8 Ways Entrepreneurs Can Use Feng Shui for More Business

by Kathryn Weber 

One of the greatest rewards of being an entrepreneur is the ability to call the shots in your business. But, that’s also one of the greatest risks – you’re responsible for all the decisions.

Fortunately, with feng shui, you can use the principles of this ancient technique to help you draw more clients to you, create a harmonious business that attracts business, and builds a financial foundation for your life that gives you more control, greater freedom and feeling of personal achievement.

But how can you put feng shui to work as an entrepreneur? I’ve put together a list of eight ways that feng shui can help generate more flow – and that means more success and more sales for you.

1. Put money first.

When it comes to your business, money should always come first. Why? Well, because you’re in business. Emails can wait, filing can wait, but money can’t.

Write your bills every Monday and every day ask yourself if the activities you’re doing are money-generating. Busy doesn’t always equal financially productive – so do those things that are and delegate the busy work to someone else.

2. Water is wealth.

Make sure you are surrounded by financial energy and that energy’s element is water. Keep a clear, running and full fountain in your office to help keep you relaxed and stimulate business opportunities. North, the business opportunity sector, is also the direction associated with water. Adding metal here will also stimulate water energy – and that stimulates business and money from your business.

3. Have a vision.

What is your symbol of success? If you want to be the world’s best cookbook writer, then wrap some cookbooks in a cover with your name on it. Seeing is believing. Find a symbol that is meaningful for you and keep it where you can prominently see it while you work. Pick a symbol, any symbol and keep it in front of you.

4. Feng shui your website.

Yes, feng shui can even be applied to bytes and pixels! I often see businesses that have websites whose colors conflict, such as red and silver, green and beige, or green and yellow. These are color combinations that fatigue visitors – meaning the website is less sticky and more likely to be abandoned and with fewer repeat visitors.

That’s because these color combinations make your website work against itself – and that gets you nowhere. Select feng shui compatible color combinations. This would include blue, black, and white or yellow, purple, and red, or green, black, and blue. Not sure about your site? Call me for a feng shui assessment of your website to check your color combinations.

5. Open communication.

Sales depend on making it as easy as possible for the customer to reach you. Get yourself a 1-800 number, a fax number, and a land-line if you’re in business. Interestingly, when I moved from a cell phone as my primary business phone and got all the other lines installed, I began receiving many more calls. Think of it this way: no talk, no sales; more talk, more sales!

6. Get more clients.

Many “solopreneurs” have a poor filing system (if any). Make sure you have a file cabinet with a specified drawer just for client files — and keep your clients in red folders; this energizes the client and keeps them in contact with you (read: repeat customer!).

When you want more clients, have three blank folders on your desk at all times, just ready for the next one. Also, get a label maker and make a label for each new customer. The more respect you give to your customer files, the more customers you’ll have.

7. Beauty pays you.

If you’re a work at home entrepreneur, chances are you may have a less-than-inspiring work area. Invest in your office and make it attractive, organized, and functional. Having a beautiful work space is motivating and encourages creativity.

When you are surrounded by beauty and inspiring views, objects, or artwork, you are more likely to think creatively, come up with new approaches to your business, and be more productive – and that makes you more money!

8. Use the Power of One.

One is the number of opportunity and money from business in feng shui. There is probably one thing that you could do to instantly make a difference in your business. What is it? For some, it would be to create that first product, for others it would mean publishing your book, and for others it might be making sales calls. But, chances are you know the one thing that’s standing in the way of your success. Get to work on just that one thing.

You know what it is.

Do it now and put it ahead of everything else.

© K Weber Communications LLC 2002-2010


Kathryn Weber is the publisher of the Red Lotus Letter Feng Shui E-zine and certified feng shui consultant in classical Chinese feng shui. Kathryn helps her readers improve their lives and generate more wealth with feng shui. For more information and to receive her FREE Ebook “Easy Money – 3 Steps to Building Massive Wealth with Feng Shui” visit www.redlotusletter.com and learn the fast and fun way how feng shui can make your life more prosperous and abundant!

Business Event: "Raise Capital for Your Start-Up"

The capital raising process can be confusing and technical, but it can be critical for the development of fast growth ventures. Join the Executive Entrepreneurs Society as they ask poignant questions to industry experts including Gordon Rogers, the Atlanta Technology Angels Director, Sterling Wharton, GA's Centers of Innovation Director, and Steve Mitcham, Libreum Capital Management CEO.

Date: Tuesday,  October 5th
Time: 6:00PM - 7:30PM
Location: Georgia Tech College of Management
Suite 200, 800 W. Peachtree St., Atlanta, Ga. 30308

Attire: Business Casual
Cost: $0.00 
Register here:  http://esociety.org/event/2010-10-05-raise-capital-your-startup


Sponsored By: Woodcock Washburn, GT Alumni Assocation, Libreum Capital Management, Georgia Tech

The Executive Entrepreneurs Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to providing global support to fast growth ventures ranging from $50M in revenue to startup. http://esociety.org/

7 Mistakes New Business Owners Make

by Deborah A Bailey

For many of us, starting and running a business isn’t something that comes naturally. In school we’re instructed in how to choose careers, not start businesses.

If this is new to you, you will not learn how to do it after just one class in marketing, sales or writing a business plan. You will have to adjust your entire way of thinking.

Here are some mistakes that new business owners should watch out for (some of them will be familiar to you even if you’ve been in business for a while).

1. Spending lots of money on things you don’t need.  If you aren’t selling a lot of products you may not need a shopping cart. Don’t plan on big product launches or obsess over having thousands of social media followers if you’re just starting out. You’ll be setting yourself up for failure if you try to follow the gurus (who have built their businesses over time) and believe that you can achieve the same success in 5, 8 or 10 easy steps.


2. Not wanting to spend any money on things you do need. There are a lot of free applications and online tools, and that’s great. But at some point you must start to invest in your business either by hiring experts to help you, buying tools, or by investing in training. You may be able to do lot of things on a shoestring, but if you want to grow your business you have to invest in it.

3. Wanting to stay in your comfort zone. If you are doing something you’ve never done (which is something business owners deal with everyday) then you will feel uncomfortable at times. If you let fear stop you from having new experiences, your business will suffer.

4. Letting other people define your success. At one time or another we’ve all been drawn into the group-think about what defines success. Is it making 6 figures? 7 figures? Going on exotic vacations? Having 20K followers on Twitter? There as many definitions as there are businesses. You can go broke following someone else’s idea of what success looks like. Yes, you can model successful people, but if you’re trying to recreate their experience it won’t work. Either you’re following your own path or you are not.

5. Not knowing how to sell. The good thing is that you don’t have to act like the stereotypical used car salesman in order to do so. If you believe in what you’re selling and you enjoy sharing it with others, that’s half the battle. However, don’t get caught in the trap of believing you can put your business on auto-pilot and it runs itself. It won’t. Even “passive income” products have to be marketed and sold. You’ll have to get out there and get the job done.

6. Believing that you can achieve huge results with very little effort. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There are a lot of claims being made in order to cut through the noise and get our attention. Do yourself a favor and read the fine print. You’ll usually find something that says, “results are not typical.” Often the results that a few people achieve are represented as the average result of using a product or service. Don’t let desperation lead to you to make choices you’ll regret later on.

7. Not being clear on what you really want. What does your ideal business look like? Have you created goals for what you want to achieve? Do you have a vision for your life and your business? If not, it’s time to start creating one. If you don’t know where you’re going, how can you get there?

We can all learn from mistakes, so don’t beat yourself up for making them. Building a business is a journey, just be open to learning and growing as you go along.

Copyright © 2010 Deborah A. Bailey

Deborah A. Bailey is author of two non-fiction books including, “Think Like an Entrepreneur: Transforming Your Career and Taking Charge of Your Life.” She's also the creator and host of Women Entrepreneurs Radio, a weekly internet talk show. Her fiction work includes a short story collection and a novel, available on Amazon.com. 

For more information, visit http://www.BrightStreetBooks.com.

"Think Like an Entrepreneur" Live Author Chat on Tuesday, July 6th

Join me at the i-Virtual Assist blog for a live chat. Click on "Author Chat" to get into the conversation!

Think Like an Entrepreneur Live Author Chat
Where: i-Virtual Assist Blog
URL: http://www.i-virtualassistbooktours.blogspot.com/
Date: Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Time: 8:00 pm Eastern time

Gevalia Bean Chat on Twitter

Date: May 13, 2010
Time: 10:00 am EDT
Location: Twitter

Join me on Twitter for "Bean Chat" sponsored by Gevalia Coffee. We'll be talking about making career changes and how to successfully transition from corporate to entrepreneurship.

Click here to find out how to join the chat on Twitter: http://bit.ly/JoinBeanChat.

Become a fan of Gevalia on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GevaliaCoffee

What constitutes "value"?

Are business owners cheap? Or do they just value “value”?

My customary joke is that entrepreneur is a French word meaning, “I don't have a budget for that.” Which means that while they don't specifically budget money for most purposes, they will still invest in new products, projects or services if they can see the value in it.

In a recent column for Tech Data’s quarterly publication, Tech Times, I wrote about attending a Toronto Raptors game with a friend who runs his own highly successful exporting company. His seats are in the third row.

“Harry” told me that he’d had a chance to move up a row, (where you can see and smell the players better), but he turned it down: “I couldn't justify paying an extra $300 per seat per game.”

I found that remark very telling. In my experience, entrepreneurs don't mind spending money to solve their problems and indulge their wants – they just like to receive value. Harry could afford the better tickets, but he can’t justify the cost. He can't see the value in it.

The good news about selling to business owners is that they rarely need to justify their spending to anyone. There’s no boss to oversee their activity or set spending limits. So the key to selling to business owners is to help them justify the purchase to themselves.

How do you do that? By understanding both the personal and financial issues involved in making these decisions.

For instance, business owners are looking for ways to improve their business – as long as these solutions don't make business more complicated. They adore fast returns on investment, but that’s usually less important than not rocking the boat. New LCD monitors that free up desk space are easy to justify. But a CRM system that will upset employees’ routines and take months to master will look more like a problem than a tool for growth.

Another example: the best entrepreneurs aren't risk-takers, they're risk-minimizers. If you can reduce the risk of their purchase, they’re more likely to buy. You can reverse the risk by offering money-back guarantees, rebates, installation assistance, or free service calls for 30 days. Entrepreneurs tend to be skeptical by nature, so demonstrate your faith in your products by assuming some of the purchase risk.

Finally, business owners are looking for respect. They want to be treated as individuals and as peers. So they like custom solutions, special deals, and being able to negotiate terms. Talk down to them and they’ll squawk. And walk.