Creating a you-shaped business

After a lifetime of following other people's rules, doing things differently and running a business on your terms can feel exciting and freeing.

It can feel tricky too. We can find ourselves experimenting with other people's ideas of how business should be done and clutching at 5-step methods to get us to where we want to be.

But other people's formulas for running their business attract other people's opportunities and this can slowly chip away at our creativity and confidence. 

It's time to shape (or re-shape) your work into a happy, fulfilling and you-shaped business.

But how?

Lead with your brilliance

Come back to what you know you can do brilliantly, the projects you can say with your hand on your heart are you working at your best, which you know clients appreciate and will pay you well for and which deep down you believe set you apart.

This is the work that allows you to be in flow but it’s also where your brilliance shines through to your clients. It’s the work which uses your unique blend of strengths, skills and experience. And it’s the work your clients love, which will draw them back to you again and again and it’s work they’ll talk about to others too.

Build a business that sustains your energy …

When you’re running your own beautiful, thriving business, people are buying what you do and what they see you can do for them. It’s your vision, your ideas and your creativity. It’s the passion and energy you pour into your work. For that to pour out, you need to pour into it.

Find work and inspiration that nourishes and replenishes you. Surround yourself with the right kind of people, those who will spark curiosity, strengthen your reserves and provide an endless source of inspiration.

… and a business that is sustainable for you

There’s a reason you’ve chosen to run your own business and I’m guessing it’s not just about the work. For most, if not all of us, running our business must support us financially but it needs to be supportive of the time and energy available to you too.

However hard you try, it's unlikely you'll have the time and energy to do everything well so get intentional about your actions and focus where it matters most and where you’ll find the greatest fulfilment.

Get really clear on your purpose and deeply intentional about why you do the things you do in running your business.

Set prices that account not just for what it takes to create or do your work but the time you need to market, sell and run your business and everything around that.   

Create and communicate boundaries which keep your business feeling spacious and easeful, which give dazzling clarity to you and your clients about what you can and can’t do, and where you will and won’t be flexible.

Measures of success as unique as your business

If I asked you for your definition of success, what would you say? Success is as unique to your business as you are so it makes perfect sense that the way you measure your progress is unique too.

In our noisy online culture, it’s all too easy to get caught up in stories of six-figure success but is that what you’re working towards anyway? Wouldn’t it be better to find alternative measures, ones that are more aligned to your vision of your business and the life you want to live?

Maybe it’s having every Friday off, being fully present with the people you spend time with outside of work, having regular holidays, doing more of a particular type of work or with a certain kind of people. Or maybe it’s a feeling. A business which feels good and right for you is no less full of ambition than any other and it need not be any less successful. Just make sure it’s your definition of success.

A you-shaped business needs you-shaped marketing

Let's set aside what marketing is for a moment, all those strategies and tactics which could and maybe feel you should be doing, all the shouty advice and cookie-cutter approaches. Let's come back to why we're doing it in the first place.

Marketing doesn’t need to feel uncomfortable and icky. It doesn’t need to demand more of your attention than you're willing to give or detract from the work you love doing.

In its simplest sense, marketing is about connecting the dots between what you offer and what your clients want and need. It's the promise of who you are and how you will show up for someone. It’s a hustle-free, feel-good approach to inviting people to work with you that aligns with your personality, values and strengths.

Come back to your brilliance again, the ways of marketing your business that you're good at and that attract your dream clients. Then overlay what you enjoy and are likely actually to do. This is where the magic will happen in your marketing. The rest you can either look to someone else to help you with or set aside altogether.