The BS Business Advice Women Need To Ignore
"Your business should be your number one priority."
This was one of the pieces of business advice I read when I was starting out.
Of course, like anyone, I wanted my business to be wildly successful from the start. So, I did a bunch of research online to see if I could find the magic formula (as you do).
But, it soon became really clear that a lot of the stuff I was reading was complete and utter BS.
The truth is, there is some really business advice out there.
It's disguised as the official, professional reality, but often that terrible advice is based on traditional viewpoints that no longer apply, or that never applied to women who are trying to build a business alongside a whole heap of existing commitments.
Ideas like
"Your business has to be your #1 priority"
"You need to drop everything when your client needs you"
"You need to put in all the hours to make it work - evenings, weekends, whatever it takes"
"You need to be prepared to sacrifice everything to get the success you want"
Here’s the thing, your business does NOT need to be your number one priority. You can still make it a flaming success AND live your ideal lifestyle too. Keep reading to find out how.
Ditching The BS Business Advice
Somewhere along the line, a perception was created. That you need to sacrifice a lot in order to be successful. That you need to constantly hustle for your business and drop everything for your clients when they need you.
I call BS. My number one priority is not my business. It's my family and then myself as a close second.
Let’s be honest. The traditional view of sacrificing everything for your business stems from single males or married males who usually have a wife at home taking care of their family and household.
The same logic can’t possibly apply to women in business as we have to balance our businesses with family and household commitments. With the house, the kids and the business, it’s like three full time jobs rolled into one.
And the worse part is that it feels like we are still expected to EXCEL at all of them with no additional support! Which is like an impossible feat.
So we are set up by society to fail.
Then we feel like a failure when we’re not able to do everything as well as we want to. Yet, we also feel like a failure when we ask for help - whether in business or in our lives. The truth is, you CAN have it all - but you can’t do it alone.
Creating Your Ideal Business
It’s time to ditch the old way of thinking. Especially post-pandemic when there is much more awareness of the other priorities that we have in life. Our businesses should not be our number one priority, our family or ourselves should be.
Subscribing to this new mentality means you can have a successful business and balance in your life.
So, how do you do it?
Well, it just means you need to plan and prepare rather than simply trying to create success by working your ass off all day every day for stupid hours.
Regardless of your gender or identity, you CAN create a thriving, successful business and not burn out. And you can do it in a way that is financially rewarding for you.
So, let’s take a deeper look at how you can do it...
Taking Control
Left to its own devices, your business will take over your life - especially as you become more successful. So, you need to be intentional about what’s important to you and what lifestyle you want, then take actions to create that lifestyle and protect it.
Here are 3 things you can do right now to help you regain control:
Get really clear on the lifestyle that’s important to you Consider how you will spend your time, how you will feel, and how much time you will have for the things that are important to you.
Identify the problems Think about ONE area of life or business that’s not working for you right now (big or small)
Take steps to resolve the issues What’s ONE thing you can do today or this week to make the one area better? Remember you don’t have to be the entire solution. It’s okay to ask for help or to ask for what you WANT. Who might you need to speak to for things to be better? (It could be your partner, your family, friends, your peers or a professional) Remember, it’s not failing to ask for what you need to succeed or be happy and healthy. You don’t have to do it all on your own.
Protect Your Ideal Lifestyle
It can be so easy to slip back into old habits. So, ensure you are continually working towards your ideal lifestyle by repeating the above three-step process over and over.
Constantly look for the ONE thing you can do to improve your lifestyle right here and right now. But, at the same time, protect the changes you have already made. That way, you will always be making progress towards achieving a truly balanced lifestyle.
Making New Traditions
Ironically, the lazy version of business is to "just keep working harder and harder and harder". But, as a woman in business, that really isn't practical. You can have a successful business working the way you want with the flexibility to have the lifestyle you love. You just need a little bit of planning.
A big part of that plan is getting your pricing right.
That's because as women you often have a very limited amount of time to run your business - for women with children that's usually just school hours to get everything done, including the marketing, selling, admin and all the other stuff it takes to grow a business, not just the client work.
That's roughly 25 hours a week max, assuming you're prepared to work 5 days a week. And that's to do EVERYTHING.
You don't have to have kids to be affected by the Womanhood Penalty.
Regardless of children, women still bare the brunt of caring and organizing their loved ones and the household. All of which has to be balanced around running and growing a biz.
Therefore, because we don't have the luxury of "unlimited time", your pricing needs to be spot on to create a profitable business model - so you're earning enough during the time you CAN work, to cover all the time you can't.
I want to let you know it is 100% possible to have a profitable business by only working the hours you want to work - I've done it and my clients have done it too.
Tired of slaving away for not much reward?
Overwhelmed by having to do everything yourself with no support?
Want to create that flexible lifestyle you went into for in the first place?
Let's jump on a call and get it sorted.
Book in a Profit Discovery Session with me now and we'll chart the path for you to go forth and prosper!
It's free, and YOU are worth it.
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