Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: Hello and welcome to the Solopreneur Sisterhood podcast. A podcast designed to help heart centered service providers like you build a purposeful, profitable and sustainable business that supports what matters most to you. I'm your host, Becky McCleary, and I am so grateful that you are here.
[00:00:23] Speaker A: Hello and welcome back to the solopreneur Sisterhood podcast and to our special series of Solopreneur Sisterhood strategy sessions.
So today is our third episode of the series and we are talking all about one of my passions, growing your business sustainably without burning yourself in the process.
So just a reminder that I am going to be the first to tell you that yes, your business is going to take work, but if you are willing to commit to yourself and your vision, and if you're willing to put in the time to build a solid foundation, you can absolutely build a sustainable business that supports the life that you want to live.
So, yes, your business takes work.
And I don't believe that constant hustling is the answer.
So I know, or at least I feel in the online business space especially, there feels like there's this constant pressure to be doing more, pushing more, achieving more, reaching bigger goals. And it can feel like we're just endlessly striving and we're always rushing to make things happen. And at the same time, it feels like it's never enough. You reach one goal and then right away we have to move on to the next one right away. And so I don't know about you, but I don't want to live that way. Now, I know that there are times where we definitely need to push a little bit harder than usual or work some extra hours in order to meet a deadline. So I accept that that is part of business. And for me, what I have, what I have chosen is I'm not going to operate like that all the time. However, there are times where I have a deadline I have to meet, whether it's for a client or a partnership, a collaboration that I'm doing. And so if I need to put in a bit of extra work to make that happen, I will do that. But it is on a case by case basis and it is not endless.
And so I'm guessing that you didn't start your business because you wanted to be stressed all the time or struggling with burnout. In fact, a lot of us leave our regular jobs because we don't want to live like that. And yet what happens is that we, we push ourselves a lot in our business. And if we are not thoughtful, if we're not mindful. It can be easy to find. It can be easy to find ourselves in that place of stress and overwhelm and on the verge of burnout again. So if you are feeling that way, please know that you are not alone.
And I believe that if we are intentional, we can make changes so that you can have a sustainable business that works for you without that pushing or that striving or the burden. So today in this episode, I want to share four essential elements that will help you to grow sustainably. Now a quick note. These elements would come in after you have a solid foundation in place for your business. So if you are not sure about your foundation, I would go back and listen to our last episode before you listen to this one. Because you need that solid foundation before you can grow and build off of that.
Okay? So these four essential elements are not in a particular order. They are just things that we need that will help us to grow and to continue to thrive in business.
So you need to have lead generation systems. So in that foundation we start that out a little bit. And then ideally, as you move along in your business or your business grows, you then build those systems in place. And so having the lead generation systems does not mean that you need to be everywhere. In fact, I really encourage you not to be everywhere.
But it's about being strategic. It's about being intentional with where you're showing up, how you're showing up, and why you're showing up there. It's also about not just trying things, but having systems in place to track it and to be able to see what's working and what isn't so that you can adapt your system so that it continues to work for you. And it's really about making sure that it's not just bringing more people in, but really nurturing those relationships.
And so what I have told clients again and again is I really believe that if you have solid relationships, it's going to be easier for your business to grow and thrive. And so in your lead generation systems, it's not just about where are you going to be, it's going to be more about being intentional and how am I going to build relationships through this system.
So the second element for sustainable success is getting really clear on your customer journey. So I know a lot of us, when we start out, we're simply thinking about finding a client or finding the next client. As your business grows again, we get busier and busier as we take on clients. And so having clarity over the customer journey, where they're going to first discover us, how they're going to learn more about us, how they're going to move forward with working with us, and then if you have multiple offers, how all that works, if we have all of that mapped out, it's going to be easier for us to support potential clients and keep bringing people in as our business grows. Because as we get busier with that client work, if we don't have systems in place, then we start to slow down in our marketing. People don't know about what we do, and that can cause some of that feast or famine cycle because, you know, we wrap up work with a client and we haven't been marketing and no one knows about us. And now we're starting from scratch. And as I've said before, everything we're going to do is going to take some time to play out. So if we're starting from zero, we might have a few months before we start seeing anyone come in. And so ideally, if we are really clear on our customer journey and what needs to be set up to support people in working with us, we can have systems built out for that. So that way, even if you're super busy with clients, you still have ways of reaching new people, building relationships and inviting them in to work with you. And whether you're thinking like, oh, I'm booked out, we could talk about a wait list, that could be an idea too. But there are different systems you can have in place if you're really clear on that customer journey and what comes next for them in moving forward with working with you.
So the third essential element is optimizing your sales process. So this could look different depending on what you're offering. You know, if you are a coach, if you are a consultant, if you are a service provider, a lot of the times this looks like having a consultation with people, having a discovery call with people, and then sending them a proposal. If you have a course or if you have a program, it could look like having a sales page, having a cart when someone purchases, having emails that are automated to them. It's really about optimizing this process because again, as you grow, if everything is manual, if everything has to be created from scratch, it's going to slow down the whole process with clients. And so if you, we can optimize some of your sales process. That way it's going to make it easier for sales, but then it's also going to be easier for clients to buy from you and then to move forward with onboarding. And so as you, as you gain clients, as you gain experience is going to get easier to optimize your sales process. But this is an area where I see a lot of business owners kind of hold themselves back is because they are so focused on getting clients and doing what they've kind of always done and what has worked in the past that they're not looking at, how can I make this better? And how can I make this easier so that it works for me better? So that's. That's where this element comes in. Okay. And the fourth essential element for sustainable success is client management and retention. And this is an area I feel really passionately about because this is where I think a lot of business owners kind of drop the ball. We are so focused on getting clients that we forget about offering our clients the best possible experience.
And even when we've done that, a lot of business owners are having missed opportunities. So there are so many different businesses, depending on your type of business, where a client might sign on for an initial package. And instead of thinking about, okay, what could I do to be of greater service to this client, we're just letting that project wrap up and then we're done, and then we're looking for our next client. But what I have found over the years is that a lot of the time, if you're doing great work for your clients, they're going to be happy to work with you more. And so I really encourage business owners to look for, how can you give your clients an exceptional experience? So either they will want to keep working with you, or they will refer others to you. And then depending on the work you do, how could you offer even more support? So if you have an initial package, an initial project with them, how could you offer more support beyond that package so you can continue working with them? Because this is one area where I see a lot of business owners make it much harder than it has to be because they're always looking for new clients rather than looking for how they can be serving their current clients even better and expanding or extending their work with them. And so this is the other element I would encourage you to explore after you have that solid foundation, how you can do a better job of supporting your clients and offering them additional support in order to build your business with greater ease with the clients you currently have. In going over all of these elements, I just want to share an example from a client, because I think sometimes we have these elements. You might be listening to this and thinking, yep, I have this, I have that. I'm all set. If things are still not working the way you want in your business. My guess is that one of these areas could be improved. And so this is something that I work on with clients. This is something I work on one on one or in the Solopreneur Sisterhood Society is as your business grows or as time goes on, most likely some things that you have been doing aren't going to be working as well for you as, as they used to or as you need them to right now. And so these are all things that we need to be coming back to and evaluating and improving. And so this example with this one client is when we first started working together, she did one on one coaching and everyone came in through an application and then if they were approved, a one on one consultation with her. And so as we were working together, she decided she wanted to transition to group coaching. And so the systems she had in place didn't work as well. So we had, we still had consultations but we brought on someone else to help her with consultations so she would be able to accommodate more people in order to bring more people into our program and fill the group. And then over time even that became too much. We were getting so many applications and the two people doing consultations didn't have time to be meeting with people. So people would be interested and they wouldn't be getting a call for four to six weeks. And so as we know, if someone's interested in a program, we ideally want to connect with them as soon as possible because if we have that delay, it's likely that they will find another solution or things will change and they just won't be interested anymore. So that wasn't really working. So we came up with an automated system that instead of doing consultations, they would go to basically a webinar masterclass where they could learn more about her whole coaching style and the program and then they could, if they were approved for that, then they could actually join the program. So we came up with this whole automated system to take them from application to, if they were approved, they got this training. If they weren't approved, they got a different training and a whole sequence from there. And so that's just one example of how as your business grows, you're most likely going to want to change some of your systems. And so these are the elements that you need to have in place so that you can grow sustainably. So it's those that lead generation system getting really clear on your customer journey. And again I will stress, likely this will change over time, especially as your offers change. You need to be optimizing your sales process and then optimizing client management and retention. Okay. So if you are listening and you're feeling excited about some of your ideas, you realize what you need to focus on in order to make things work better in your business, but you want some support and actually planning this out, then I would love to invite you to join us for our next quarterly planning retreat. So this is something that I offer four times a year. It is something that normally is only open to members of the Solopreneur Sisterhood Society, But I really want to help more women succeed in business. And I know that these planning retreats, they've made a huge difference in my business and in the businesses of the women who I have worked with.
Because there's something about this retreat that's going to help you to get more clear on what you need to focus on. And it's going to make everything seem more manageable because you're going to reconnect with vision and your values. You're going to get really clear on what freedom looks like in your business. You're going to walk away from this retreat with your ideal schedule and a better sense of how to use your time to support what matters most to you. During this retreat, we're also going to work together to help you create a 90 day plan so you will have clear goals that you're working towards that align with your values and what you want to create. And you're going to create a doable action plan. So I'm going to walk you through my process for taking your goals and then mapping out a 90 day plan so you know exactly what to focus on each week for the next quarter in order to reach your goals and to create more of the business that you want to be working in each day. And so what I also love about this retreat is that it is a small group format. So we meet online. If you're able to join us live, wonderful. If you can't join us live or you can only come for part of it, you will also get the recordings and templates of everything that we're doing. And I'm going to be sharing some of my best tools and templates and exercises to help you to create your ideal schedule, to set goals that are meaningful to you, to get really clear on your numbers in your business. And what I love about this retreat is it is an intentional small group format. So you're coming together with other women and we are working together through some of my best practices and exercises to help you get really clear on your ideal schedule, on your revenue goals for your business, on your top goals, for the things that you want to make happen in the next 90 days. And then I'm going to walk you through that 90 day plan. So you will walk away with a clear focus and a solid plan to support you in bringing your big ideas to life. And in this small group format, you're also going to get a chance to connect with other women who are going through this process and to support each other along the way. So in order to make sure that this retreat is going to help you, I do have an application process. So again, this is something that's normally only open to members of the Solopreneur Sisterhood Society. Those women are brought into the program with intention to make sure that it can really support them. And so I want to do the same thing with the retreat. And so there is an application. If you go to the Solopreneur Sisterhood.com/forward/apply, you'll see the application. You can complete it right there. The idea with application is that it's going to help me to learn more about you and your business. To make sure that this retreat will support you with what you need right now, I will personally review your application normally within two to three business days, and then I will let you know. Either, yes, I think this would be great. Here's the invitation to join us.
Or you know what, I don't think this is right for you right now. Here's some other recommended resources. Either way, when you apply, you are also going to receive four bonuses. So you'll receive the Business Clarity Blueprint, which is going to help you to identify gaps and opportunities in your business. So this blueprint includes questions that I use in the initial business assessment that I do with members of the Solopreneur Sisterhood Society. And the idea with these questions is going to help you to get really clear on what's working in your business and what you need to focus on next.
You will also receive a revenue roadmap spreadsheet, which is a tool that I use with clients to help them set clear and achievable financial goals for your business. So if you are like I have been in the past, choosing random numbers as your targets, you're feeling frustrated with not knowing what you're aiming for. This spreadsheet is going to help you to get more clear on those numbers. And what I have found is when I get that clarity on the numbers, it becomes much easier to reach them. The third bonus you will receive simply for applying is a template or market research. So this includes a sample post that I use to get people to sign up for market research calls and questions that I use in those calls to help me to learn more about my ideal clients and to get really clear about ideas that I have for my business. So my hope is that this template is going to make market research easier for you. And the fourth bonus you will receive simply for applying is a database template for leads and for partners. And so if you know anything about me, you know that I am all about building relationships. I really believe that's essential in building your business. And as you connect with more people, it becomes harder to keep track of everyone. So I personally use a database that helps me to keep track of anyone I want to keep in touch with. So that could be leads that could be potential collaboration partners. And the idea with this database template is that you can use it to help you to track and nurture relationships in your business. So if you are ready to join us for the retreat, I invite you to go to the solopreneursisterhood.com apply, complete that application, and then I will review your application and be in touch within two to three business days. So as we wrap up here today, I want to remind you that sustainable growth isn't about hustling harder. It's about building systems and strategies that support both you and your business so that you can do work that lights you up and live a life that you love. Thank you so much for joining me here today. I am cheering you on and I will catch you in the next episode.
[00:20:25] Speaker B: Thank you so much for joining us and listening to the solopreneur Sisterhood podcast. I hope this episode has offered you some encouragement, some insight and some new ideas to support you in building a business that works for you. Remember that our world needs you, your gifts, your vision and your work. And I'm cheering you on as you bring your vision to life and build a purposeful, profitable and sustainable business that supports what matters most to.
