Key takeaways from my first year in business. What worked and what flopped.
I looked up the other day and realized it’s been just over a year since I left my cushy full-time job and jumped head first into starting Your Digital Healer. Boy, does time fly! Am I close to where I wanted to be when I started this business? Nope. 😆 But, I’m definitely in process. Have I learned a shit ton along the way. Hell yeah! I figured I’d do a little wrap up to show you the BTS (behind-the-scenes) of what it was like to go through jumping ship with all the confidence in the world and belly flopping into the wild west of the world wide web. If you’re starting out in your business, please take these flags into account. If you’ve already been around the block in your online business, I hope you can relate!
What flopped:
Forgetting about the process and making the assumption that I’d be signing clients on day 1. Goodbye savings!
Ten years ago, I had a steady freelance business. When I was contemplating my big jump from corporate, I thought it would be a piece of cake and I’d pick up right where I had left off and I’d be bringing in par to what I had been making, if not more, due to all the gained experience. WRONG. I forgot about the whole “building” process. I forgot about what I preach day in and day out…my Foundations weren’t there. My offers were not clear. I didn’t have a solid communication plan, I was testing things out but not giving them enough time to marinate to see if it was successful. Because of this, my savings dried up and my confidence got hit pretty hard.
Not being clear who I was serving or what I was offering. Market research…what?!
I’m a proud generalist. I like variety and experimentation. But I quickly realized this wasn’t serving me in the beginning stages of my business. People wanted to refer me out but they were unclear in what I was offering and to whom. I would flip between building websites and offering strategy sessions. I’d also flop between helping realtors and market researchers and then going full-on-woo with my energy healers. It wasn’t until I fully committed to the audience I wanted to serve (holistic healers) and followed that up with market research to understand their pain points and desires that things started clicking into place. The big shocker to me was that I was touting myself as an OBM and none of the people I interviewed knew what that role meant! Oops.
What worked:
Creating a support team
One of the hardest parts about building your own business is that you can often get stuck in your head. Hot tip: your mind and ego usually don’t have the best advice. All your fears will pop up and your mind will start to believe them and you’ll get stuck in this never ending cycle of questioning everything you do. Building a support team was the top on my list. Mentors, coaches, old co-workers, family, friends. Grab anyone who is willing to lend an ear, believes in your mission, and has your support. They will help remind you how incredibly talented you are when your mind is telling you otherwise.
Meeting people 1:1
While social media and other marketing tactics have their place, nothing beats having a 1:1 conversation with someone. I’ve had loads of coffee chats over the last year and each conversation has either given me a little nugget of wisdom or has ended up in a referral. When it feels like running your business is a solo affair, that’s when it’s time to create your own community. I’ve loved it so much I’ve started hosting my own network events for other online service providers supporting health and wellness professions.
Get my systems in order
Okay, I couldn’t close this out without giving systems a plug. I ran my biz for at least 6 months without a proper email sign up form, a lead magnet, a content strategy, a project management tool, a time-blocking plan, or a solid strategy for that matter. As soon as I became clear on my goals, mapped out a strategy, and started building systems to support it, things ACTUALLY started flowing. Funny how that works, huh?! Instead of jumping into the next offer, I now take my time to plan it out first and really ground into who I’m helping and how I’m taking them on a transformational journey.
My biggest lessons thus far:
Honor the process
Do your research
Build a support team
Make real connections
Ground in your strategy and systems
Continually devote yourself to your why
Building a your own business is not for the faint of heart. I now understand why so many people shy away from it. But for me, I am devoted to my mission and I believe in compound interest. I want more people to experience root-cause, holistic healing and I can be part of that movement by helping healers to build their own businesses and spread their message and mission far and wide. And, the more energy I put in, even if it’s small at times, the more I will get out. I’m excited to see where this next year takes me!
