1. Pursue Ideal Opportunities ONLY. No one can be all things to all people, and yet the most common mistake I see mom business owners make is trying to straddle over too many fences as they say "yes" to everyone who calls. If you are a home gardening expert, stick to that and do it well. Heck, you may actually have more than one area of expertise, and if so, stick to them. But don't try to pursue every single opportunity that comes along. Doing so diffuses your impact and marginalizes your circle of influence. Stick to serving people who fit your idea of a model customer. That will keep you busy enough without trying to say "yes" to everyone that comes along.

2. Identify Your Foundation and Build Around It. Take the time to actually hone in on the foundation of your business. What is it that you do? What is it that you sell? Once you identify that, structure your business and your strategy around that. If you are a professional organizer, build your business structure and activities around that. Write articles for local publications -- everyone can use some help getting more organized. Start your own blog on the topic, contribute your expertise to discussion groups organized around the topic, speak for free at your local public library, start writing your book. As you can see, the possibilities are endless. Do what homebuilders do: lay the foundation and build up and out from there.

3. Institutionalize Your Activities. How many different ways do you go about accomplishing the same routine activities week after week? If it's more than a few ways, you need to cut some things out. For example, if you accept credit cards as payment in full for a product and someone asks you if they can pay in installments, it may be tempting to allow that. After all, it's a sale and you get the money eventually. But in reality, adjusting the structure of your business to accommodate such a request will usually be more trouble than it's worth, especially if you are not set up to track payments over time. The idea is to operate your business so that it can all but run itself. It may not be automated, but the way you do things should be. Make routine business activities as predictable, non-variable and automated as possible.

4. Delegate. What freedom! What exhilaration! There is great joy in delegating tasks that someone else can do more efficiently than you can. I know, I know -- you're a do-it-yourselfer and this is your business. That may be true, but unless you learn to delegate, it won't be a business for long because you won't be able to do everything yourself. If you try to, the business will plateau. Yes, it will simply stop growing because you can't be effective at doing everything and still grow profitably.

I once heard someone say, "I'm too busy running my business to actually make any money!" Don't let this happen to you. Delegate some of the tasks that others can do more effectively than you can. You don't have to delegate everything all at once. Remember that small drops of water make a mighty ocean, so start by getting people to do small things for you. Maybe start with having someone else update your website or edit the articles you write. Perhaps you sell products you make yourself and could use a "helper" to assist you in the manufacturing, packing and/or shipping process. Whatever the case, start by finding small things that someone else can do for a small fee or trade. You'll be glad you did.

If these tips have been helpful to you, you will love my interview with Jim McCaffrey, who provided these tips and more on a recent edition of the Lifestyle CEO Show. To enjoy the show, click here.