Are you in business for the right reasons?

When I started my business I felt very empowered. Everything I was doing was brand new and out of my comfort zone. I was excited about each new client or prospect I connected to and soaked up strategies and advice from mentors all day long. I had endless energy.

After a few years, I was doing better but my business still hadn’t really taken off the way I had hoped. I took a few risks by going in brand new directions which ended up moving me away from what was working for me. The result was that I got even less traction than before.

These things happen, businesses need to experiment. We learn what works and what doesn’t work. The problem was that I didn’t test out the idea before I built out the whole product. It was an online video course which I painstakingly created and produced and in the end I didn’t feel confident about selling it widely.

As much as it was innovative and interesting to do, I didn’t do the proper testing to see if it was actually what my customers wanted from me. In fact, I found out they weren’t looking for this at the time and more importantly, I learned that it was not how I wanted to connect to people. Big fail.

I didn’t do it for the right reasons. 

Part of what put me in that direction in the first place was the desire to earn more passive income. While that is not a bad goal by any means, it’s a business model choice that comes well after focusing on delivering outstanding value to our customers and knowing where and how we shine, not a primary goal.

After this detour, I went into a reflection phase where I learned, experimented with messaging and my value proposition and got a lot of mentorship (which I paid a lot for and was worth every single penny).

Through this process I discovered one very important thing.

You can’t make an impact if you ignore what you really care about and what you believe in the most. 

Here’s what I strongly believe in:

We all have our own spiritual wisdom and entrepreneurship is a way to share that wisdom with the world. This unique viewpoint combined with proven, practical business strategies are what make a businesses stand out and positively impact people. 

This (my real truth, not some watered down version of it) is what I am shouting from the rooftops and is currently propelling my business growth.

This truth power is also making the biggest difference in the outcomes of my clients.

Take Leisa for example. She is a graphic designer who wasn’t owning her passion to serve clients who really care about their businesses and the communities in which they operate. When she took on work from people that didn’t have her level of passion and commitment, it deflated her.

After working together for just a couple of months, she is now working on the big rebranding projects for small businesses who have a real commitment to go from being followers to being leaders in their industry. She has outsourced the smaller jobs that don’t fire her up and she is making a lot more income, charging for all of her time.

As someone who has done it both ways, I can’t stress how important it is to be in business for the right reasons.

Understand your unique value. Focus on serving others. 

Pin these two statements at the top of your strategy descriptions, notepads, computer and new product outlines. They will keep you wise.

Photo credit: TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³ / Foter / CC BY-SA