Love Your Business Today
I’m currently running a 12-week Business Building Foundations course and it got me thinking about this concept from the E-Myth Revisited and the different roles we all need to play in our businesses.
As an Entrepreneur, we need to identify a problem out there in the world and come up with a solution to it. Our job is to always have our eyes on the horizon and be looking toward innovation and what *could* be next.
As a Business Owner, our job is to create systems to deliver our solution to the world as efficiently as possible to generate profit. It is our job to figure out how to make our solution 'buy-able'.
As a Technician, our job is to do 'that thing' that we do so well and to do it to the best of our abilities. Here is where we actually get to do the work that lights us up and allows us to be of service in the world. Here is where we get to allow our desire for excellence to flourish within the boundaries set out by the systems we create as the Business Owner.
What does this look like? Well, for me, I've known for a decade that I'm here to help Re-balance the Divine Feminine and for 20 years I've been trying to figure out how to build a business where I could 'help' people with my skills and knowledge.
As an Entrepreneur, I've kept my vision on providing a service that people are willing to invest in and I've continually been refining that service through many iterations as a reflexologist, personal trainer, coach, and now NLP Coach and Trainer. I've been in the health, relationship, business, and work-life balance niches, all the while having that Vision.
As a Technician, I've delivered many different services in many different ways, but I've always aimed to provide the BEST service that I can at a price point that I felt was fair and provided stability in my own finances.
It's as a Manager, designing HOW to deliver the services so that I still have profit that there has been the most learning over the last few years. When I started seeing clients in 2011 I was going to their home. Every week I would go to their home for 3 hours. And that worked for me. With the first few clients.
Then I realized that the model that had served me so well as a Personal Trainer (in-homes) would simply not work as a Coach. I was there for too long, and there were too many distractions and anchors, and it wasn't efficient – I was using far too many hours driving around and the length of the Breakthroughs were too long. Far longer than the 15 hours I had budgeted as the Owner.
So then I switched to having an office and my clients came to see me there. For 3 hours. Every week. Again, I saw clients for several months this way and it never felt right. The Breakthroughs were still taking a long time, much longer than the 15 hours I had budgeted (like 30-40 hours), and I realized that clients were bringing new stuff in with them every week so we were circling around the big stuff while we dealt with day-to-day issues. It wasn't efficient.
So *then* I switched to taking my clients away for 2 days to a B&B. I tried inns and spas and a local B&B and I could never find one that felt quite right. But what it did do successfully was get the neurological change work done in a short period of time so it was intense and effective.
Aha! I found a component that worked. Eventually I realized that it was too expensive to do all this away time, it worked out to about 1/3 of the total package investment and that is way too high. You want to keep hard costs below 25% for sure and ideally below 20%
Then I started experimenting with the length of the coaching part – 3 months, 6 months, 12 months. I realized that 12 months was waaaaaay too long, my clients couldn't stay focused that long and they weren't getting their results. 6 months was okay, but 3 months is a total sweet spot for me.
During all that time, my Breakthrough rates went up from $600 for the first one (can you believe it!) to $1200 for the second, to $2500 for the 3rd and 4th, to $3500 for a few years, and then gradually to where they are now.
After 4 years, I've found a system that works for me and for my clients – as well as a price point that ensures I can continue to thrive in my business by keeping me financially stable without working 40-60 hours per week. They get great service and I'm prevented from over-delivering by having clear boundaries around what I deliver and for how long.
Over-delivering and under-charging are two insidious demons that come along hand-in-hand to take over our business and if we want to build a financially viable business then we need to put our foot down and refuse – fiercely refuse – to allow them in the door. You have to regulate your own energy and time to prevent over-delivering and get clear about the concept of diminishing returns. Then you can work on raising your rates so that you can ensure you are not under-charging for the value you deliver.
Be gentle with yourselves, it is a long road and your business will continue to evolve as you do. As you gain faith in yourself, you will change how you do business. Right now, start where you are, do what you can, do the best you can to avoid over-delivering and under-charging (knowing full well that in the beginning you probably will and that that's okay) and let's just keep stepping forward together to create something beautiful and world transforming.
Vanessa Long
Looking to transform your relationship with your Self, your Source, or your Spouse? You've come to the right place. Sacred Physicality will help you create a life you love and relationships that rock. Welcome!