Time for a good ol’-fashioned, circa-1999-Seventeen-magazine style quiz! You are going to need:
A pen
A piece of paper
Are you ready?
For each question, jot down the multiple-choice letter that most resembles where you are at in business right now. At the end, we will tally your results!
Which of the following would you describe as the biggest hurdle in your business right now?
(A) Getting new clients / customers and making enough money
(B) Social proof / street cred for bigger and better opportunities
(C) Overwhelm / falling behind on projects / finding time to have a life
(D) Deciding between ideas and / or between equally good opportunities
When you imagine where you’ll be in 3 years, what do you see? (Pick the one that most resonates)
(A) You’re at the top of your game; you got there in half the time of those who came before you because you were savvy and learned from all their free resources (and mistakes)
(B) You have a substantial online presence and don’t have to work full-time in one product or service anymore because you have your pick of partnerships and sponsorships to supplement or even replace your previous income stream(s)
(C) You have a team of experts working for you, which has freed up your time to work on passion projects, revisit old successful streams and upgrade them, and focus on your brand
(D) You work less than 20 hours a week and get to spend time with your family and traveling because your business makes money on its own
How easily can you describe your ICA?
(A) What’s an ICA?
(B) I don’t have just one ICA, but a range that I can describe pretty well
(C) I know my ICA, she has a name, and I’m actually teaching others how to get to know their own ICAs!
(D) I sometimes think I know my ICA better than myself, and I’m actually learning to separate myself from her and be my own person
When your negative inner voice is speaking to you, what does it tend to sound most like?
(A) “You don’t know what you’re doing!"
(B) “You're never going to get to the next level, because you need X to get to that level and you need to be at that level to get X… Agh!”
(C) “You’re so unprofessional! How are you able to run anything when you’re this disorganized and behind?”
(D) "You say you're doing this so that you work to live and not the other way around... but are you really walking the walk?"
If you ever had a launch (such as a new service, product, or online offering) that didn’t perform as expected, what happened?
(A) Didn’t get nearly as many buyers as projected, causing a monetary and/or energy deficit
(B) Buyers didn’t “follow through” as expected... more refund requests than anticipated, mixed reviews on the offering, or lack of completion of a training or an online course
(C) Lots of technical problems that cost money and caused headaches
(D) Launch did better than expected and my company was overwhelmed, which led to delivery delays, buyer confusion, and other frustrations
What’s the most encouraging thing someone who has been in your shoes could say to you to keep you going?
(A) “Every billion-dollar company in Silicon Valley started in someone’s garage—if they can do it, you can do it!”
(B) “It doesn’t matter how old you are or how late you started, because you don’t have to be great to start but you have to start to be great, and you already did that!”
(C) “You are the CEO. You get to choose what you say ‘yes’ and ‘no’ to.”
(D) “You’ve built something great. Don’t push yourself too hard. Take a moment to appreciate what you’ve done, then take a break and come back to it.”
When you come to a problem in your business that you don't have experience with, what’s your first instinct?
(A) At first I might be discouraged, but then I Google or YouTube it. There's a DIY out there for everything!
(B) I invest in an online course if I can find one for less than $100
(C) I ask my network of experts or someone on my team to find a solution
(D) I start with a patch that will do the job, and then work out the best course of action from there
Time to Tally!
You should have 7 answers. Here’s how to calculate your results!
For every answer A, give yourself 1 point
For every answer B, give yourself 2 points
For every answer C, give yourself 3 points
For every answer D, give yourself 4 points
Once you have your total, find your corresponding result below!
7-10 points—You're in Phase One: Start!
You know you want to be your own boss and build something that offers you freedom, independence, the respect of others, and pride in your work... but you're learning as you go, and there are still a LOT of tools at your disposal to reach your goal faster!
11-17 Points—You're in Phase Two: Scale!
You've launched a business that has cash flow. You've found a market of people who see you as the go-to person to help them in this space, so they keep coming back... but you want even more. Maybe that's just to get over the fear that one month there might not be enough money to stay in the black, or maybe it's because you're ambitious and want to influence the entire marketplace... but either way, you want to know how to grow.
18-24 Points—You're in Phase Three: Simplify!
Your business is doing great! More leads turn into clients than don't nowadays, which has really boosted your confidence. You've learned to price what you're worth, you've got a portfolio you love, but you're starting to get really bogged down in the day-to-day admin and "businessy" tasks. You're in the market for anything that will help you increase efficiency without significantly increasing your operating costs.
25+ Points—You're in Phase Four: Support!
At this point, you don't remember ever doing something that wasn't what you're doing now. You have full confidence in your business because it's been sustainable for long enough to know: This is the real deal. What you're onto next is letting yourself live a life that is complete with or without your business at the center of it.