I’ve had a lot of conversations with people in the throes of starting their heart led businesses from scratch recently; it seems that the tumultuous times we’ve been living through have given many people pause for thought on their purpose. In many cases, the old adage that necessity is the mother of invention is absolutely true. That’s why, instead of focusing this blog post on resources for established female business owners, I’m here today sharing what you need to know about starting a heart led business.
There is never going to be a “right time” to make the leap
If you are waiting for the perfect opportunity to present itself, this solopreneur thing is going to be an extra tough gig for you. Now is the time to “follow the white rabbit”, so to speak and take a tumble into Wonderland; see and pursue opportunities as they arise.
The truth is, nothing sheds more light on the illusion of safety/security than starting your own business. I can tell you, from hard earned personal experience, that the best laid plans often frankly go to shit when you start enacting them. I didn’t plan on leaving my job when I did and I didn’t have a concrete plan on what I would do to bring in the funds we needed; having your safe option removed is often the best thing for you if you have an inkling that you have a deeper purpose.
Waiting until you have all.the.qualifications under your belt will not serve you. As a marketer and a holistic therapist I can tell you that nobody has ever asked to see my qualifications; what people do want to see is your passion, your authenticity and your experience. You will gain confidence and wisdom by DOING; have a little trust in yourself, my dear.
People around you will not have a fucking clue what you are doing
And that’s ok. If you spend your days mostly surrounded by people who are still committed to the 9-5 they will mostly be coming from their own realm of experience. It’s important that you don’t seek validation or overly rely on advice from people with this perspective – as much as you might love and trust them and as much as their advice may come from a good place. Does this mean that the road less trodden is a lonely one? Sometimes, it can be, yes. What is essential is that you go find yourself a bunch of other heart-led business owners to have as a support network. Don’t believe the narrative that female business owners are all in competition – that couldn’t be further from the truth – in fact, I have an overwhelming feeling of gratitiude to the female business owners who took me under their wing when I first started out.
Money is not your enemy
Although, sometimes it WILL feel like it. Your money mindset and personal stories around money (some of which may be inherited from family members – that’s a fun one to unpick!) will have a laser beam shone on them when it comes to running your own heart-led business. What makes this so? Pricing ourselves as passion motivated people with a big mission to achieve can feel icky and can bring to the fore lots of questions about our sense of worth. Also, we go back to the people around us not understanding what we do piece; sometimes the people you love will remark that your price point is seems expensive or you might be asked for mates rates. There are 3 things I want you to remember about this:
- Just because you get to do something you love does not mean that you shouldn’t be paid well for it. This isn’t an either/or scenario; you can have joy in your work and be paid well. Sod the fallacy that you have to choose one or the other.
- You are entirely worthy of the life that this money would enable you to have – keep that dream life vision in mind when you feel a wobble coming on.
- You can do more good in the world by living up to your full potential and striving for what YOU deem to be success in your business.
Starting your own business can be a scary prospect; knowing how and when to start are often the biggest blockers. If you are thinking of doing it, then now is probably the best time. The more important question here really is, why do you want to start your own venture? Keep that answer in mind and use it to fuel your vision – it’ll help you get clarity on the how. If you have any questions on getting started as a heart-led business owner, please pop them in the comments below, I’d be happy to share what I’ve learned in starting 4 heart-led businesses over the course of the past 3 years.
