outside…
By the time I turned thirty, to anyone looking in from
the outside, I’d already cracked it…
I had the fantastic job title
The huge salary
The amazing lifestyle
I had it ALL!
But that was about to change…
The warning signs were already there.
It was the start of a normal working week for me, my
alarm went off at the usual time and I went through my
usual routine getting ready to leave for a day at the office.
As I walked out the door to leave for work, I turned
around to see my beautiful 3 year old daughter playing
and laughing with my housekeeper.
I had all the success in the world, but she had time with
my daughter.
It was in that moment, I realised…I was JEALOUS OF
MY HOUSEKEEPER.
January 2003, the email which would change
everything…
The global consulting company I worked for picked
a handful of people to take part in a six-month ‘Peak
Performance’ programme to be ‘fast-tracked’ within the
organisation. I remember how privileged I felt to be part
of that group, and as I read the email invitation something
told me deep down this was a huge opportunity, and it
could even change my life. How right I was!
It was only the first weekend of the programme, and
there I was sitting on the train travelling home from
London, staring at the small piece of ribbon in my hand.
‘This is not right’ I thought to myself ‘something has to
change’ gripped by a sense of fear and guilt I had never
known before.
9
I can still picture myself clutching that piece of ribbon. As
a busy executive Mum, the ‘Ribbon of Life’ story, so simple
yet immensely powerful, had touched me profoundly.
It’s a story I now share in my talks and with my clients,
so very powerful in highlighting the importance getting
things right in your business, of finding your true sense
of purpose, the costs of remaining stuck in the status quo
and above all, the importance of always pursuing your
OWN definition of success.
I had finally opened my ideas to the personal sacrifices I
was making, and realised the real cost of not having the
right kind of choices, flexibility, balance and results in my
life. At that point, I had not yet discovered the answers,
this was something which was going to take another
major life lesson, and I was going to learn it the hard way!
The ‘Peak Performance’ training was designed to fuel
transformation and success within a male dominated
business paradigm so at the time, I didn’t realise I only held
a small piece of the jigsaw in my hand. After the training,
shaken into action by the impact of the Ribbon of Life
metaphor, I did two things in the month that followed…
one of which brought joy, while the other taught me my
most important life lesson to date…the hard way!
The best and worst times
The first thing I decided, thankfully, was to have another
child, something I really wanted deep down but had
been putting off, fearing the impact on my career and
my ability to cope.
However, I also made the decision to walk away from
my corporate career and follow my husband in his
dream of setting up his own gastronomic restaurant
in a small village in the South of France. Now you may
be asking, what on earth could be so bad about that?
Following your husband’s dream, all being together as a
family, starting your own family business in the South of
France? Sounds idyllic, doesn’t it?
Although the restaurant was a huge success financially and
we saw more of each other (as we lived above the restaurant),
I can honestly say it was the worst time of my life. For the first
time ever I felt lost, trapped, and overwhelmed.
But wasn’t I at least seeing more of my children? Yes,
but therein laid the problem; ‘seeing’ my children,
was not ‘being’ with my children, I was so frustrated,
stressed and overwhelmed that when I did spend time
with my children, I was far from being the best version
of myself and actually had very little left to give them.
I’ve often reflected on this period, trying to figure
out why it was such a difficult time for me. I’d always
worked, was used to working very hard while juggling
everything. I’d spent years working in restaurants as a
student to finance my studies, so I knew the problem
wasn’t the job itself.
After two years of pushing myself to continue down
this path, I eventually burned out both emotionally and
physically. With all the alarm bells ringing, we sold the
restaurant and my biggest life lesson had been well and
truly learned…there was more to this success formula
than I thought.
The lesson that changed my life forever
I gave myself a couple of years to recharge my batteries,
I attempted to make up for ‘lost time’ with my children
and returned to my own ‘path’ with a deepened passion
for self-development and self-discovery, and to pin
down this illusive success and happiness we all seek as
working and entrepreneurial mothers.
What I came to understand is that my decision to leave
my job and start up a business was not a choice I made
from a sense of passion or purpose, it was a ‘way out’
driven by fear, guilt and a sense of what I ought to be
doing. Your body and your emotions are so good at
warning you when you are not living an authentic life.
Lack of fulfillment and purpose had turned to boredom
and frustration, then stress, next being overwhelmed
and feeling depressed and ultimately physical and
emotional burnout.
With a renewed understanding of the importance
of pursuing my own dreams, purpose and passions,
I spent the next 10 years living and working all over
the world with my family; five countries over three
continents, I was very successful, working in various
senior management roles, running voluntary projects,
and most importantly for me…starting and running
my own businesses. Always continuing to deepen my
understanding and practice of the formula for achieving
my own definition of success and balance.
Life continued to send challenges my way, when I lost
my husband of 17 years, having spent my entire adult
life living and working all over the world, I returned to
the UK in the Christmas of 2010 with one suitcase and
two children. For the first six months I slept on the floor
in my grandmother’s front room on a piece of foam.
10
My life, and my children’s lives, had been shattered in to
a million pieces, we weren’t just starting from scratch,
we were at a complete ‘ground zero’.
The first five years continued to teach me some very
powerful lessons; spending time as a single mother,
parenting a special needs child, raising a blended family,
escaping an emotionally abusive relationship to name
but a few.
Truly understanding and mastering what it took to
create true success, even when life is dealing you
some major blows, which bring you to your knees, has
enabled me to take control of my life through authentic
choices and purposeful action aligned with my deepest
values, and to prosper and be happy in the face of life’s
ups and downs whilst being successful in business and
raising truly amazing children.
They say ‘life begins at forty’, and this was about to ring
true for me, although my saying goes ‘Life begins at 42!’
As a result of what I have learned and lived over
the years, combined with my formal training and
qualifications in business, marketing, life coaching and
project management, I founded unique programmes for
women who want to create a successful business and
have a great quality of life. So too was born the amazing
Mpower community; smart, talented women who want
to build a business they love, while taking care of the
ones they love the most.
Within two years of starting Mpower:
l I got my first VIP client before I’d even had time to

launch my website
l I have smashed all my financial goals
l I’ve won multiple awards including ‘Most inspiring

Coach/Mentor,’ ‘New Business of the Year’ and
national finalist for ‘Best Supporting Business’
l My work has been featured on international TV
l My client books have been consistently full working

exclusively with my ideal clients
l I am regularly invited to give talks to amazing
audiences (my most recent talk was to share my
ingredients for success with 120 coaches and
changemakers at a summit in London)
l and I was even invited to a ‘Women of The Year’

luncheon in Sussex with Lady Camilla and Sir
Winston Churchill’s granddaughter because of what
I’ve achieved through my work
Last month (as I write this guide) I sent out invoices for £8k.
Now this is not ‘build a 6 or 7 figure business overnight’
hype, and perhaps £8k/month doesn’t sound like a lot of
money to you…but for me it’s not really about the money…
it’s more than that, money is just one part of my personal
definition of success. It’s actually more about HOW I was
able to achieve, particularly given the circumstances:
l The £8k invoices I sent out were only 3 clients
l They were sent out just having taken 6 weeks
 2016 (that’s 13 miles, yay).
complete holiday (which I do every year)
l I only work 25-30 hours a week, being a single Mum
 within 12 months was invited to 10 professional
this balance and flexibility is crucial
l I had just been through THE most challenging and
 audience of 120 at a London summit, and my now
traumatic year of my personal life
I am often asked ‘How do you do it?’ and asked to
share the secrets of my success. Which is exactly what
I’m going to do right here in the remaining pages of
this guide. But before I do, I need to let you into a few
important secrets first:
Secret number one…
I’m, nothing special – REALLY REALLY... I’m nothing
special (of course my Mum would totally disagree, but
she is totally biased)…
I’m just me
I’m just a Mum
And I was once a newbie to being in business for
myself…just like you.
Secret number two…
Well actually it’s not a secret, because I’ve just
touched on it in my story I’ve just shared with you…
I’ve had it really tough!!!
It’s easy when we look at others to assume that they
somehow have something we don’t, that they had it
easier, a head start, more money, a lucky break, some
unfair advantage/opportunity that we don’t have.
As I mentioned earlier, when I started my most recent
business journey, I really was starting from SCRATCH!
I started my current business, not even from scratch,
but from ‘Ground Zero,’ a financial, logistical and
emotional complete GROUND ZERO!
11
Today, not only does my business continue to go from
strength to strength but my personal life does too:
l I have two happy, confident and amazing children

who are totally thriving and who blow my mind away
daily with how truly awesome they are.
l I have met the love of my life, Graham Wilson.

l I have gone from ‘the girl who couldn’t run to
save her life’ to being able to run 8.5 miles within
2 months, and entering a half-marathon in March
l I conquered a life-long fear of public speaking and

speaking gigs, including a 40 minute talk to an
my aim is to do a TED Talk!
So how do you go from ground zero to this amazing
place I find myself in today, and how do you build and
maintain a successful business during that time and not
be derailed even when life continues to throw major
curve balls which could signal the end for most business
owners?
What are these powerful lessons I learned which
literally propelled me from Ground Zero Startup to my
ultimate definition of success?
What I learned is that the journey to true success
requires 10 essential ingredients to be in place. I call
them the 10 success principles, or the 10Ps of success.
Each principle is an important lesson to learn, that when
you do, when you understand and master this lesson
will not only propel you towards your success, but
also make every step of that journey the most amazing
experience of a lifetime.
No matter how successful you may have been in your
previous career, no matter how many business degrees
you have or where you were educated, and no matter
how talented, driven and smart you are, we all need
these 10Ps to succeed and enjoy success!
Let’s discover the 10Ps…
The 10Ps of Startup
Success
Your unique recipe for achieving and sustaining your own definition of success,
creating the results, lifestyle and happiness you deserve, needs to contain
10 essential ingredients.

These ingredients, or the 10Ps as I call them, required to build the critical
foundations for your business and create the flow of happiness and ease on the
journey of turning your dream into a reality.

Pareto
Plans
Plucky Precious
Passion People

Paramount Priceless
Purpose Platform

Performance Productive
Mindset Action

Personal Perfect
Values Authenticity
Powerful
Beliefs

Let’s get started…

The next ten sections will describe each of these 10
‘essential’ ingredients.
Each section will give you:
l An introduction to what the success ingredient is and
 This will give you a great visual benchmark of how much
why it is important
l  set of simple yet powerful questions to help
A
you evaluate if you have the ingredient covered
or whether it’s an area of weakness to be
improved/developed
By reflecting on the answers to the questions in each
section, you will be able to ‘score’ how well you currently
cover each ingredient, then map them on to your
Foundations and Flow model at the back of this guide.
coverage and depth you have for all 10 areas, highlighting
where you need to focus for success.
For the purposes of this introductory guide (I go into
more detail in my book The Invisible Revolution), success
ingredients are listed in no particular order and I won’t talk
about the interdependency and connections between the
different ingredients...

12
1

Paramount Paramount – ‘More important than anything else.’

Purpose – ‘The reason for which something is

done or for which something exists.’

Purpose
Whether you’re setting up a new business, or working on getting more clients, it is critical
to be clear about your ‘Purpose’; the reason WHY you do what you do over and above
making money.
Let’s get started… How do you score when it comes to ‘Paramount Purpose’?

In today’s world, in order for a business to be truly Answer the following questions, being very honest with
successful, and for a business owner to feel truly fulfilled, it is yourself, to gain insight into how you currently score when it
important to be clear about why you are in business beyond comes to having ‘Paramount Purpose’.
simply making a profit. If you are only in it for the money,
and money alone, then you might want to consider paid
employment instead. I’m not kidding!

Building a successful business is not always easy, it can take

time, and if money is your one and only driver, you will not go
the distance (for more reasons than I can explain in this short
guide, but I will in my book).

Your purpose is what will act as a guiding beacon throughout

your business journey, helping you to make the right
decisions, pursue the right opportunities, follow the right
path, and ultimately attract the right people and clients;
customers don’t buy what you do or what you sell, they buy
your ‘why’.

13
Paramount Purpose - Questions for reflection:

Have you ever sat down and given careful thought about the real reasons which drive you for wanting to be in business?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Have you thought about your ‘Purpose’ holistically, both from the perspective of founder of a business AND founder of an
amazing family?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you have a meaningful reason for wanting to start and grow your business, above and beyond making money?
Can you explain clearly and simply why you do what you do?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Have you ever written down your ‘Purpose’ behind why you do what you do?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you feel strongly about the difference your business makes for your clients?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you feel like your business is something you are ‘meant to do’?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you feel ‘inspired’ pulled towards creating and growing your business?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
When faced with decisions about which direction to take, or choices to make regarding new opportunities, how guided do
you feel by your purpose?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Does your ‘purpose’ give people something to believe in?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Does your business inspire others?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Having reflected on each of the questions above, how would you rate your sense and clarity of purpose for being in business
and doing what you do, and that purpose being of paramount importance over and above purely making profit?

Give yourself a score between

0 (lowest = No sense or clarity of purpose beyond making money)
10 (highest = Absolute sense and clarity of purpose over and above making money).

My Score:…………….

Now map this score on to the 10Ps Success Model at the back of this guide.

14
2

Pareto Pareto – ‘The 80/20 principle (by Italian economist Villfredo Pareto
1848-1923) which states in the realms of business that 80% of
results, come from 20% of our efforts’.

Plans Plans – ‘An orderly or step-by-step conception or proposal for

accomplishing an objective or goal.’

Do you have a great dream, concept or idea, but you lack clarity about how to turn it into
a reality?
How much clarity do you have about what you need to do, how you need to do it and
when you need to do it by?
Are you simply working day to day from an ever-growing, never-ending to-do list?
Time is precious for everyone, and as a mum in business,
believe me, time is your most precious resource. Have you
ever heard of the pareto principle? Entire books have been
written about the pareto principle, it exists in science, nature
and in business. When it comes to planning, the pareto
principle states that 80% of your results come from 20% of
your efforts. What we need to do, is ensure you are working
in that “20% zone”. This is what I help mums in business do,
create and follow their own pareto plan that means they are in
the 20% zone working on their business, so they don’t waste
80% of their precious family time doing the wrong things in
the wrong way.
Many creatives, heart-centred entrepreneurs, or people who
are new to business, hate the idea of planning. It either scares
them, they believe it will restrict them, they think that a to-do
list will do, they see it as a waste of time, or they’re not sure
where to start.
It’s not just because I spent many years working in project
management that I say this, but you absolutely, 100%, need
to plan in business. Benjamin Franklin put it very succinctly ‘If
you fail to plan, you are planning to fail!’ Again, let’s think of
the example of building your dream house. If you are investing
precious time, money and energy into building the house of
your dreams, which you want to be sustainable and look as
great in reality as it does in your dreams, you wouldn’t just
start building without first working with the right people to
produce a set of plans. Plans to check that the house you want
is ‘doable’, that the design is ‘viable’ and then use these plans to
guide you and the people who will help you to build it.
People usually have one of two reactions when I start talking
about planning; their eyes glaze over or they look like a rabbit
caught in headlights, but I’m not talking about huge, complex
documents, which take forever to produce and then just sit
heavily on a shelf collecting dust, no. I’m talking about simple
planning tools which are easy to create, and when done the
right way will act as powerful tools and resources to help you
stay on track and get the results you really want.
There are some essential plans that every business owner
must put in place if they are serious about succeeding.
All of the plans and planning tools I give to my clients are
designed to cover not just their business, but to integrate their
lifestyle and personal plans too. When planning is done in the
right way, it changes from being something seen as a burden
or a chore, to an amazingly simple way to take something
seemingly complex and potentially overwhelming like starting
a new business from scratch, comparable to
being faced with a mountain to climb, to something very
simple and straightforward, a journey that is broken down into
clear, manageable and simple phases that can be undertaken
with confidence, one step at a time.
To give you an idea of how simple yet powerful these
planning tools can be, I teach my clients how to use an ‘agile’
task manager which is based on a planning tool I used to
successfully deliver multi-million, highly-complex, fast-
changing projects in the IT world and it involves nothing more
than an A4 sheet of paper and some post-it notes. Genuinely,
that simple, yet that powerful!
In the Mpower Academy, I don’t teach ‘Time Management’, I
teach Time Mastery, and it all begins with having the right big-
picture (strategic) plans in place, before you get down to what
actions you want to take on a daily basis.
When it comes to planning, if you jump straight into thinking
about your to-do list or taking action and you haven’t
completed the right sort of ‘big picture’ and strategic planning,
you will find it an incredible struggle to achieve your goals
or get the results you want. Taking time to get your strategic
planning in place, is even more important if you are a mother,
with other important commitments and responsibilities
outside of your business.

15
So how do you create a ‘Pareto Plan’?
Creating a ‘Pareto Plan’ that gets you in that 20% zone is a
four-step process. Although I can’t cover everything here in
this guide (but don’t worry, everything is covered step-by-
step in the Mpower Masterclasses to take you through the
whole process), I do want to make sure you discover and
understand the essential starting point, something that so
many people don’t know about or tend to skip (and which
costs them dearly further down the line).
Let’s start with the all important first step, which is to get
absolute clarity on your INSPIRATIONAL VISION.
All successful people have one thing in common: they have a
clear, compelling and Vision.
What is a Vision?
Vision – ‘the ability to think about or plan the future
with imagination or wisdom’.
Why is having a clear Vision so important?
I often hear people say things like ‘well, I don’t like to think that
far in to the future’, or ‘I just prefer to go with the flow’, ‘I’m too
busy with this years goals to think about anything bigger’ and
‘what’s the point of dreaming about the future, when I have no
control over what might even happen tomorrow’
Think about it this way...
Imagine you are going to organise the most important family
party of a lifetime, all of your closest and most beloved family
and friends will be there. This event is your way of saying
thank you to everyone in your life, to celebrate life and spend
special times together. It’s going take a lot of time, money
and energy to make this happen, but this feels like THE
most important thing for you to do. It’s a once in a lifetime
opportunity and it means more to you than anything to get
this right, for you and your loved ones, before it’s too late.
Tell me, how would you prepare for this once in a lifetime
event? Would you put it out of your mind completely until
the day before and then just randomly go out and hope to
find everyone and everything you need at the last minute? I
doubt it, but if you did, imagine what the chances are of your
precious, once in a lifetime event turning out to be anything
like you had hoped.
Chances are, before rolling your sleeves up and getting
stuck in to preparing, organising and actually making things
happen, you would probably spend some time thinking about
16
the event, imagining how you would like it to be...who you
want there, what kind of venue and atmosphere you want
to create, how you want everyone to feel during and after
the event, what you want people to get out of it, what you
want to give people, what kind of experiences, feelings and
memories you want to create for everyone. You might play
the images in your head and daydream about your future
event, you might write down some ideas, you might talk
through your ideas with others... what you would be doing, is
spending time up front creating your Vision for the event.
Having this clear Vision of how you want things to be at the
event, gives you a much greater chance of knowing what
steps to take between now and then to actually make the
event happen in the way you want it be. Your ideas will no
doubt evolve as you get started, probably making it even
better than you first imagined, but having that initial clarity
of your dream event, gave you an essential starting point,
something to work towards, to aim for.
Why wouldn’t you do the same with your business and your
own life? They are just as precious, and your whole life is a ‘once
in a lifetime’ experience, so why wouldn’t you want to spend
time getting clear about how you want things to turn out?
Your Vision needs to be not just any old vision, it needs to be
an INSPIRATIONAL Vision. Not just an exciting one, not just
a motivating one....it needs to be a really inspirational one.
Why do I need an Inspirational Vision?
When it comes to thinking about your vision, it helps to
compare creating your dream business and creating your
ideal life, to climbing a mountain.
Your Vision, is your big vision of the future, and it’s the
equivalent of the summit of the mountain. It’s where you’d
like to be in 2, 3, 5 10 or maybe even 20 years from now
(depending on how far in the future you like to imagine).
Think about standing in front of a mountain...you look up and
see the summit way up high. You might feel very excited to
begin with, but excitement can quickly wear off, especially
when you start to sense the time and energy it’s going to
take as you begin your journey up the mountain. Although
you might have initially felt excited, any minor set back
or challenge is going to quickly wipe out any feelings of
excitement. Excitement is temporary.
The same applies to feeling motivated. You might begin your
journey up the mountain feeling totally motivated to reach
the summit, but there’s a snag. You see, motivation is created
‘externally’, we are motivated because of external factors.
You could feel motivated because of what other people
say or do around you, but all it takes is for those external
motivating forces to disappear or loose their motivating
force, and you will quickly slow down, loose momentum and
most likely stop in your tracks, no matter how motivated
your were initially to make the climb. Motivation is external.
What you really need is INSPIRATION.
Inspirational – ‘a force that makes you feel hope,
encouraged and motivated mentally or emotionally, and
bring out the best in yourself’
Now you might be asking yourself what’s the difference
between motivation and inspiration. Well the difference is
quite simple: motivation comes from the outside, inspiration
comes from the inside.
When you start your climb, if
making the journey to reach that ‘Good Business
summit is something that inspires
you from within, it doesn’t Leaders create a
matter what crops up along the
way, you will always have the vision, articulate the
inner resources to keep giving
the best of yourself in order to vision, passionately
continue along that path that you
have chosen...no kick up the ass own the vision’
required, nobody checking over
your shoulder required, nobody
shouting motivational quotes former Chairman of General Electric to start. That’s why the ‘Dreams to
required...your vision of where
you are heading provides this inspirational magnetic force
which pulls you forward, from the inside.
The vision we have for our business is often something
vague floating around at the back of our minds and it is
important to have a clear vision so you know where you
are headed. If you want to build a business which is both
successful AND gives you a certain family lifestyle, then this
must be part of the picture from day one.
Stephen Covey in the ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective
People’ states ‘begin with the end in mind’ and this is what
spending time getting clear about your vision and desired
outcomes, is all about.
Spending time getting creative and crafting your Vision, is
the same as setting your intentions, and when you spend
time in that ‘Vision Zone’ thinking about your vision of how
you want your business and life to be, allowing yourself to
see, feel, smell, hear...truly experience...that vision, then you
begin to live that vision energetically in the here and now.
You begin to transform your thoughts, feelings, energy
and beliefs in your current reality, and open up doors and
pathways to the vision that you hold so clearly.
As Jack Welch, former Chairman of General Electric, said
‘Good Business Leaders create a vision, articulate the vision,
passionately own the vision’
Where you want your business to end up, what sort of
lifestyle you want to have throughout your business
journey, will impact on how you decide to run your
business, and the actions you’ll take and the results you’ll
get over the next 3-6 months, 3 years, 5 years, 10 years,
and more, so spending some time thinking about your
inspirational vision and all your desired outcomes in
business and life in general, is essential.
It’s also important that you Inspirational Vision is aligned
with your Paramount Purpose, the
two go hand in hand. If they are not
aligned, no matter how much effort
you put in, no matter how good your
plans are, no matter how organised
and effective you are with your time,
you will find it a struggle to achieve
what’s important to you in a way that
feels right.
Many people don’t know how to get
clarity on their vision, their mind
Jack Welch, goes blank, they don’t know where
Reality’ Masterclass series, in the
Mpower Academy, starts with two Masterclasses which are
always combined:
‘Finding Your Paramount Purpose’ and ‘Creating Your
Inspirational Vision’ go together, so as you work through
the exercises in each Masterclass, you can ensure both are
powerfully aligned. You’ll also be taught the ‘H.E.R. L.I.F.E.
and Business’ vision system, to ensure that you create your
Vision in way that encompasses all areas of your life that are
important to you.
So, I wanted to give you the first of the four elements
of your Pareto Plan, having a clear and compelling
Inspirational Vision, but I there’s actually another part
of your Pareto Plan that I want to talk to you about
here in this guide because I know from working with
my clients that it tends to be the biggest ‘Black Hole’ for
people who are new to being in business.
17
Part of your Pareto Planning will involve creating a one-page
business plan plan, your unique blueprint giving you a 12-month
strategic snapshot of how you will get your business success
out of your head and into the world. There are five parts to your
one-page business plan and one of these is strategy.. You have
a vision (which is the ‘WHAT’ you want to achieve), but you will
also need the strategies (the ‘HOW’ you are going to achieve it).
You’ll need to get absolute clarity on a number of different
strategic areas for your business journey (finance, processes,
product, people, innovation, time management, marketing,
sales, etc.)
way, you will spend all your time, money and energy chasing
clients, and this will never give you the foundations you need
for creating and growing a business which allows you to
focus on what you love doing, and have time for the people
you love.
So how do you get more visible with confidence, attract
your ideal clients with ease and sell without feeling pushy or
salesy? The Marketing strategy and systems I teach and help
my clients to set up for their businesses is based on what I
call ‘20:80 Attraction Marketing’.

When you own your own business, you will need some
business knowledge and skills.

However, you don’t need to go out and do a business degree,

or spend years learning everything there is out there on the
internet. You need to T-shape your business knowledge and
skills.

What do I mean by that?

The vertical stem of the ‘T’ represents the depth of your core
expertise. Obviously, you are going to be an expert with very
deep knowledge in whatever it is you do in your business –
your core service offering.

The horizontal bar of the ‘T’ represents your business

knowledge. We haven’t all done degrees in business
and MBA’s, but the good news is you don’t need to. But
as a business owner, you do need to have an ‘umbrella’
understanding of the different areas of business, which
will allow you to set up, run and manage your business
effectively (even if you choose to later outsource certain
aspects of your business activity).
You need to ‘LOVE’ whatever it is that ‘you do’ that makes
up the stem part of your ‘T’ in order for your business to
become both successful and sustainable.
In addition to your core offering, which again I’m assuming
you both love and are really good at, there is one aspect
of business, which, no matter what your business is about,
you need to develop a deeper ‘stem’ understanding:
and that’s Marketing.
When ‘YOU are your business’ you cannot simply outsource
your marketing, and Marketing is so important.
Instead of ending up in a situation where we feel like
you’re forever chasing your next client, we want to create
an environment, a platform, where we become like the
light in this picture…we choose our spot and we shine our
light through our powerful marketing conversations and
relationships, and the most beautiful ‘ideal-client-butterflies’
are attracted to our light and drawn to us.
When you create your Pareto Plan, ensuring you have an
effective ‘Attraction Marketing’ strategy is going to be key to
not creating a new time trap for yourself, where you spend
all your time trying to find new clients.
Marketing will be an important area for you to
master, it is the lifeblood of your business, so I’ll
include six key basic points here for you to think
about to help get you started…

The fact is, without clients you have no business.

The fact is, if you don’t master your marketing, in the right

18
BASICS ONE
Know and hyper-focus on your ideal client when you
develop your Marketing strategy and core Marketing
messages. This is more focused than your target-market or
a niche, this is your absolute ‘ideal client’, etc.
By focusing on your ideal client, when it comes to your
marketing messages and initial offerings, ultimately you
are going to be able to do your best work, these are the
clients who will energise you, sustain your passion for what
you do, you will give the best and they will get the best
results win/win. Get absolute clarity about your ideal client
and hyper-focus on them.
Many people worry about who they might be ‘excluding’
or missing out on by doing this, but I can assure you that
there are more clients out there than you can ever cover
in a lifetime, and this focus on ideal client will make your
Marketing so much easier.
BASICS TWO
Get clear about where your ideal client ‘hangs out’ – Easy
to do if you have clarity on who your ideal client is.
BASICS THREE
Begin with a focused two-prong Marketing strategy. It
seems there are 101 different marketing channels, but
really there are 14 types and they all fall under one of
three categories (online, offline and personal contact), and
you only need to choose 2-3 types (and aim to master just
one). The 2-3 you choose will depend on your personal
strengths and preferences and which ones are best suited
to your ideal client.
The temptation is to use a ‘scatter gun’ approach, so easy
to assume that the more channels you use, the more
people you will reach and the more clients you will get,
this is not true. You will spread yourself too thinly, waste
time and money, and dilute your message impact. You need
powerful ‘laser’ focus in your methods too.
BASCIS FOUR
There are three ‘phases’ to your marketing cycle, and
you also need to make sure you are focusing on the right
stage (for example, when you are first starting out in your
business, 80% of your marketing efforts needs to be on the
first phase of ‘filling the pipeline’, but you must not neglect
laying the foundations for the second and third phases,
and then gradually focusing more of your time and effort
on nurturing and developing your relationships within the
‘pipeline’ and then converting your potential clients in to
paying clients.
BASICS FIVE
Stand out from the crowd, develop your own powerful
brand, both an authentic personal brand as an
entrepreneur and a compelling signature brand for your
services and products. Once you have your signature
brand, that’s great, but remember in order to stand out
from the crowd, above and beyond your brand you need to
„tune’ your messages to your ideal clients „frequency’. The
„struggle’ needs to be in their words/language. No jargon,
no agenda, just their language.
BASICS SIX
Focus on your benefits – Be clear about your ‘core
benefits’. Don’t talk how you do what you do. People
don’t buy your services, they buy results. People don’t
buy ‘drills’ they are buying ‘holes’. Not only about the
benefits, but what makes you unique in the way you
deliver those benefits.
Focus should be 20% on your marketing ‘strategy’ (the
channels/tools) and 80% on message clarity. No matter
which channels you use or how you master them, if your
message is not right, your marketing will
remain ineffective.
Of course I can’t cover everything in this kickstart guide,
these are just some pointers to get you started, some
important insights to get you thinking about the important
things from the start, the Mpower Masterclasses will
guide you through the process of creating your Pareto
Plan and a monthly action plan, step by step.
In the meanwhile, let’s look at the Pareto Planning
questions, to see how much you already have in place.
How do you score when it comes to ‘Pareto Planning’?
Answer the following questions, being honest with
yourself, to understand how well you score when it comes
to ‘Pareto Planning’.
19
Pareto Planning- Questions for reflection:

Do you have a vision statement and/or vision board?

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you have a Vision which is A-J (Aligned, Bold, Clear, Desired Outcomes, Emotional, Future Focused, Guiding, Holistic,
Impactful, Joint)
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you have a clear set of written ‘desired outcomes’ and goals?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Have you created a strategic roadmap?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you have a Business Plan?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Have you mapped out your Business Model?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you have an effective 20:80 Attraction Marketing Strategy?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Have you got the right degree of focus in your Marketing actions?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you have tools to help you manage your goals, priorities and tasks on a quarterly, monthly, weekly and daily basis?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Are you confident your plans get you in the 20% zone? (20% of your efforts lead to 80% of your results)
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
If you have the right plans in place, do you use and update them as regularly as needed?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Having reflected on each of the questions, how would you rate your current levels and usage of planning to ensure your
actions and efforts are keeping you focused, prioritised and working in the 20% zone?

Give yourself a score between

0 (lowest = No plans or use of plans)
10 (highest = All strategic, tactical and action plans in place and used regularly to keep me confidently in the 20% zone).

My Score:…………….

Now map this score on to the 10Ps Success Model.

20
3

Personal Your Values are what is important to you in life.

Values
Knowing your core personal values helps you understand what drives you – what you
enjoy, inspires you and would like more of.
Knowing your core personal values helps you
understand what drives you – what you enjoy, inspires
you and would like more of.

By building a life and lifestyle around our values we

create a life that is more satisfying and meaningful to us.
Life feels more in flow.

Values change over time, particularly when we become

parents, and deepen as you understand yourself better
– they are always moving. Your Values can also be
situational - so what is true for you in business may
not be true for you at home.

When it comes to Values, there is no right or wrong –
only who WE are!
True success can only be achieved when we do so
without compromising our core personal values,
otherwise we can look successful to people from the
outside, however, we won’t feel successful and be able
to enjoy our ‘success’ on the inside, it will feel hollow
and unfulfilling.
Our values are often something we are not consciously
aware of, but spending time to understand these, and
then prioritise them, provides us with a benchmark to
decide whether a particular course of action is the
right one, or wrong one, for ourselves and therefore
our business.
You will find that any decision and course of action you
consider will either honour your values, or not, and
knowing what your core personal values are is a great
tool in making important decisions and deciding on the
best way of doing things.
When your personal values are not met in life, this will
have a ripple effect, and will absolutely show up in your
business, particularly in the way you do Marketing and
how you interact with others.
If your vision, plans, goals and action conflict with your
core values, it doesn’t matter how business savvy you
become, it will become a struggle to turn your vision
into a reality and achieve the results you dream of.
How do you score when it comes to
‘Personal Values’?

Answer the following questions, being honest with

yourself, to understand how well you score when it
comes to knowing and understanding your
‘Personal Values’.

21
Personal Values - Questions for reflection:

Do you know your top 8 core personal values when it comes to business?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you know your top 8 core personal values when it comes to life in general?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you understand how aligned your business vision and business plans are with your core personal values, or where they
may be in conflict?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you know to what extent your core personal values are currently being met in your personal life?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you understand the impact that unmet personal values can have on your business?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Does your business support your life values?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do the people involved in your business share your values?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Having reflected on each of the questions above, how well do you understand your top 8 core personal values, how they
differ between business and home life, and the extent to which they are aligned with all aspects of your business?

Give yourself a score between

0 (lowest = No understanding, alignment and fulfilment of core personal values) to
10 (highest = Complete understanding, alignment and fulfilment of core personal values).

My Score:…………….

Now map this score on to the 10Ps Success Model.

22
4

Plucky Plucky – ‘Having or showing determined courage in the face of difficulties.’

Passion – ‘Passion is when you put more energy into something than is
required to do it. It is more than just enthusiasm or excitement, passion is

Passion putting as much heart, mind, body and soul in to something as possible.’

In the words of Confucius ‘Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a
day in your life’.

I can guarantee there will be ups and downs on your How do you score when it comes to ‘Plucky Passion’?
business journey, that’s normal. I can guarantee there
will be days when you say something to yourself along Answer the following questions, being honest with
the lines of ‘Why am I doing this’. There will be moments yourself, to understand how well you score when it
when you feel like giving up. All the successful people comes to ‘Plucky Passion’.
you admire have had these days and moments too. The
only difference between them, and the people who did
not succeed is they kept going.

What keeps us going in the face of difficulties and

challenges, is our passion.

Passion for what you do, is one of your most precious

resources. It will make you ‘plucky’, giving you
determination and courage in the face of difficulties,
obstacles and challenges.

Passion is not just something you think about in your

head, it is something you have at the heart and soul level
too. It’s the goosebump factor and the heart beating
faster, it’s the way you light up even when simply talking
about what you do.

23
Plucky Passion - Questions for reflection:

Would you say you LOVE what you do?

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you often talk about what you do?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Does your business ‘light you up’?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you feel drawn to your business, perhaps almost obsessed?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you find it hard not to think about your business, even when you’re on holiday?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
If money were no object, would you still want to do this sort of business?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you look forward to Mondays?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you wake up excited for the day?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you feel it’s all worth it?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
On the days you might ask yourself ‘Why am I doing this?’, can you easily find the answer?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Does your business feel more like a ‘calling’ than work?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do other people ever comment that they can tell how passionate you are about what you do?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Is your business ‘The One’, not just a stepping stone or bridge to what you REALLY want to be doing (when you have more
time, experience, money, courage, etc.)?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Having reflected on each of the questions, how much passion do you have that is so strong it will give you determined
courage to face any difficulties as they arise?

Give yourself a score between

0 (lowest = No Passion) to
10 (highest = Total Passion).

My Score:…………….

Now map this score on to the 10Ps Success Model.

24
5
Precious Precious – ‘Of great value; beloved person, highly esteemed, cherished.’
People – ‘In the context of this success ingredient, there are four
different types of people vital to success in business – read on to find
People out who they are.’
In business terms, your success is directly related to the strength of your network.
Anybody who is serious about having a successful business
WITHOUT having to sacrifice your health, quality of life,
time with loved ones or sanity…you need to be building your
connections with the right people on FOUR different levels:
1. Business People
2. Support People
3. Tribe/Community People
4. Dream Team People
Business People
When I say you need to strengthen your network of
business people, I’m not talking about clients here. Of course
clients are essential, if you don’t have clients you don’t
have a business, but getting clients is covered under your
Marketing and Sales plans and actions.
What I’m referring to here is building the right connections
to leverage your reach and your impact by creating a network
of professional contacts who will grow to know, like and trust
you to potentially become your ‘champions’ (people who will
rave about what you do to others), perhaps referral partners,
or even joint venture partners. Remember, it’s important to
think ‘quality not quantity’, the strength of our network is
not about big numbers, it’s about the depth and quality of
relationships you build with the RIGHT people.
Support People
The concept of needing people, extends beyond the business
arena for us mothers. By ‘Support People’, I’m talking about
your support network. Either important people in your life,
or professionals/companies, who provide you the support
and back-up you need logistically and emotionally on the
home front. If you are investing time, energy and money in
to starting and growing your business, you will need some
support on the home and childcare, for example.
Tribe/Community People
Starting and leading your own tribe or community is not only
an incredible way to meet new people who share similar
passions and values, it is also a great way to raise your profile
25
and credibility. Members of your tribe/community won’t
necessarily be potential clients, but they may become your
fans and ‘champions’ as they get to know what you stand for,
what you do and why you do it. It only takes 1000 raving fans
for a small business to be highly successful (google ‘1000
raving fans’ and check out the article that was written on this
topic). Note: An email list is not a tribe or community.
Dream Team People
You also need to think about your ‘dream team’. It’s natural to
often start off as a one-woman band when you have limited
resources, and in the early days we are often best placed
to be the central driving force to get things moving. This
is fine when your business is in it’s infancy…the new born
which needs to dedicated focus from its mother, but as your
business starts to take-off your business network will need
to encompass some business support to free up your time
from doing the things you don’t like doing in your business.
Ultimately, this will give you more time and energy to focus
working on the parts of your business which you enjoy the
most, and require your specialist knowledge and skills. This
doesn’t mean that you have to hire staff, in today’s modern
marketplace it is very easy to outsource work or hire
freelancers by the hour.
As part of the dream team, every business person, no
matter what their qualifications or business knowledge
and experience should have a business coach or a mentor.
Even though I’m a coach and a mentor myself, I have my own
business and personal coaches, and wouldn’t be where I am
today without them, because they help you to develop your
success mindset, to grow quickly beyond your comfort zone,
to stay focused and accountable, to stay on track and avoid
the costly errors it’s so easier to make.
How do you score when it comes to ‘Precious People’?
Answer the following questions, being honest with yourself,
to understand how well you score when it comes to
‘Precious People’.
Precious People - Questions for reflection:

How strong is your business Network?

(By strong I mean a combination of good numbers of the right people and depth of relationship)
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How reliable and helpful is your Support Network?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How big and engaged is your Tribe/Community?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you have the right Dream Team?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How easy do you find it to make new connections?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How easy do you find it to nurture connections in to meaningful relationships?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do the right kind of people approach you wanting to connect?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How confident do you feel about building relationships with people outside your family and friends?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How comfortable are you talking to people you don’t know?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How easy do you find it to ask people for help?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How much emotional support do you feel you get?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How much help do you feel you get with things outside of your business?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How easy do you find it to get results through other people (staff, freelancers, hired companies, etc.)?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
To what extent do you feel things will only be done well enough if you do them yourself?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Having reflected on each of the questions, how many of the right types of ‘Precious People’ do you have around
you right now?

Give yourself a score between

0 (lowest = You don’t have all FOUR types of ‘People’ or the right people) to
10 (highest = The right number and right people in all FOUR categories).

My Score:…………….

Now map this score on to the 10Ps Success Model.

26
6

Priceless Priceless – ‘So precious that its value cannot be determined –

incalculable value – having a value beyond any price – So valuable
nobody would ever want to sell it or be able to buy it.’

Platform Platform – ‘In the context of this success ingredient, our platform is
all the other important, foundational areas of our life which form the
foundations upon which we build or business’ – read on to find out more.

It’s a common mistake to assume we can separate our business from the rest of our life,
but the reality is you can’t. Your business success is intrinsically linked to all areas of your
personal life.
income to meet your family’s needs?
Your ability to get the results you are striving for in your l 5 Does your business generate healthy profits? (it’s one
business, and your ability to enjoy working on and in your thing to have a good turnover, but it’s profit that really
business depends heavily on how good things are across counts at the end of the day).
all important areas of your life. l 5 If you are in the process of starting up and don’t have

clients yet, do you have enough funding (self-funding

If you’re struggling or having real problems, issues, drama or from external sources), to finance your business
and difficulties in a key area of your life, this will have a activity for the necessary period of time? (successful
ripple effect throughout your life, and inevitably this will and sustainable businesses, just like Rome, are not
impact the results you are able to achieve in your business built in a day).
and your ability to turn your inspirational vision in to reality.
l 5 D o you have enough savings to give you and your
family the financial security and peace of mind that you
have a ‘cushion’ or a ‘rainy day’ fund?
l 5 Do you have money invested that is working for you,

for your family’s financial future independence?

Physical & Mental Health

Below are 8 areas of life which are typically very
important to most people.
Income & Investment
When you’re working on starting or growing a business,
it’s important to have peace of mind that you can survive
financially. Financial desperation is not only a terrible
As a solopreneur, sole-trader, small business owner…
you are your business. Your health is your number one
biggest business (and life) asset. If you lose your physical
or mental health, the impact on you, your family and your
business can be catastrophic. I’ve specifically mentioned
both physical and mental health here, because both are
equally important. There is less of a taboo about mental
health issues, but it is still there. Our mental health, is just
as important as our physical health, and losing either is
equally debilitating.
l 5 Do you feel healthy and fit?

source of anxiety, stress and worry, it can really hold you l 5 Do you take care of yourself by eating healthily and

back in your business success, because whether you are getting regular exercise?
aware of it or not, financial stress and worries will show l 5 Are you worried about your mental health?

up in the way you run your business and how you interact l 5 Are you worried about your physical health?

with your clients. Clients and potential partners will l 5 Do you feel happy about the way you look and feel?

sense underlying currents of stress, fear, desperation, no l 5 Do you struggle with chronic anxiety or depression?

matter how hard you might try to hide it…and the energy l 5 Do you suffer from physical or mental illness that is

and subtle behaviours associated with ‘lack’, ‘fear’ and not being addressed?
‘attachment to outcome’ will act as a barrier to getting the l 5 Do you know you should be doing more to look after

positive outcomes and results you really want and deserve. yourself physically/mentally?
Consider these questions: l 5 Do you feel emotionally ‘on track’?

l Does your business have a healthy cashflow? l 5 Do you feel grounded and centred?

l 5 Do you have a regular and consistent household l 5 Do you feel positive about the future?

27
Motherhood & Children Balance & Freedom
l 5 Are you happy with the relationship you have with l 5 Do you have a sense of balance between your business
your children? and your home life?
l 5 Are you confident in your parenting? l 5 Do you feel free to make important choices about your

l 5 Are there things you are struggling with in your role life and business?
as a mother? l 5 Do you feel you have choices about how you spend

l 5 Are you able to enjoy motherhood in the way your time?

you want? l 5 Do you feel you have control over your life?

l 5 Are you able to enjoy enough quality time with your

children? Fulfilment & Growth

l 5 Do you feel you get the support you need when it l 5 Do you feel fulfilled by life?
comes to parenting? l 5 Do you feel fulfilled by your business?

l 5 Do you feel that you are learning and growing in

Family & Friends your life?

l 5 Are you happy with the friendships you have? l 5 Do you feel that you are learning and growing in

l 5 Are you happy with the relationships you have with your business?
members of your extended family?
Add your own important life areas…
Love & Romance
l 5 If you are currently in a relationship, are you happy Think about each area with regards to your own life, and
in this relationship? Does it bring out the best in be really honest with yourself
you, is it loving, supporting and caring? Of course, all
relationships will have their ups and downs, that’s Having reflected on each of the important areas of your
normal, but this question is one to really reflect on. life which make up your ‘Priceless Platform’, give yourself
They say that one in four women will experience an a score from 0 (lowest) to 10 (highest), to reflect how
abusive (physical and/or emotional) at some point fulfilled, satisfied, happy, content you feel with these
in their lives, and I know from personal experience combined areas of your life, which make up the platform
that emotionally abusive or ‘toxic’relationships can for you to pursue your business goals.
be just (if not more) destructive and wounding as the
physically abusive ones, not just for us but also for our My Score:…………….
children.
l 5 If you are not currently in a relationship, how happy Now map this score on to the 10Ps Success Model.
and content do you feel not being in a relationship?
Getting to a place where you can truly love yourself,
and not be dependent on another person’s love for our
own happiness, is important in our ability to enjoy life,
and also for attracting the right sort of future partner
in to our lives (if that is something we want in the
future).
l 5 Do you get to spend enough quality time with your

partner/husband?

Interests and Passions

l 5 Are you able to pursue things you love doing outside of
your business and role as a mother?
l 5 Are there things you really want to do, which are

important to you, but you never seem to get the time

to do them?

28
7

Productive Productive – ‘Yielding large amounts of positive results,

producing abundantly and readily.’

Platform – ‘The process or state of taking action or doing something.’

Action Note: there’s a twist to both these classic definitions when it

comes to thinking about what productive action is when are on
your startup to 60k journey– read on to find out more…

No matter how much you know, how wonderful your vision or brilliant your plans,
if you don’t take action, it simply won’t happen.
I’m not talking about taking action for action’s sake, I’m
talking about taking focused, consistent action in line with
your vision and your well thought through plans, working
smarter not harder to focus your efforts on the 20% of
actions which are going to reap those 80% of results in life
and business.

How well do you feel you manage your time? Lots of people
talk about ‘Time Management’, I prefer to teach people what
I call ‘Time Mastery’. Time Mastery involves getting all 10 of
these ingredients right, so that you can be in the 20% zone
we spoke about, achieving your goals confidently through
simple step by step actions (because the most effective
strategies to support your vision, goals and roadmap have
been broken down in to simple step by step actions and
tasks in your pareto plans) and always carrying things out
with ease and flow (thanks to your empowering beliefs and
performance mindset).

I sometimes say to my clients that it’s important to take
‘Imperfect action’? Why would I ever say this? When you are
working on something you are passionate about, care about,
and when you’re used to being successful in what you do,
it’s easy to get caught up in analysis-preparation-paralysis. If
you’re like me, you might sometimes have a tendency to be
a bit of a perfectionist; you want everything to be ‘just right’,
‘spot on’. So my advice, when you know you’ve done your
homework, and done the groundwork, is to ask yourself ‘is
this good enough’ or ‘am I ready’ and if you’re in the 80%+
mark then just take ‘Imperfect Action’.
There’s a bit of a twist when it comes to defining what
‘Productive Action’ means, particularly for women, and
even more so if you are heart-centered, passionate and/
or a parent. We are really good at being busy, taking care
of everyone else, picking up after everyone, constantly
assessing everyone’s needs and squeezing every last drop
out the day… sound familiar?
So part of the ingredient for success when it comes to
action, is to NOT take action, to be purposefully inactive: not
through procrastination or because we don’t know what to
do or how to do, but simply because we are smart and we
know that we need to regularly recharge our batteries. We
need to put our own oxygen mask on first (I’m sure you know
the analogy already), we need to realise that sometimes we
need to slow down in order to get better and faster results
(remember the story of the hare and the tortoise?). This is
not being selfish, it’s being self-FUL. This is not being lazy, it’s
being smart, because we realise that life is not a sprint, it is a
marathon, and there are no medals for burnout!
How do you score when it comes to ‘Productive Action’?
Answer the following questions, being honest with yourself,
to understand how well you score when it comes to
‘Precious People’.

29
Productive Action - Questions for reflection:

How often do you find yourself procrastinating?

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you feel you have wasted your time/day?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you have difficultly completing tasks?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you feel overloaded and overwhelmed by the number of things to do?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you find yourself carrying out the same repetitive tasks?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you do things that could be delegated or outsourced to other people?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How organised do you feel when you are carrying out your tasks/actions?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you feel exhausted by all that you do?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you get dragged off on a tangent?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you end up focusing on the urgent rather than the important?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often does your time get sucked up by Social Media, surfing the Internet or housework (when these could wait)?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What sense of great accomplishment and huge achievement do you have at the end of each day?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How much ‘me-time’ or down time do you have?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you change your priorities at the last minute due to demands from others?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you say yes, when you really want to say no, and regret not saying no afterwards?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How much of a perfectionist would you say you are, resulting in spending far too much time on detail that probably goes
unnoticed, particularly for the amount of time spent?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you get stuck in ‘analysis paralysis’, overthinking, over-analysing and wondering where to start?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often does it feel like trying to complete certain tasks is like Chinese torture, or trying to get blood out of stone?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Are there things you want to do but you find yourself procrastinating?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Are there things you really want to do, but you feel scared, worried or anxious and it stops you taking action and getting
things done?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you feel as if you’re ‘in flow’, in the zone, swimming with the current?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you get so into what you are doing that time seems to fly by?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Are you able to focus your attention on the task in hand, without being plagued by distracting thoughts?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Having reflected on each of the questions above, how good are you with maintaining ‘Productive Action’?

Give yourself a score between

0 (lowest = My action levels are zero) to
10 (highest = My actions are the right ones, at the right time, at the right pace).

My Score:…………….

Now map this score on to the 10Ps Success Model.

30
8
Perfect
Authenticity
Yes, business success requires a certain amount of Business IQ (the knowledge about the
right way to do things, how to create the best strategy for you and your business, but you
get help from experts, coaches/mentors training programmes and books for the bits you
don’t know or haven’t done before).
Then of course, there is the all important Business EQ
(our emotional intelligence), covered in this guide by the
Performance Mindset ingredient.
What people often underestimate when they go into
business for themselves, particularly if they have worked
in the corporate world for some time, is the importance of
what I call ‘Business AQ’: Business Authenticity.
Being successful in business, is very related to your ability
to be YOU in your business. That may sound simple
and obvious, but to be the authentic, unique version of
yourself in whatever it is you do, actually takes courage
and sometimes a bit of practice.
Even if you sell products, ultimately, when you meet
people (through networking for example) it’s you that
they are meeting and hearing, not your products. People
buy from people they like, and people will only be able to
really connect with you and like you if you are being your
true authentic self.
Finding your voice is also about getting really clear about
your own personal story, and how that relates to your
business today and why you do what you do.
Marmite…to find and use YOUR true, unique self, story
and voice in everything you do, and be your authentic
self you need to become like Marmite. Just like Marmite,
some will love it and some will hate it (not love it).
31
Perfect – ‘Absolute/Complete – Completely free from
faults or defects – Lacking nothing essential to the whole –
Complete of its kind and without defect or blemish – flawless.
Authenticity – ‘The quality of being authentic (Authentic:
not false or copied; genuine – real – conforming to fact and
therefore worthy of trust, reliance or belief.’
Be OK with being Marmite…powerful and unique YOU,
that your ideal clients will love, and those that don’t love
you…that’s OK. Think about how you are currently in your
business and your communications, and get really honest
with yourself about whether your trying to please and serve
everyone and by trying to do so are presenting as vanilla.
Vanilla which is ‘nice’, but in the business world just blends
into the noise and all the other vanillas.
Women are often natural carers (maternal instinct), we want
to help everyone possible, we don’t like to feel like we are
being exclusive, or leaving people out. But in your business you
cannot set out to please everyone, and if you try it’s a definite
recipe for your business messages being weak, not attracting
any clients, fizzling out, and you burning out in the process.
I’ve called this ‘Perfect’ Authenticity because, although we
all know there is no such thing as perfection, when you show
up authentically in your business, as the real, unique YOU,
with your unique set of strengths and weaknesses, your
ways of being, your imperfections and your idiosyncrasies,
your personal story with the challenges and fears you’ve
faced, the mistakes you’ve made and the obstacles you’ve
had to overcome...all of these things which make up you, are
by default PERFECT in the business world. Why, because
they make you unique, they make you real, and people can
only develop trust with people they get to know. If you are
not authentic, others will sense they are not really seeing
the real you, and you will never be able to develop the sort of
trusting relationships that successful businesses depend on.
How comfortable are you with being Marmite, with showing
up 100% as the real YOU?
How do you score when it comes to ‘Perfect
Authenticity’?
Answer the following questions, being honest with
yourself, to understand how well you score when it comes
to ‘Perfect Authenticity’.
Perfect Authenticity - Questions for reflection:

Do you understand how to build a powerful authentic personal brand?

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Have you found your authentic voice in business?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you understand your unique talents and gifts?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you have the confidence to show up as the ‘real you’ in your business?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Are you comfortable sharing your story with others (besides friends and family)?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you have a strong sense of identity?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you have a strong sense of personal style?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you find that you attract the right sort of people in to your life?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you feel confident finding your own way of doing things?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you feel confident sharing your own opinions, insights and views?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you listen to and follow your intuition/gut feelings?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Can you feel strong and confident without needing external validation and praise?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you feel a sense of inner courage and strength?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you feel a sense of self-worth and that you deserve good things?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you feel comfortable to shine and be highly visible?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you feel relaxed about how others may perceive you?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Are you clear about your own strengths and weaknesses?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you fully appreciate all of the value you ALREADY have through your unique talents, experiences and gifts?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Are you already able to see what it is that makes you unique and special?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Do you want to please everyone and aim to be liked by everyone?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Having reflected on each of the questions above, how good are you at being ‘Perfectly Authentic’?

Give yourself a score between

0 (lowest = I am 0% authentic and showing up as the ‘real me’) to
10 (highest = I am 100% authentic and showing up as the ‘real me’).

My Score:…………….

Now map this score on to the 10Ps Success Model.

32
9

Powerful Powerful – ‘Having great power or strength/influence, make

someone stronger and more confident especially in controlling
their life and claiming their rights.’

Beliefs Beliefs – ‘The feeling of being certain that something is true or exists.’
You are what you believe!

In understanding how our beliefs affect our ability to succeed, the first thing we need to
understand is how our beliefs are formed. It has been said that the human brain is a truth
seeking mechanism. In our early childhood the experiences we have can be positive or
could be negative. What the brain does, is attempt to prove that those experiences are
right, so it goes in search of proof.
For example, many people have a fear of public speaking, Positive beliefs which support the outcome we desire, are
which can be traced back to a negative experience at school, called ‘Empowering Beliefs’, and negative beliefs which
when the class chuckled as you read out a piece from a book. affect our ability to get the results we want are called
From that initial childhood experience, what the brain then ‘Limiting Beliefs’. A lot of the time, we are aware of our own
does, every time you stand up in front of a group of people, beliefs, however, a lot of the time our beliefs are what we
is it collects proof that that is call ‘unconscious’, they were formed
a negative experience, until in childhood and although they are
eventually you have a belief
system that says that presenting
Whether you believe very powerful in affecting the way we
think, respond and behave as a result,
in front of a group of people is a
bad thing.
you can or believe we are not always aware that they
exist and the extent to which they

Our belief system drives our

you can’t, you’re have control over us.

perception of how we see the

world, the self-talk we give to
absolutely right ~ There are many different areas where
our beliefs can affect our success
ourselves, and how we feel in in business, as you’ll see from the
that situation. All these combine Henry Ford questions below.
to drive our physiology which
creates either a coherent or a stress response. How do you score when it comes to ‘Powerful Beliefs’?

If we have a negative belief, the system is designed to switch Answer the following questions, being honest with yourself,
off the thinking part of the brain, which then drives our to understand how well you score when it comes to
behaviour and action, this of course will then determine the ‘Powerful Beliefs’:
results you get, which will then reinforce your belief system.

So in the case of a negative belief around our example of

public speaking, we hear the word ‘public speaking’ and our
mind goes in to panic, our self-talk kicks in along the lines of
‘I’ll look a fool’ and ‘it’ll all go horribly wrong’, and of course
it does because we made it so. The great thing about belief
systems is they can be changed. If you change your belief
about a situation, you will break the self-fulfilling prophesy
cycle, and you will change the outcome.

33
Powerful Beliefs - Questions for reflection:

How aware are you of your own beliefs?

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What do you believe about success?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What do you believe about successful people?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What do you believe about money?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What do you believe about your own abilities?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What do you believe about what makes a good mother?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What do you believe about your children?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What do you believe about your self-worth?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What do you believe about business?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What do you believe about love?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What do you believe about time?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
What do you believe about YOU?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Have you ever worked with a coach to uncover your unconscious beliefs around any of the above topics, which could be
holding you back without you realising?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Having reflected on each of the questions, how good ‘Powerful’ are your beliefs?

Give yourself a score between

0 (lowest = I don’t know what my beliefs are or how they might be limiting me) to
10 (highest = I am aware of my conscious beliefs which are empowering, and I have done work to discover and overcome my
subconscious limiting beliefs)

My Score:…………….

Now map this score on to the 10Ps Success Model.

34
10

Performance Performance– ‘Accomplishment of something and

how well it is done. High performance = above
average or superior standard.’

Mindset Mindset – ‘A person’s usual attitude or mental state.

A particular way of thinking, a person’s attitude or
set of opinions about something.’

Here’s something I believe to be true: Business success is 20% skill and 80% mindset.
Your mindset, the way you think and the way in which you handle your resulting emotions
and behaviours can make or break your business.
We are all different, and without spending time with you Presence
individually it’s difficult for me to say which of the many How often is your mind fully in the moment? How often are
facets of ‘mindset’ are most likely to impact your ability to we with our children physically, but our minds are partially
make your vision a reality, but here are the top 3 I tend to elsewhere? (swirling with urgent, pressing and passionate
come across most frequently when I work with women thoughts about our new business and what we need to do
in business: next to make it a success) If we are going to take on the
challenge of building our own business, and let’s face it, it
Fear does take effort and it can be challenging, we at least need
Fear comes in all shapes and sizes (from full blown to be able to enjoy the benefits, and enjoy the journey. After
anxiety attacks, to milder forms of fear hidden under all, success is as much, if not more, about the way we travel
stress or behind procrastination). We all have a different rather than simply reaching a final destination.
relationship with fear, both in life and in our work. Where
is your head at when it comes to: simply being aware of It’s important that we are aware of our thoughts and
and understanding your fears, overcoming yours fears, emotions, and that we are able to regulate how we respond
embracing new challenges and getting out of your comfort to our thoughts and emotions and therefore control the
zone, recognising and shaking off procrastination, being impact these have on our behaviours and actions, in a way
comfortable with ‘putting yourself out there’ in a way which which enhances our ‘performance’ and ability to get the
may make you feel vulnerable, approaching what you do results we want in business and life.
with genuine confidence.
How do you score when it comes to ‘Performance
Self-talk Mindset’?
How critical is your self-talk? I challenge you to listen
and take careful note of how that inner-voice talks to you Answer the following questions, being honest with yourself,
throughout the day. What do you catch yourself saying to to understand how well you score when it comes to
yourself, especially in those moments when you are doing ‘Performance Mindset’.
something which takes you outside your comfort zone,
or you are still learning so perhaps don’t get it right the
first time round, or perhaps you feel lost or confused by
something new or unfamiliar. In these situations, is your
self-talk similar to how you would talk to your own child
if they were in the same situation as you, is it supportive,
comforting, loving, nurturing, emphatic and kind? From
my experience of working with women in Business, I can
bet that 90% of the time it isn’t, in fact I’m guessing that
we would be horrified if we or anyone else spoke to our
children in the way we often speak to ourselves…and yet we
wouldn’t dream of talking to others that way, because we
understand the power of the spoken word!

35
Performance Mindset - Questions for reflection:

How much control do you feel you have over your fears?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Are you able to stay positive and self-motivated?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Does that ‘little voice’ in your head encourage, praise and support you?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Are you able to be fully present in the moment, or is your mind always distracted or racing at a 1000 miles per hour thinking
about all the other things you should be doing?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How are aware are you of your own emotions?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How good are you at empathising with other people?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How noisy is your ‘internal chatter’, do you know how to lower the volume?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How good are you at ‘switching off’ when you need to?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How good are you at stopping bad habits?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How much time do you spend going over what is wrong about your past?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How much time do you spend worrying about the future?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you find yourself judging other people?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you compare yourself to others?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often are you plagued by guilt?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How often do you react to a situation or person in a way that you later regret?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How in control do you feel of your emotions?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
How in control do you feel of your reactions when faced with difficult situations?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Are you able to accept and let go of things which are not within your control?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Are you already able to feel emotionally centred and grounded despite what is going on around you?
.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Having reflected on each of the questions above, to what extent do you have a ‘Performance Mindset’?

Give yourself a score between

0 (lowest = My mindset; thoughts and ability to be aware of my emotions and manage the resulting responses and actions
are not high performing) to
10 (highest = My mindset; thoughts and ability to be aware of my emotions and manage the resulting responses and actions
are 100% high performing)

My Score:…………….

Now map this score on to the 10Ps Success Model.

36
My 10 Essential P’s for
Startup to Success
Measuring Foundations & Flow

Date completed:_________________________

10 10

Pareto
10 Plans 10
5 5
Plucky Precious
Passion People

5 5

Paramount Priceless
Purpose Platform

5 0 5 10
10

Performance Productive
Mindset Action
5 5

Personal Perfect
Values 5 5 Authenticity
10 10
Powerful
Beliefs

10 10

Record your thoughts & observations here:

........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

37
What Next…?
First of all, well done for completing this guide, I’m so happy you have now discovered the
10 essential ingredients for true success to your journey.

Having reflected on each set of questions and given I really want you to:
yourself a score, make sure you have mapped all 10
scores on to your Success model at the back of this guide. l 5 M
 ake real progress in your business

You now have an initial overview of 10 things that l 5 B

 e able to enjoy life to the fullest
need to be in place to create solid foundations for your
business and be able to create sustainable growth and l 5 F
 eel more flow and ease in your life
success, AND be able to enjoy the journey every step of
the way. l 5 L ook back in 12 months time having
achieved everything that’s most important to you!
By reflecting on the questions in each of the sections,
you should now also have clarity about which of these
ingredients you might have overlooked as you build your I can definitely help
business. For those of you who have been in business for
a while, but have been struggling to get the results you you and it would be an
really want, you can hopefully now see the areas where
you need to focus on moving forward. honour to help you get
your dream business and
So what now?
family lifestyle out of your
What do you do if you realise there are areas you need to
improve and develop but you don’t know how?
head and into reality.
What if you have all of the 10Ps mastered but you don’t
So here are some next steps to help you:
have a plan of how to actually make it happen; you have
the ingredients but you haven’t figured out your recipe
Firstly, please do make sure you have joined all the other
and you have have all the tools in your toolkit and feel a
like-minded and like-hearted women in our Mpower
bit lost about what to do next?
Facebook Community and all the resources on our
website www.mpower.global including my book The
I realise you may need some more information or support
Invisible Revolution which will take these and other
to MAKE IT HAPPEN…particularly when it comes to
success principles further.
knowing how to create your own plan (I like to call it a
success blueprint), and part of that will be understanding
On the next page is my gift to you, to help and support
what to do when it comes to Marketing and
you in getting clarity on how to move forward and making
understanding how to get more visible with confidence
it happen…
and attract your ideal clients, because getting clients is
the life blood of your business).

38
Complimentary
kickstart session
Get the support you need to make it happen
If you are serious about starting, growing and sustaining
a successful business in a way that adds to the quality of
your family life, getting results AND being able to enjoy the
journey, you are ready to put in the effort and get these 10
ingredients for success working for you, then I would like to
offer you a complimentary one-to-one session…
© Nicola Huelin 2015 Copyright in this document belongs to Nicola Huelin.
You may not allow others to copy it or use it for any purpose.
39
In this 60 minute one-to-one supportive and confidential
consultation via Skype/telephone, I will work with you to:
l  reate a sense of clarity about what you want to achieve
5 C
in the next 12 months
l  ind out how to get the 10 essential ingredients in place
5 F
and working for you
l  iscover the #1 thing that could stop you getting the
5 D
results you want
l 5 H
 elp you feel clear and confident about your next steps
I am only offering this complimentary session to those who
have worked through this guide and send me a copy of their
completed ‘10Ps Model’
There is no sales pitch, that’s not how I do business, simply if
there’s a match between the support you feel you need and
what I do, I can give you a brief overview and answer any
questions you might have. I am committed to helping you get
the success and happiness you and your family deserve.
Contact me to book
your Complimentary
Session today...
nicola@mpower.global
or visit www.mpower.global
About the Author
Nicola Huelin is a multi-award winning women’s business coach & mentor,
inspirational speaker and author with over 20 years’ in business; combining corporate
experience as an executive and senior business consultant within multiple industries;
Telecommunications, IT, Public Sector, Education, Hospitality and 12 years an
Entrepreneur, Freelancer and small business owner.
Nicola holds an Honours degree in business economics with
a specialism in Marketing from Southampton University and
postgraduate qualifications in business, change and project
management and was an approved Marketing Advisor on the
government’s Business Growth Voucher programme.
A registered AMAC coach (Associate member) with the
Association for Coaching, Nicola is a fully qualified Small
Business Coach and Personal Transformation Life Coach,
and holds a diploma in Small Business Coaching, Group
Coaching and Personal Transformation Coaching from the
Animas Centre for coaching, London. All coaching training
fully accredited and recognised by The International Coach
Federation, The Institute of Leadership Management and
The Complimentary Therapists Association.
Trusted for her expertise, caring and down to earth approach
and holistic philosophy when defining and achieving success,
as well as having combined a successful career and business
success with raising a family, Nicola has become a highly
sought after women’s business coach and mentor to other
mums in business and is on a personal mission to empower
one million mums in business.
40
Founder of Mpower Mastermind groups, Nicola’s work has
been featured on international TV, and has received multiple
awards, including:
l 5 M
 entor of the Year, Women in Business Excellence ,
Sussex Edition 2016
l 5 B
 est Parent in Business (London & South East),
Mumandworking awards, 2016 finalist
l 5 M
 ost Empowering Coach/Mentor, Women are
B.E.S.T. awards, Winner 2015
l 5 B
 est Supporting Business, National MumpreneurUK
business awards, Finalist 2015
l 5 B
 est New Business, Women in Sussex awards,
Winner 2014
l 5 S ussex Woman of the Year, honorary luncheon hosted
by Lady Camilla Parker Bowles and Edwina Sandys
(granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill).
Nicola is author of the book The Invisible
Revolution - join the empowered mumprenuers
www.theinvisiblerevolution.com
Nicola is regularly asked to share her business expertise
and her inspirational personal story talking to large
audiences around the UK, for example the London Summit
for changemakers, women’s business networks, European
business schools, Mums Enterprise Roadshows and The
Work & Family Show (Excel London).
Nicola is currently preparing a TED talk on the growing
power of Mumpreneurs within the UK economy.