I made a huge boo-boo, I led on the dreamers.

To my defense, I thought that everyone who has a dream and a passion pursues what it takes to achieve success. Then I am reminded of the horrible auditions on talent shows in which people think they can actually sing and hold a stage performance to be slapped with the reality they are inexperienced and just bad at singing.

It takes more that WANTING to sing, it takes talent that is disciplined, educated and a huge responsibly.

This article may be hard to swallow, overwhelming even, but take a deep breath and never say “Oh, I don’t need to do that” because trust me, all of my tips below apply to you if you seek success in your field.

When I had my own clothing label and attended trade shows, I knew what I was up against to get a buyer who knew me from a hole in the wall to place an order.

I knew buyers from a major outlet had no interest in a small, inexperienced label and small boutiques only wanted what the celebrities were wearing. I knew that for a seasoned boutique owner or buyer to invest in a newbie label, they had to worry whether I would be in business to deliver their order on time (or at all), deliver the product with the same quality (or better) than samples and that my line would sell through for them.

Knowing the realistic challenges and risks were the business of my dream becoming something sustainable. It took much more than making awesome, quality t-shirts to create a thriving business. It takes much more than making a famous meatball to have a thriving restaurant. You get it? Dreamers who have a passion and want to be successful need to look at challenges and the full scope of what is required to THRIVE, not just what they have to offer.

Check out these photos from 10 years ago of some of my designs. They certainly look like what would be found in a cute little boutique or department store back then, right?

and these…

As the founder of The Wellness Universe, yes, my message to anyone who dreams of making the world a better place is to follow that dream and just ‘show up’. I now see that what ‘showing up’ means to me is one thing and to someone else, very different.

For me, showing up means you have the passion, a plan and do the work, including knowing every aspect of the business you are getting into. Costs, sacrifices, responsibilities, energic, physical and financial commitments that go into thriving in your space.

Ignorance and lack of awareness not only bring you down, they muddy the waters for people who have done the work. Don’t be one of those people.

A star athlete isn’t born, they train and train hard. They show up for the team, train on their own and have personal coaches. No one is a success all alone. No-one. But taking the personal responsibilities on your own to achieve success will increase your results of having a positive experience.

Creating a business around your passion is more than hanging a shingle in your door. Here are some tips for you dreamers out there:

1. Create a Business Plan. This alone should keep you busy and it is the BEST way to fully understand your industry and the challenges that you will face. You don’t know what you don’t know, but ignorance will bankrupt you, emotionally drain you and ruin your life. Do yourself a favor and create a business plan. You need to know ALL costs of what you are embarking on. Many great businesses fail due to underfunding and lack of support, not lack of passion.

2. Get a coach (or two). You don’t have all the answers or even all the right questions. Getting a personal coach and a business coach is #2 on this list for a good reason. Their experience and proper support creates great ease and is well worth the investment, which is a tax write off by the way.

3. Gather tools and invest in your success. Watch YouTube videos, read books and blogs, attend conferences; Dive into all of the relevant resources keeping you up to date and in the know. This will also help you chisel out your plan and inspire new ideas. Be prepared to invest in yourself. Just like anything else, you get out what you put in.

4. Surround yourself with people who support you. Your friends and family may not ‘get it’. Speaking from experience, some of my most educated, affluent friends who ‘worked for a living’ never understood my entrepreneurial journey and it became exhausting trying to explain it.

My family certainly didn’t understand, but they were proud of my ‘talent’ and how good I was at being a designer. This left me feeling alone and screaming inside “You have NO IDEA what I put into this!!” which was a very bad emotional situation.

After some time, I stopped talking about it with them.

If I didn’t have an alternate community of support, I would have felt empty, lost my drive and focus in that very ALONE feeling.

Get involved in groups and communities that you add value too and get value from.

As with support to get through the difficult moments, you NEED people to celebrate with you too! Only another author would celebrate with you as enthusiastically upon completion of your book.

Someone who has never ‘been there and done that’ doesn’t get the depth of your accomplishments. Celebrating with supportive people is essential to your emotional well-being, in my opinion, and is a vital part of the success process.

5. Enjoy to journey. If you are a dreamer and think your talent or ‘great idea’ will be an automatic hit, finding much discouragement along the way, seek out strategies that help you enjoy the journey and how to deal with the emotional rollercoaster you will certainly endure.

Chances are, you are not going to get your first bank loan you apply for, you will not find an agent around the corner, not everyone will ‘like’ your Facebook page, etc.

Chances are, the ‘prettiest girl in town’ will not win the Miss America title. Get it?

This may sound bleak, but knowing this ahead of time and getting mentally prepared for the journey will keep you focused, determined and thinking of new ideas and strategies that lead to success.

Plan to be better than you were yesterday and remove ego and arrogance from your mind.

6. Have a plan but don’t attach yourself. You NEED a business plan and a roadmap, but in reality, day-to-day, things change and new decisions need to be made. There are many roads that lead to the same destination. Be prepared to adapt and not take things personally.

7. Accept the responsibility. Are you really ready for the responsibility you are embarking on? Do you have a family that you are putting at financial risk? Are you prepared to have people depend on you to fulfill your promises? Are you that dependable, reliable and determined? These are big questions you better say YES to, very confidently.

8. Be open to change and stay flexible. You may have to move. You may have to sell belongings. You may have to end relationships. These are the realities of following a dream. Are you ready?

9. Have no expectations except one: You will work really, really hard. We have all heard “work smart not hard”. Sorry, that’s BS, especially in the beginning. Unless you are funded to hire a staff, which also takes management skills and a lot of work, and overseeing, you will work hard wearing multiple hats. Until all of your systems are in place and your business is running like a well-oiled machine, you will put in a great deal of sweat equity. If a successful business was able to be bought on Amazon, unpacked, plugged into an outlet and generated peace, happiness and supported your existence, EVERYONE would be their own boss and have a thriving business.

10. Mind your reputation. If you are putting yourself out there, every interaction, engagement and contact you have with someone is an opportunity to make or break your reputation. Always be a person of your word, establish your core values and set boundaries.

11. Be realistic. Every singer doesn’t cut a platinum record, but it doesn’t mean you cannot have super success as a singer thriving off your singing for events, becoming a backup singer for an established entertainer, etc. It’s great to set the goal of making hit records, but keep options open and realistic and don’t let Ego guide your business decisions. You don’t have to be number one! Your real goal is to be happy, enjoy life, pay your bills and have your contribution matter to those you serve.

These are just a few tips I literally came up with in the single draft of this article. Still know, that doing everything ‘right’ may still not being you the success you seek, but the fact that you did what you were supposed to do IS SUCCESS and contributes to channeling what you learned into thriving via another vehicle.

Please share with me for everyone’s benefit: What advice or tip do YOU, as a seasoned business owner, have for a newbie? What questions do YOU have as a newbie founder or business owner have? Share in the comments below.

By the way, I am not dreamer bashing here. Without dreamers we would not have technology, industry, extended life span or quality of life that we have today. Due to innovations, products and services dreamed up by dreamers who took action, we live a most blessed life full of creature comforts! Everything starts with a dream, followed up by education, dedication and discipline. So, dreamers that are also doers will see the greater chance for success.

Wishing you great success on your journey! I want you to be successful because YOUR success is the evidence that your value is being realized, utilized and you are making the world a better place. There is nothing more awesome than that.

About me and The Wellness Universe: WU is a directory of wellness resources for the public to find the support they need to live a better life and your community if you are providing wellness resources to make the world a better place. Community, collaboration and exposure. Mutually supporting relationships creating happy healthy people and great success, helping all to thrive.