“How do I combine my business ideas under one umbrella?”
Beginning your own business is no small pennies. (I mean that metaphorically, but often I mean it literally, too.) While there are a hundred and one questions my newbie entrepreneur clients have when they come to me about starting their own dream-biz and sharing it with the world, there is one that regularly rises to the top.
“As a multi-passionate creative woman who has multiple talents and ideas, how do I market myself and my varying offers under one umbrella?”
Girl, I hear that.
Truthfully, this is a BIG challenge! Potentially the biggest ’cause, seriously, if you don’t know which idea to put into action – or if you’re not really sure what you wanna offer that’ll make your multi-passionate nature happy – then your business will never launch. (Dramatic, but true.)
Even if you get it up and online, it’ll probably fizzle out when you think of the marketing and/or client deliverables pieces you’re not looking forward to doing. And in true multi-passionate fashion, you won’t follow it all the way through and wind up in the same place you’re in right now, just a year or more down the road and hundreds or thousands of dollars in the hole.
It’s like I’m in your head, right?
Here’s the thing: when it comes to following your business heart and pursuing your boss dreams, there’s no time to waste. Let’s talk about this big challenge right freakin’ now so you can get to shining.
Here are 3 major items to work through so you can figure out how to make your business ideas play nice with each other:
1. Focus on the next 6 months before you unleash your 10-year master business vision that lives in your head.
When I started coaching, I wanted to build an empire (like you, right?) But, if I tried to start with my 5-year-ish vision – coaching! programs! books! community sites! – I would have been setting myself up for lots of overwhelm and total paralysis. Instead, I started my business with a single offer: 12 one-on-one weekly sessions. That was the only way to work with me for the 2+ years I was getting certified and working my 50 hour/week job. Then I added group sessions, then an e-book, then an e-course, then a membership site, etc.
As multi-passionate peeps, we want to do All The Things and we want to do them NOW. But, we have to chill the heck out and remember: When we’re saying Yes to something, it means we have to say No(t Now) to something else. Your bigger vision can and will happen – but not yet. Start with one or two focused offers and remember that you’ll grow from there.
Bonus good news: being an entrepreneur in and of itself is a very multi-passionate-friendly career. We not only do whatever our clients or customers pay for, but we’re researchers, writers, project managers, marketers, etc. Take comfort in the fact that no matter what business you choose, the chances are it’ll feed your need to have variety in your work.
2. Find your business’ mission statement, and for the love of all that’s holy, make it niche yet broad.
Everyone is obsessed with niching. It’s how we’ve been told we stand out in a crowded market and resonate with our prospective clients. And, I don’t disagree necessarily, but I do need to add an asterisk to that piece of advice:
* When you niche yourself too far, it’s like you put yourself in prison and flushed the key down the toilet.
Let’s use some 90 Day Business Launch alums to show you what I mean:
Kathy is a life coach for women who work in the service/hospitality industry “who are disconnected from their own lives and need help discovering who they are, what they want, and how to get there.” Niche, yet broad.
Aimee helps “business owners manage their numbers and increase their profits without losing their minds.” Stressed-and-confused-by-the-finances entrepreneurs are niche, yet broad.
Courtney offers “brand strategy and copywriting for purpose-driven businesses,” aligning her marketing talent with business clients who are driven by the social/greater good. Say it with me - “Niche, yet broad!”
3. Know what to prune/keep/cut/merge – and communicate it in a way that seems cohesive to your audience & makes you feel focused.
It’s ok to face the fact that all of your ideas probably don’t work together. If you want to be a life coach-bookkeeper-florist, that’s probably not just one business (and you can totally rock them as separate entities, as long as your head won’t explode). But I can see the possibility of you being a life coach who works with clients on their money limitations and/or then keeps their books (OMG, sign me up!). Or, a florist who coaches aspiring designers to find their style. But, a florist who, under the same umbrella, is a bookkeeper? Probably not so much. (Hopefully, I’m not breaking any florist-bookkeeping hearts!)
The biggest thing I want you to take away from this is that it’s time to stop using your multi-passionate nature as your roadblock and use it as your foundation instead. (<– Straight up, I just gave myself goosebumps.)
This umbrella question has become so big and loud with my clients, you better believe we talk through it in 90 Day Business Launch. Whether you’re a clothing-designer who is incredible with children, a writer who runs marathons, or an accountant with a sweet tooth, I’ll help you discover how they might all play nice with each other – and/or what needs to go. Come one multi-passionate creative woman, come all multi-passionate creative women! <--Niche, yet broad. Natch!