I’m going to be doing a series of Q&A blogs so if you have any questions for me please email me at julia@julia-harris.com. I will answer everyone and for those that will be useful to others I shall turn into a blog post.
I work with lots of women who have left the corporate world and have a good idea of what they want to do instead and they want to know how to stop worrying about money when setting up a business
When I initially started my business I had a decent sized “cushion” so I wasn’t worried about money and I was confident my business would take off quickly and easily… I was in for a shock!
I think in hindsight that cushion held me back a bit. For most people, certainly for me… setting up a business was outside of my comfort zone, I had no family role models and had never had any desire to be an entrepreneur I just loved coaching, I knew I was good at it and that I had something that people needed and knew I could never work for someone else again.
When the business wasn’t generating the income I expected a year later, despite having spent thousands on mentors and marketing courses I did start worrying about money and finally started doing things that I’d been putting off like webinars because I knew succesful coaches did webinars I wasnt ready “yet” The think is nobody is ready when they do their first webinar but they step outside of their comfort zone ans do it anyway, that is why they became successful.
It is also important to know your numbers so ask yourself:
• What is the minimum I need to earn from my business?
• how long can I survive if my business doesn’t generate the income I expect
• how many clients / customers do I need each month
• If you are a coach… how many free consultations (if you do them) do you think you need to have before you convert one to a paying customer and… how many people do you need to invite to have free consultations
If you know your numbers then you know when to look at alternative ways to generate income rather than being so stressed about money that you can’t think straight.
I personally now have 4 small businesses generating an income, partly because I am multi-passionate and would be bored if I only had one way to make income plus I don’t believe in “having all of my eggs in one basket” so I am focused when I’m working on a particular project but if I decide I want a change then I can, that’s the beauty of being self-employed in my opinion.
For example I’m also a representative of a network marketing company, it fits perfectly with coaching because I love helping people, whether that is recommending a health product to them or helping them start their own business. It’s not for everyone but I’m a bit of a rebel so when everyone told me network marketing was a scam I did my own research and decided I was going to prove them all wrong :) I did and I found a company full of motivated, positive, driven people just like me who weren’t at all salesy which had been my worry.
So in short my advice is:
- Its ok to worry a little
- Know your numbers
- Don’t see having a back up plan as a failure, the road to failure and the road to success is the same one just some people give up when things get tough and that “back up plan” may be something you love to do that adds to you and your coaching business.
If you have a question you would like me to answer email me at julia@julia-harris.com