October 30, 2023 • 29 mins
I’ll just wing it! Have you heard that saying before? Maybe you’ve even said it yourself.
It often starts as a kid, when you’re in high school sitting for exams you don’t want to do, or preparing for job interviews, anything where you’re not really sure what it is you need to be doing. It’s like if you just turn up – that’s all you need. Go with the flow, and things will work out how they’re meant to.
It’s a romantic view of how to get things done and to succeed in life, and many people do it everyday! They live on a wing and a prayer, flying by the seat of their pants. But does this approach work, particularly in business? Is this ‘she’ll be right mate’ attitude going to get you to your dreams?
Many enthusiastic entrepreneurs, brimming with fantastic ideas, start their journey only to find themselves wanting to quit six months later. I'll share why it's crucial to have a solid plan and a framework to turn your vision into a tangible, impactful, and profitable business.
If you've ever felt overwhelmed or are simply winging it, this episode is for you.
I'd love to know what you enjoyed about today's episode! Leave a comment below or DM me on Instagram @16thavecreative
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Samantha Bell (00:00):
Hi everyone and welcome back to the podcast
today.
I'm so glad you're here.
I have been thinking about thestart of my own online service
business or my entrepreneurialjourney, as some people like to
call it, and how it was very hitand miss.
In the early days it reallyfelt like I was just duct,
(00:21):
taping everything together andhoping it would stick, and I've
been wondering if you've everexperienced the same or had
those same thoughts.
So that's prompted the topicfor this episode.
Basically, will winning it killyour online service business or
is it the way to go?
So let's have a chat about that.
Welcome to the BrilliantBusiness, beautiful Life podcast
(00:47):
, where we share simple,actionable strategies plus the
mindset and wellness practicesyou need to build the business
and life you love.
Head to 16thavcreativecomforward slash playbook and
download your free guide todesign the business and life you
deserve.
Today I'm your host, samanthaBell, and this is the Brilliant
Business, beautiful Life podcast.
(01:08):
Are you ready for the businessand life of your dreams?
Let's get started.
I'll just wing it.
Have you heard that sayingbefore?
Maybe you've even said it toyourself, and it often starts
when you're a kid, while you'restill in high school and you're
sitting for exams that you don'twant to do, or maybe preparing
(01:31):
for job interviews Anythingwhere you're not really sure
what it is that you need to bedoing.
It's like if you just turn up,that's all you need.
Go with the flow and thingswill work out how they're meant
to.
It's actually a romantic viewof how to get things done and
how to succeed in life, and manypeople do it every day.
(01:54):
They live on a wing in a prayer, flying by the seat of their
pants, but does this approachwork, particularly in business?
Is this she'll be right, mateattitude going to get you to
your dreams?
I see a lot of new entrepreneurscome up with a great idea for
(02:15):
an online business, so they makea logo, they create their
Instagram account and then theywing it.
They're so full of passion andbrilliant ideas and loads of
enthusiasm, but six months downthe track, they're ready to quit
and say goodbye to their dreamsbecause nothing is working.
(02:37):
They started, they dove inheadfirst, thinking that that's
all they needed to pull themthrough and that they'll figure
everything out along the way.
You know they'll cross thebridge when they get to it.
After all, there are so manysuccess stories that began with
someone going against the grainand jumping right in right.
(02:57):
So they think why not me too?
And quite often what happenswith the majority of people who
do this is they end up in massconfusion, overspending, not
keeping up with their clientwork, falling behind and falling
into a heap.
They've actually got no idea oftheir cash flow, profit margins
(03:21):
, what their best-sellingservices are, or even where
their next client is coming from, and it ends up becoming a very
stressful situation.
There's no business plan, nosales strategy, no marketing in
place and no clear businessgoals, just dreams that become
more vague day by day, and thisleads to taking impulsive
(03:47):
actions that hurt the future ofthe business.
Eventually, they loseconfidence in themselves, in
their ability, the services theyoffer, and they start to wonder
am I actually cut out for beingmy own boss?
Am I actually cut out forrunning an online service
business?
And often, for many people,this is where, somewhere between
(04:12):
six months and up to two yearsafter starting their dream
online business, they shut thedoors and they go back to
working in a nine to five job.
Their dreams are crushed, theirconfidence is shattered and
they feel embarrassed anduncomfortable explaining to
people why they're back in thenine to five world that they
(04:35):
hate and we're so glad to getout of.
And the sad part is all thatconfusion, the waste of money
and frustration could have beenavoided simply by taking
strategic steps, one after theother, and embracing their
vitality and vision along theway.
(04:55):
So I guess that answers thequestion.
Does winging at work?
I've sort of answered thatquestion already.
Now, when you're in the throesof starting your business, I
like to think of it.
It's sort of like being in thefirst flush of a new romance.
You're all giddy with passionand possibility for the future
(05:16):
and Because you're in that stateyou can tend to put anything
sensible or pragmatic to theside.
You don't want to know aboutthe nuts and bolts, you just
want to go with the flow and thefeeling.
But when you decide to start abusiness, you need some nuts and
bolts behind your passion andyour drive to make your massive
(05:40):
life change successful.
You need a roadmap, a plan, aframework to take your vision
out of its dream state intosomething tangible, impactful
and profitable.
And you can't achieve that bywinging it.
You need to be visionary andfind the ways to make things
(06:01):
happen and then do the work.
It takes Winging.
It costs you emotionally,financially and with your
precious time.
It's also going to be the mostlikely reason your business will
fail within the first two years.
If you're still not convinced,let's have a deeper look at why
(06:24):
winging it can be a recipe fordisaster.
When starting your onlineservice business, there's a lack
of direction.
Going with the flow soundsbeautiful, it sounds liberating,
it sounds like you're in flowwith yourself, but it often
leads to aimless wanderingWithout having a framework.
(06:48):
Your left second guessing yourevery move, questions like what
should I do next?
Am I focusing on the rightthing?
Is this the right path?
They all become your constantcompanions and your journey then
becomes confused.
It's a maze of confusion andeventually what you find is
(07:09):
trying to make even the smallestof decisions becomes really
hard and you're more likely tomake bad, impulsive choices.
It's kind of like putting abandaid on a broken bone.
It just doesn't work.
Trial and error takes a big tollon your creativity, your
productivity and yourprofitability.
(07:30):
So sure, learning from mistakesis essential and if you've
listened to my podcast before,you will have heard me say many
times how important it is to usemistakes as opportunities, as
vehicles for growth, and thatthey're really important in your
journey, and that's true when Istand by that statement.
But learning by error onpurpose is not the smart way to
(07:57):
progress in your business.
While it's inevitable thatthere will be mistakes to learn
from by taking strategic stepstowards an overall plan inside
your framework means that trialand error don't have to be the
primary method of your progress.
Trial and error can be reallycostly, both in terms of time
(08:20):
and money, which are your twomost important assets time and
money.
We're always chasing thoseright, so it's sort of like
navigating a minefield,blindfolded, hoping you'll step
in the right places, butunfortunately you're going to
misstep, and sometimes thosemissteps can be financially
crippling and steal all of yourtime.
(08:43):
Entrepreneurship or running yourown online service business can
be pretty isolating, and whenyou're winging it, you can't
engage the full support systemthat you have built around you,
the people in your business.
They need you to be a leader.
They need you to make greatdecisions with great resolve to
(09:06):
really show them the wayforwards.
But if you're bouncing aroundlike a balloon on the wind, no
one knows what's coming next orwhere you're headed or why, and
you most likely won't know iteither, so it can really lead to
you being isolated from thepeople who can support you in
achieving your plans and dreams.
(09:27):
So you want to avoid bouncingaround like a balloon on the
wind, and that constant bobbingon the wind is also leading to
spiraling into overwhelm.
It de-energizes you, itexhausts your mind, because your
mind never knows what to focuson or where to direct its
(09:51):
attention.
Without having that frameworkthat I keep talking about in
place, you can easily becomeoverwhelmed by all the decisions
that you have to make, all thetasks to juggle, the strategies
to consider, and you becomeoverwhelmed.
And overwhelm leads to analysisparalysis, which stops your
(10:14):
progress, and it actually leadsyou to implode within decision.
Have you ever just thought oh,I don't know what to do, I don't
know where to start, I don'tknow what I'm thinking.
That's because your mind isoverwhelmed, you've got too many
decisions to make and you don'thave any sort of goalpost to
make that decision from, andthat's because you're working
(10:36):
without a framework.
Now, many entrepreneurs have askewed perception about what
success is.
They hear so many successstories.
You would have heard thousandsof, or hundreds of, success
stories.
I'm guessing you would haveseen other people's end results.
They've got a thriving businessand the natural assumption is
(10:58):
that their path to success wasreally straightforward.
But what you're forgetting isthat behind every successful
business, there's a lot offailure.
There's lots of lessons learned, but what's made them
successful is having astructured approach.
It's the structure that haspulled them out of the mess and
(11:20):
back onto the right path.
It's really very rare that anytrue rags to riches success
stories relied solely on wingingit.
Guaranteed, they got theirducks in a row really early on.
They got good advice, followeda plan and had a strategy.
(11:40):
It's dangerous to get swept upin all those overnight success
stories that people like toshare on the internet.
They're misleading, they'reunhelpful.
They not only make you feel badabout yourself and where you're
at, which is not going to helpyou.
They give a false sense of whatis achievable by winging it and
(12:03):
it's going to lead you astray.
Quite often, it actually takesfive years or more to become an
overnight success.
So what should you focus oninstead, instead of winging it?
You probably got an idea ofwhere I'm heading already,
because I've said the word a lot.
Instead of winging it, you needto have a framework.
(12:24):
You need to develop a clearstrategy and focus your energy
on the right areas of starting,then building, then growing your
business, and it's all havingclarity and strategy.
The foundation of your businessshould be built on those two
things.
So, before launching, defineyour goals, your target audience
(12:47):
and your unique valueproposition.
Understand your market andcompetitors.
Create a roadmap, the frameworkthat outlines all of the
milestones that you need to taketo achieve your goals and then
the steps that you need to taketo reach them.
Now I know you've heard all ofthat before, but I like to come
(13:08):
at it from a slightly differentperspective.
Before you even decide on yourbusiness name, outline the
vision you have for the firstthree to five years of your
business.
What do you want it to achievefor you personally, for you as a
human?
What do you want your businessto do for you?
(13:28):
What do you want your businessto achieve for your clients?
So, what's the impact that youwant to make in the world with
your business?
And, thirdly, what is the bestway that you can deliver that to
your clients without creating a24 hours a day, seven days a
(13:49):
week job for yourself?
Because that's important tothink about right at the
beginning, because too manypeople fall into the trap of
starting their business forfreedom, and then they realize
that what they've actually doneis create a time-sucking job for
themselves.
(14:09):
It's the title opposite to whatthey wanted.
So if you get really clear onhow this business can work for
you to achieve those three bigpicture goals, you're getting
off onto the right start.
Then what you do is you canwork backwards, reverse,
(14:29):
engineer the perfect businessmodel that gives you both the
business and the lifestyle thatyou want, and you're creating
the framework, creating thisstructure to build your business
on, and it's the first step toyour success.
And now here is what's mostimportant during this initial
(14:52):
phase, during all this planning,what I want you to do is keep
fanning the fire of your visionand your passion and think of
ways you can intertwine theminto your business.
That's what's going to set youapart your uniqueness.
It will help you create a bold,distinct business.
(15:13):
That is the only choice foryour ideal clients.
And this is where I tend todisagree with a lot of other
experts on growing your business.
They all start with thecustomer.
They all start with creatingthe client avatar first, and I
think this is a mistake.
You need to start with you.
(15:34):
It's your business.
You're the heart and soul of it, and that automatically is a
qualifier for selecting theright people to work with you.
I think it's a mistake to juststart with creating and focusing
on the customer.
I know at the service end,customer first is essential, but
(15:56):
designing your business anddesigning it in a way that's
going to create the businessmodel and the lifestyle that you
are searching for and wantingto create starts with you, and
this is super important becauseI can almost guarantee that
there are already thousands ofbusinesses offering the services
(16:18):
that you do offer or that youplan to offer.
Some of them will even, ifwe're honest, do them better
than what you do.
So you need to stay firm inyour why and your you.
They need to be a huge neonflashing light that instantly
tells people if they're in theright place or not, and that all
(16:39):
starts with you.
I get so excited talking aboutthis because it's keeping the
heart, the soul and thecreativity in your business.
Business is personal, don't letanyone tell you otherwise.
So make it personal and startwith you, and everything else
can stem from that.
You're going to have a reallyvaluable business that aligns
(17:03):
deeply with you, your vision andyour end goal.
If you do this, super, super,super important Skills and
knowledge are the next thing.
Success in your online businessrequires specific skills and
knowledge.
You can't wing it when it comesto marketing, branding, finance
(17:24):
and operations.
If you don't know these things,do something about it now.
Invest in learning these skillsor outsourcing them to an
expert.
Your copywriting is critical inevery area of your business,
from your emails to social poststo your website.
Copy YouTube scripts, yourmarketing, everything you do in
(17:47):
your business.
Have a think about it.
It involves words.
You're either speaking them oryou're writing them, or you're
typing them.
Everything you do revolvesaround words.
People don't place enoughimportance on their words.
Words are power.
Words are what gets salesacross the line.
Words are what invites peopleinto your business.
(18:10):
Words are everything.
So if you're no good at words,either learn the skill or hire a
copywriter, and that is goingto elevate your business from
day one.
Same with your website.
Hire a website designer and getit done right the first time.
You will save yourself years offaffing around trying to DIY
(18:33):
something and doing a job thatyou're no good at, unless you're
a website designer.
Get it right.
Get it done right the firsttime.
Hire a brand designer and again, get it right the first time.
Hire an accountant and abookkeeper.
Your finances are the lifebloodof your business, so you need
(18:54):
to manage your money really well.
So get help with that early andyou will reap rewards from day
one when you can hire a VAthat's a virtual assistant or an
OBM.
An OBM is an online businessmanager and they are fantastic
to help you with the overall dayto day running of the business,
(19:18):
keeping you on track, keepingyou focused on what you need to
be focused on so that you can dothe money generating activities
in your business while theylook at the operational side.
So you don't want to be doingall the busy work.
Your job is to do the visionarywork Remember I kept talking
about before fanning your vision, fanning your passion and
(19:41):
making that an intrinsic part ofyour business.
That's your job the visionarywork, the work that's fulfilling
and is going to make thebusiness create impact and
profit and change the world.
That's where you need to focuson and community and support.
Entrepreneurship doesn't have tobe solitary.
(20:02):
It's actually better tosurround yourself with a
supportive community of fellowentrepreneurs.
Lean on mentors and experts whocan provide guidance, who are
an ear for you to talk to abouthow everything's going, want to
just chat, to get ideas off yourchest with, bounce things
(20:24):
around and surround yourselfwith people who are at different
stages of business to you,people who are behind you,
people who are at the same stageas you, two steps ahead, 10
steps ahead and, reallyimportantly, if you can get in a
room with people who are many,many, many hundreds or even
(20:45):
thousands of steps ahead of you,that's where you're going to
really get the insights you needto fly within your own business
and help you really understandwhat's possible and where you
can go.
Because when you're in theearly stages, when you're just
starting or you're in your firsttwo to three years, your mind
(21:08):
has only been opened to limitedpossibilities.
And to really grow and become atrue success, a true visionary
leader in your industry, youneed to have a limitless outlook
.
And to help you achieve that isby surrounding yourself with
people who've been where youcan't even imagine is possible
(21:33):
yet, and it just makes the wholejourney so much more exciting
and invigorating and it keepsfanning that visionary aspect of
your business and it keepsfanning your fire and your
passion.
So surround yourself with othervisionary entrepreneurs.
There really are so manyreasons for not winging it, and
(21:54):
I've developed a specialframework that does take you
through five steps, I feel, thatare needed to start and build,
continue building your onlineservice business, and I call it
the startup success framework.
Step one is to reveal yourdreams.
Deep dive into your entiredream business idea, uncover
(22:18):
what's holding you back.
Uncover how to move yourselfforwards.
Dive really deeply and getspecific and make that plan.
And step two is the plan withpurpose, as where you set up
your plan, your price.
You strategize your way to abrilliant and profitable
business from day one.
Step three is to design withintent your online home, your
(22:44):
online personality, your brandassets.
Bring them to life in a unique,cohesive way that is melded
with your vision, the visionthat you're keeping to fan the
vision and passion.
Allow it to shine througheverywhere so that you can
attract the right people andreally show yourself as a
(23:08):
visionary leader in your field.
Cut through all the noise, ofall the competitors.
This is where you're going tostand out.
Step four is to build withstrategy.
So grow your business.
It's how to grow your business.
It's how to, as you enticepeople into your business.
Welcome them, nurture them andeducate people.
(23:31):
Build that audience onautopilot.
Do it systematically,streamlined and easily.
You want to keep everything assimple and streamlined as
possible.
I do talk about this a lot.
You would have heard me say itbefore and it's probably
something you're going to hearme say many, many more times.
(23:52):
Step five is to launch yourbusiness with confidence, and
that means taking big, bold,audacious actions every single
day.
You don't just launch yourbusiness once.
You actually launch yourbusiness every day, because
every single day, new people arediscovering you, so every
(24:13):
single day, you're launching itto someone new.
So keep fanning your vision,keep fanning your passion and go
out there big, bold andaudacious every day to entice
the right people into yourbusiness every single day.
Now, by following the StartupSuccess Framework, even if
(24:34):
you're already in business, youcan really turn things around
and create a truly impactful,profitable and aligned business
that you love.
And not only that, it createsthe lifestyle that you are
really craving, one where you'renot building a business that is
(24:55):
actually creating a job.
You don't want to just createthe job.
You want to create an impactful, profitable, aligned business.
Now, where can you get theStartup Success Framework?
I've been talking about.
It's inside our Startup Successonline course.
Starting a business isn't justabout the logistics.
(25:17):
It's a deeply personal journey.
It's what I said to you before.
It's about bringing you intoyour business, making you the
focus, and that is where you'regoing to differentiate yourself
and shine in comparison to yourcompetitors, even when there's a
thousand other people doingexactly the same thing that you
(25:40):
do.
It's about bringing your dreamsto life, creating something
you're passionate about andachieving independence while you
make a positive impact in theworld with your services.
And we understand the emotionalroller coaster that comes with
this journey, but also theexcitement and the hope and the
(26:01):
determination, and that's whyour Startup Success course is
more than just a compilation ofbusiness concepts.
It's a comprehensive, hands-onapproach which is designed to
guide and support you on yourjourney.
We celebrate your wins.
We help you navigate throughchallenges and keep you
(26:22):
motivated, fanning your visiontowards your goals while
building your tech stack,getting you online, creating
your brand assets, creating yourmarketing materials,
registering your business,making all the behind the scenes
processes, putting them intoplace and welcoming and
(26:42):
nurturing your clients with aneffective sales and marketing
strategy.
You start with your dreams andyou finish with a complete
online service business.
It's a no-brainer game changer.
So if you're dreaming aboutstarting your business or if
you're still in the early stageswhere you are winging it, join
(27:04):
the waiting list for our StartupSuccess course today and we can
make your business dreams cometrue, together with a
step-by-step framework.
The next round starts at theend of January 2024 and the
waiting list is open now, and ifyou jump on the waiting list,
you'll be the first to know whenthe doors open.
(27:25):
So jump on the waiting list forStartup Success and get ready
to start your business withsuccess in 2024.
The link is in the show notesbelow.
I love this entrepreneurial life.
It's such a joyous andchallenging ride that's even
better than what I could havedreamed of.
And even if you're further downthe track of your business
(27:49):
journey, even if you're pastthis startup stage or the early
stage, I hope that this episodehas reminded you of how
important it is to keep fanningyour vision, to keep pursuing
your passion, to keep being onthis joyous ride, because it can
(28:10):
change your life and if you'refeeling stuck, you can get past
that.
There's ways of moving past andI'm here to help you do that,
no matter what part of thejourney you're on, whether
you're at dreaming stage,startup stage or you're 10 years
down the track, I have ways andmeans of helping you build and
(28:34):
grow your business with joy andease, so that you can continue
to fan your vision and yourpassion and grow and create a
greater impact in the world.
So do jump on a call with methe link is in the show notes
below and I'd love to chat withyou about how 16th Ave Creative
Studio can help you grow thebusiness and life that you adore
(28:57):
.
Thank you so much for being hereand I'll see you next week on
the Brilliant Business BeautifulLife podcast.
Thanks so much for listening.
I'd love to know your biggesttakeaway from today's episode,
so leave me a comment below orsend a DM on Instagram.
(29:18):
If you enjoyed this episode,hit the subscribe button
wherever you listen to theBrilliant Business Beautiful
Life podcast and feel free toshare it with someone else
who'll love it too.
I look forward to seeing youfor the next episode and
remember the time is now foryour Brilliant Business and the
Beautiful Life you adore.
Hi everyone and welcome back to the podcast
today.
I'm so glad you're here.
I have been thinking about thestart of my own online service
business or my entrepreneurialjourney, as some people like to
call it, and how it was very hitand miss.
In the early days it reallyfelt like I was just duct,
(00:21):
taping everything together andhoping it would stick, and I've
been wondering if you've everexperienced the same or had
those same thoughts.
So that's prompted the topicfor this episode.
Basically, will winning it killyour online service business or
is it the way to go?
So let's have a chat about that.
Welcome to the BrilliantBusiness, beautiful Life podcast
(00:47):
, where we share simple,actionable strategies plus the
mindset and wellness practicesyou need to build the business
and life you love.
Head to 16thavcreativecomforward slash playbook and
download your free guide todesign the business and life you
deserve.
Today I'm your host, samanthaBell, and this is the Brilliant
Business, beautiful Life podcast.
(01:08):
Are you ready for the businessand life of your dreams?
Let's get started.
I'll just wing it.
Have you heard that sayingbefore?
Maybe you've even said it toyourself, and it often starts
when you're a kid, while you'restill in high school and you're
sitting for exams that you don'twant to do, or maybe preparing
(01:31):
for job interviews Anythingwhere you're not really sure
what it is that you need to bedoing.
It's like if you just turn up,that's all you need.
Go with the flow and thingswill work out how they're meant
to.
It's actually a romantic viewof how to get things done and
how to succeed in life, and manypeople do it every day.
(01:54):
They live on a wing in a prayer, flying by the seat of their
pants, but does this approachwork, particularly in business?
Is this she'll be right, mateattitude going to get you to
your dreams?
I see a lot of new entrepreneurscome up with a great idea for
(02:15):
an online business, so they makea logo, they create their
Instagram account and then theywing it.
They're so full of passion andbrilliant ideas and loads of
enthusiasm, but six months downthe track, they're ready to quit
and say goodbye to their dreamsbecause nothing is working.
(02:37):
They started, they dove inheadfirst, thinking that that's
all they needed to pull themthrough and that they'll figure
everything out along the way.
You know they'll cross thebridge when they get to it.
After all, there are so manysuccess stories that began with
someone going against the grainand jumping right in right.
(02:57):
So they think why not me too?
And quite often what happenswith the majority of people who
do this is they end up in massconfusion, overspending, not
keeping up with their clientwork, falling behind and falling
into a heap.
They've actually got no idea oftheir cash flow, profit margins
(03:21):
, what their best-sellingservices are, or even where
their next client is coming from, and it ends up becoming a very
stressful situation.
There's no business plan, nosales strategy, no marketing in
place and no clear businessgoals, just dreams that become
more vague day by day, and thisleads to taking impulsive
(03:47):
actions that hurt the future ofthe business.
Eventually, they loseconfidence in themselves, in
their ability, the services theyoffer, and they start to wonder
am I actually cut out for beingmy own boss?
Am I actually cut out forrunning an online service
business?
And often, for many people,this is where, somewhere between
(04:12):
six months and up to two yearsafter starting their dream
online business, they shut thedoors and they go back to
working in a nine to five job.
Their dreams are crushed, theirconfidence is shattered and
they feel embarrassed anduncomfortable explaining to
people why they're back in thenine to five world that they
(04:35):
hate and we're so glad to getout of.
And the sad part is all thatconfusion, the waste of money
and frustration could have beenavoided simply by taking
strategic steps, one after theother, and embracing their
vitality and vision along theway.
(04:55):
So I guess that answers thequestion.
Does winging at work?
I've sort of answered thatquestion already.
Now, when you're in the throesof starting your business, I
like to think of it.
It's sort of like being in thefirst flush of a new romance.
You're all giddy with passionand possibility for the future
(05:16):
and Because you're in that stateyou can tend to put anything
sensible or pragmatic to theside.
You don't want to know aboutthe nuts and bolts, you just
want to go with the flow and thefeeling.
But when you decide to start abusiness, you need some nuts and
bolts behind your passion andyour drive to make your massive
(05:40):
life change successful.
You need a roadmap, a plan, aframework to take your vision
out of its dream state intosomething tangible, impactful
and profitable.
And you can't achieve that bywinging it.
You need to be visionary andfind the ways to make things
(06:01):
happen and then do the work.
It takes Winging.
It costs you emotionally,financially and with your
precious time.
It's also going to be the mostlikely reason your business will
fail within the first two years.
If you're still not convinced,let's have a deeper look at why
(06:24):
winging it can be a recipe fordisaster.
When starting your onlineservice business, there's a lack
of direction.
Going with the flow soundsbeautiful, it sounds liberating,
it sounds like you're in flowwith yourself, but it often
leads to aimless wanderingWithout having a framework.
(06:48):
Your left second guessing yourevery move, questions like what
should I do next?
Am I focusing on the rightthing?
Is this the right path?
They all become your constantcompanions and your journey then
becomes confused.
It's a maze of confusion andeventually what you find is
(07:09):
trying to make even the smallestof decisions becomes really
hard and you're more likely tomake bad, impulsive choices.
It's kind of like putting abandaid on a broken bone.
It just doesn't work.
Trial and error takes a big tollon your creativity, your
productivity and yourprofitability.
(07:30):
So sure, learning from mistakesis essential and if you've
listened to my podcast before,you will have heard me say many
times how important it is to usemistakes as opportunities, as
vehicles for growth, and thatthey're really important in your
journey, and that's true when Istand by that statement.
But learning by error onpurpose is not the smart way to
(07:57):
progress in your business.
While it's inevitable thatthere will be mistakes to learn
from by taking strategic stepstowards an overall plan inside
your framework means that trialand error don't have to be the
primary method of your progress.
Trial and error can be reallycostly, both in terms of time
(08:20):
and money, which are your twomost important assets time and
money.
We're always chasing thoseright, so it's sort of like
navigating a minefield,blindfolded, hoping you'll step
in the right places, butunfortunately you're going to
misstep, and sometimes thosemissteps can be financially
crippling and steal all of yourtime.
(08:43):
Entrepreneurship or running yourown online service business can
be pretty isolating, and whenyou're winging it, you can't
engage the full support systemthat you have built around you,
the people in your business.
They need you to be a leader.
They need you to make greatdecisions with great resolve to
(09:06):
really show them the wayforwards.
But if you're bouncing aroundlike a balloon on the wind, no
one knows what's coming next orwhere you're headed or why, and
you most likely won't know iteither, so it can really lead to
you being isolated from thepeople who can support you in
achieving your plans and dreams.
(09:27):
So you want to avoid bouncingaround like a balloon on the
wind, and that constant bobbingon the wind is also leading to
spiraling into overwhelm.
It de-energizes you, itexhausts your mind, because your
mind never knows what to focuson or where to direct its
(09:51):
attention.
Without having that frameworkthat I keep talking about in
place, you can easily becomeoverwhelmed by all the decisions
that you have to make, all thetasks to juggle, the strategies
to consider, and you becomeoverwhelmed.
And overwhelm leads to analysisparalysis, which stops your
(10:14):
progress, and it actually leadsyou to implode within decision.
Have you ever just thought oh,I don't know what to do, I don't
know where to start, I don'tknow what I'm thinking.
That's because your mind isoverwhelmed, you've got too many
decisions to make and you don'thave any sort of goalpost to
make that decision from, andthat's because you're working
(10:36):
without a framework.
Now, many entrepreneurs have askewed perception about what
success is.
They hear so many successstories.
You would have heard thousandsof, or hundreds of, success
stories.
I'm guessing you would haveseen other people's end results.
They've got a thriving businessand the natural assumption is
(10:58):
that their path to success wasreally straightforward.
But what you're forgetting isthat behind every successful
business, there's a lot offailure.
There's lots of lessons learned, but what's made them
successful is having astructured approach.
It's the structure that haspulled them out of the mess and
(11:20):
back onto the right path.
It's really very rare that anytrue rags to riches success
stories relied solely on wingingit.
Guaranteed, they got theirducks in a row really early on.
They got good advice, followeda plan and had a strategy.
(11:40):
It's dangerous to get swept upin all those overnight success
stories that people like toshare on the internet.
They're misleading, they'reunhelpful.
They not only make you feel badabout yourself and where you're
at, which is not going to helpyou.
They give a false sense of whatis achievable by winging it and
(12:03):
it's going to lead you astray.
Quite often, it actually takesfive years or more to become an
overnight success.
So what should you focus oninstead, instead of winging it?
You probably got an idea ofwhere I'm heading already,
because I've said the word a lot.
Instead of winging it, you needto have a framework.
(12:24):
You need to develop a clearstrategy and focus your energy
on the right areas of starting,then building, then growing your
business, and it's all havingclarity and strategy.
The foundation of your businessshould be built on those two
things.
So, before launching, defineyour goals, your target audience
(12:47):
and your unique valueproposition.
Understand your market andcompetitors.
Create a roadmap, the frameworkthat outlines all of the
milestones that you need to taketo achieve your goals and then
the steps that you need to taketo reach them.
Now I know you've heard all ofthat before, but I like to come
(13:08):
at it from a slightly differentperspective.
Before you even decide on yourbusiness name, outline the
vision you have for the firstthree to five years of your
business.
What do you want it to achievefor you personally, for you as a
human?
What do you want your businessto do for you?
(13:28):
What do you want your businessto achieve for your clients?
So, what's the impact that youwant to make in the world with
your business?
And, thirdly, what is the bestway that you can deliver that to
your clients without creating a24 hours a day, seven days a
(13:49):
week job for yourself?
Because that's important tothink about right at the
beginning, because too manypeople fall into the trap of
starting their business forfreedom, and then they realize
that what they've actually doneis create a time-sucking job for
themselves.
(14:09):
It's the title opposite to whatthey wanted.
So if you get really clear onhow this business can work for
you to achieve those three bigpicture goals, you're getting
off onto the right start.
Then what you do is you canwork backwards, reverse,
(14:29):
engineer the perfect businessmodel that gives you both the
business and the lifestyle thatyou want, and you're creating
the framework, creating thisstructure to build your business
on, and it's the first step toyour success.
And now here is what's mostimportant during this initial
(14:52):
phase, during all this planning,what I want you to do is keep
fanning the fire of your visionand your passion and think of
ways you can intertwine theminto your business.
That's what's going to set youapart your uniqueness.
It will help you create a bold,distinct business.
(15:13):
That is the only choice foryour ideal clients.
And this is where I tend todisagree with a lot of other
experts on growing your business.
They all start with thecustomer.
They all start with creatingthe client avatar first, and I
think this is a mistake.
You need to start with you.
(15:34):
It's your business.
You're the heart and soul of it, and that automatically is a
qualifier for selecting theright people to work with you.
I think it's a mistake to juststart with creating and focusing
on the customer.
I know at the service end,customer first is essential, but
(15:56):
designing your business anddesigning it in a way that's
going to create the businessmodel and the lifestyle that you
are searching for and wantingto create starts with you, and
this is super important becauseI can almost guarantee that
there are already thousands ofbusinesses offering the services
(16:18):
that you do offer or that youplan to offer.
Some of them will even, ifwe're honest, do them better
than what you do.
So you need to stay firm inyour why and your you.
They need to be a huge neonflashing light that instantly
tells people if they're in theright place or not, and that all
(16:39):
starts with you.
I get so excited talking aboutthis because it's keeping the
heart, the soul and thecreativity in your business.
Business is personal, don't letanyone tell you otherwise.
So make it personal and startwith you, and everything else
can stem from that.
You're going to have a reallyvaluable business that aligns
(17:03):
deeply with you, your vision andyour end goal.
If you do this, super, super,super important Skills and
knowledge are the next thing.
Success in your online businessrequires specific skills and
knowledge.
You can't wing it when it comesto marketing, branding, finance
(17:24):
and operations.
If you don't know these things,do something about it now.
Invest in learning these skillsor outsourcing them to an
expert.
Your copywriting is critical inevery area of your business,
from your emails to social poststo your website.
Copy YouTube scripts, yourmarketing, everything you do in
(17:47):
your business.
Have a think about it.
It involves words.
You're either speaking them oryou're writing them, or you're
typing them.
Everything you do revolvesaround words.
People don't place enoughimportance on their words.
Words are power.
Words are what gets salesacross the line.
Words are what invites peopleinto your business.
(18:10):
Words are everything.
So if you're no good at words,either learn the skill or hire a
copywriter, and that is goingto elevate your business from
day one.
Same with your website.
Hire a website designer and getit done right the first time.
You will save yourself years offaffing around trying to DIY
(18:33):
something and doing a job thatyou're no good at, unless you're
a website designer.
Get it right.
Get it done right the firsttime.
Hire a brand designer and again, get it right the first time.
Hire an accountant and abookkeeper.
Your finances are the lifebloodof your business, so you need
(18:54):
to manage your money really well.
So get help with that early andyou will reap rewards from day
one when you can hire a VAthat's a virtual assistant or an
OBM.
An OBM is an online businessmanager and they are fantastic
to help you with the overall dayto day running of the business,
(19:18):
keeping you on track, keepingyou focused on what you need to
be focused on so that you can dothe money generating activities
in your business while theylook at the operational side.
So you don't want to be doingall the busy work.
Your job is to do the visionarywork Remember I kept talking
about before fanning your vision, fanning your passion and
(19:41):
making that an intrinsic part ofyour business.
That's your job the visionarywork, the work that's fulfilling
and is going to make thebusiness create impact and
profit and change the world.
That's where you need to focuson and community and support.
Entrepreneurship doesn't have tobe solitary.
(20:02):
It's actually better tosurround yourself with a
supportive community of fellowentrepreneurs.
Lean on mentors and experts whocan provide guidance, who are
an ear for you to talk to abouthow everything's going, want to
just chat, to get ideas off yourchest with, bounce things
(20:24):
around and surround yourselfwith people who are at different
stages of business to you,people who are behind you,
people who are at the same stageas you, two steps ahead, 10
steps ahead and, reallyimportantly, if you can get in a
room with people who are many,many, many hundreds or even
(20:45):
thousands of steps ahead of you,that's where you're going to
really get the insights you needto fly within your own business
and help you really understandwhat's possible and where you
can go.
Because when you're in theearly stages, when you're just
starting or you're in your firsttwo to three years, your mind
(21:08):
has only been opened to limitedpossibilities.
And to really grow and become atrue success, a true visionary
leader in your industry, youneed to have a limitless outlook
.
And to help you achieve that isby surrounding yourself with
people who've been where youcan't even imagine is possible
(21:33):
yet, and it just makes the wholejourney so much more exciting
and invigorating and it keepsfanning that visionary aspect of
your business and it keepsfanning your fire and your
passion.
So surround yourself with othervisionary entrepreneurs.
There really are so manyreasons for not winging it, and
(21:54):
I've developed a specialframework that does take you
through five steps, I feel, thatare needed to start and build,
continue building your onlineservice business, and I call it
the startup success framework.
Step one is to reveal yourdreams.
Deep dive into your entiredream business idea, uncover
(22:18):
what's holding you back.
Uncover how to move yourselfforwards.
Dive really deeply and getspecific and make that plan.
And step two is the plan withpurpose, as where you set up
your plan, your price.
You strategize your way to abrilliant and profitable
business from day one.
Step three is to design withintent your online home, your
(22:44):
online personality, your brandassets.
Bring them to life in a unique,cohesive way that is melded
with your vision, the visionthat you're keeping to fan the
vision and passion.
Allow it to shine througheverywhere so that you can
attract the right people andreally show yourself as a
(23:08):
visionary leader in your field.
Cut through all the noise, ofall the competitors.
This is where you're going tostand out.
Step four is to build withstrategy.
So grow your business.
It's how to grow your business.
It's how to, as you enticepeople into your business.
Welcome them, nurture them andeducate people.
(23:31):
Build that audience onautopilot.
Do it systematically,streamlined and easily.
You want to keep everything assimple and streamlined as
possible.
I do talk about this a lot.
You would have heard me say itbefore and it's probably
something you're going to hearme say many, many more times.
(23:52):
Step five is to launch yourbusiness with confidence, and
that means taking big, bold,audacious actions every single
day.
You don't just launch yourbusiness once.
You actually launch yourbusiness every day, because
every single day, new people arediscovering you, so every
(24:13):
single day, you're launching itto someone new.
So keep fanning your vision,keep fanning your passion and go
out there big, bold andaudacious every day to entice
the right people into yourbusiness every single day.
Now, by following the StartupSuccess Framework, even if
(24:34):
you're already in business, youcan really turn things around
and create a truly impactful,profitable and aligned business
that you love.
And not only that, it createsthe lifestyle that you are
really craving, one where you'renot building a business that is
(24:55):
actually creating a job.
You don't want to just createthe job.
You want to create an impactful, profitable, aligned business.
Now, where can you get theStartup Success Framework?
I've been talking about.
It's inside our Startup Successonline course.
Starting a business isn't justabout the logistics.
(25:17):
It's a deeply personal journey.
It's what I said to you before.
It's about bringing you intoyour business, making you the
focus, and that is where you'regoing to differentiate yourself
and shine in comparison to yourcompetitors, even when there's a
thousand other people doingexactly the same thing that you
(25:40):
do.
It's about bringing your dreamsto life, creating something
you're passionate about andachieving independence while you
make a positive impact in theworld with your services.
And we understand the emotionalroller coaster that comes with
this journey, but also theexcitement and the hope and the
(26:01):
determination, and that's whyour Startup Success course is
more than just a compilation ofbusiness concepts.
It's a comprehensive, hands-onapproach which is designed to
guide and support you on yourjourney.
We celebrate your wins.
We help you navigate throughchallenges and keep you
(26:22):
motivated, fanning your visiontowards your goals while
building your tech stack,getting you online, creating
your brand assets, creating yourmarketing materials,
registering your business,making all the behind the scenes
processes, putting them intoplace and welcoming and
(26:42):
nurturing your clients with aneffective sales and marketing
strategy.
You start with your dreams andyou finish with a complete
online service business.
It's a no-brainer game changer.
So if you're dreaming aboutstarting your business or if
you're still in the early stageswhere you are winging it, join
(27:04):
the waiting list for our StartupSuccess course today and we can
make your business dreams cometrue, together with a
step-by-step framework.
The next round starts at theend of January 2024 and the
waiting list is open now, and ifyou jump on the waiting list,
you'll be the first to know whenthe doors open.
(27:25):
So jump on the waiting list forStartup Success and get ready
to start your business withsuccess in 2024.
The link is in the show notesbelow.
I love this entrepreneurial life.
It's such a joyous andchallenging ride that's even
better than what I could havedreamed of.
And even if you're further downthe track of your business
(27:49):
journey, even if you're pastthis startup stage or the early
stage, I hope that this episodehas reminded you of how
important it is to keep fanningyour vision, to keep pursuing
your passion, to keep being onthis joyous ride, because it can
(28:10):
change your life and if you'refeeling stuck, you can get past
that.
There's ways of moving past andI'm here to help you do that,
no matter what part of thejourney you're on, whether
you're at dreaming stage,startup stage or you're 10 years
down the track, I have ways andmeans of helping you build and
(28:34):
grow your business with joy andease, so that you can continue
to fan your vision and yourpassion and grow and create a
greater impact in the world.
So do jump on a call with methe link is in the show notes
below and I'd love to chat withyou about how 16th Ave Creative
Studio can help you grow thebusiness and life that you adore
(28:57):
.
Thank you so much for being hereand I'll see you next week on
the Brilliant Business BeautifulLife podcast.
Thanks so much for listening.
I'd love to know your biggesttakeaway from today's episode,
so leave me a comment below orsend a DM on Instagram.
(29:18):
If you enjoyed this episode,hit the subscribe button
wherever you listen to theBrilliant Business Beautiful
Life podcast and feel free toshare it with someone else
who'll love it too.
I look forward to seeing youfor the next episode and
remember the time is now foryour Brilliant Business and the
Beautiful Life you adore.
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