A business owner approached me in the past week looking for inspiration as she was struggling to find new clients.

I always start an initial conversation by asking the person to tell me about themselves both their life and career.  As it turned out, the business owner had spent 24 years working as a nurse.  Most of these years were spent working in high pressure high stress environments with patients regarded as high risk.  About two years ago, she left nursing and commenced a business providing support to business owners.

In listening to her time in nursing, I explored about what made her successful in dealing with high-risk patients.  She explained that with each patient situation she:

• Took time to listen & understand;
• Was constant, fair, and honest; and
• Was transparent in her dealings.

When I asked about why business owners would engage her services, she responded they were highly stressed feeling under pressure and struggling to manage their time.

I pointed out the parallels between the people she worked with during her nursing career and the business owners she was engaging with in her business…in so many ways they were the one and the same.

At that moment, I saw she had a “light bulb” moment!

The business owner understood the behaviours she used during her successful career as a nurse were the same behaviours to use when engaging with business owners.

I challenged her to craft a message aimed at highly stressed time poor business owners about what she will do to give them the gift of time.