Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in professional training and coaching but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Shelagh Cummins, Founder and CEO of The Road to Seven, located in Toronto, ON, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

The Road to Seven is a financing, coaching, and training company that guides women entrepreneurs in building profitable and fulfilling businesses. Driven by an unwavering belief in the power of women entrepreneurs and their impact on both society and the economy, The Road provides the capital, the tools, the support, and the community needed to achieve their wildest dreams.

Tell us about yourself

Twelve years ago, I was running my business like a blindfolded kid swinging at a painted piñata. I had just quit my full-time job to follow my dream of financial and time freedom through my own business. I had no clue how to efficiently run my business with 3 babies on my hip, no food in the fridge (not even bread), and maxed-out credit cards. I tried to solve the growth puzzle FOR YEARS. To figure out what separates the entrepreneurs who build wildly successful businesses from the ones who get stuck, stay stuck, and eventually give up.

One day it hit me: The problem wasn't that I lacked ideas, money, or even drive. The problem was that I didn't know what to focus on to accelerate my growth. Eventually, I learned how to hit pause, assess my business, and create a simple, doable plan to take the RIGHT action to move my business forward. Today, I've built the business of my dreams based on a few simple principles that make it possible for me to always break through my barriers (because those keep coming!) and identify the right action that'll help me keep checking off those goals.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I have made the perceived impossible… possible and a reality. I have built a scalable and profitable business that gives me the time and financial freedom I desire. I have worked with companies from every continent on the planet. I am grateful every single day for the incredible clients I have the honor of supporting. I've spoken on hundreds of stages and podcasts - including my first TEDx. I now offer microloans for women entrepreneurs… I never thought any of this was possible, and now it's all a reality.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

One of the most overlooked and underestimated challenges of being a business owner is your mindset. No amount of systems or strategies will pull you through a situation if you aren't working continuously on your mindset. When you can see the stories you are telling yourself are not supporting your growth, it's in your control to rewrite them and develop new stories or truths to live by. 

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.
    Though you may be a solopreneur, you do not need to be alone in the journey. Find a community that gets you, supports you, and pushes you.
  2. If you can dream it, you can do it. You have no idea what is possible or impossible. But if you have a vision, that means there is a way to make it happen. Make it your mission to figure it out.
  3. The only way through fear is with action. Fear won't ever go away. So make friends with fear and learn to stay in action no matter the amount of discomfort you are feeling. That is true courage.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.theroadtoseven.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShelaghCummins/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shelaghcummins/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shelaghcummins
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelaghcummins/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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