Waking up on Sunday morning I just lay in bed smiling, snuggled under my winter weight feather duvet. Sunday used to be my most dreaded day, but now I love it.
This particular Sunday I had Max cuddled up at the bottom of the, his black and white fur rolled into a perfect purring cat ball was a stark contrast to our crisp white bedsheets. We had changed them the day before, its always the best nights sleep in new bedsheets.
I got up, and stretched as a slide into my fluffy blown gown, and headed for the bathroom. On the short walk, I could hear the house already up. And I imagined what they were all doing. My soon to be brother law watching the cricket, my sister sitting next to him tapping away on her laptop. And Jay most likely watching something on the computer while drinking his morning coffee. And while I don’t drink the stuff, I do love the smell of the roasted beans that fill the house over the weekend.
In the bathroom, it was colder then in bed. So I quickly turned the water on and climbed in the shower, lovely hot water pouring down from the waterfall shower head and I noticed the flurry of snow falling outside the window. I instantly felt dread.
My brain flew into overdrive – I hate the snow, I hate driving in the snow, I hate having to leave home early in the snow.
And then I caught myself. So much has changed since it last snowed in Bexhill. But the biggest change, I no longer travel for work.
The old me, who was up at 4 am, driving 3000 miles and flying to multiple locations each month. The burnout, tried, annoyed version of me… well she is gone now. I shuddered in the shower at the thought of that old version.
But sometimes I still forget that so much has changed.
So to shift my thoughts, I started to list off my gratitude and appreciation in my head, while letting the hot water calm me.
I started with the lovely hot shower I was standing in
The wonderful family I have
The new business I have built
The financial stability I have created
The snow, which I can play in
And do the list went on.
This practice of gratitude has taken time to build but was so important on my journey from burnout business consultant to the happy business owner.
As I turned off the water and got out of the shower, I took a month to reflect.
Over the last 10 months, I have built my business back up to hitting a £10k in a launch, with a £3k reoccurring revenue, but more importantly I am happy. I am not stressed. Now living on my own terms. Having slow mornings, doing work when I’m inspired and taking real rest time.
I have built strategies and habits for my clients and myself. And show how the strategies the big companies use can be adapted for micro-businesses. Stratgy doesn’t have to be hard, boring or expensive.
As I slide back in my gown I thought about how the core strategy is always the same when it comes to business success. But the way you do it is down to you. And this is something the guru’s don’t want people to know because if people believe they can’t do it. Well then they will pay someone else forever to do it for them.
A business you love, that loves you back.
Creating the idea of you having a Business you love that Loves you back. And truly creating that for myself. Standing in my bedroom just looking out at the snow, I just smiled. I had rebuilt everything, in a pandemic year, while facing family loss and still come out victorious. Because not only do I have financial stability but I had the time freedom and life I always wanted.
Now I could go on to tell you how wonderful the rest of the day was. How we made a fry up for brunch, then did a beautiful safari puzzle until lunch. Then I got back into my cosy bed and read my book, then journaled before going down to eat a wonderful dinner prepared by my brother in law who is a chef.
Or I could tell you what the key things that I did over the last 12 months to gave the ability to have days like this, almost every day of the week now.
The Strategy
Once dressed and before heading down to make our lovely fry up. I scribbled a few inspired notes into my phone. Knowing it would make this blog easier to write.
I thought about the 5 keys things that made the biggest difference for me to move from that stressed, snappy wife to a calm, successful, happy business owner (and wife).
And I settled on these 5 things:
- Understand your Why
- Know your Who
- Be clear on your What
- Love the How
- And rock the 80/20 Strategy
Understand your why?
So in my old business I was driven by the wrong factors. I thought I HAD TO do business a certain way. I boxed myself in and then hated every moment of it.
When I moved to the new strategy, I spent a long time sitting in front of my sliding door staring at my garden asking about answers to a few big profound questions. They shaped my plans going forward.
So grab a piece of paper and really deeply think about these.
- What do you want your life to look like in 1, 3 and 10 years.
- List out your total non-negotiables in life and business
- What is the thing you want to fix in the world?
- What is most important to you in life and business?
- Describe a prefect day, week, month and year in your life.
I have loads more, but those will get you started. I would recommend answering them a few times over a period of a few weeks. And then comparing the answers.
Know your who
Part of my original dread in my old business, was that I said yes to anyone that wanted to pay me money. When you are starting out this seems sensible, but it is actually massively counter productive.
If you end up working with people you don’t absolutely love, it just drains your energy. It makes deliver excellent outcomes almost impossible and in turn messes with your reputation and confidence.
So I suggest getting really clear on who is on your naughty and nice list. (sorry its the snow!)
I don’t mean names, I mean characters, behaviours, traits. Think about people you love working with, what is it you love? Then think about people you struggle to work with, what is it you don’t love? These lists will become guiding forces in your business.
And at the very top of your ideal client list, please put “they will pay what I ask without question the value, my worth or trying to bargain.” Too many business owners forget this point.
Be clear on what
OK you know the saying “there is a million ways to skin a cat” while it’s not my favourite, cat mom here! It is really relevant to make this point.
You can create your products to look EXACTLYhow you want them to look. They is not right or wrong here. It is just about you thinking about what you love doing. Is it in person, is it recorded, is it large groups, or intimate? Do you want 1 day events or long programs? Do want to teach people, do it for people or connect people to others?
Remember there is NO right answer. You just need to think about how much you want to earn and how you can earn that amount. I.E if you want to do million, you will need some hands off revenue.
But when you start, the most important thing to do is just start. Dont worry about the prefect offer, prefect it along the way.
Love the How
Do carrying on from the what, this is simpler. Think about what you love and don’t love. Like one if my clients hates Facebook, so instead of a Facebook support group, he started a community forum on his blog for people doing his program. Another clients doesn’t like doing 1:1 sessions, so planned all of her work as group coaching or training.
I personally don’t do calls before 10am or after 5pm. My personal caps for my day. I also only have calls on certain days to allow time for creation.
You have to love the business you build if you want to end up loving your life. To many business owners go from being employed and chained to a desk. To working for themselves and being chained to a desk. Do you feel guilty for taking lunch, or not powering through the never ending to do list?
The How is so important because this is the way you will spend you hours, days, weeks, months and years. Make sure you love how you do business.
The 80/20 Stratgey.
So many small business owners don’t get this. I hold my hands up that I was one of them. I circled through the 80% ALL the time. Never getting to the 20.
Now you need to do the 80, this is the practical building,designing, creating, selling. But my advice, doing as quickly as you can.
Once the 80 is done, then the real work starts. The 20 is the refining, the honing. The tweaking from data and insights. This is what really makes a difference.
Too many business owners I know never stick to the same strategy. They move on to new ideas if something does work the first time around. Snd actually strategy works better when you build in an element of consistency. It helps people trust you. It helps people remember what you do.
I personally have launched the exact same program 4 times now. The first time I made £3600, the most recent time, just 9 months later, I made £15,000. Consistency is your best friend.
Release the CEO within.
You don’t have to be stressed, feel alone or just have an expensive hobby instead of a business. If you want some help moving towards your life and business goals, getting clarity, having a sounding board, and accountability to hit your goals.
Release the CEO within Mastermind– Increase the Clarity, Confidence, and Cashflow in your business now.
It is 1 hour a week, we jump on a group call with 12 amazing business owners, all aiming to achieve a similar goal. Getting clarity, building confidence and increasing your cash flow. We start Thursday 18 Feb, so come and get involved.