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As we’re approaching the end of the year and I did my yearly reflection, I realised how much I’ve changed my business approach. In this blog, I’m sharing the major insights I had that improved my business approach. My intention? Provide you with 4 major lessons that will change the way you do business!

A little look behind the scenes

In the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey I was extremely driven and excited to start working for myself. I felt my purpose was to create courses and programmes. I had lots of teaching experience and knew my ideas would help people grow. At that time, I thought that my ideas and experience were all that counted. But little did I know…

I dove straight into creating my products; lined out the curriculum and designed learning materials. I was convinced it was going to be a huge success, but when I launched them, no one signed up.

My problem was that I started from scratch and only then found out that I had no idea what it takes to build a business or simply sell services. I realised that being a teacher isn’t the same as being a business owner and my transition started.

From teacher to business owner

I invested in business education and started working with a coach. She taught that to successfully sell my programmes I needed a community. That our clients go through phases before they’re ready to buy. That these phases help you understand their needs and help you create products they’re actually waiting for. There I learned what happens behind the scenes. From building a website, sales pages, email marketing, to creating a content plan that educates, informs, engages and entertains your future students. All this happened in 2019-2020. So, these learnings weren’t new for me this year. In the last four years, they brought me lots of success and allowed me to live, work and travel on my terms. However, I felt that to scale, grow and evolve, something about my strategies needed to change.

Your business starts with you, not with your product!

In my year reflection last year, I shared that I suffered from burnout. This was due to a combination of things, but the core of it all was that wasn’t fully true to myself. In my role as a business owner it meant I followed other people’s approaches and copied the marketing techniques that worked for them. I blindly trusted their strategies would work for me too and overworked myself, keeping up with trends and trying to apply them to my business.

I looked at my core values and realised I wasn’t being true to them either. Out of scarcity, FOMO, and an ego of pleasing and overachieving, I lost touch with my authenticity. Authenticity as a business owner to me means knowing who you are and honouring where you’re at. But most of all trusting yourself, being yourself, and embracing all your unique qualities. To unite these qualities with your values and desires and let those things determine the way you do business. To listen to intuition and not let fear or lack of knowledge, skill and experience hold you back. But also, honour where you’re at and that learnings never stops. To take responsibility and invest in education and development to fulfil your purpose.

So, that’s why I did. I reflected on what worked and didn’t. Reviewed my schedule and set clearer boundaries. I dedicated time to analyse my strategies and decided to throw out everything that no longer served me to make room for a fresh slate.

All of this resulted in major changes at Enga Unite:

     

      • I onboarded new team members to help me with community management, social media, and tasks behind the scenes so that I have more time and energy to spend on thing that most need my attention.

      • I turned the live programmes into self-paced courses and modules so that I have more time to spend with my students. 

      • I invested in more business coaching to elevate my expertise, feel supported and receive feedback from my coach.

      • I prioritised collaborations to share my journey, grow our community and stay inspired.

      • I upgraded the product suite and launched many new programmes to help you teach yoga in English and build an international career and not be dependent on the live programmes only. 

      • And I travelled more, because I know that by the beach I feel most energised, grounded and aligned. 

    These changes is what bring me here today. I want to prevent you from diving all in without structure and clarity. And share my major business insights so that you don’t blindly copy what other people do and what seems to work from them. But instead, build your business on your terms, and experience more freedom and fulfilment from day one! 

    4 Major Lessons That Will Change The Way You Do Business

    1. Your business starts with you, not your product. 

       

        • Based on my journey, you see now how important it is to shape your services around the things you love and make you feel alive. Not what seems to work for others, seems profitable or feels save.

        • Your students choose to work with you, for you, not for your product only. Genuine passion and purpose shine through. And those things resonate with your clients, not a profit-driven service. Authenticity is key! So unite your unique qualities to create offerings that truly align with your personality, passions, interests, ideal lifestyle, and energy levels. 

      2. Allow your to-do list to pile up! 

         

          • Building a business isn’t something you in one day. Neither isn’t something that ever finishes. When working with my clients I often see that they feel overwhelmed by their endless to-do list. A list that either causes them to postpone or do everything at once.

          • As a business owner, learn to prioritise. Allow yourself to dream and have big goals. You’re building a business for the foreseeable future. So you’ve got more than enough time to fulfil your aspirations. It’s okay to have pending tasks. Embrace timing and take things one step at the time. Allow your to do list to pile up, because not everything needs to get done today, this week, or this month. 

        3. Building a business isn’t a one-man’s job

           

            • This lesson refers to many things at once. They key thing we need to remember is that we learn and evolve in companionship. And we can only truly grow by receiving support. You can receive support in many different ways.

            • Support from your partner, friends or family members, that give you the time and space to work on your business.

            • Support from your network by exchanging tips, tricks, feedback or building partnerships and collaborations.

            • Support from a team that help you with repetitive tasks, technical aspects that take up too much time or tasks that don’t require your direct attention.

            • Support from a coach or mentor who’s lived and experienced what you’re going through. Who can hold your hand, providing you with clear action steps, constructive feedback and strategies that could work for you.

            • In other words, surround yourself with people that inspire you and help you grow. To feel supported, held accountable, and stay inspired, we need new insights and perspectives from others. Building a business isn’t something you can do alone.

          4. Allow yourself to be a beginner! 

             

              • In life we experience many ‘first times’. Teaching your first class, attending your first retreat, the first time you’re invited as a guest speaker. These first times may not be your best, but they give you a taste and inspire you to do more of. We become more skilled or get better at it and find something new in what we’ve experience before.

              • The same counts for your business. Many new wellpreneurs get anxious and show symtomps of perfectionism. But if all wait until things are perfect, I seriously wonder what would get done! Your first post, freebie, programme, sale, but also failure and success won’t be your last. With experience you learn new things, find out what works, doesn’t work, what you want to do more of or what should stay a one-time thing. We all need to start somewhere and only with experience you’ll become more skilled or get better at it. And find ways to improve or something new in what we’ve experience before. 

            Your purpose-driven career and business only feel far away if you keep thinking it’s in the future.

            The future is unpredictable, but your present thoughts influence your actions.

            The trick is to already step into the shoes of a business owner and let your future self rule today!

            If you’re somewhat like me and like to consciously adjust the way you spend your time and energy so that you can work, travel, and live on your terms… I’d love to see you support you!

            Ready to start building your own business?

            1. Take the quiz: What business model suits you?
            2. Watch the webinar: From Teacher to Business Owner: The Key to Purposeful Entrepreneurship
            3. Check out the course: Build Your Business Foundations

            And book your free discovery call to gain clarity and create an action plan to achieve your business goals.

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