If we believe what we read, then the world is stuffed. Literally. More debt than the Great Depression and unemployment is at an all time high – what else could we possibly be doing to destroy our world.

Yet, there are people who don’t look down the barrel of pessimism and they continue on a path of global dominance and financial reward.

Every day I meet with male and female entrepreneurs. In some ways, I would love to use these meetings in a study about human gender based entrepreneurial behaviour because it continues to fascinate me the inherent differences between men and women entrepreneurs.

A wake up call for me wasn’t so dramatic. In fact it was something that I hold dear to my heart and appreciate more than the words that were written.

This morning I woke up to a good friend of mine who I had met 13 years prior through the Young Entrepeneurs Organisation sending me a text message. It actually woke me up which is highly unusual as normally I would have been up way before then.

In every businesses life, there comes a time when you decide whether the business has ‘legs’ to grow further.

Marketing Eye has hit this point many times and each time we have done a situation analysis and made business decisions on where to go. Right now, we are in expansion mode with the US market firmly in our sights.

If you are in this position, think about what your Big Hairy Audacious Goal is and work out how realistic it is given your current resources and capabilities. Things to consider include;

It’s been a windy road to get to where I am today. Sitting in front of my computer, going through literally hundreds of emails and sending off replies like I am in some kind of maniac rush.

Expansion isn’t easy. Don’t get me wrong – everyone has been supportive, but I have had to pull inner strength from places I never knew existed. You see, when you start a business at 25, there is no such thing as fear. You have nothing to lose. I had nothing to lose to be more precise. Blessed with a wonderful partner at home at the time, I was fully supported and encouraged to go out there and give it my best. And that I did.

Have you ever noticed that the most successful people don’t talk about how good they are?

In business, I am constantly meeting people who tell me how great they are. Women that sprout, “I won this award and that” and men that tell you how much money they want you to think they make.