The ‘Good’ Business Advice That I Don’t Listen To

I’ve always been very devoted to the path of doing business my own way, of showing up always from a place of alignment with my values and opting out of industry norms that don’t feel true for me.

Has this meant I’ve grown slower than others who have been doing this a similar amount of time to me? Probably - though I don’t use a lot of energy comparing myself in that way.

But the deepest truth I know in my business is that I don’t want any of the success that comes with sacrificing my values in the process to get there.

I’ve always been very devoted to the path of doing business my own way, of showing up always from a place of alignment with my values and opting out of industry norms that don’t feel true for me.

Has this meant I’ve grown slower than others who have been doing this a similar amount of time to me? Probably - though I don’t use a lot of energy comparing myself in that way.

But the deepest truth I know in my business is that I don’t want any of the success that comes with sacrificing my values in the process to get there.

I want my business to feel human, easeful, and rooted in purpose and joy instead of a blinkered obsession with growth for growth's sake.

And I’ve seen people make beautiful things happen in their business from this place of deep integrity too, so I know it’s possible.

And I know that it’s possible from my own journey too, after eight years now of being consistently booked out and able to make a steady income from my business that enables me to be the breadwinner for our family while working at a slow and gentle pace alongside the realities of my chronic illness too.

We all have our own inner compass in our business with what does and doesn’t feel in alignment with our values and I think it’s important to note that this is a grey area: it’s up to each of us to define this for ourselves in both our own behaviour and the behaviour of the people we’re drawn to for guidance and inspiration too.

So these next five pointers I’m going to talk through aren’t meant to be a judgement on you if they are something that feels in alignment for you in your business - i just want to share them in case they’re the permission slip and encouragement you need if they don’t feel right to you but you worry that they’re essential to thrive in your work.

First is always be selling success.

This is advice you’ll often come across in the coaching industry, to always be selling success, to be sharing a version of your life that seems desirable and attracts clients that want a life like that too. You’re encouraged to not share the messy parts, to always be sharing an aspirational image of your life.

And I get it, I follow people who do this and I can see how it works as a business technique but the messy human parts are the parts I’m most interested in and encouraged by and it feels manipulative to me to sell an unrealistic version of success, nor do I want to attract clients and customers who expect me to be always playing that manipulated role too.

I want to show up, give my clients and customers 100%, while also honouring the fact that I’m a human being alongside it too. I can’t show up if I have to play a role or a part and I trust that my experience and word of mouth and the ways I give value for free is enough to make working with me an easy yes for the people I’m the right fit for, all with my own messy humanity along for the ride too.

Next up is selling to people’s pain points.

This is pretty standard marketing advice that you’ve probably come across, to identify what people’s pain points are and target them through our sales copy and I get it from a logical point of view that this is effective marketing but ethically it does not align with my values at all.

I like to focus on my clients hopes, dreams, and goals instead, on what I believe is possible for them, all while not selling something that makes promises it’s not possible to keep either.

I really believe in treating our potential clients and customers with respect through our marketing and recognising their inherent wholeness instead of trying to take advantage of their struggles. I see my offerings as an invitation to dive deeper together and have support in their journey but I in no way believe that my audience aren’t capable of beautiful things without working together.

And leaving these icky marketing tactics at the door is also how I’m able to feel really confident and steady when showing up and selling in my business because to me it’s less like selling and more just making an invitation to work together.

Third on this list is always be upselling.

Now this isn’t terrible business advice, it makes sense to build a value ladder type business model where there’s always another level for a client and customer to go. What I mean here is that I don’t see my current clients and customers as people here for me to sell more to - I’m all in during the work together and if they want to dive deeper together again I’ll be all in with them again but I don’t want to always be chasing another sale and always trying to manipulate it happening too.

I’m also taking this even further with my newest offering, Your Simple & Spacious Business, as with this offer I have very intentionally priced it as a lifetime offer, so that means someone pays for a year and then continues to get access to this program for as long as I may run it after that. And that might sound kind of crazy as a business owner to stop someone's ability to pay me but I really love the lifetime model it feels like a beautiful way to offer value and to make a higher priced offering an easy yes for someone too and I love how once they’re inside and finished their payment plan they know that they’ll never have to pay a single penny ever again.

It feels so good to be offering this type of offer - and yes that means I’m going to have to really intentionally focus on attracting new potential customers to this program over the years - but that feels really aligned for me for the lifetime access they get once they’ve joined.

All of this is to say - you don’t have to always be chasing the next sale from your current clients and customers. You can have a really intentional value ladder built out - that’s super smart to do in our business - but you can also give your clients and customers breathing room to figure out what’s best for them instead of feeling like you should always be chasing the next sale from them.

Fourth is the business advice to chase more, more, more.

You will come across a lot online that’s always encouraging you to reach for the next goal and go to the next level and honestly it sounds kind of exhausting to me. I’ve found so much freedom in my business by defining what enough means to me and then shaping my business model around facilitating that enough in a really simple and spacious way.

And that doesn’t mean we can’t ever expand what enough means to us, I’ve been earning the same enough number for years now in a really spacious way and this year I’m actually increasing that enough number without sacrificing the spaciousness I’ve built into my business because I have the capacity to do so and because I now actually have a new enough number for this season of my life.

I don’t want to ever chase more just for the sake of more, I want to get so clear on my desires and goals are and be all in on that and then really enjoy having built it instead of constantly feeling that it’s never enough.

And finally is the advice to be customer led.

I have a mantra I often share with my clients which is that there’s a difference between being customer focused and being customer led.

Some business advice will tell us to find out what our customer wants and give them exactly that but I’ve found this is limited as there’s nothing more powerful than a business owner with a really clear, focused, and singular vision for their work.

And that’s the difference between being customer focused and customer led - with customer focused we’re clear on the needs and desires of our customer and what we offer them but we’re steering the ship with intention, whereas customer led we’re just chasing after whatever the customer may want with no real vision to our work.

Customer focused is how we do our most impactful work and run our business in a way that works best for us too, and how we give ourselves permission to say to opportunities and ideas that yes could make us money but isn’t aligned with how we want to be doing our work.

I could dive even deeper into all five of these today but I wanted to just give you a little overview to hopefully offer up some permission slips in case you need to opt-out of any of this advice too.

My biggest encouragement? Don’t be afraid to do business your way, to tune into your own inner compass, to opt-out of noise and advice that feels deeply out of alignment for you.

Soak up the wisdom and ideas out there that can serve you but never forget that no one knows what your business needs to thrive better than you do.

take the quiz

Jen Carrington20 April 2022