7 Steps To Your Business Success

I work with a lot of women, and I fairly often get a question from them about what I would do if I was starting my business now. 

A lot of women seem to struggle with figuring out how to build a business that has a strong foundation. And every business needs a strong foundation. Without it, you're not going to have a business that will last a long time.

Before you jump into things like getting paid clients or designing your logo, start by building a foundation that will lead you to more paying clients or customers.

So what would I do if I had zero followers and no previous business experience? 

I would start with these seven simple steps to build a solid foundation for my business:

Step #1: Get clarity on what you want to offer & how you want to position yourself and stick to it. 

If you've been following me for a while, you know that I'm always saying that you need to be clear about your business before you do anything else. 

Figure out what you offer, who your audience is, and your personal brand values. You know, if you're a wellness coach, think about what your message is that your ideal audience needs to hear.

Also, figure out what your brand stands for when it comes to how you present yourself. If you're a wellness coach, you probably would want to be seen as serene, positive, and mindful, so introduce yourself in that way. 

Or, maybe you want to be a different kind of wellness coach, and you want to be positive, cheerful, and very bright and loud, which is also great. But what's crucial is that you pick one and be consistent with it.

Once you find your clarity around your brand and what you offer to your audience, I suggest you post only strategic content & communicate your value and offer VERY clearly on your bio, descriptions, etc. Make sure strangers "get" what you all about super fast when they first discover you online. 

Focus on communicating your personal brand clearly online, that's a first step in building a strong business foundation.

Step #2: Get your brand values, voice, and overall vibe in the place and stick with it. 

Step #2 related very closely with step #1, and it's all about finding your vibe and tone of voice and communicating it well.

Think about these things when trying to find your vibe:

• How is your brand making other people feel? 
• What biggest beliefs you have? 
• How do you want to be remembered by your audience?
• How would you want to be described by other people?

For instance, my personal brand is about "you can do it" attitude, empowerment, high energy, positivity and female union, and friendship. And I always try to convey it to my audience, and that is how they remember me. 

Now it's time for you to decide what your vibe is and how do you communicate with your ideal audience. 

Step #3: Consider why someone should be interested in what you want to offer and what you communicate online. 

Just because you decided to start a business and offer your services to the world, created a cute Instagram page or a website, it doesn't mean that people have to choose you over other people in your industry. 

You have to give them a reason why. Why would they choose you over your competition, and why should they care about what you have to say and offer?

It's important for you to find what issues your audience is facing and then find ways to solve those issues for them. Whether that would be with educational or entertainment content, it doesn't matter, but it has to be valuable to people who follow you. 

Only then can you expect people to invest in you and your business.

Step #4: Contact a few people you admire & offer to help them with something for free without asking for anything else in return. 

OK, so this might be a bit controversial as not everyone agrees whether working for free is good or not, but I personally think that it's the best way to learn and to start building your portfolio. 

If you offer services, you need to have proof to back your expertise if you want to find high paying clients. This way, you can do just that and build some fantastic connections that are always useful to have when you work for yourself.

Here is a fantastic story from Tim Ferris's blog that shows how amazing it can be when you reach out to people who admire you and offer your free services to them. 

Don't be afraid to put yourself out there and build connections.

Step #5: Offer free work and overdeliver to everyone who would trust you to provide them something. 

Another great thing that can help you build a strong foundation for your business is offering free work for potential clients. 

Once again, this is great for building connections and your portfolio and getting testimonials, so that when your idea paid client finds you, they can see how good you're. 

As a service provider, it's also very important to make sure you deliver only the best service for your clients, paid or free. Ensure that you're going above and beyond when you're building your proof of authority as it will pay off, and people will remember you as someone who can be trusted and have a fantastic work ethic. 

One of the most popular marketing entrepreneurs, Jenna Kutcher, always likes to tell her story when she used to be a freelance wedding photographer. She says that she always over-delivered her services by meeting the deadlines and adding sweet extras to create a great experience for her clients. 

Her podcast, which you can find here, has useful advice on how always to overdeliver and be a successful entrepreneur. 

Step #6: Turn off all the outside noise and stop comparison game with anyone else. 

There will always be people who do something similar that you do, that offer similar services and products. And many times it will look like they're doing better than you're when in reality it doesn't matter. 

We waste so much time comparing ourselves with others when we forget that we all are in different seasons of our lives, and you never know what is going on in someone else's life. 

Stop wasting your time looking at others and comparing yourself unproductively and start focusing on things that matter and make you better at what you do. 

This will not only be better for your business but for your mental health as well. 

Step #7: Attend various events.

You know how strongly I feel about connecting with other people. I think it's the best thing you can do as an online entrepreneur. That is why I even created a networking community myself!

I know that some of the girls who met in She Is Glowing events are collaborating and working together - how amazing is that? If you're starting out and building your business, reaching out to people might be a deal-breaker. 

So, find your local events in your industry and attend as much of them as you can. If you don't have the means to do that, try and participate in virtual events and live workshops or find yourself a membership where you connect with other women entrepreneurs. 

This will help you get your business out there, meet people who might help you, or whom you can help yourself, and build connections that will last you for many years to come.

Final thoughts

Here, you have the seven steps that I would take to build my business from scratch if I had to right now. These steps cover all the essential things you need to build a strong foundation for your business, and I hope that it helps you get clarity on how to do it better. 

If you would like to get a free full personal brand growth plan that I created with you in mind, you can do it right here. It has everything you need to know to create a strong personal brand. 

Maybe you're ready to take your business to another level and want more personal help? Then let's jump on the call and discuss YOUR business. You can book a FREE strategy call with me here.