I was recently reading Entrepreneur Magazine’s article on hot trends for 2009. Now, I don’t always like Entrepreneur and other small biz magazines because I think sometimes these publications focus on businesses that require substantial startup capital. While there’s an obvious need for brick and mortar businesses, they’re not the first thing on my mind when someone comes to me to start a business, especially in this economy.

That said, I do like the current issue, primarily because of the “hot trends” article. The top trends aren’t exactly big news, if you’ve been paying attention to the world around you lately. I think we all know that alternative fuels, environmental services, and “green” businesses are the wave of the new future. And health care is always big, but there’s definitely a trend away from plastic surgery, as we move in a more “natural” direction, so the beauty industry is growing. Interestingly, Entrepreneur points to both ends of the spectrum where retail is concerned: discount retailers and luxury products are of interest these days. Predictably, credit and debt management services and tools provide a rapidly-growing area. And it’s no secret that with the current economy, technology, social networking and business coaching are predicted to be huge in the coming year.

So what should you do with this information? Well, it depends on where you are in your entrepreneurial adventure. If you’re already in business, take a look at the top trends and see if you can make some slight adjustments to take advantage of what’s coming. If you’re in the remodeling business, for example, do what’s needed to get certified and trained so you can be the number one green remodeler in your market. If you’re in the beauty industry, transition into being an organic spa, or become your area’s spa answer to plastic surgery.

If you’re not in business yet, take these areas into account when you’re planning your business and branding. Make sure you take into account which of these areas will grow, not just in 2009, but in the years to come.

Of course, these are predictions, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that they’re fairly solid ones.  Now’s the time to ask yourself how you can use this information to your advantage!

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If you’ve been following my blogs or e-zines, you know that I write many of my articles because of comments I’ve heard from my clients and subscribers. This one is no different. One thing I’ve been hearing a lot of lately is, “I want to start a business, but I just can’t afford it right now,” and “I want to invest in learning how to start a business, but I don’t have the money to put into it.” This is a legitimate, honest concern, and I want to talk to you about it. Because I get it.

I’ve been there. I had times when I was living paycheck to paycheck, barely getting by, praying nothing would go wrong with the car or the furnace. And in a single day, I’ve received $3,000 in bills that I didn’t know how to pay. And I’ll never forget those moments of abject fear and panic, wondering where I’m going to find that money. I’ll never forget wanting to do things I didn’t think I could afford, needing to buy things and knowing I couldn’t.

So I want to talk with you about what I call “the scarcity conversation,” which is a term I picked up from a client, who once said to me, “I’m scared to death because I know in my heart that I should start this business, but I don’t know if I can spend the money to do what I need to do to make it succeed. I’m having a major scarcity conversation with myself.”

Okay, so what is a “scarcity conversation,” anyway? A scarcity conversation is the dialogue you have in your head (or sometimes with other people) and you hear any of these words cropping up with regularity: “I can’t afford….” “I don’t know how I’m going to pay….” “I wish I could ______, but I don’t have the money for that.”

Why is a scarcity conversation a problem? If you’ve read my blogs and e-zines, you know that I approach business in a way that’s different from most other startup experts. I have a hybrid approach that brings in all kinds of disciplines, including psychology and personal growth- because I know that mindset and not just what you’re thinking but how you’re thinking have a massive impact on the level of your success. So the first reason wny you want to get out of the scarcity conversation is because it constantly hammers away at the mindset you need to succeed. The scarcity conversation is all about fear. It’s about uncertainty. It’s about self-doubt. And you absolutely must get out of those thinking patterns to be able to make decisions as an entrepreneur, without doubting everything you do.

The second reason to move out of the scarcity conversation is also mindset-related. The “I can’t afford it” mentality locks you into a way of thinking that you’ll find extremely difficult to get out of, and that becomes a real issue in business. When you’re constantly thinking, “I can’t afford it,” as a business owner, you’ll start to apply that thinking to things that your business desperately needs. The “I can’t afford it” type of scarcity conversation has a way of growing and spreading so that it starts applying to anything, even things you need to grow your business. You won’t put your dollars in the right places if you have “I can’t afford it” floating around in your head.

Business in Blue Jeans would never have become the success it is today if I hadn’t gotten out of this mindset. I forced myself to stop thinking in terms of scarcity at a time when my business wasn’t growing and I needed help. It would have been the easiest time to let “I don’t have the money for that” become the scarcity conversation in my head, but I took another path. I thought, “What does my business need to grow and thrive?” and that’s when I hired the consultants and attended classes and seminars that made the difference. And all of that knowledge I gained got filtered into my own system to form the DENIMMS© Program, my unique, proven, 7-step training program to business startup and success. If I had said, “I can’t afford this,” I’d still be back where I was, when getting $3,000 in bills was panic-inducing.

The point I’m making is this: If you spend your life focusing on what you can’t afford, things won’t change. But if you change your focus, everything will change. If you focus on putting your money- investing it- where it can bring you back the most return, your life, your business, your mindset will transform.

Instead of having the scarcity conversation, have an investment conversation. And I don’t mean stocks and bonds. I mean a conversation about what you can invest in that will make the difference for you. It’s like that old adage, “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” For you, that can be transitioned into “Find a consultant who can give you a fish, and you’ll invest in a nice fish dinner. Invest in a consultant who will show you how to fish, and you’ll be able to feed yourself for a lifetime.”  Figure out what classes, workshops and consultants will teach you how to fish- not just give you the fish for now- and invest in what they have to offer.You’ll be making a wise investment that will take you to a place where “I can’t afford it” will be a thing of the past.

Incidentally, that client I spoke of at the beginning of this article, the one who said, “I don’t know if I can spend the money to do what I need to do to make it succeed”? She went on to invest in her business. She invested in designing a  business that would work for the lifestyle she wanted, and got trained on how to create a unique brand with a clear target market, how to create and launch new products, how to let the world know she exists, and how to establish herself as an expert. And her business is thriving.  She no longer has the scarcity conversations because she knows when she invests her money in her business, it’s going to come back, multiplied.

As of this evening, Business in Blue Jeans hit 1,000 followers on Twitter! For those of you not yet following me on Twitter, let me invite you to http://twitter.com/bizinbluejeans to sign up- or, if you’re already a member of the Twitter community, follow me at @bizinbluejeans .

Thanks so much to the Tweeple following my Tweets! What a pleasure! 

My husband just shared a joke with me and it seemed particularly poignant. Now, I’ll warn you that this is kind of a religious joke, but regardless of your particular stance on religion and/or spirituality, the point will still be the same. Here goes:

This man was out to sea when his boat capsized. The boat was destroyed and his crew lost. As the man treaded water, with nothing around him but ocean, he wondered how he would be saved. As a man of faith, he called out to God, “God, please help me! Don’t let me drown!”

Suddenly, his first mate appeared beside him, holding on to a large board. “Grab on to the board, Captain,” the first mate said. “No! God will save me!” the man replied. Unable to convince his captain, the first mate shrugged and swam off, clinging to his board.

The man called out again, “God, please help me! Don’t let me drown!” And suddenly, behind him appeared a boat. “Get in, man!” the crew called out, “We’ll throw you a line!” And the man said, “No! God will save me!” Unable to convince the man to grab the line, the boat eventually sailed away.

The man called out again, “God, please help me! Don’t let me drown!” And suddenly, a helicopter appeared in the sky. “Climb up the ladder!” the crew called down to him. And the man said, “No! God will save me!” Unable to convince the man to climb up on the ladder, the helicopter eventually flew away.

The man became very tired, could no longer tread water, and finally, he drowned.

The man had lived a good life, so he went to Heaven. When he arrived in Heaven, he found God and said, “God, why did you forsake me? Why didn’t you save me when I was treading water and about to drown?”

God looked at the man, shook his head with pity and said, “Who do you think sent your first mate, the boat and a helicopter for you?”

In this economy, I know so many people are on their knees saying, “God, please don’t let me drown!” I’m all for prayer and meditation and The Secret. But the real question you need to be asking is, “Are you letting yourself drown?”

Whether you believe in God, Spirit, The Universe, some other deity or no deity at all, the principle remains the same: What opportunities are you ignoring? Are there opportunities that you haven’t taken advantage of? Are there ideas or opportunities that keep cropping up and keep appearing?

If you’re letting opportunities pass you by and you’re not doing absolutely everything that you can do to keep your business afloat, you’re letting yourself drown. Make a list today of opportunities you’ve passed by and find a way to get them back!

A few weeks ago, I was working hard and finished a major project. I was so focused and had gotten so much done, I figured the day was almost over. Since it was pretty cloudy that day, I really couldn’t tell from looking out the window what time of day it was. Imagine how surprised I was when I realized that I’d only been working for a couple of hours, instead of a whole day!

Another day, I was totally unmotivated. I couldn’t focus and just couldn’t quite buckle down and make much headway on any of the things I’d planned to work on. And when I looked at the clock, I’d noodled away most of the morning and afternoon, just checking e-mail, starting articles, changing my mind, refreshing my cup of tea…I’d spent literally hours doing virtually nothing.

Once I realized that I really didn’t know where my time was going and if I was being truly productive, I started looking for ways to track my time. I’ve been using a tool called ClockIn to track my time- so I can see how much time I’m spending on various activities. I’m able to track the time I spend working on client projects, which helps me with billing, but I’m also tracking time I spend developing new products and materials, which helps me set pricing. And I set up login IDs for my subcontractors within my account, so I can keep track of  their hours and productivity as well.

Tracking your time and watching where it goes can make you a lot more aware of what you’re doing, so you can see where the “time suckers” are. Once you know where you’re wasting time, you can take action to reduce time waste and become more productive. Plus, the bonus of watching your time automatically makes you more aware and conscious, so you no longer while away the time without realizing it.

Where does your time go? Are you spending more time noodling around, getting nothing done, or are you focused, concentrating your efforts on making true progress and getting things done in less time, because you’re really working?

Another big company is in trouble. Warner Brothers is cutting 800 jobs, over 10% of its global workforce. Disney is expected to follow suit in the very near future. People, Warner Brothers is ranked first in the domestic movie industry.

So why am I telling you this? To scare you? No. I’m telling you because I really want you to think. Think about your future. Think about your destiny. Are you really, truly safer working for a big corporation? Do you know where you stand?

I’ve heard from a few folks who read my recent “Now really IS the time” post and have said they know people who have decided to put their entrepreneurial plans on hiatus. I’ve heard from others who are those people.

I know this is a scary time. I know it’s stressful, I know you’re afraid, I know the risk seems greater right now.

And I’m not telling you that you should start just any business. I wouldn’t recommend certain kinds of high-investment, high-overhead or high-risk ventures right now.

But I am recommending that you consider a style of business you may not have considered before- a business with low overhead, low risk, and frankly, low fear. In this economy, it’s not about halting your plans- it’s about adjusting them so they make sense and aren’t so intimidating.

I know, I know, you’re asking, “But what kind of business is that?!” It’s a Business in Blue Jeans. And if I told you everything in my blog, I’d be out of business. But what I will tell you is that there are ways to take your business idea and your business model and transition it into a Business in Blue Jeans. There’s nothing saying you can’t still pursue the rest of your idea down the road when the economy improves and things are a little safer to take the leap. In fact, I encourage many of my clients to start a low-risk venture first, to provide the funding for the higher-rise, higher-investment ventures they dream of. I call this a “leapfrogging business plan” and I’ve seen it work for several people (myself included, actually).

So if you’re thinking that now is not the time to start a business, that it’s too risky, too scary, or too expensive, think again. Shift your perspective, shift your business model, and ultimately, start funding your bank account for a time when you feel safe enough to start that bigger venture.

This great article from Entrepreneur is chock-full of ways to save money with your business. I’m not advocating all of the suggestions, but it is a really great article and may give you some ideas about how you can make some small changes with big results in your business.

Big day today- the Inauguration of Hope. I feel so fortunate to have built a business with some genuine flexibility so I could stay home, curled up on the sofa with a roaring fire and a cup of tea, watching the proceedings, without thinking, “I really need to get back to work,”  or “if I keep watching this, my boss is going to start getting upset.”

That’s really what a Business in Blue Jeans is all about: flexibility so you can take those much-needed breaks and pay attention to what’s happening around you. It’s about loving what you do and making enough income that you can also do all the other stuff you love.

And today, working hard and working smart to set up my business in the right way so it continues to run while I’m doing other things meant that I took the morning off and enjoyed the experience of a historic American moment.