Do you have a big vision for your business? Perhaps you feel a strong calling or sense of purpose, but you just don’t know where to start. In the early days of business it can be easy to allow procrastination, overwhelm, perfectionism and all manner of excuses and attachments to the future to stop you from showing up and just getting started with what you have now.
Many clients come to me with huge visions for their life and a burning desire to positively impact life on Earth. They often hold very high standards and expectations of themselves, which makes it hard to get started and put themselves out there - especially if they have had their authentic gifts and voice shut down in the past.
Whether starting small is the goal or there’s a larger mission burning inside your heart, you don’t have to wait until you are perfect, nor do you need to have all your ducks in line before you put yourself out there and begin serving.
One of the first milestones in any entrepreneurial journey is to create an initial offer and get it out there for the world to see and purchase.
An offer is a container for service.
It’s a way of packaging your gifts and expertise to allow people to work with you and move through a transformational process that creates real change in their life. In short, it’s an opportunity for people to be served by you. An offer could take the form of a program, a retreat, a workshop, 1:1 coaching, or any of a wide variety of other formats.
Without an offer in place it’s very difficult for people to begin working with - and paying - you, so getting one out there is essential to making an impact and getting your business going.
Here are three low-risk ways to get started now and begin living your passion, fulfilling your mission, and making a positive difference in the lives of others sooner rather than later.
1. Start Simple
If you want to experience success early on in your business, I recommend looking for and taking the most achievable, doable, and immediate steps or goals that are right in front of you and easily accessible now. If you set realistic expectations for yourself, especially in the early stages of your business, you’ll find getting started much less overwhelming. Don’t worry about the big things that will take months to get out the door; start simple and start now.
When we have big visions for ourselves and our businesses, it’s tempting to want to go for the biggest dream or outcome straight away. Unfortunately, this is generally not the most satisfying nor achievable route to take. It’s usually better to set yourself up for some quick wins right out of the gate, rather than pinning the success and fulfillment of your hopes and dreams on some distant point in the future. Utilize the tools, teachings, and resources you have readily available and feel confident with sharing already. This will enable you to build momentum and gather feedback as you go while allowing you to develop your body of work in direct response to the needs of your clients and community.
Ask yourself:
“What is available to me now, and what can I do with it?”
“What is the most manageable and believable version of this offer I can deliver at this moment?”
“What kind of packaging and delivery approach feels achievable to me?”
As entrepreneurs who genuinely care and desire to deliver a quality service to our clients, we often get so focused on what’s missing, not good enough, or how we would ideally like things to be, that we forget to look at what’s already there and working. It’s the skills and resources that are in front of you right now, that will ultimately get you where you want to be.
Whilst it’s important to have long-term goals, focusing too much on the bigger picture and where you would ideally like to be can detract from your ability to work with what you already have. Beginning with what you know and feel comfortable with will help you feel fully resourced and abundant in your work, giving you the confidence to build from a solid foundation before moving on to bigger and better things.
What does this look like in practice?
It’s ok to start with a bite-sized section or element of a larger program or have a smaller group intake than you would ultimately desire, knowing that it’s all building important foundations and experience for the future. For example, if your goal is to run a full weekend retreat, you could start with a two-hour workshop. Likewise, a 12-month program could begin as a smaller 3-part series that covers just one element of a larger process.
Focusing on small wins like this will build your confidence, feelings of success, and career fulfillment much quicker than holding out for the big dream will. Plus, it gives you the chance to practice working with clients while empowering you with the direct feedback, social proof, and testimonials you need to confidently share your results and wins with the world. It will also help you to refine your systems and processes, so you can be more efficient and better equipped when it comes to taking on the big stuff.
2. Start Messy!
This is the best advice for any entrepreneur just starting out.
The truth is, our services and offerings are not perfected in isolation. They are co-created with our clients, potential clients, and community. If something about your offer isn’t landing or resonating for them, you first need to know what that is before you can tweak it into alignment (or pivot completely - that’s ok too).
One of the most powerful things you can do in business is just give something a go and see what happens. Whether it flies or it’s a complete flop, you will still learn something valuable and gather important data that will inform your next steps. Keeping your gifts and ideas inside you forever robs you of the chance to see if and how they actually work. It’s only by putting your offer out there for review that you get the opportunity to receive the direct feedback you need in order to find out what is or isn’t working, how it’s landing for your potential audience, and how you may need to tweak or adjust it.
The feedback you receive is valuable information you will never obtain if you never try.
Back in February of this year, I launched an offer I wasn’t entirely clear about, but I took a leap of faith and did it anyway. Less than an hour after launch, I received an email from a past client reaching out for support. We exchanged a series of emails, and although she wasn’t a match for that particular offer, it was through our conversation that I learned what I needed to come into crystal clear clarity about my offer and what it was about. I didn’t even need to relaunch it; just that energetic shift in my personal understanding was enough to sell it out within a few days. I even used the story I just shared with you as part of my promotion.
This was such a powerful lesson in the co-creative power of the Universe and the importance of putting our desires and intentions out there in order for the next steps to appear. I learned that everything is a draft copy for the next thing and nothing is ever truly “done”.
It’s a mistake to sit around waiting for the day that you and everything around you line up in perfect order before you act. That magical day is an illusion that will never come around; everyone in business makes many mistakes and that’s ok. In fact, it’s really good! Those mistakes are how you learn; if you wait for the perfect moment to release your value to the world, you will never take action.
Beta offers, program snippets, and draft or shortened versions of what you have to come down the track are the perfect way to gain confidence, practice working with clients, and refine your process with feedback so you can help your clients get even better results in the future.
3. Follow Your Joy
It may sound obvious, but do not underestimate the power of joy to keep you motivated and moving forward. Your joy is one of the most potent and powerful tools for overcoming the obstacles that inevitably arise on the entrepreneurial journey and manifesting your desires
When you’re connected to your joy and feel a passion for what you’re doing, common fears such as what other people might think, the potential for failure, or how others will receive your work just seem to fade into the background. They hold much less power over you.
Joy will carry you further than anything else. It will push your fears, doubts, and procrastination or perfectionist tendencies aside, and align you with the trajectory that feels most right and light for you. It will make creating and delivering your services feel effortless. It’s potent medicine for creating the results you most desire.
When you follow your joy, the magnetism you create puts you in the frequency and state of being that naturally attracts the people, places, support, resources, and circumstances that will help you get those first few offers off the ground, successfully.
One important way of incorporating your joy is in the way you design the structure and content of your offers. If the elements of an offer don’t feel light and right to you, or if any part of them feels like a drain on your energy, you won’t be able to truly show up for your clients or back yourself for the sale because your energy is not 100% on board. Clients and potential clients will feel that. It’s an energy that will repel rather than attract, and your offer will have flopped before you even put it out there.
Here are some simple questions I often ask myself to test the elements of an offer for alignment:
Am I excited about the content or topic that I am sharing?
What about the people I am expecting to join me? Does my ideal client profile light me up and excite me?
Are there any elements of my offer that feel like a drain on my energy, or that I’m not excited about delivering? If so, how can I tweak - or delete - them?
Do the timeframes and deliverables feel realistic with my current schedule, or does it feel like a burden?
What’s my reason for offering this service? Do I feel connected to it in an inspired, heart-centered way?
Going through these questions, as I do, will help you to tweak the delivery format, timeline, content, or target market until your offer feels light and joyful to you. It’s much easier to show up, promote, and deliver on something you feel excited, enthusiastic, and whole-hearted about, and you will be able to see it through to fruition.
Anytime you feel yourself going off track, letting doubt creep in, or losing the passion to keep going, connect back to your original intent and joy for creating your offer. It will give you a burst of fresh momentum, perspective, and energy.
If you are a mission-driven Soul with a big dream and vision in your heart, make it easy on yourself to begin building and start making an impact now. Use these three sure-fire tips to break it down and overcome the fear and uncertainty that can often accompany getting started. It’s these smaller steps and offerings that will help you build confidence, and establish a solid foundation for your future success.
If you would like help developing a unique and transformational offer that co-creates powerful change n the lives of others, apply for your free 1:1 Dream Biz Clarity Call now. In this call, we will get clear on where you are, where you want to be, and the next best steps to get you there.
A limited number of calls are available each week.