Let me ask you a tough question: Why are you in business? Why do you want your children to be in business if indeed you are working on that path? What motivates you to work hard? What will motivate your children to work hard? What keeps you going when times get tough and you want to quit?

OR are you in business just as a social outlet? Do you treat your business as a hobby? Are you working on it seriously so you have serious profits? Are you striving to be exceptional so you can stand out from the crowd?

Your business is either growing or dying. You can choose to stand out above the crowd or be mediocre. Unfortunately, many businesses approach customer service like this.

I think of the extremely hard time my husband, Travis, had years ago in talking with our former mortgage company. They provided anything BUT outstanding customer service and a superior product! He had to tell the phone agents how to do their jobs, remind them that they were breaking the law, and calmly say if a document was not provided us by a certain date we would be contacting our attorney! And yes, we meant it!

Think about a time where you were frustrated by a pushy sales person or a horrible customer service experience. How did you feel? How do you want your business to be different? If you are teaching your child to become an entrepreneur, this makes a great exercise!

Because that’s the exciting news about being an entrepreneur. You can shape your business to be an exceptional business and this will mean you stand out above the crowd. And this will mean you have outstanding revenue performance.

But let’s be honest about something: If you chase the money and that’s your motivation alone, you will most likely fail. The real question is, what is your why? Why are you in business?

For me, I work hard on my business because primarily it’s what I love to do. That’s the first step. I love helping people. I remember when my husband, Travis ,and I were meeting a possible client for our architectural business, it became clear the business owner needed marketing and graphics help. It was natural to offer my services and he was very eager to find out more.

But beyond that, I work hard on my business and my husband’s business because of our son. I want him most of all to see that being an entrepreneur is a viable option. I never want him to be afraid of that. I want him to experience God as our provider. I want to prepare him for a future where he can choose to be a business owner if he wants to. And most of all, I want to be able to continue homeschooling him and provide expensive therapy he needs for his Aspergers. I want him to reach his full potential and I know that’s going to take financial freedom!

I would not be where I am today without my son. He is the reason why I try so hard and why I don’t quit. He is the reason why becoming an outstanding business is so important to me.

You see, without this inspiration, I might believe the lie that I’m not good enough. I might give into my fear of success and fear of failure and rejection. I would have quit a long time ago when the hurdles kept coming at me.

I know that I have to treat my business seriously and that means becoming an outstanding business with outstanding revenue performance. This takes persistence, dedication, and consistency.

What about you? Is your business growing? Do you take it seriously? What is your why? How would your life change if you increased your profits? Again, if you have a preteen, teen, college student, or young adult child who is interested in entrepreneurialism, these are great questions to ask!

Understanding these questions and having the right motivations will mean that you have a sizzling brand and dazzling future!