When early-stage spiritual leaders, teachers, healers, and coaches first start out in business, they often try to do too much too fast. Whilst some schools of thought might appeal with the allure of making your first $10K right away or scaling to six figures within three months, for most, this is neither realistic nor sustainable.
To run a viable service-based business where you have the capacity to serve both your clients and the growth of your business long-term, you ideally need to start slow and steady. This is especially so in the early days of your business when you may still be putting all the pieces in place and coming into full alignment with your mission. Once there, you can think about expanding exponentially.
But first, be like the tortoise, not the hare.
Take it easy and give yourself time to acclimate to your new path. When building a new home, the foundation is always laid first. Then, the floors, walls and ceilings are added to create a stable home that stands the test of time. In business, it works the same way. Laying solid, well-thought-out foundations will allow your business to grow with ease and withstand any ups and downs you might face in the future.
It may not feel like a lot is happening in the beginning, but it will pay off in the long run. This is especially so if you, like many of my clients, have a fear of speaking your truth, standing in your power, or being fully seen for your brilliance. When this is the case you will need to give your nervous system extra time to adjust to ensure you don’t inadvertently sabotage yourself by becoming completely overwhelmed.
Here are four easy ways that you can apply the slow and steady methodology to grow your business from the beginning, and set yourself up with the sustainable foundations for long-term success.
1. Developing Your Offers
In the early stages when you are still developing your unique body of work, there’s often a practical process that you must walk through to truly tap into the needs of your clients and the depth of your thought leadership. You will want to make sure your process, program, or methodology is covering all the bases necessary to ensure your clients get their desired results and outcomes.
If you have a fear of speaking your truth or being seen on a larger scale, you may find that attempting to birth out a full body of work straight away will be too much for your nervous system to handle. It's often better to start small and work in stages. Breaking down your larger vision into achievable, less overwhelming sections allows you to clarify and anchor your approach, whilst testing its effectiveness at co-creating real change in the lives of your clients.
For example, if you desire to run a 12-month program but this feels impossible, unbelievable or currently out of reach, start by breaking it down into sub-sections taught in smaller six-month, three-month, or even six-week blocks that stand-alone as individual offers.
If you ultimately desire to run a weekend, week-long or international retreat, you could begin with a two-hour workshop on the same topic, giving you the opportunity to build confidence and experience in your area of passion and expertise.
Don't overlook the offers that are available to you right now just because you ultimately have a bigger vision in mind.
When I first started my business, I was trained as an Angelic Reiki Master Teacher. I had everything I needed to facilitate weekend workshops and they were very much in demand. However, I was so fixated on my larger vision that I never took advantage of this opportunity. Instead, I stopped teaching Angelic Reiki for over a year to focus on my own endeavors, before coming back around.
When I eventually went back to teaching Angelic Reiki, these workshops ended up serving as a powerful platform for building my network, sharing my message, and ultimately, funneling a number of clients back into my core business - which is all about helping lightworkers to hone their message and speak their truth so they can step up in service and leadership. I learned that small and steady ultimately opens up the gateway to larger possibilities.
Don't overlook the steps and opportunities that are available and right there in front of you now. They may well be the bridge that leads to your most desired outcome.
2. Pricing
Many early-stage entrepreneurs start out charging far too little. Once they realize there's no cap or limitation on what they can charge, they often swing back the other way only to charge huge amounts of money in the hopes of making up for everything they have missed out on previously. However, they have not necessarily come to an equal level of belief in their ability to earn this amount of money, or they use it as an attempt to prove their worth.
Unfortunately this only ends up perpetuating the existing inner belief that they are not worthy, no one wants their work, or they will only be worthy at a certain income level. The truth is the price tag of your offer is in no way linked to the value of who you are or what you have to give. Pricing is distinct from who you are as a person, and is instead related to the value you provide through your services.
Your price is something that can increase over time in alignment with your experience and level of expertise.
I often guide my Angelic Reiki students to start out with a price they feel comfortable and confident with, and make it available to a limited number of people as an introductory offer. I then suggest they review their price point once they have delivered the introductory sessions. They often feel much more confident by this point and are able to comfortably increase their prices by up to 50% or even 100%. The difference is that they now truly believe in the value of what they have to offer. Because of this, they're able to attract buyers at the new price point rather than starting out so high they cannot possibly believe anyone will pay it. Confidence in your pricing is vital.
Begin lower, steadily increasing your pricing, and always make sure you have boundaries in place. Set an agreement with yourself as to when you will review and increase your pricing.
3. Hiring Support
People often believe that hiring support in your business means committing to hiring a full-time or even part-time employee. This can make the possibility of help feel completely out of reach or just not realistic for early-stage entrepreneurs. However, you can hire small, you can hire early, and it does not have to break the bank. I have found great success and relief by hiring help for very simple and specific tasks that were time-consuming and draining to my energy, and it has not cost a lot.
It’s absolutely possible to hire help early on in your business.
When I hired my first social media assistant back in 2020, her job was to place my personal quotes into branded tiles. It cost me less than $2 USD per tile, but it saved me over 20 minutes each time, plus the stress and energy involved. I couldn't believe the feeling of relief and expansion such a small investment could create.
Now I have someone helping with my social media and assisting me with my monthly blog - yep, the very same one you're reading. It's a comparatively small investment for the amount of time, space, support, and growth that has opened up in return.
Don't put it off. Sit down and take an inventory of the recurring, repetitive tasks that drain your spirit. Choose one and commit to finding help. My bet is it won’t cost anywhere near what you think it will and the shift in your energy will be exponential. Whilst your greatest gift probably does not include the day-to-day running of a business, there are many out there whose gift it is. Give them the opportunity to help, so you can focus on serving your clients.
Talent websites such as upwork.com or fiverr.com, where you can find affordable experts to take care of simple tasks, are great places to start. Automated transcription services such as rev.com are an excellent way of recording social media posts, blogs, and emails, that are then turned into text - so you can take care of business whilst out for your morning walk, saving you time, energy, and double handling.
4. Marketing Strategy and Platform
There’s a lot of advice out there as to what the best marketing strategy or approach is. As a result, it is often easy for early-stage entrepreneurs to make the mistake of putting too many eggs into too many baskets. This can create stress, overwhelm and confusion around what is and isn’t working.
Every platform has its own algorithms and idiosyncrasies that must be learned. If you try to focus on too many at once, especially in the beginning, you’ll only end up wasting time trying to grasp the techy stuff, when you could be serving clients. You’re already learning a lot in the early stages of your business. You don’t need to overcomplicate it by trying to master every marketing method at once.
Pick one strategy or platform, and master it.
I recommend choosing just one marketing approach or platform to begin with, whilst continuing to fine-tune your message and offers in the background. Learn what you can about this method while growing and getting to know your community. If, after 3-4 months of consistent effort it’s not working, then it's time to think about adjusting. Be sure to give it a solid shot; if you don’t, you won’t really know if it has or hasn’t worked.
My bet is if you focus your energy on the one platform or strategy that feels most easeful and authentic to you and continually nurture and refine it, you'll get some good results. Once you feel solid with what you have, it’ll be so much easier to translate this into new avenues. The repurposing of content can come a little way down the track once you have a solid foundation and a tried and tested message in place.
The key message in all of this? Set yourself up for success by keeping it simple in the early stages of your business. It is so much more fruitful - and encouraging - to accumulate a series of small wins that build your confidence, rather than setting yourself up with unrealistic goals or spreading your energy in so many directions you no longer know what is (or isn't) working.
For the rare entrepreneur, speedy growth might work, but it can also lead to burnout, mistakes, and losing touch with the people you are here to serve. When you give yourself the time and permission you need to put the pieces in place, your business will be all the more likely to stand the test of time and allow you to do what you are truly meant to do; serve.
Need help?
Each week I have a limited number of free Dream Biz Clarity Calls available for spiritual leaders, teachers, healers, and coaches who are ready to share their message, clarify their offerings, and lay the solid foundation that will allow them to step up into leadership and speak their truth with confidence and precision.