4 Steps to Financial Freedom
Take Your Business To the Next Level In Just Four Steps!
Picture it. You wake up, work out, flip the switch on your laptop and work for a
few hours, meet a friend for lunch and maybe hit the beach before heading back
to your client calls. Time freedom. Your hours, completely in your hands.
It’s not a myth. Thousands of smart entrepreneurs are living that way every day.
Yet some people end up reaching that level of financial freedom very quickly, while
others struggle for years and eventually give up.
I’m Shanda Sumpter, and I’m going to share with you the four steps you need to
take to get the massive results you want.
I wrote this book because I’ve coached over 2000 people and I see the same
problems pop up again and again. There seem to be a few common, and totally
avoidable roadblocks that some
entrepreneurs just can’t get
around. It’s frustrating to see
bright, gifted people self-
sabotage. They think they can do
it themselves. They invest in the
wrong things, and in the wrong
order and end up burnt out and
disenchanted.
The “secret” that successful
business owners employ isn’t a
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4 Steps to Financial Freedom
mystery reserved for the elite few. Successful people build a proper plan and
follow it through to the end. That’s it. It’s that simple.
Over the last ten years, all before the age of 40, I’ve built three companies, all in
different industries, to the multi-million dollar mark. It didn’t happen overnight and
it wasn’t a piece of cake. I learned the success formula through trial and error just
like everyone else does. For the longest time, no matter how many opportunities
came my way, I couldn’t follow them through to the financial freedom piece. I was
working so hard, too hard actually, but was riddled with self-doubt.
Finally, I cracked the code to time freedom and financial peace. With no formal
education in any of the industries I worked in, I built the first company to the million
dollar mark and the second to the multi-million dollar mark. The catch? The
companies belonged to someone else! I carried that heavy burden of knowing I
was capable of so much more. After a soul-shifting experience, I opened my own
coaching company. I had visited a Shaman, and the message I took away from
that was that my mission would be to teach financial freedom to the masses.
When I left the Shaman, that intuitive nudge whispered to me over and over. I
could think of nothing else on my drive from Sedona back to Vegas.
You see, once I got honest with myself about what it really takes, what was
holding me back and what had always worked, the floodgates opened and life was
never the same.
Here’s the truth. Business is business. The four steps I’m sharing with you work in
every field. The problem is never the type of business or the market for the
business or the economy. It’s you. It’s inside us. That’s the shift that makes all the
difference.
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4 Steps to Financial Freedom
These four steps will help you build a solid foundation that sets you up for growth
and expansion. It’s easy. This is the time and financial freedom formula that has
solidified my place at the top of my industry. This very formula has resulted in a
multi-million dollar company, an overflow of clients and has allowed me to work
only three weeks of each month. (And I take December completely off to enjoy the
holidays and travel with my family). That level of freedom is 100% accessible to
you. Follow the steps and watch your results change.
Commit to yourself and your vision.
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4 Steps to Financial Freedom
BE HONEST ABOUT WHO YOU ARE Just as in dating, if you want to attract a perfect match you’ve got to be honest
about who you are. Often when people are just starting out, fear sets in. We worry
about being liked. We worry about fitting in. I’m here to tell you that fitting in is
probably one of the worst things you can do if your end goal is to stand out in your
market! You’ve got to know, understand and declare your point of view.
Your unique point of view, molded by your own experiences, is the one thing that
sets you apart from the competition. No one can compete with your story! Most
successful entrepreneurs build their business around their strong point of view, and
aren’t shy about declaring it as often as they can. Sarah Blakely, founder of
Spanx, built a billion dollar company around the point of view that every woman
deserves to feel good in her clothes. She sold undergarments! She didn’t try to sell
a varied product line in the first five years of her business. She was strong in her
point of view and sold one thing. At the time this book was written, she owns
100% of her company and is the youngest female billionaire. One point of view,
one product line.
Deepak Chopra believes wholeheartedly that meditation is the key to a successful,
well-balanced life. He is a doctor! He is well aware of the many tools that exist for
STEP ONE
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4 Steps to Financial Freedom
optimal health and wellness, but his point of view, from which he never waivers, is
that meditation is the most effective.
So how do you figure out what you stand for? How do you find your point of view?
Simple. The best way to figure out your point of view is to ask yourself where the
breakdown is in your industry, and what you think the solution is to the problem.
Once you have your answer to that, get comfortable saying it. Believe it.
Understand it. Proclaim it. Clarity and consistency are the keys that unlock your
place as an expert in your industry. So what if your point of view is strong and not
popular with everyone? You aren’t trying to serve everyone, but rather the specific
audience whose needs are a match to your service. It’s not about being perfect.
It’s about being real.
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BE CONSISTENT AND HOLD ONTO YOUR GRIT
You’ve probably seen the Facebook ads that show a guy relaxing on a beach while
working from his laptop. And maybe you clicked and read his rags to riches story
and admired the shot of his new sports car. Maybe that is the life he is living, but I
am willing to bet it didn’t happen overnight.
The difference between the success stories and the people who fade back into
obscurity is about 3 years. What often happens is that people start off with a big
vision, loads of passion and what appears to be unwavering enthusiasm. Then they
hit a road block. They are coming up on a year, they aren’t at the six figure mark
yet, so they give up.
They realize that owning a business isn’t the walk in the park (or the nap on the
beach) that they had hoped. Don’t get me wrong, I spend a lot of time relaxing
and enjoying life, but I worked hard to earn that. Business success requires
consistent work. You don’t have to sacrifice joy, but you do have to learn what it
takes to reach the level you aspire to.
STEP TWO
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4 Steps to Financial Freedom
Here’s how it typically goes: In year one, you build a list. If you have not built a list,
(an email database) and have not learned to sell to that list, that must become your
top priority. That list is your solid foundation for growth. It’s a tough year, no doubt.
You may have to give up some free time to lay the groundwork, but it’s worth it!
Year two is still a bit tough, but you start to see some glimpses of success. You
know what’s possible now, but you are still shackled to an inconsistent income and
probably some self-doubt.
Year three is the tipping point. If you’ve held onto your grit, if you’ve kept going,
continued to own and share your point of view, year three is where you move into
overflow and miracles start happening. Don’t get too comfortable. A lot of people
stay at this level because the money is nice and they don’t technically have to do
anything more! But with complacency comes a loss of purpose. You’ve got to have
goals. You’ve got to be able to get excited about working towards something. Year
four is the year you can step into an even bigger purpose. The beautiful thing is
you don’t even need to know what that is yet. Trust that it will be revealed to you
as you go. Year five? If you have built your list, learned how to sell to them and
gotten comfortable rinsing and repeating your offerings, year five is your million
dollar year.
How do you keep going when resistance hits? When you’ve lost a bit of
enthusiasm and self-doubt creeps in? How do you stay in the game long enough
to get to the top? Grit and step 3.
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4 Steps to Financial Freedom
JOIN A MASTERMIND Napoleon Hill sung the praises of his mastermind group in his groundbreaking
book Think and Grow Rich. In fact, he went as far as to say, “No individual may
have great power without availing himself of the "Master Mind.” The most powerful
minds of our time knew the value of surrounding themselves with like-minded
people with similar values and visions.
I didn’t put a high merit on this strategy in the beginning because I didn’t
understand the value of it. Now, I would not spend one year in business without
the support of my mastermind group. My mastermind makes me better. They raise
my game. There are peaks and valleys in business at every level. You need
support and a sounding board. You need to surround yourself with people who can
grow into the million dollar lifestyle right along with you. When you find yourself
stagnant, your group will inspire you, offer suggestions and move your forward.
You can’t, however, be a silent player. Show up for the calls. Engage in the
conversations. Offer support for your peers in the group. You’ll get out what you
put in. Lean on the leader of your mastermind and ask questions. Get what you
need and share honestly about where you are in your work. You cannot get
STEP THREE
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4 Steps to Financial Freedom
answers if you don’t ask for them. I see it time and again. One of the most self-
sabotaging things you can do in the first couple of years of business is stay quiet
and isolated. Ask for what you need from the very people who understand your
journey.
Remember, the master mind becomes a life line for you and it’s powerful at every
level. As you grow, it’s easy to begin thinking that you no longer need the support.
But with expansion comes a new set of challenges. Spend the money on a great
mastermind. It will help propel you forward and will keep you on purpose. Pay
attention to the people in the master mind that are popping and growing rapidly.
Spend time with them. Ask them questions. Learn from their strategies. Sure, it’s
tough to watch someone else grow quickly if you are still struggling a bit, but
engaging with them will keep you from telling yourself that they just got lucky.
You’ll see the work they put in and it will inspire you to get right back on track!
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LEADS BEFORE BRANDING Qualified leads, meaning people who need or are interested in what you offer, are
the foundation of a successful, sustainable business. Before you have the perfect
website header, before you have the pretty logo and the high priced photo shoot,
you need to focus on generating leads and building your list.
It’s ok if you’re still not sure what it is you are going to sell them! You don’t need
to have a complete program or product in place to begin growing your tribe. You
just need to know your point of view!
Build an audience. Build it again and again every single year. List building should
always be a top priority for your company. It is the key to consistent expansion and
to unlocking the freedom lifestyle.
Get yourself an account with a database management company. Aweber is a good
place to start. Create a simple, free offering such as a mini e-book, a free report
that offers step by step tips or instructions, a short audio or video training, and
offer that free gift in exchange for an email address. Aweber captures the email
addresses and you now have the beginning of your raving fan base.
There are many ways to grow your list. Some people use Instagram, others use
Facebook ads and some host an interview series. Speaking at events or guest
STEP FOUR
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4 Steps to Financial Freedom
blogging is another way to build your audience. The most important thing to
remember is that you need to offer value in exchange for their email address and
you need a reliable system to hold your database. Once you start communicating
with your list, engaging with them, getting to know them, your life gets easier.
Your audience will tell you what they want! They will share their challenges and
you’ll then know exactly what to create and sell that will meet their needs. It’s a
beautiful exchange of energy that has sustained multi-million dollar companies for
decades!
THE BOTTOM LINE There are so many things to think about when we start our own company. It’s easy
to get bogged down and overwhelmed. But anyone, and I do mean anyone, can
live a freedom lifestyle if they build the solid foundation. And these four steps are
that foundation. Don’t make it harder than it is! Get the right guidance, build an
audience and learn to sell to that audience. If you can follow those simple steps
and repeat them over and over, you will create the business, and life, of your
dreams!
Visit HeartCoreBusiness.com to learn more.
Click here for a FREE Strategy Call with one of our coaches
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4 Steps to Financial Freedom
ABOUT SHANDA Shanda Sumpter is the dynamic founder of HeartCore Business and HeartCore Endurance. She has coached thousands of people and has been the catalyst behind a wave of entrepreneurs finally reaching the freedom lifestyle.
Through her proven online courses, group programs, private coaching and the much buzzed about Zone event, Shanda has transformed her clients’ financial lives.
Shanda is passionate about her client’s growth and is a sought after speaker for companies, events and organizations around the world.
Considered to have the “Midas Touch,” her background includes successfully creating new business ventures for emerging and
established companies, including playing a significant part in the creation of $40 million plus in new business for a Las Vegas real estate firm, and the material in her online marketing course reflects that experience.
Shanda specializes in assisting CEOs to establish a foundation of recurring cash flow in their business models so they can move on to making a bigger impact in the world. Her philosophy is that it’s hard to make a difference when you are struggling to take care of yourself. Once her clients’ companies are financially set, she works to help her clients create schedules that allow them to enjoy life now.
Shanda runs her worldwide enterprise, HeartCore Business, from her home office on the coast of California.
To find out how Shanda and HeartCore Business can take you to the next level, contact her for more information by clicking here.
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4 Steps to Financial Freedom
©HeartCore Business 2015
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means including photocopying, recording or other electronic methods without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
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