If you don't define success on your terms, others will define it for you by default. You'll find yourself chasing the next thing and never able to truly feel successful. If you're ready to truly understand what success means for you, this article is your step by step process. There's even a free guide so you can take action immediately. Use the form below to get the free guide. **This was also a podcast episode (episode #194. Use the player below if you'd prefer to listen to this message. Why Defining Success Is Critical As An Accidental Entrepreneur Simply put: if you don't define success for yourself, others will do it for you. This will happen by default and you won't even know it's happening and that's exactly what happened to me. I didn't realize it at the time but I had allowed others to define success for me and the moment I had my ah-ha moment was when I was aiming for the magical "6-figure" mark in business. "Everyone talks about hitting 6-figures or 7-figures so it gets stuck in your mind as this is what success means. A number in the bank account. Don't get me wrong I hope I and you hit whatever number we want to hit in our business but is the number the measure of success?" - Amanda McKinney Maybe a number is your measure of success and that's great. Or maybe your measurement of success is something else and that's great too. The key is that you know YOUR measurement of success. Chances are you've never defined success on your own terms and I say this with confidence because of how many people I've interviewed on this topic that haven't done this. From people who just started their business to others who have been in business for many years, none of them had a solid, quick answer. They all had an answer after they thought about it but it wasn't something that people spend time doing. We spend time setting goals but we don't define success. Goals Are Not Your Definition Of Success As An Entrepreneur When I realized this, my world shifted. I realized that for years I've set goals (which I still 100% believe in doing!) and treated them as my measurement of success. In doing this I was always moving the goalpost for success further and further away from me and that's no way to feel successful. "Success is the destination. Goals are milestones we set in order to achieve or continue to achieve success." - Amanda McKinney If you treat your goals as your measurement of success, you'll be on a never-ending journey because as soon as you reach one goal, you'll set another. And if you're like me, you won't even stop to celebrate the accomplishment of reaching the goal. How To Define Success On Your Terms As An Entrepreneur Now that you know why it's important, it's time to define success on your terms. This is something that took me almost a year but you can do it in about 20 minutes with this process. Use the form below to get access to a free guide where you can walk through each step. Step 1: List 5 Things You Want This list is only for you and it’s not helpful if you judge yourself for whatever you write down. The key is to be honest and list 5 things that come to mind now. For example: A pool in my backyard $5,000 in revenue this month More followers on social media Step 2: Write Your "So That" Sentence For Each We all want something so that we can feel/experience something else. By asking yourself why you want the items you listed, you’re more likely to understand what true success feels like for you. For example: A pool in my backyard so that I can be near water because it calms my nervous system $5,000 in revenue this month so that I can pay all the business expenses and take home $2,000 this month because that allows me to pay off more debt. More followers on social media so that I can feel like things are moving forward in my business. Step 3: Identify Clues Of What Success Means For You Now that you know why you want the things on your list, look for the clues to how success feels for you. We tend to measure success in numbers because feelings are hard to measure but we want to find the balance of both. Understand the feeling you’re going for and then determine the metrics to help you get there. For example: A sense of peace and calm Less financial stress Forward progress in business Step 4: Draft Your Definition Of Success It’s really important to remember that this is just a draft at this point so there is no pressure to get it perfect. All you have to do is take what you’ve learned in the previous 3 steps and draft a sentence based on how you want to feel successful. Plus, I’ve got a quick template you can use for this exercise: Success to me is (insert your answer) so that (insert your answer). For example: Success to me is contributing $2,000 a month to pay off debt, so that I have less financial stress, more peace and I’m seeing progress towards my goals. Step 5: Write Your Definition Of Success Every Day For 30 Days Since it’s hard to write a sentence in 5 minutes that you’ll feel great with, I suggest that you write your definition every day for 30 days. During this time you can adjust your sentence as needed so it better reflects the words you use and your true definition of success. Take Away Message / Action Draft your definition of success because if you don't, others will define success for you by default. You won't even know it's happening and you will find yourself in an endless loop of constantly reaching for something and not feeling successful even if you reach what you're aiming for. Draft your definition of success and write it every day for 30 days and adjust it along the way. Remember that your definition of success will evolve over time so think of it like you've written it on a whiteboard instead of writing it in stone. Until next time give yourself permission to define success on your terms and grace along the way. I'll talk to you soon! "If you don't define success on your terms, someone else will." - Amanda McKinney Unapologetically Chase Your Definition Of Success Now that you've drafted your definition of success, it's time to chase that definition unapologetically. If you'd like to explore this concept even more, my book Why Not You? An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success is waiting for you. Defining success is just one chapter but in the book we will explore many other things that help you create your Y.O.U. Promise that becomes your guide to unapologetically chasing success for you.

In corporations there are things called "offsites" where the department and sometimes the entire company go to a different location to do business planning. This is typically on an annual basis and there is a goal to plan for the coming months or year. It's filled with team building activities and structured planning. While you don't have to follow the typical corporate rules for an offsite, we're pulling from this idea but making it more efficient for you as a small business owner with Quarterly Business Check Ins. **This was also a podcast episode (episode #193. Use the player below if you'd prefer to listen to this message. The Goal Of A Quarterly Small Business Check In Simply put, it's to plan for the next 90 days in your small business. In order to do this, it's important to step away from the day to day activities and often the location you typically work in for this exercise. This is because if we stay in the same routine we will get pulled into the typical things we do at home or in our business. We are creatures of habit and we will slip into our routine even if we really wanted to do something different. So the goal is to plan for the next 90 days but in order to achieve that goal, it's important to do this planning in a different location than your day to day work. Hence the term "offsite". While you don't have to go to a fancy hotel in another state/country (or you can!), just make sure to take this quarterly check in "offsite". Why Quarterly Small Business Check Ins Matter? You probably do an annual reflection of your business but I encourage my clients do do a quarterly check in as well. This is key for a few reasons: It aligns with setting 90 day goals which I highly recommend It allows you to not get too far down a path that you don't want to be It helps you see what's working and what's not so you can make incremental changes Overall, it's the way to go when it comes to starting and growing your small business. Where To Host Your Quarterly Small Business Check In? As I mentioned, you want to take this "offsite" but there are many options in all budgets for doing this. Here are ways you can achieve the "offsite" feel: Go to a coworking space for the day Set up in a coffee shop or library Take your notebook and laptop outside in your backyard Go to a park Set up in your biz besties living room Book an airbnb or hotel room for a night or two Rent a hotel conference room for a day Purchase a day pass to a hotel or spa that has common areas where you can work Housesit for a friend while they are on vacation and use their house The keys to think about when it comes to finding a good "offsite" location is knowing your budget and what type of environment that you need. For example, if you're easily distracted by others going to a coworking space isn't likely idea but a hotel room would be. How To Do A Quarterly Small Business Check In? You can do this in many ways but the first decision to make is --- do you want to do this alone or with the support of others? I highly recommend having support but there are also times that going at this alone is the best option. This is determined by your season of life and business and what you need overall. If you need to silence other people's opinions or advice, do this alone. If you need to get out of your own head because you're overthinking things, get support. Once you determine if you will go at this alone with with support, you can plan the rest of the check in. DIY Quarterly Small Business Check In Pick a date that works for your life and schedule. You will need at least a few hours for this but if you want to have some fun, book a hotel room or airbnb for a few days. Ensure that your family, team members, etc. know you will be unreachable for that period of time so you can truly step away. Do the prep work you need to set yourself up for success. Collect the data you want to reflect on so it's ready for your check in Know what you want to walk away with from your check in. Identify any questions you want to get answered Take your check in time seriously when it happens Pro Tip: Even though you're ready to go at this DIY-style, I highly recommend telling someone else you're doing this so you can share with them later. A spouse, biz bestie, anyone. Tell them what your goal for the check in is and then report back after the check in. It's amazing what this will do for you! Supported Quarterly Small Business Check In Identify what type of support you'd like. Coach - someone to walk you through this process Biz Bestie - someone who will also be doing a quarterly business check in Find the time that works best for you and the other(s) and get it on the calendar Ensure that your family, team members, etc. know you will be unreachable for that period of time so you can truly step away. Do the prep work you need to set yourself up for success and share it with your support system, specifically your goal for the check in. Collect the data you want to reflect on so it's ready for your check in Know what you want to walk away with from your check in. Identify any questions you want to get answered Take your check in time seriously when it happens Create a follow up plan with your support system to help with accountability after the quarterly check in. What To Review During Your Small Business Check In? Your Y.O.U. Promise Check In: Are you still connected to your deep-down-honest why for being a small business owner? Are you living your core values? Does your definition of success still resonate with you? On a scale of 1 - 5, how are you doing with each of your boundaries? Have you utilized your support system in the past 90 days? Review your Progress Log to celebrate progress on your 90 Day Goal. Set your next 90 Day Goal *Not sure what a Y.O.U. Promise is? It's the framework I created and shared in my book Why Not You? An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success. Financial Business Check In: What is your top revenue stream over the last 90 days? What revenue stream do you want to focus on in the next 90 days? Do you need to adjust anything related to your finances (ex: expenses, Profit First percentages, etc.)? Overall Business Check In: What in your business has brought you joy over the last 90 days? What in your business has brought you stress over the last 90 days? How can you adjust things in your business to encourage more joyful activities and less stressful activities? Take Away Message / Action It's time to book your Quarterly Business Check In! Take the steps I outlined and get it on the calendar. Based on your quarterly check in, make the necessary changes (if any) and move forward with steps to achieving your next 90 day goal. Make sure to always have your next Quarterly Business Check In on the calendar so you know when it's happening again. If you don't do this, the time will get away from you and 90 days will fly by! Until next time give yourself permission to do business check ins and grace along the way. I'll talk to you soon. "The goal is to plan for the next 90 days of your business but you also want to do this in a way that's not in your day-to-day routine." - Amanda McKinney Looking For More Support If you're feeling stuck, dealing with self doubt and have realized you aren't taking action, I'd love to help you. Check out my current coaching options available so I can support you in the way you need.

All these things plague us at some point and that could be you today. If so, this article is for you and you're going to read how 2 entrepreneurs combat and dare I say, beat, perfectionism. While its an almost-ever-present thought, you can do things in your business to help you deal with these issues. Lauren Tilden is a maker, retail shop owner, podcast host, and marketing educator who self-proclaims that she deals with perfectionism all the time. Whether it's in her business or everyday life, it shows up. In this conversation she shares how it shows up for her and how she has learned to deal with it head-on. **This was also a podcast episode (episode #192. Use the player below if you'd prefer to listen to this message. Small Business Marketing Isn't Just Social Media Lauren helps small business owners market their business in a way that feels good to them and we dove into how marketing can often feel like it takes up so much time and energy in our business but it doesn't have to feel this way. One way that this often shows up is when we feel like we're on the constant hamster wheel of creating for social media. While we might know that marketing is more than social media, think about the time you're spending and ask yourself if your marketing is mainly social media. Chances are that's the case because it's easy to slip into marketing = social media. "It's social media but it's also email, in person stuff, customer service, customer experience. It's a-to-b, start-to-finish from when someone first learns about your business and hears about it for the first time until they become a customer and hopefully a happy customer for a long time. All of that is marketing." - Lauren Tilden The other thing that Lauren reminded us of in this conversation is that when you love what you do (which I know you do!) that actually makes marketing much easier. When you're able to truly share what you're passionate about and show up in that way, your marketing will come easier to you and it will resonate more with your target audience too. Perfectionism And How It Shows Up In Our Small Business Journey Lauren and I both shared stories in this conversation about how marketing and perfectionism go hand in hand for most business owners. While we were both marketers in our corporate days and never felt this creep into our jobs, it shows up in new ways as a business owner who is also the marketer too. Any time you are doing something out of your comfort zone, perfectionism can creep into the picture because we often want to do something perfect, the first time. And as business owners we are constantly trying new things and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones to grow our business. "It stops me from taking action and makes me procrastinate." - Lauren Tilden Action-stopping is the last thing you want as a business owner who is trying to grow your business so you can live the life of your dreams but it happens often. We put off things that we aren't sure we can do because they are new and we want to get it "right" immediately. But there aren't many things, if any, that we will do perfectly on the first try. We have to practice and learn along the way before we do better at whatever we're trying to accomplish. But this is the thing that can stop you in your tracks if you're not careful to catch it. "Honestly, if you're not putting it out there, you're holding it back from someone it could be helpful for." - Lauren Tilden There are people who want and need to experience whatever it is that you're passionate about and are building your business around. Whether it's creating beautiful artwork that will grace the walls of someone's home, providing nutrition coaching to help someone feel better, or something completely different, you have a unique gift that someone (many people) will benefit from. "Put yourself out there imperfectly." - Lauren Tilden By sharing your gifts with others through imperfect marketing, you're able to learn each time you share. You'll learn what others resonate with but also how you like to show up in your marketing and in the business overall. But the key is to do it imperfectly. Accountability Helps With Perfectionism As A Small Business Owner If we aren't careful the trap of perfectionism can slowly kill our business because it stops us from taking action. So it's key to recognize it and then make the necessary changes. One of the necessary changes for most of us who fall into the perfectionism and procrastination trap is finding accountability. Whether it's paid or free, having some way of others helping to hold you accountable is often the best way to get things done. "I like to share how my podcast comes out every Tuesday. I say this constantly so that I know people are expecting it on Tuesdays. And now sometimes if I'm slow on it, people will DM me and say they didn't see the episode. That is the best accountability ever." - Lauren Tilden Here are just a few ways you can find accountability: Tell your audience when your content comes out (email, podcast, videos) Tell a friend, coach, biz bestie Join a group (community, mastermind, membership, group program) Go through a program/course with a biz bestie "I've been the kind of person who felt like I started things and never finished anything and the game changer for me has been finding ways to be accountable to other people, not just myself." - Lauren Tilden It's also important to know yourself when it comes to accountability. Do you need to tell your BFF that you know you'll hold your word to. Or would it be better for you to pay a coach to help hold you accountable? Or something in between? The key is to recognize if you're not taking action on something you said you want to do in your business and when that happens, find the support and accountability that you need. "Put gentle pressure on yourself." - Lauren Tilden But be careful with what you're telling yourself when you're in the cycle of perfectionism and procrastination. There's one way you can set yourself back even further: "One thing that can happen when you're getting perfectionistic and starting to procrastinate, we will think "I just need to learn more, let me research more" but this often just slows things down." - Lauren Tilden This often shows up by purchasing a course or a training that's a go-at-your-own-pace style. When something is DIY it's great if you will actually go through it on your own but if you tend to procrastinate, this is often not the best option. While courses are a great way to learn, it's important to understand your own habits and either choose another option or find a way to build in accountability for yourself. "Find someone else who also needs to do something that they've been procrastinating on and get on zoom or in a chat room for 90 minutes....you're committed, you know someone else is expecting to hear you report back in 90 minutes." - Lauren Tilden How Lauren & I Held Each Other Accountable On The Spot During our conversation we talked about how great it is to read podcast reviews and how much it helps a podcast overall yet neither one of us do it often. So we decided to hold each other accountable to actually leave reviews for other podcasts. We recorded the interview on a Monday and on Friday I emailed Lauren with a list of 10 podcasts I had left reviews for. This is her email response: "AMANDA!! This is the power of accountability. I got this in my inbox and immediately went on a FLURRY of review writing." - Lauren Tilden And here is the powerhouse list of podcasts we left reviews for: Simple Pin Podcast Brand Builders Lab Creator Science Creator Club Online Marketing Made Easy Imperfect Action Jasmine Star Show Is My Aura on Straight This American Life The Course Creator Show Creator Stories The Connected Yoga Teacher Seen, Sought After & Sold Out Rebel Uprising Hey Jessica Radical Stepmoms Podcast Unf*ck your biz with Braden Multi Passionate Mastery Yoke & Abundance Wise Woman Podcast Maestro On The Mic Take Away Message / Action This conversation was filled with so many aha moments and wise words from Lauren so I'll let her share your next step. "I encourage people to put it out there. You will never regret putting it out there." - Lauren Tilden While you might regret something you do in life, when it comes to trying new things in your business this is less likely. You may not succeed in everything but you will learn through all the experiences you have. So move forward, take action and until next time give yourself permission to do things imperfectly and grace along the way. I'lll talk to you soon. About Lauren: Lauren is a maker, retail shop owner, podcast host, and marketing educator on a mission to help small business owners confidently market their businesses without getting overwhelmed. She is the host of Making Good, the podcast that helps small business owners do great marketing so they can make a bigger impact. She's also the founder of Making Good Happen, the membership community for small business owners who want to do better, more consistent marketing. Lauren's Resources: Lauren's Free Content Resource: 100 Prompts https://makinggoodpodcast.com/100prompts Podcast: https://makinggoodpodcast.com Instagram: https://instagram.com/laurentilden LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/laurentilden Substack about Perfectionism: laurentilden.substack.com Other Resources Mentioned: All podcast episodes: https://pod.link/1473751874 Amanda's Coaching Options: https://www.amandamckinney.com/coaching Amanda's Book: https://www.amandamckinney.com/book "I've been the kind of person who felt like I started things and never finished anything and the game changer for me has been finding ways to be accountable to other people, not just myself." - Lauren Tilden Looking For More Support If you're feeling stuck, dealing with self doubt and have realized you aren't taking action, I'd love to help you. Check out my current coaching options available so I can support you in the way you need.

Have you ever wondered if women approach entrepreneurship different than men? While this is something that's crossed my mind many times, it's not something I've researched so when I met someone who did research this, I knew I had to interview her. Winnie Wong is the author of "You Don't Have To Look The Part, How East Asian Women Thrive As Entrepreneurs & Make A Great Bet For Investors" and my interview with her on this topic is packed with stats, stories and inspiration. **This was also a podcast episode (episode #191. Use the player below if you'd prefer to listen to this message. Passion For Entrepreneurship Winnie supported an educational program for women in Singapore by teaching them entrepreneurship. This program led to an increase in entrepreneurship from 6% to 40% and even more, this allowed the lives of their families to change in many ways. "It was a live case study of entrepreneurship and how it could change someone's life. It wasn't about what was given to them, it was that they were creating a future for their families." - Winnie Wong Winnie shared that her experience teaching in Singapore, the classes were held on Sunday's and that was the only day off that the women had during the week. So on their only day off, they would sit in class learning about assets and liabilities and then do homework throughout the week. This goes to show you that when you really want something (like entrepreneurship), you will find the way to make it work. You'll likely have to sacrifice something, or many things, in the short term but if it's worth it, you will be willing to make it happen. "If you have a will, there is a way." - Winnie Wong How Women Approach Entrepreneurship Versus Men As Winnie interviewed and researched many women entrepreneurs for her book, she realized that women approached entrepreneurship differently due to the barriers they face and their relationship with themselves. Barries women entrepreneurs face: Needed flexibility due to domestic duties at home Unconscious bias, one example being venture capitalist not investing in females because of the possibility of them having children Not able to travel as much due to domestic duties at home "Some people don't want to invest in solo female founders because they're worried they might have children or choose their children over their business. They never consider that a male founder will choose their children over a business." - Winnie Wong Women entrepreneur's relationship with themselves: They are more likely to empathize with the customer which leads to focusing on the problem before getting to a solution They often have to tame their inner critic more than men "It's a lot about changing your inner narrative." - Winnie Wong Women Entrepreneurs & Venture Capital As Winnie learned more about entrepreneurship and venture capital, she realized that women own one third of businesses but only receive 2% of the venture capital funding. This led her down the path of researching why this was the case despite these stats: "There is research from the Boston Consulting Group that says that women founded or co-founded startups actually generate 10% high returns despite raising less capital than male led startups." - Winnie Wong "Kevin O'Leary, one of the judges on Shark Tank, shared that 75% of his returns come from women led startups." - Winnie Wong In Winnie's book, You Don't Have To Look The Part, How East Asian Women Thrive As Entrepreneurs & Make A Great Bet For Investors, you can read the extensive research done on this topic. How Women Define Success In Entrepreneurship When it comes to defining success as an entrepreneur, Winnie's research connected with my research for my book in that women tend to have a strong why behind the financial success they want to achieve. "Success isn't necessarily about money, but it's actually about giving back and helping others." - Winnie Wong You can Define Success On Your Terms with this FREE Guide that walks you through the step by step process. Enter your details below and it will be immediately delivered to your inbox. (FORM for FREE GUIDE on SUCCESS) All along the way as entrepreneurs, no matter what your gender is, it's far too easy to compare your all encompassing story with other's highlight reels. Be sure to remember that everyone has ups and downs but you're likely not seeing everyone else's and you're certainly not feeling it like they are. "I'd say success means accepting life's ups and downs as they are and learning and growing from them." - Winnie Wong. Take Away Message / Action After being inspired by Winnie's research, I'll leave you with her words on what your next step is: "Realize that everyone goes through ups and downs and that you will pick yourself up but it's important to always just take that next step, move forward and understand that tomorrow you'll do better." - Winnie Wong And until next time give yourself permission to define success on your terms and grace along the way. I'll talk to you soon! "It was a live case study of entrepreneurship and how it could change someone's life. It wasn't about what was given to them, it was that they were creating a future for their families." - Winnie Wong Looking For More Support If you're feeling stuck, dealing with self doubt and have realized you aren't taking action, I'd love to help you. Check out my current coaching options available so I can support you in the way you need.

Are you feeling like you're supporting everyone else's dreams or business and no one is supporting yours? This leads to feelings of overwhelm and frustration and it's what one person emailed me about and said "I had an emotional breakdown and was strongly thinking about closing my business." If you're in that spot, I want to share 5 messages with you today to help you navigate the very real feelings that are happening. I received this email in response to this article on burnout with Dr. Sharon Grossman. Original Message: "Thank you for this email and the resources on your website because it saved my business. I had an emotional breakdown last night and was strongly thinking about closing my business down because I wasn't making any money yet and I was tired of supporting other's businesses and no one was supporting mine. Again thanks" **This was also a podcast episode (episode #190. Use the player below if you'd prefer to listen to this message. 5 Reminders When It Feels Like Nothing Is Working In Your Small Business You're not alone, this is part of entrepreneurship I'm so sorry to hear that you're in this tough spot of entrepreneurship. Please know that you're not alone. I know that doesn't make it better immediately but often times it's helpful to know that you're not the only one feeling this. This is part of being an entrepreneur but it's the really tough part of it. People often say "if it was easy, everyone would do it" and that's the case with entrepreneurship. You're going against the grain, making your own path and that's tough. It's like stepping off the walking trail and creating a brand new path for yourself. You'll have to cut down limbs, clear the path and likely get cuts and scraps along the way. It's new so it's hard and we all go through this. No matter what you think someone else's experience is, you're not seeing the full picture so please know that it was hard for them too. *If you're feeling super alone in business, having support of a coach is a great option. If I feel like a good coach for you, check out my coaching options >> HERE. This Feeling Sucks But It Won't Last Forever Here's the part that's super annoying to hear when you're in the middle of something hard. It won't last forever and you'll look back later and know it was for a reason. I'm certainly not trying to say that you need to think that now but what I want you to remember is that it won't last forever. Find comfort in knowing that the feelings you have a real and justified but they won't last forever. The sun will set today and rise tomorrow and eventually this will get better. Pause and step away from the day-to-day When things feel like they are falling apart, you'll likely want to double down on business work and tackle it all at first. But a better thing to do is to step away from the day-to-day tasks in business and do something that will help you relax and get a new perspective. Take a walk Talk to a friend or biz bestie Take a few days off Pause things in your business for a period of time Delete social media apps Unsubscribe from email lists The key is to step back and pause from business related tasks and consuming content that is aiding in the feeling of "everything is sucking". Most of the time we are looking at other people's business and that leads us to thinking negatively about our own. In this moment it's important to pause the consumption of other people's content and focus on our own mental health as well as our business health. Come back to your WHY for entrepreneurship, not passion but WHY I would ask you -- WHY do you want to be an entrepreneur? Not what is your passion. Not what do you help others with. Why do you truly want to be an entrepreneur? I'll share my WHY so you can see what I mean. My WHY is that I want to be in control of when I work, who I work with and what I work on. It's this deep down WHY that allows me to push through the tough days when nothing is working because my WHY is stronger than the resistance I'm up against. I want this for you too. Why do you want to be an entrepreneur? Take some time to actually think about the answer to this question and be sure to be very honest with yourself. The answer is just for you and you don't have to share it with anyone else. Once the sting goes away, identify the lesson learned through the hardship After the fog clears and you're not in a place of feeling like everything is falling apart in your business, ask yourself "what was the lesson in this?" I can look back to the times when I've thought "is this working? is this worth it? can I make this work?" and it's often that it was right before a positive shift happened in my business. I don't think that's because of chance, I know it's because the doubt and uncertainty fueled my fire. It's often during these times that after I stepped away, I realized what needed to happen next and I made a change in my business for the better. But it's only because I was able to ask myself "what was the lesson in this". We all go through hard things in our business but it's those who always look for the lesson that are able to use the tough stuff to help build the business. Take Away Message / Action Step through these 5 reminders if you're feeling like it's all crumbling. And if you're lucky to be in a place where things aren't crumbling right now, save this for when you hit the point because we all hit it many times. Remember that you've got this. Deep breath in, deep breath out. Know that you've got this and you do have support. I believe in you and I know this moment will be one you look back on and say it helped you decide on your next steps to building the life of your dreams. But I also know this is unbelievably hard right now. So be sure to give yourself permission to pause as you navigate the hard parts of entrepreneurship and lots of grace along the way. I'll talk to you soon. My current coaching options can be found >> HERE. But even if I'm not the coach for you, find your coach to help you push through the fear and take action. "You are not alone. The feeling is awful but won't last forever. Find the support you need. Remember your why. But most importantly, pause from the day-to-day before making an emotional decision." - Amanda McKinney Looking For More Support If you're feeling stuck, dealing with self doubt and have realized you aren't taking action, I'd love to help you. Check out my current coaching options available so I can support you in the way you need.

If you want small business success but struggle with self doubt, lack of confidence and procrastination this article is for you. My client, Cammy, shares all about these things and how she pushed through it all. In the end she hosted a successful free challenge that lead into a paid program of hers. On the other side of taking action (even though she was scared) was confidence and results. When I worked with Cammy over the course of several months, we navigated through her nervousness to take action in her business. This is common when we are doing something new which was the case for Cammy. She's a passionate yoga teacher who wants to help others experience the benefits of yoga and self massage but when it comes to selling things, that's out of her comfort zone. But what I loved about working with Cammy is that she showed up willing to push through the fear. Cammy has an incredible amount of courage and has a very inspiring story. While fear could have held her back from taking action, she exhibited true courage in trying something new even though she didn't know how things would turn out. In the end she had a great result but even more, is now more courageous because she knows she can do it. Cammy's Courage Lead To Small Business Success Cammy first bought a product of mine that had everything she needed to host a free challenge. However, it was overwhelming for her and therefore, she never took action with that digital product. I hosted a live version of the program and Cammy joined so that it could help her take action. This is something to keep in mind for yourself - if you notice that you purchase digital products and don't take action, this likely means a live version or program would work better for you due to the fact that there is accountability with live calls and homework. "Your permission busted my mind open and I began taking action and that action led to clarity." - Cammy **This was also a podcast episode (episode #189. Use the player below if you'd prefer to listen to this message. Her Small Business Goals Her goal was to reach a larger audience and grow her email list. Based on this goal, she created a 5 day challenge that lead to an 85% growth on her email list. 5 day challenge - Self Massage 101 Challenge Original goal = 50 sign ups (scary for her) Total = 186 sign ups Increased her email list by 85% "This was encouraging and told me that there was definitely interest in self massage." - Cammy After the survey took place, she created and sent out a survey to all the challenge participants to gain feedback. Based on the challenge feedback as well as a few questions that gave her insights into what she could offer next, she was able to create a paid program. Survey Results That Led To A Paid Program 42 responses Helped her understand what to offer in a paid offering after the challenge But even with the successful challenge and survey results, Cammy was nervous to move forward with promoting a paid offering in her business. "Then I froze up. I love to give something away for free but it's another thing to offer something for sale. I was lacking confidence yet again." - Cammy It was at this point that she realized how much self doubt and lack of confidence she had and knew she needed more support. Cammy needed a coach to be by her side and help her not only know what action to take next but to be encouraged to take the action even though she was nervous. "You gave me a good friendly shove to take action" - Cammy Through lots of encouragement and even more of Cammy pushing through and accessing the courage within her, she created her paid program and introduced it to her audience. And what a success it was! Cammy's SOLD OUT Program: Yoga + Self Massage Class Series Her Original Goal = 10 paid sign ups Her Updated Goal = 20 was "Best Goal" Total Sign Ups = 31!!!! 17% conversion rate from challenge to paid offering "The format and the content are based on the feedback I received from my survey, just like you teach." - Cammy By tapping into what she learned from her free challenge and the follow up survey, Cammy was able to create a paid offering that people truly wanted that grew her small business. This is a great system to follow when you aren't sure what to create in your business. Follow the bread crumbs that your audience and clients are leaving for you with their words and actions. But even more than financial results, which are great, Cammy gained much more through this experience. She uncovered more of her confidence and now has an example to go back to when her self doubt comes back to her in the future. "More than anything, this journey has made me so happy that I now have something free to give to people when they have an interest in self-massage or when they buy balls from me. This means they can jump right into learning and immediately feel the benefits." - Cammy "This challenge and now my class series finally opened my eyes to what I really want to focus on going forward. It's given me a clear picture of what people need and want and what they are willing to sign up for." - Cammy Take Away Message / Action Be inspired by Cammy's courage and allow this to help you take action. Cammy didn't know what the result would be but she was willing to take action to see what happened. Not everything will turn out the way we hoped or like Cammy experienced, exceed our expectations but you don't have a chance of this happening if you don't try. By taking action through courage Cammy uncovered more of her confidence and now has an example to go back to the next time self doubt comes into play for her. The other thing Cammy did was reach out for support when she realized she wasn't taking action. I was fortunate enough to be the person who supported Cammy in this and if I feel like the coach for you, I'd love to work with you. My current coaching options can be found >> HERE. But even if I'm not the coach for you, find your coach to help you push through the fear and take action. Because on the other side of action is progress, clarity and confidence. Until next time give yourself permission to push through fear and grace along the way. I'll talk to you soon. About Cammy: Cammy Adair is a certified RYT500 with a BS degree in Exercise Science and Health Education. In addition to 500 hours of yoga training, Cammy trained with Jill Miller for Yoga Tune Up® training and Roll Model Method®. Her passion is anatomy and to deliver biomechanically safe and accessible yoga practices that improve posture, strength, flexibility and performance, while reducing pain, tightness and stress. Cammy is also a mom of 6, grandma of 7 and happily married. She loves riding horses, gardening, mountain biking, skiing, climbing, paddleboarding…basically anything outdoors with her fun family! Cammy's Resources: Cammy's Website: https://www.yogawithcammy.com/ Cammy's Link to Tune Up Products "Your permission busted my mind open and I began taking action and that action led to clarity." - Cammy Adair Looking For More Support If you're feeling stuck, dealing with self doubt and have realized you aren't taking action, I'd love to help you. Check out my current coaching options available so I can support you in the way you need.

In this article we're chatting with Rhysa Sisco, who went from occupational therapist to nervous system regulation coach for business owners. She shares how her personal struggles led her to realize the importance of untangling our beliefs and how she helps others improve their communication, creativity, and overall well-being. Plus, she shares some awesome tips for using sensory tools to manage stress and anxiety. So grab your favorite drink and join us for a fascinating conversation. How We Experience Stress As An Entrepreneur Just like in our daily lives, we experience stress as an entrepreneur as well. This may come in the form of tech-headaches, customer service or many other stressors but no matter what causes the stress, it’s recognized by one system in our body. The nervous system. “The nervous system’s sole responsibility is to keep us alive so it is constantly scanning our environment and asking “is this safe or unsafe”?” - Rhysa Sisco Many times our nervous system sends signals of “not safe” when we are experiencing something new or difficult for us and this definitely comes into play as an entrepreneur. From that signal you can feel fear, anxiousness, overwhelm or like you are going to be sick. When you experience this in your entrepreneurial journey, ask yourself “is my nervous system protecting me because this is a dangerous situation or is this blocking me?”. “If it’s a block, then we have to say ‘okay, how can I learn to make my body feel safe right now so I can move past this’?” - Rhysa Sisco In order to navigate through these feelings that arise within us when we feel the stress response, it’s important to understand where we are in the cycle of stress. **This was also a podcast episode (episode #188. Use the player below if you'd prefer to listen to this message. Stress Zones: Rhysa shares that we have different zones when it comes to stress and it’s important to understand which zone you’re in to determine what tools are best for you. Here are the different stress zones broken down: Green zone: feeling relaxed, happy, and content. This is when things feel easy, and deep intimate conversations can happen effortlessly. Blue zone: feeling depressed, disconnected, and apathetic. This is when the body slows down to protect itself from pain. Yellow zone: feeling anxious, fearful, and frustrated. This is a common zone for entrepreneurs dealing with clients who are not following through or for situations where something feels off, but there is no immediate danger. Red zone: feeling out of control, yelling, screaming, or feeling the urge to hit, bite, or kick. This is a protective response when the body feels attacked and in danger. Stress Sensory Tools For Entrepreneurs: The body plays a larger role in our stress and anxiety levels than our minds, with 80% of the response happening in our body. Our nervous system communicates through our senses, and we can use sensory tools to help calm ourselves down. We often lose these skills as adults, but many sensory tools take less than 30 seconds to use, such as taking a deep breath or focusing on a pleasant scent. Matching the appropriate tools to these zones is important because using the wrong tool can exacerbate the negative emotions. Red zone: Go for a run or do a heavy workout Dance Hit something (e.g., using a pillowcase filled with plates and a hammer) Move your body in some way (e.g., go for a walk) Yellow zone: Go for a walk Do slow, rhythmical activities that feel safe to your body Kick your feet under your desk (using a band tied to the desk) Drink water or refill your water bottle Blue zone: Take a warm bath or shower Listen to calming music Practice gentle stretching or yoga Wrap yourself in a blanket or use a weighted blanket Engage in other soothing self-care activities Building Your Entrepreneur Stress Toolbox: Here are the steps for building a toolbox for different emotional states using sensory tools: Identify the emotional state you want to address, such as feeling anxious or overwhelmed. Create a sheet of paper with six columns for each of the senses: movement, sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. Write down the sensory tools that you already love in each category, such as stretching for movement or listening to music for sound. Evaluate each tool and determine how it makes you feel. Does it make you feel calmer or more engaged? Match each tool to the appropriate emotional state. For example, a calming scent like lavender might be great for the yellow zone when you're feeling anxious, but a more energizing scent like citrus might be better for the blue zone when you're feeling lethargic. Choose 3-5 tools for each category and add them to your toolbox. You should now have a set of 15-25 tools that you can use to address different emotional states. Take Away Message / Action Make your Stress Toolkit so you have it ready at your fingertips when you need it. Please don’t wait until you hit the moment of stress to come up with the list, be proactive and do that today so you can simply choose which tool to use the next time you need it. Until next time give yourself permission to use stress response tools and grace along the way. I’ll talk to you soon. About Rhysa: Rhysa Sisco is an occupational therapist and entrepreneur turned business mentor for leaders with over 10 years of experience of coaching, mentoring, and guiding. Rhysa is an expert in the nervous and sensory system and the creator of The Business Regulation Program, for soul-led, aligned entrepreneurs to break through money business blocks by regulating their nervous system. She has been featured in Authority Magazine in several articles, spoken at retreats, coaching groups, and podcasts. Rhysa's Resources: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/regulatewithrhysa/ “If it’s a block, then we have to say ‘okay, how can I learn to make my body feel safe right now so I can move past this’?” - Rhysa Sisco Your Guide To Accidental Entrepreneurship You're building a business with intention and want it to support the life you dream of so it's time to do this on your terms. You can do this by declaring your Y.O.U. Promise which is what I walk you through in my book: Why Not You? An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success. Order your copy using the button below.

Just like we get the 'itch' to clean out the drawers in our kitchen every so often, we get the feeling to clean things up in our business too. This article shares how to do a spring clean (or anytime really) of your business so you walk away feeling refreshed and ready for the next season. Think about this as a pantry reorganization project. The pantry is packed with food and drinks but it's a mess so you pin ideas to Pinterest based on what you want your pantry to look like. From there you have to take everything out of the pantry, reorganize it all, then put it back in a nicely organized way. You can do this for your business every now and then too. Start With A Business Check In In order to know what to clean, it's important to do a check in of what the current state is in your business. Think of this as standing in front of your kitchen pantry, opening the doors and assessing the situation. Here are a few questions you can ask yourself during this check in: What progress have I made in the last 90 days? (be sure to celebrate this!) What has stopped me from making progress in the last 90 days? What have I done in my business in the last 90 days that have brought me joy? What have I done in my business in the last 90 days that has brought me stress? What's something I want to accomplish in the next 90 days? Answering these questions will help you know what your goal is with the cleaning. Think of this as you're looking in the pantry and seeing the mess but then you go to Pinterest to pin some pictures of organized pantries so you know what you're aiming for. If you enjoy this process of thinking about 90 days at a time, I highly recommend checking out my book as I go into detail on this process and how this can help you achieve your definition of success. **This was also a podcast episode (episode #187. Use the player below if you'd prefer to listen to this message. Audit Your Offerings Once you've looked back at your progress and moved into looking ahead, it's time to audit specific sections of your business and first up is your Offerings. Think of this part of the process as pulling everything out of your pantry so you can get rid of the expired food and organize the things you want to keep. This includes any offering that you have available currently, whether it’s bringing in revenue or not. Create a document with 3 columns Column 1 - Revenue Stream Column 2 - Revenue Ranking Column 3 - Happiness Ranking (1 - 5; 5 being the happiest) Based on your answers, identify what you want to keep, change or discontinue in your business. This can inform your 90 day goal. Audit Your Content This is any type of content you’re creating in your business. Blog, podcast, videos, social media, etc. Create a document with 3 columns Column 1 - Content/Marketing Platform Column 2 - Data Ranking (downloads, views, etc.) Column 3 - Happiness Ranking (1 - 5; 5 being the happiest) Based on your answers, identify what you want to keep, change or discontinue in your business. This can inform your 90 day goal. Audit Your Website Based on your business goal and offerings that align with that, it’s time to update what you have on your website. Identify what offerings you’re focusing your energy on currently / want to grow List all the pages you have linked from your navigation Next to the page name, choose if you will keep it, updated it, or delete it Keep it - no changes needed Update it - need to make changes Delete it - need to delete it and ensure it’s not connected to anything 4. Set aside time on your calendar to make the edits to your website. You have to make it happen. Take Away Message / Action Now that you have everything re-organized, it's time to put it back into the pantry so you can take a look at all your hard work. For this part in your business I suggest sharing your 90 day goal with a business friend or accountability buddy so you can celebrate all you did to get to this point. You can tell them everything you deleted or changed in your business so you actually celebrate it and then tell them how you're moving forward with intention. Until next time give yourself permission to do spring cleaning anytime and grace along the way. I'll talk to you soon. "Yes, it's important to audit what offerings are brining in the most revenue but equally as important is your happiness rating for each offering too." - Amanda McKinney Need A Deep Clean - I've Got You! You're building a business with intention and want it to support the life you dream of so it's time to do this on your terms. You can do this by declaring your Y.O.U. Promise which is what I walk you through in my book: Why Not You? An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success. Order your copy using the button below.

This word "burnout" has almost become a buzz word in the past several years but we are diving into this topic to really understand what it is. Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Sharon Grossman, shared what it is, how to recognize it and then how to navigate burnout so that it doesn't take over your life or entrepreneurship journey. Dr. Sharon Grossman is known as "The Burnout Doc" who helps people go from exhausted to extraordinary in 90 days. I love how clear and concise this sentence is and it's what I hope everyone can get to eventually in their business, meaning a single sentence that intrigues someone to want to know more about what you do and gives them a clear picture of it as well. She is a burnout recovery coach, speaker, and author of the Amazon bestseller, The 7E Solution to Burnout, who is hired by Fortune 500 companies and their executives to crack the code on burnout and create custom-tailored solutions for recovery. What Is Burnout For Entrepreneurs While burnout shows up different for everyone, there is a general definition of what it is: "Burnout is basically chronic stress...Stressors that show up day after day. It keeps chipping away at you day after day until there's a chunk missing and that's when you feel it." - Dr. Sharon Grossman "Stress is our perception of the things going on around us...it's when the demands exceed our resources." - Dr. Sharon Grossman **This was also a podcast episode (episode #186. Use the player below if you'd prefer to listen to this message. How To Decode Your Burnt Out "The biggest symptom of burnout, the thing you're going to notice first is that you're exhausted." - Dr. Sharon Grossman She then went into her findings that we can generally into one (or multiple) of these buckets in how burnout shows up for us and then how to navigate it: The Thinker This is the person that's in their head all the time and overthinking things. This can show up as "shoulding" yourself and thinking you have to do everything that others are talking about. "They are doing a lot of comparisons and then feeling inadequate. They are criticizing themselves, beating themselves up, they're doing all these things that create anxiety. It might be impostor syndrome, it might be perfectionism. It's a lot of self doubt and a lot of worry about the future and they're constantly ruminating and having all this kind of negative thinking that is creating stress." - Dr. Sharon Grossman The Thinker usually has the root belief that the world is unsafe so they overthink in a way to try and create more safety for themselves. The Feeler This is the person that is constantly worried about other people because they care for others. "They are people who are so caring about other people that they don't have boundaries. They try to please everybody. They don't know how to say no, they feel so guilty when they do and when they say yes, they feel resentful. So it's kind of a lose lose, no matter what you do, you lose and they put themselves on the back burner. They don't have time to take care of themselves because they're so busy taking care of everybody else." - Dr. Sharon Grossman The Feeler usually has the root belief that other people are more important than they are so they are looking to please others in an attempt to get recognition from others. The Doer This is the person who is always taking action and getting things done. "They are just like your complete overachievers, your workaholics. The people who just focus on doing more and more and more and they're just working ridiculous hours and there may be passion, but over time you're gonna like, run yourself to the ground." - Dr. Sharon Grossman The Doer usually has the root belief that you have to work hard in order to achieve things in life. What To Do About Burnout Regardless of which bucket you fit into, there is a step by step path you can take to navigating how burnout shows up for you but there's one thing you want to do before taking the steps and it's to understand how you play into this process. While it might seem harsh to think about it this way, it's important to recognize what we're doing to contribute to the burnout we're experiencing. We will often point to external factors that are leading us to burnout, which are contributing, but we need to understand what we are doing as well. "We're always pointing fingers out there. Our boss, our job, social media, technology. We're very clear on those but what we are not as clear on is what we are bringing to the table." - Dr. Sharon Grossman "If it's all those things out there, you don't have any control, you are the victim because there's nothing you can do about those things out there. But if it's you that's stressing out because of your thinking about the things out there, then we can give you back the control by helping you think about it differently." - Dr. Sharon Grossman Step 1: Recognize what is stressing you out Everyone gets stressed out about different things so we will all have different answers to this and that's why it's important to understand what is stressing you out, not other people. Step 2: Identify the root cause of why that stresses you out Instead of going straight to a general solution for your stress, identifying why this is a stressor for you will help you get closer to identifying customized recovery solutions for you. Step 3: Recognize the external factors that are playing into the stress While we bring things to the burnout table, it's also important to know what else is going on too. For example you have a toxic work environment, you've been discriminated against, a personal health issue or something else adding to your stress. Step 4: Take actions based on your customized solutions for stress Based on what you learn about yourself, you then experiment and find tools for stress that work for you. A suggestion on how to do this is to try something (ex: mid-day walk) daily for a week and see if it helps you. By creating a micro-habit you can test what works for you and build up your burnout toolbox so you have your customized recovery solution that works for you and serves you for a lifetime. Creating Content Helped Her Discover Her Niche If you're curious how she figured out who she wanted to work with, how to help them and then developing those offerings, the answer is that she created content. It was through writing a book that she was able to discover many of these answers but it wasn't clear at first. "Where do you start?" - Dr. Sharon Grossman She didn't know where to start but started anyway and through that, it led her to compiling all the tools she has as a Clinical Psychologist into her book. You don't have to write a book to get to this point but the key is that she began to create content which helped her organize her thoughts and ideas into an easier-to-understand format for her clients. Another interesting part of her story is that as she began what she called the braindump process, she realized that burnout was what the common theme was but she didn't really know that much about that topic. But she didn't let that stop her! She immersed herself in learning so that she could then help her clients. "I've really got to immerse myself in that so I started reading everything. Books, journal articles, research. Trying to wrap my head around what it is, what does it look like, how do we know that we're burning out." - Dr. Sharon Grossman This actually put her in a great position because she came at the topic as a beginner and those questions she had were all the questions her clients had and would have. Because of this beginner-curiousity she was able to create content, and ultimately a book and program, that would serve her target audience. Why Not You? Ac Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success Take Away Message / Action Identify which bucket you fall into most of the time: Thinker, Feeler or Doer. While we can all fall into any bucket, there is usually one that you'll fall into the majority of the time. Once you know which bucket, start to identify what the root cause is for this belief. Based on the root cause, you can then identify how this shows up for you as an entrepreneur and then take steps to navigate burnout by building your customized recovery solution. For example, I primarily show up as a Doer which primes me up for over-working which leads to burnout. The root cause for me absolutely has to deal with the "you have to work hard to get what you want in life" and I have to remind myself of what enough is so that I can actually stop working. From there I've identified that breaking from work is what helps me prevent burnout and this looks like scheduling things with friends, going on a walk with my husband, taking the dogs outside or putting my legs up the wall for 5 minutes. These things are hard for me to do but when I do them, it helps remind me that I don't have to work hard every minute of every day. Find what this is for you so that you can build your recovery solution. Until next time give yourself permission to prevent burnout and grace along the way. I'll talk to you soon. About Dr. Sharon: Dr. Sharon Grossman is a burnout recovery coach, speaker, and author of the Amazon bestseller, The 7E Solution to Burnout, who is hired by Fortune 500 companies and their executives to crack the code on burnout and create custom-tailored solutions for recovery. If you've tried workshops and therapy and feel like nothing sticks, working with Dr. Sharon will show you how you can totally transform your relationship with your work by working on yourself instead of trying to change your job or career. She’s shared her grounded yet practical approach with numerous organizations, nonprofits, and universities. You can find her on her weekly podcast, Decode Your Burnout, and reach her on her websitedrsharongrossman.com for speaking, coaching, and consulting inquiries. Dr. Sharon's Resources: Website: drsharongrossman.com Podcast: https://drsharongrossman.com/podcast/burnout/ Burnout Checklist: http://drsharongrossman.com/burnoutchecklist "Burnout is basically chronic stress...Stressors that show up day after day. It keeps chipping away at you day after day until there's a chunk missing and that's when you feel it." - Dr. Sharon Grossman Your Guide To Accidental Entrepreneurship You're building a business with intention and want it to support the life you dream of so it's time to do this on your terms. You can do this by declaring your Y.O.U. Promise which is what I walk you through in my book: Why Not You? An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success. Order your copy using the button below.

If you're feeling the need to shut down an offering in your business but you're not sure how, this article is for you. My guest, Emily Aborn, shared her story with me on how she took a paid membership and turned it into a free community and didn't lose her business in the process. On the other side of following her intuition with her offering was a successful business on her terms. Creating An Offering As an Accidental Entrepreneur, you're looking to creating a thriving business so of course you want to create an offering (or multiple) that help your customers. In order to do this it's important to focus on the struggle you're seeing with your network/audience. Emily did just that when she created the membership that she would eventually shut down. Emily realized that she wasn't the only entrepreneur who was struggling to find connections so she hosted a local event and 165 people showed up. This was her testing out an idea to see if it had any traction and is a great way to test something in your business too. Once she knew that there was a need for connection, she began hosting more events both in person and virtually. This continued to grow her business and she eventually created a membership that encompassed all the offerings she had been hosting as it felt like the next logical step to support her audience. "I wanted to created something that encompassed all of the offerings, workshops and events so I created a membership that lasted for 2 years." - Emily Aborn **This was also a podcast episode (episode #185. Use the player below if you'd prefer to listen to this message. Noticing A Shift In What You Want To Offer As an entrepreneur you're constantly asking yourself "what do they need" and then adapting to what your clients/students/customers need and want. While this is a great approach to always be connected to your customer, it's not always great for your sanity. "I noticed myself contorting and molding myself into what I thought everybody wanted." - Emily Aborn For Emily, she realized that while the need was still there for women entrepreneurs to have a place to connect, that the way in which she was answering that need didn't feel right for her. So she took time to reflect on the membership and how she wanted to move forward with making changes. "I went back to the roots of creating a free online community for women entrepreneurs who want a place to connect. I do still create paid offerings but the group can now pay for what they want." - Emily Aborn Sharing The 'Shut Down' Message With Paying Clients Once you've decided you want to shut an offering down, the idea of sharing the message with your clients can feel overwhelming. Emily shared that while this will look different for everyone, how she approached this was being very open and transparent once she made the decision and figured out the details. "I had to get really clear on if I would be letting anyone down and if I was, what would I do to navigate that." - Emily Aborn "It's sometimes complicated to communicate with everyone because not everyone reads email or checks Facebook. I announced it through email and just tried to make it very clear on Facebook." - Emily Aborn Navigating The Financial Implications Of Shutting Down An Offering The other piece of shutting down an offering is dealing with the finances. This is especially the case when it comes to shutting down a membership or paid program that have ongoing payments. Emily shared that she planned for this ahead of time by looking ahead regarding payments. Here are some steps you can take to do this: Look at all payment plans to see when the fulfillment will be made (ex: annual payments, quarterly payments, monthly payments) Identify when most people will have the fulfillment completed Choose a shut off date that works with the majority of your payment plans/commitments Decide if you will offer a pro-rated refund or other options to anyone who has payment plans that extend past the shut off date Communicate options with clarity so your clients know how to move forward "Your question about logistically, how did I do this, is so good because that's what held me back. I knew for a year prior that's what I wanted to do but then renewals hit. I had to made the decision in July 2022 to prepare for December 2022." - Emily Aborn Shifting To New Offerings Take what you liked about the previous offerings and allow it to inform new offerings. Emily's example is that the small peer groups within her membership is something she and her clients enjoyed. This became a paid offering once the membership was shut down. "Allow yourself to be curious." - Amanda McKinney Emily also shared a great article with me about finding your curiosity type. >> Here's a link to the article How Your Definition Of Success Plays Into Your Offerings As you're moving through entrepreneurship, it's important to stay grounded in what your definition of success is because if you aren't sure, you will end up chasing someone else's definition. Just like Emily mentioned that she felt like she molded herself into what others wanted (or she thought they wanted), you can end up doing this too. "I don't want to just be successful in my business, I want to feel success in my life." - Emily Aborn "I don't want numbers attached to my success. I want it to be a feeling that I carry around with me all the time." - Emily Aborn "This was a wake up call in that moment. I couldn't separate my goal from what success felt like for me." - Amanda McKinney *I share more on this story of how I noticed that I couldn't separate goals from success in my book Why Not You? An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success. Why Not You? Ac Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success Different Seasons = Different Definition of Success When you decide to define success on your terms it can often feel overwhelming to choose a definition because it can feel like it's forever. This isn't the case because just as we will navigate different seasons of weather, we will navigate different seasons of our life as well and our definition of success will change too. It's important to know what season of life you're in currently and allow that season to help you define your true definition of success. "The unpredictability of entrepreneurship really threw me off when I first started my business." - Amanda McKinney "Give yourself enough time and space in your business so life can happen." - Emily Aborn If you over-schedule yourself as an entrepreneur this is when things can start to feel overwhelming. Giving yourself space on your calendar where others can book with you, etc. is a great option so that if life does happen (which it will), you can navigate it with a little more ease. "We can make choices that seem small but have big impacts." - Amanda McKinney Emily encouraged us to ask yourself "what do I have the capacity for?". Not in the sense of packing your schedule to the brim but rather asking yourself what do you have the capacity for so that you can show up as your best. Take Away Message / Action If you're facing a decision and aren't sure what to do next, ask yourself "What is the next right step?" This question will help you take the next step that's best for you and move you forward. Until next time give yourself permission to take the best next step for you and grace along the way. I'll talk to you soon. About Emily: Emily Aborn is a Content Writer, Podcast Host of the She Built This podcast, and Founder of She Built This, a no-cost community for women entrepreneurs. She’s been an entrepreneur since 2014 and has experience in running brick-and-mortar as well as online businesses. She’s written for over 90 different industries and loves helping those with a big mission increase their visibility, connect with their clients, and bring their dreams to life. For fun, Emily enjoys nerdy word games and puzzles, reading, listening to podcasts like they're going outta' style, and traipsing about in the woods of New Hampshire with her husband, Jason, and their dog, Clyde. Emily's Resources: Website: www.emilyaborn.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/shebuiltthis LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/emilyaborn Instagram: www.instagram.com/emilyaborn "I went back to the roots of creating a free online community for women entrepreneurs who want a place to connect. I do still create paid offerings but the group can now pay for what they want." - Emily Aborn Your Guide To Accidental Entrepreneurship You're building a business with intention and want it to support the life you dream of so it's time to do this on your terms. You can do this by declaring your Y.O.U. Promise which is what I walk you through in my book: Why Not You? An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success. Order your copy using the button below.

I don't want you to get to the point where you feel you have to "burn it down" when it comes to your business. In the last few years there have been several "big" online entrepreneur names that have shut down their businesses completely. I respect them for doing what they needed and wanted to do but my goal is help you build a business of your dreams and not your nightmares so let's get ahead of this for you. See one of these "I'm out" messages: Vanessa Lau shared this message when she decided to stop everything in her business and take a sabbatical. Instead of hitting the point where you shut it all down, you can take intentional action now to prevent this drastic shift. It's all about getting clear on how you define success and what enough is for you. These things help you stay grounded in what you want so you don't get swept up in the online chase for more. What Leads To The Feeling Of "I Need To Burn It All Down" Let's take a virtual trip together for a minute... Fast forward 5 years and imagine that you've achieved every goal you set and have exceeded your expectations for your business. You have more than enough money so you're feeling secure with finances. Everything is "successful" on paper. But while your bank account looks incredible, you realize that the things that really matter to you have been put off to the side so that you could reach those goals. Your relationships are struggling, your health is struggling and you're exhausted. What started as a passion has now become dread and drains you completely. Back to today... This is not what you're looking for in life but it's easy to get there. This reality comes from trying to do it "all" based on what others are doing and always striving for "more". You're not alone in this and there is nothing wrong with you for falling into this trap. When we step into the world of entrepreneurship it's easy to consume all the information so you can learn fast and make progress. This is especially the case for Accidental Entrepreneurs because you don't feel qualified to run a successful business so you do everything you can to learn from others. Learning from others is fantastic and I believe you can be inspired by others in great ways as long as you're grounded in how YOU define success. So-and-so is chasing $100K months but you really only want $100K years So-and-so loves using sales calls but you dread them like the plague So-and-so wants luxury vacations 6 times a year but you'd rather renovate your home Success is defined different by everyone but somehow as entrepreneur's we slip into a general bucket based on what's trending. There's always going to be a new thing trending whether it's a marketing tactic or product on the market. "You have to have the new stanley cup but your cabinet is filled with yeti's from a few years ago and before that it was tervis tumblers." - Amanda McKinney Just like there will be another cup company in a few years, there will always be a new business target that people are striving for. The treadmill is never-ended UNLESS you stop it by defining success on your terms. The more 'success' you see in your business, the more opportunities you'll be presented with so it's important to know what you will say yes or no to BEFORE those opportunities come up. This will help you set yourself up for long term success versus hitting the point of "I need to burn it all down". **This was also a podcast episode (episode #184. Use the player below if you'd prefer to listen to this message. How You Can Avoid Arriving At Burning Your Business Down Here are my suggestions on how we can all avoid arriving at this place of "burn it down, I'm out". There are certainly other things you can do to help avoid this but these are the first steps to ensure you don't hit this point. Define Success On Your Terms Knowing this helps you deal with comparison and chasing shiny objects that you see others doing. Last year I went on a journey that changed a lot about my life and business when I was asked the question "what does success FEEL like for you?". My answer was my goal "I want to hit 6-figures this year". I was defining success with a goal but what I learned last year is that goals and success are different. Success is the destination. Goals are milestones to reach your destination. So I want you to remove your goal completely from your mind right now and ask yourself what does success FEEL like for you? And this doesn't have to be a destination that takes 5 years to get to, you can take this a step further and ask "how can I feel successful each day?". For me, in this season of my life I've defined success as being present in my life, content with what I have and also challenging myself in new ways. If I'm present with whoever I'm with, that's success. If I'm content with what I have, that's success. If I'm challenging myself, that's success. Do I reach this every day? Heck no! I strive for it daily and the more I do it, the happier I am in life and business. ACTION: Ask yourself what does success feel like for you? Know What Enough Is For You Knowing this helps you from falling into the "I need more" trap. You can strive for more as a goal but knowing what enough is helps you stay grounded. I realize that money allows us to live life so I know it's part of the success equation as well. While I don't have it as part of my current definition, I do fully understand what enough is financially so that my needs are met in business and personally. Knowing what "enough" is for you is critical because it helps you not constantly strive for "more". This relates to finances as well as your work/life integration. Financially - understand what your monthly expenses are in business and if you're contributing to your household finances, what you need to be bringing in. Find the exact number. Work/Life Integration - understand what enough working hours are for you so work doesn't take over your life. ACTION: Identify what "enough" is for you financially and working hours. Establish Checkpoints So You Can Check In Taking this action helps you stay on track with what you really want in life and business so that you don't get 5 years down the road and think "how did I get here". I highly recommend setting 90 Day Goals and doing Quarterly Checkins with yourself. By doing this you're able to ask yourself a set a questions to ensure you don'g get too far down the road of chasing other people's definition of success. ACTION: Set a 90 day goal based on your definition of success and then put a date on your calendar to do a quarterly checkin 90 days later. Treat it like a doctors appoint that you will not miss. Ask yourself these questions: What does success feel like for me? Do I feel successful currently? If yes, celebrate. If not, identify why. Evaluate actions you're taking in business, identify if you want to continue doing those things or change things to better fit your life. All of these things are part of what I call your Y.O.U. Promise, which is a framework that I came up with when I was writing my book Why Not You? An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success. In this book I walk through the nitty-gritty of defining success then specific tools that will help you achieve success on your terms. Why Not You? Ac Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success Take Away Message / Action Take time to define success on your terms and then identify what enough is for you financially and from a work life integration standpoint too. By doing these two things you're in a better place to not hit the point of "burn it all down, I'm out". Then be sure to put quarterly checkins on your calendar every 90 days so you don't get too far down the road before you recognize you're on a path you're not enjoying. Until next time give yourself permission to change things before you reach "burn it down" status and grace along the way. I'll talk to you soon. "Instead of hitting the point where you shut it all down, you can take intentional action now to prevent this drastic shift. It's all about getting clear on how you define success and what enough is for you." - Amanda McKinney Your Guide To Accidental Entrepreneurship You're building a business with intention and want it to support the life you dream of so it's time to do this on your terms. You can do this by declaring your Y.O.U. Promise which is what I walk you through in my book: Why Not You? An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success. Order your copy using the button below.

Entrepreneurship is a broad term that can feel overwhelming to many new business owners. That's why I've decided to use the term "Accidental Entrepreneur". Let's talk about what this means and how it's incredible that you are one! Who Is An Accidental Entrepreneur My definition: Anyone who stumbles into starting a business by following a passion or hobby. They are generally unsure that they qualify to run a business because they didn’t go to business school and tend to want more education and training so they can “earn” the title. ‘Accidental’ describes how they arrived at entrepreneurship but not how they will navigate through it because they want to intentionally create a business that integrates into their life instead of taking over it. Many Accidental Entrepreneur's even hesitate calling themselves an Entrepreneur at first because that title doesn't feel right. However, once you identify as someone who is starting a business, you can then learn more about this role and then move forward with intention. Accidental doesn't mean you aren't intentional. The word 'Accidental' describes how you've entered into entrepreneurship, not how you navigate entrepreneurship overall. **This was also a podcast episode (episode #183. Use the player below if you'd prefer to listen to this message. What Does Accidental Entrepreneurship Look Like Accidental Entrepreneurship looks like this: You have a passion or hobby that lights you up You then have the idea to take your passion/hobby and turn it into a career You likely hesitate because you don't feel "ready" but you are excited about possibilities You find the courage to take steps forward with your idea You uncover your confidence along the way You are intentional with each step as you move forward You create a business that integrates into your life instead of taking over it Doesn't that sound wonderful?! It possible for you and I want to help you navigate the bumpy road of entrepreneurship so you don't feel alone. You're definitely not alone as I've done this and I've helped many others as well. It's 100% possible to create the business of your dreams and not lose your sanity along the way. Excerpt From My Book: Why Not You? An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success If you and I were chatting over coffee (or tea, or wine, pick your fav, I like them all) and I asked you what title you would give yourself, you might not choose “entrepreneur”. You might consider yourself a hobbyist turned “I think I could make money with this”, or a stay-at-home parent looking to create cash flow for the family or maybe everyone keeps telling you “you could charge for this”. Regardless, you’re in the right place and I’m talking to you in this book. While you ultimately get to pick the title that resonates with you (CEO, Founder, Badass Boss, etc), for the purposes of this book, I’ve got a new title for you...Accidental Entrepreneur. Here’s my definition: anyone who stumbles into starting a business by following a passion or hobby. They are generally unsure that they qualify to run a business because they didn’t go to business school and tend to want more education and training so they can “earn” the title. ‘Accidental’ describes how they arrived at entrepreneurship but not how they will navigate through it because they want to intentionally create a business that integrates into their life instead of taking over it. Hey there Accidental Entrepreneur! (Because I know you just said “Yep! That’s me!”) The cool part about adding the word accidental is that it automatically takes some of the pressure off. When something is accidental it means that something occurred unexpectedly and when this happens everyone knows it’s okay to be a little thrown off for a bit so you get a grace period. You trip by accident....you have time to get up and get your footing You take a wrong turn by accident...you pause to let the GPS recalibrate. So now that you have this new title of Accidental Entrepreneur you can give yourself some grace and time to find your footing, and that’s exactly what we’re going to explore in this book. Why Not You? Ac Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success Take Away Message / Action Embrace the term Accidental Entrepreneur as you move forward in your business. When you do this you'll give yourself more grace as you take steps forward intentionally. Remember that entrepreneurship is never a straight line of progress so whatever your path looks like currently is wonderful. Give yourself permission to be an Accidental Entrepreneur and grace along the way. I'll talk to you soon. "An Accidental Entrepreneur is someone who is looking to build a business that integrates into their life instead of allowing it to take over." - Amanda McKinney Your Guide To Accidental Entrepreneurship You're building a business with intention and want it to support the life you dream of so it's time to do this on your terms. You can do this by declaring your Y.O.U. Promise which is what I walk you through in my book: Why Not You? An Accidental Entrepreneur's Guide To Success. Order your copy using the button below.