How I Got Unstuck In My Small Business

HOW I GOT UNSTUCK IN MY SMALL BUSINESS

I remember when I first started Female Entrepreneur School some four years ago (back then my business name was Coaches and Creatives).

I’d decided at that time that I was going to show up in the online space and teach female business owners how to start their businesses online.

I had 15 years worth of experience of growing different businesses – my own, my partners and for clients, and I was pretty deep in knowledge by that point.

Business, as you’ve probably learnt by now, comes with all sorts of trial and error, all sorts of wins and fails, all sorts of hurdles and challenges to overcome.

And when I started this business four years ago, I very quickly got stuck on one big thing that was something I’d never really given any thought to, until the error I made came and slapped me in the face.

Back then, I decided my business niche would be female coaches and creatives – nothing wrong with that, but I also decided that I would show up and serve female coaches and creatives just starting out, and that I would show those female business owners how to start and grow a business with a zero budget.

I created all sorts of content for my social platforms, for my website and for other places, where I spoke about starting a business, but with emphasis on how anyone could do that for free. 

One day during this time, I was reading a book about business – I can’t remember who the author was, but there was a paragraph in that book that leapt right out of the page and literally knocked me over.

I suddenly realised I’d made a big mistake in my business set up. And that mistake was keeping my business stuck.

The words in that book were along the lines of “never build a business serving people who have no money, because you’ll never create a profitable business that way”.

OMG. 😐

I’d made a big old mistake.

I was trying to reach and teach women how to start businesses with a ZERO budget, which effectively meant I was targeting people who had no money.

Holy cow.

I was stuck.

In that moment I realised I’d never be able to build a successful business myself off the back of serving the start-up niche, particularly with my message being all about how to start/build a business on a zero budget – which of course was likely to attract all the broke people to me (and it did).

BTW – zero budget. That was such a naive route for me to go, because four years down the line I can hand on heart tell you there is NO WAY to start and build a successful business with a zero budget. Ain’t gonna happen.

So I’d created a business model, niche and message that was not going to work, and I had to get unstuck – real quick.

At that time, I wasn’t overly happy with the name of the business (Coaches and Creatives), and my whole business niche and message just felt off. The passage in the book I read confirmed I was off course.

And something had to change. 

I knew I had a wealth of information I could offer and teach female business owners.

I knew that if I wanted my business to be profitable, I was going to have to target business owners who could invest financially to start and grow a business, and who were able to invest in a good coach (me!) to help them along the way.

So I pivoted. And rebranded.

Three years ago, Female Entrepreneur School was born.

I dumped the “Build A Business On A Zero Budget” message. When I look back now I can’t believe I ever felt that was a good way to show up and serve.

I changed my messaging to get hardcore clear about the reality of building a profitable, successful business (and if you need to know: time, massive effort, financial investment, strategy, planning, effective sales and marketing and more..).

That pivot worked.

Three years down the line my business is profitable, I have a core tribe of very loyal women who pay for my services, and my business continues to grow.  

I know from the feedback I receive, that I’m helping the ladies in my inner tribes grow their businesses – and let me tell you none of them have done so with a zero budget!

There are a couple of takeaways for you here:-

1.    You will NEVER grow a successful business off the back of a zero budget. You can start a business with low investment, but sure as the sky is blue, you will have to invest to grow. 

2.    When you start and build your business, get VERY clear about who you’re going to serve (your niche), learn everything you can about that niche so that your messaging can speak directly to them. And ALWAYS, ALWAYS make sure that the niche you’re going to serve is one that has money to spend. Without dollars in their purses that they’re willing to exchange for your products or services, your business will be bust. 

I share many more tips like these, alongside deep business strategy, with the ladies in my coaching group. In fact, just last night I went neck deep with my group coaching ladies in a live session, talking about the importance of having value ladders in place in their businesses.

After the live ended, the ladies shared messages with me and on social that included “Group coaching was fab last night!” and “I couldn’t sleep with all the info buzzing around my head – but such great info it was as always”. And “Can’t recommend these sessions enough”, and “Another brilliant business coaching session with Jenny”.

I’m always really grateful for the feedback I get from those ladies. And I’m doubly grateful that when I was stuck in the ‘grow a business on a zero budget’ era, I read a message in a book that completely changed my business model to one where now the sky is the limit for me in terms of revenue in.

If you’d like to be part of my group coaching and to feel you’re getting brilliant business coaching too – click here and join VIP GROUP COACHING today. (You’ll get over £4000 worth of bonuses too).

Catch you next time.

Jenny