Be careful who you listen to...
That moment when you realise that even that it’s been nearly two months…
… and wonder what happened.
How has it been two months…
- since I wrote an email to my subscribers?
- even longer since I posted regularly on social media?
- and I’ve only published one blog post in that time and longer!
The truth is, doing next to nothing to grow my audience and business this year has been intentional, even if I got a bit of a shock when I realised that it has been for two months.
And the only reason that I’ve been able to do that is because I have been very deliberate in how I’ve designed my business so that when I get a shit storm of things happening all at once I can step back from the outward facing side, focus on taking good care of my clients and the important things in life.
Business is seasonal, you can’t always be in growth mode, and even though I’ve retreated further than I would normally in a season of maintenance, I’ve been able to do so because I’ve put the time and effort into designing how I want my business to be.
This is why the first few steps in the Roadmap To An Independent Income are all about getting clear on the kind of business you want, the gap between where you are now and where you want to ultimately get to along with the business model and strategy that’s going to get you there.
I’ve been able to do a lot of work on my business that has me fired up about what lies ahead whilst:
- dealing with my Mum being in hospital
- lots of time looking after the dogs through serious illness for Duke
- finding the best way to manage Midge’s arthritis without side effects
- more care for Duke with an eye injury
- and time with elderly neighbours who’ve needed a lot of support from the village to get through the start of this year.
Happily, life has settled down a bit now, and all of this has finally helped me get past the time a well heeled business owner in a very expensive suit said (about my photography business because I was talking about annual revenue of 75k)
I’ll maybe share the full story in my next email.
It was as if having a business, that supports you in creating the lifestyle you want is not valid or fit to be called a business and it gave me such a hangup.
Truth is, that’s all I’ve ever truly wanted from my business.
Don’t get me wrong, there was a time when I thought that I wanted to take on the world and create a business with a team and multiple 7 figure revenue.
But that was never really my dream.
It was what I thought that I should be aspiring to because of the influences around me.
There have been a few things this year that have made me realise that a lifestyle business is a legitimate business and it’s exactly what I want, and I’m ready to own that.
Want a 40k/year income? Fantastic!
Want a 7-figure business working from home as a solopreneur?
Go make it happen and enjoy it, because you won’t be the first and you will be far from the last.
What’s important is knowing exactly how you want your life and business to be.
That’s also been one of the hardest things I’ve done in business!
But now I’ve systemised it, with a powerful tool that I share with my clients called the Business GPS.
It doesn’t matter what other people think or say your business should be like, they aren’t you and they don’t have your dreams and aspirations.
Until next time,
Louise (I’ve got a lifestyle business and I’m proud of it) Beattie!
P.S. Want a copy of the Business GPS that I share with clients? If enough people reply with a yes, I’ll make it available as a workbook…