Celebrating my 5-year Bizaversary!

This month I am celebrating FIVE years of running my own business as a career coach. My husband and I have been debating what this landmark is called, and I’ve landed on the term Bizaversary!!

It sure has been a wild adventure and I’ll be honest I have definitely made mistakes, lost money and suffered a bit of heartbreak, but I wouldn’t change a thing.

If you had met me 7 years ago, I would have told you NO WAY would I ever start my own business. The thought of doing business strategy, marketing, accounting – just UGH! But my husband never gave up on encouraging me, and when he was laid off with a generous package I could no longer make the excuses, so we dived in and I am so proud of what I’ve achieved.

Now that I’m at the five-year mark, I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve learned over this period. And I’ve learned a lot. As a career coach my job is all about sharing knowledge and helping others to achieve their dreams. So if you’re thinking about starting your own business, or perhaps a side  hustle of some kind, here are the five most valuable things I’ve learned from five years in business.

Evolve or die

When I started, I tried to help everyone in their career journey. I was so darn keen I hadn’t really worked out my target market. But like the old saying goes “you can’t be everything to everyone”. I realised pretty quickly that I needed to hone my efforts. I did my research and determined that the target market for me was women aged 30-45. I found that many women around that age are motivated career-wise, and looking for more out of their work-life balance. They’ve also been in the workforce long enough to have built some solid experience and may be looking for a change or better alignment between their strengths and their job. Some women who are returning to work after raising children are seeking a confidence boost. These are the type of people who I love to help. So when I’m promoting my business I think about these women, I think about what they need, the challenges they face, and how I can help them. Someone gave me feedback at one stage that  the pink on my website is a turn-off for men. Sure, it may well be, and I’m okay with that as they are  not my target market. [Side note: many men seek out my services after a female partner or friend  refers them to me, but I digress.]

Discounts dilute your brand

This tip is also called “Get over your imposter syndrome”. It’s easy when you’re starting out to think that offering discounts will attract clients. I used to raffle off coaching packages, but I found that when I did that people didn’t always claim them or value them. Offering discounts was really a reflection of my own self-doubt. I had to face my imposter syndrome and back myself – my years of experience, my skills, and what I had to offer my clients. I soon learned that a better strategy was to offer a one-hour free webinar. This valued my time and allowed me to share my knowledge and connect with many potential new clients. It was a win-win for myself and attendees whether there was 5 or 20. Another thing I learned that boosted my brand and made it so easy for clients to say “yes” to my services, was to offer packages.

Learn to assert your boundaries

My time is valuable, and so is my client’s. I originally started out by sending a ‘contract’ of sorts to my clients, but it turned out they usually didn’t read it, including the part about no-shows. After a while I subscribed to Calendly and found it to be an effective tool to help me manage my time, and the annual fee is so worth it. It sends out meeting invites, allows people to cancel or reschedule, and sends out meeting reminders. I also learned to reschedule meetings when clients need more time to complete tasks before our meeting. This is more respectful of their time and mine.

Stick with what you’re good at, outsource what you’re not

When I started out I was not fussy about resume formats – it was all about the content. But I soon learned that in the resume game, formatting matters A LOT. It was obvious that clients who used my resume format were getting a lot more call backs and interviews. The problem for me was that I hated formatting resumes. I knew what content was needed and what they needed to look like to be successful… I just loathed the typing and formatting part. So I found a lovely Virtual Assistant by the name of Amber who converts my clients’ resumes into my IMPower resume template, leaving me to do the final editing with my client. This makes me so happy. I also have found success in  outsourcing my marketing, and now I’m really proud of my website and all the free resources  available there and the valuable content I deliver on my socials. It has been a blessing to leave  things to the experts and focus on what I’m good at.

Feel the fear and do it anyway

I know, it’s the name of a book. But it’s true! Part of having a business means putting yourself “out there”. This means being on camera for video calls and webinars, having photos of myself taken for my website and marketing materials, and even creating videos of myself for my socials. This is outside my comfort zone and I still struggle with it to this day. When I create videos or blog content it really comes from my heart, and I fear being judged. I think this is something a lot of people struggle with. But if you want to promote your business and connect with customers you need to let them get to know you. They need to hear your voice, see your image and hear your stories. This has definitely gotten easier over time, but it’s still a work in progress. And that’s okay. I focus on the quality of the messages and content I publish and the value I bring to my clients and audience.