This blog was prompted by my reflection of what might be stopping women coming to a Bloom Networking meeting. That's not to say I'm unhappy with attendance, I'm all about quality not quantity and 25-30 women in a room once a month is nothing to sneeze at. But now with three locations a month I would like that to be 3 x 30 women a month and it got me thinking about some of our limitations, which of them are self-imposed and which are easily overcome.
I have the privilege of meeting a LOT of business owners, women just like you & I and the most common response after they've heard about Bloom Networking is "WOW, I really NEED something like that", yet so many don't make the commitment to actually come to a meeting. So I have to wonder why, what's stopping them? So I started asking them directly and chatting with other business owners about their thoughts on getting customers to commit to something that seems like a luxury or an optional extra! Some responses were predictable and some quite interesting...

TIME is always a big factor of course, so many of us work day in day out IN our business, head down bum up, perhaps not even stopping for lunch. Or the work at home Mums spend our days going from Dentist to school pickup to soccer training to swimming to dinner and crawl into bed with a never-ending to-do list swirling around in our heads (or is that just me?)!
How are we supposed to fit in a meeting when we can't even reply to our emails or get to the gym?

I also know that many of us don't have the brain space let alone the diary space to implement the new things we learn - "blogging, are you kidding me! When am I supposed to do that?" - sound familiar? So we become hesitant to try new things until we master the old.

These two problems above can be overcome by embracing the Nike slogan - JUST DO IT! It's easy, don't procrastinate, don't hesitate, JUST DO IT. No questions asked! Book your ticket and I'll see you there!
Why so simple? Because you NEED to invest this time for growth & you WILL find other people who share the same challenges as you and you CAN overcome them together!

Perhaps the response that makes me the most sad is that so many of us are UNSURE about our direction, we don't have the confidence to say "I am a business owner" or "this is what I do, I created this". It bothers me because I love what I do so much and I have a very clear vision of what I have created and where I would like it to go. I wont' deny that it's scary and I have moments of self-doubt. I'm human. But it feels so natural and right and I really want that for others too, I want to see you all get excited about telling the world what you do and not from behind a computer screen, but in a room full of other excited women who love a chance to have a good clap and cheer for their sisters in business!!