By Denise Michaels, Author, “Testosterone-Free Marketing”

I was on Facebook this morning and came across a group discussion where women were saying, “The answer to being successful is all about having balance.”  As if to imply that if we embrace balance – every other problem in life will simply fall away.

I feel “balance” is a lofty ideal but in practise its baloney.  It leads women to believe they can do everything. Then we feel stress and inadequate when we can’t. It adds stress to our lives because as long as we say – the word “balance” we’re supposed to be able to cram it all in. Yes, I know it’s politically incorrect to cast aspersions on the idea of balance because it hints at the notion maybe we can’t have it all.

We can have it all – but not necessarily all at the same time. You can’t help your child with homework and be at your Pilates class at the same time. You can’t have dinner together as a family every night and be at a business meeting at the same time. It’s not just about balance – its about making compromises and improving your skills in the areas where you’re struggling now.

I was chatting last week with a woman who had five businesses. Oh, three kids and a husband, too. When I asked her which business is her focus she trilled merrily about how she loves them all and is focused on all of them.  My experience (I’ve mentored over 1,500 business owners) is when a home-based business owner who doesn’t have help to delegate to has more than one business – they aren’t making money (a full-time income) at any of those businesses. By the way, I see this much more frequently with women than with men.

Here’s an interesting statistic:

If your focus is on one primary goal and you keep working on it and doing what’s necessary to succeed, you have a 91% chance of turning it into a reality. If you split your focus on two primary goals your chance of success goes down to 63%. And if you’re trying to work on three primary goals at the same time your chance of success plummets to 27%.

Many women start a new business when they haven’t given the first one an honest shot and figured out how to market and sell in that business.  Instead, they add another business.  They don’t improve their cash flow but they get the admiration of all who say, “Look how busy she is!”

Let’s be honest. The initial “original creation” phase is fun.  It’s creative.

Its not as much fun when the rubber meets the road and suddenly you’re hearing “no” when you were hoping you’d hear a lot more “yeses.” It feels like rejection. But the solution isn’t to “balance better” and start another business.  The solution is to let go of the excuses of why your business isn’t creating the cash flow you imagined and figure out how to turn it around.

Get beyond your hesitation and learn how to market and sell successfully – in a way that works with your style as a woman. (That’s what I help women do, by the way.)

If you’re floundering, trying to figure out how to make a full time income with your business - it may be time to make a few positive changes and stop feeling like you have to squeeze in even more.  The only way to end the challenge of too many people saying “no” and not enough people saying “yes” is to buckle down and learn what you don’t know – how to market and sell.

To find out about my exciting workshop coming up Monday November 2nd click here. Also, make sure you sign up for my free marketing and empowerment tips by clicking here.