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You’ve heard the saying… All that Glitters isn’t Gold… Well, this is my business spin on it:

ALL THAT SPARKLES ISN’T SUCCESSFUL.

YEP… all of these “sparkly” businesses that you see all over social media and in your region aren’t always doing so well underneath…

This is akin to the next door neighbor with the porsche that is indebted to high hill and on the verge of bankruptcy. (Read the book Millionaire Next Door for some eye-opening realities on millionaires in the US.)

EVERYONE has challenges in their business. E-V-E-R-Y-O-N-E.

*That* business that seems to have it all.

The super fab photos on Instagram…
The glossy new website design…
The big staff of employees…
The travel to worldwide conferences…
The super fab 2000 square foot loft studio workspace…
The press, publicity, awards…

All these things can make an outsider think that *that* business is doing AMAZING. And – they could be doing really well – or they could be doing really SUCKY. No one knows. Behind closed doors, everyone has their challenges. Every business owner has struggles of their own.

It takes HARD work to be successful. 

When I work with wedding business clients through their financial plan and/or pricing strategy, many are surprised to learn that it is REALLY hard to make a healthy living in this industry. There is a LOT of smoke and mirrors in the wedding industry that leads newer entrepreneurs to believe that people who work in this field make a LOT of money. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Don’t get me wrong…  some people do make a nice healthy income working in this industry. VERY few are taking home 6 figure incomes.

FOCUS INWARD.

When you see other people’s shiny objects, stop and focus inward. It’s easy to see all those sparkly things and assume that the business owner is doing awesome. They may be. They may not be. ALL YOU CAN DO IS CONTROL YOUR BUSINESS. Focus on what you can do to do well in your business. (Send a little good thought out for that business owner, but move on.) Focus inward.

Do you get distracted by sparkly businesses? Share your thoughts in a comment below.