Building a business is one thing – but building a business you love is another thing altogether.
So today, I’m sharing my golden rules that I wish somebody had told me when I first started. Because building a business that you’re going to love takes clarity, focus and above all else – TRUST.
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As women business owners, we generally don’t just want a business that makes lots of money. We want a business we love and that ticks a whole lot of boxes. We want a business that helps us feel fulfilled, to work with people we like, create a lifestyle that works for our family and that generates plenty of income.
Achieving all that takes a lot more than the traditional, masculine approach to business and success, where you just focus on maximizing profit. That’s why in Magnetic Money™️, what we focus on most of all is ABUNDANCE – creating an abundant state of being. And that’s about a whole lot more than just money (although we love the money too – don’t get me wrong! 😁)
When you’re in business, you’re going to have to pivot along the way. You have to be willing to admit when things aren’t working and you’re not heading in the direction you wanted. And then you have to find the courage to pull back and make changes.
This happened to me in a major way a couple of years ago. My business was happily making multiple six figures, but it just wasn’t working for me. It all looked good on paper, I was doing some fun stuff, but it was draining me. I was giving too much of my energy out and not getting enough time to just keep the wheels turning and chill.
I got to the stage where I realized that it wasn’t worth the money. And so I had to pull back and make some drastic and quite scary changes. I called it ‘pruning the rosebush.’ I literally cut out all this stuff, all these branches that had sprouted and that I was struggling to keep up with.
And so I pruned it back to the essential core of what I wanted my business to be. And along with that, I significantly pruned my income! So it took a lot of guts, faith and surrender to go through that process.
And it was a sobering and eye opening experience. For instance, I had to cut unnecessary costs, shrink my team down & really streamline my processes because my income had gone from multiple 6-figures to hovering just above the 6-figure mark.
But most importantly, pruning the rosebush gave me the chance to ask:
“What kind of business do I actually want?”
So let me share with you my golden rules for building a business you love – that I wish somebody had shared with me when I first started!
Hopefully these will help you avoid having to later make drastic changes like I did.
NUMBER 1: GO SHOESTRING TO STAY NIMBLE!
Even if you don’t have to, I highly recommend starting your business on a shoestring budget. Pretend you have no money!
Because the truth is, these days you don’t even need a website to start an online business. You can make do with a Facebook page, an Instagram account or a free YouTube channel.
When I first started my finance business – and even my current business – we used to spend so much money on business cards and tangible marketing material that we truly didn’t need. These days, I don’t even have business cards! Because I honestly don’t need them.
But often new business owners will spend a whole lot of money on websites, logos and branding – when the truth is that, in the beginning, you don’t even know exactly where your business is going yet.
And often it’s just a sneaky way of procrastinating so you can avoid moving forward.
Plus, when you spend a whole lot of money on these things, chances are, you’ll stick with them way longer than you want to, because you’ll feel bad about ditching them. And that stops you from moving forward with something that feels much more aligned.
So go shoestring & stay nimble!
NUMBER 2: TEST & MEASURE
I know this will sound like it’s more of a masculine approach, but hear me out.
Test and measure everything and take a scientific approach to making decisions so you can ensure your mindset isn’t leading you astray.
Because one thing Ioften see is the belief that it has to be hard making us persevere with all the wrong things, while the EASY things that really move the needle go unnoticed.
A great personal example is my Money Habit Archetype Quiz.
I used to assume it wasn’t doing much because it’s just a quick quiz. But when I finally looked at my conversion data, I realised it performed THREE TIMES better than my next best opt-in!
I hadn’t even bothered building out a proper funnel for it, because I just assumed it wasn’t doing much.
So test & measure to avoid making decisions based on incorrect assumptions!
NUMBER 3: EASY IS GOOD!
Following on from the last one, the next golden rule is that EASY IS GOOD.
Because easy means you’re in flow, that you’re in your zone of genius and in alignment where things just fall into place.
Once again, this is often a mindset issue. We will pursue the hard path just because we have an old limiting belief that it has to be hard.
(You know… ‘Nothing worth doing is easy’ and all that crap)
I saw a great example of this recently with a new Magnetic Money™️ student. On her welcome call with me, I asked about her business. She told me she did 2 separate things:
The first one she was actively working on and finding it really hard & challenging.
And the other one was kind of ‘just happening’. People kept asking for her help and offering to promote her work and she just really enjoyed doing it and it felt super easy.
So I asked why she wasn’t just focusing on that & she just looked at me….
Because it hadn’t even occurred to her that business could be so easy!
Needless to say, she’s been pursuing that part of her business and is absolutely killing it now 😁
OK, let’s press pause & check in…
What about you? Where have you been making it hard for yourself?
Where have you been ignoring the ‘easy’?
Let me know in the comments!
NUMBER 4: DO IT YOUR WAY!
There is no formula for you.
Every expert and business strategist out there is teaching and selling their system that works for THEM.
And often it’s literally this weird twilight zone thing, where you pay them to teach you how they just sold you the thing where they teach you to sell things the way they just sold you the thing where they teach you… etc …
The point is they’re teaching you what works for THEM – what’s in alignment for THEM – what helped THEM build their seven, eight figure business. And that’s awesome, but it may not work for you. It may not be in alignment and may not be the right thing for you.
So remember that you’re allowed to do things your way. You’re allowed to invent YOUR way of incredible business success (and then you can teach it to others for whom it’s also in alignment)
So trust your instincts and don’t believe the gurus just because it’s worked for them. Because there is no formula for you.
NUMBER 5: PAY AS YOU GO
Make your business pay for growth as you go!
Don’t just keep throwing personal money into your business to pay for expansion.
Yes, there may be times where it’s appropriate to lend your business some money, but generally speaking, make your business pay for its own growth.
That might mean delaying things while you save the money. And that’s a good thing!
Use that time to track & review your data and make sure this investment really is going to be your best move.
Paying as you go allows you to slow down a little and gives you breathing space to consider your decisions more carefully and prioritise.
NUMBER 6: FOCUS & BACK YOURSELF
Do your best to focus on one thing at a time and make sure you really believe in it.
Often we’ll spread ourselves too thin because we’re trying to do all the things at once. Usually that’s because we’re not sure which one will work. And so we spread ourselves thin while we fling spaghetti at the wall.
And before you know it, we’re frazzled and out of alignment. And that’s not going to help anyone.
So you’re better off staying grounded and focused on ONE thing. Give it all your energy, make sure you’re in alignment with it and then put something out into the world that you’re really proud of and stand behind.
There are a million different strategies and things you can do. And there is no right or wrong. There is just the one that you feel aligned with and choose to go with. Then put all your love, energy and focus on it.
LET’S TAKE 5…
Before I share the final – and possibly most important rule – let’s talk about WHY we often don’t do these things that can seem so simple and obvious.
The reason is old programming – limiting beliefs, lack of self belief & self worth, and thinking that we need to work a whole lot harder. That we’re not qualified enough – that we need another piece of paper, a better website, or whatever before we’re finally allowed to have what we ultimately want.
If that’s something you need to address, then grab the Limiting Belief Busting Toolkit. It’s a powerful method based on hypnosis and NLP concepts and it mirrors the things I will do in a 1:1 session with clients – except it’s a whole lot cheaper because you get to do it on your own!
It comes complete with worksheets, hypnosis audios & tutorials to help you identify & release old limiting beliefs – then replace them with empowering new ones.
Ok, moving on to:
NUMBER 7: BUILD IT AS YOU WANT IT TO BE.
This one is really important to embrace from the very beginning.
A lot of people will work 7 days a week so that one day, they can have a lovely, hands-off business they run in just a few hours a week.
But it doesn’t work like that!
The business you’re building now is the business you’re going to have.
So if you’re working long hours and making it hard and stressful, then you are building a business that will feel hard & stressful and require you to work long hours.
You are training your business and you are training yourself!
Instead, engineer it backwards.
What kind of end result do you want? How many hours do you want to work? What do you want to spend those hours doing? Do you want to spend them client facing or on your marketing or content creation? Do you want to create self study programs or live courses? Do you want to coach people in groups or 1:1?
What do you want to spend your time on and how many hours do you want to work?
Then build your business along those parameters and set up those boundaries for yourself NOW.
Get automated systems and support in place so you don’t get stuck doing things you don’t want to do. And even if you have to do them at the beginning (#becauseshoestringing) then create a plan to hand them over ASAP.
So there you have them. My golden rules for building a business you will love.
If I could go back and do it over again, I’d have somebody sit with me and tell me these.
I hope you got lots of value from them. Please let me know in the comments:
- What did you learn?
- What did you love?
- What action will you take?
I’ll see you in the next one!
xx Miriam
READY TO GO DEEPER? TAKE THE MONEY QUIZ!
Discover your Money Habit Archetype and use it to clear your biggest money block.
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