41. Future Proofing Your Business to Support the Life You Actually Want

Only a fraction of small businesses make it past the five-year mark, so I wanted to break down some strategies and mindsets that have helped me stay resilient through the highs and lows of business ownership as I look forward to year 8. This episode is shared from the private podcast inside my Ascent coaching program. 

Inside we talk about: 

• Making decisions like your future self
• How happiness isn't a constant - and why that can be a good thing
• Removing the shoulds from your business 
• How rest is not a luxury, but required 

1. Journal Prompts: 
   1. What are some actions and decisions the future version of you running your ideal business would make, that you could apply to your business today? 
   2. What “shoulds” are weighing on you? What can you do instead to achieve a similar outcome, in a way that feels more fun? 
   3. What does “fully booked” mean to you? How does this translate to revenue and/or client goals? 
   4. What are some boundaries you can put around your business to ensure that you have time for rest?

🔗 Links mentioned in this episode:

• Ascent Coaching Mastermind for Calligraphers
• Your CEO Partner 1:1 Coaching Program
• Coaching Interest Form

Transcript

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Welcome back to Calligraphy Biz Corner. I'm your host, Shiao Chen. Today, I wanted to share an episode from the private podcast that I've created for my Ascend coaching program. Just some quick background, Ascend is my six-month coaching program where you get personalized coaching from me twice a week inside a private Telegram group, and you're in that room with an intimate community of other calligraphers and creatives who are also working on growing their businesses, getting more leads, elevating their brand, and launching new products and services. In addition to giving you guidance as you take your business to the next level or to the next peak, as I like to say for Ascend, you get in-depth content feedback sessions, a tools vault of my clients' favorite templates and planners So you're never starting from scratch, and you get access to this private podcast that you're about to hear an episode from. In the Ascent podcast, I've collected some of the most impactful lessons that have helped my coaching clients and students to really move forward in their business, and these are also things I often hear as a common theme several of the episodes for Ascend center around mindset because mindset really is what lies beneath everything that we do and especially everything that we don't do. So the episode you're going to hear today Is about building longevity and sustainability in your business. You might have heard that statistic that only about half of all small businesses make it past their first five years. And in fact, some places I read the stat as, like, 75 to 80% of small businesses fail in the first five years. And so I've just passed year seven in my business, and I'm proud to be in that minority. And so I wanted to share some of the strategies and mindsets that have helped me make it this far. If you like today's episode and you want to learn more about growing your business together in my Ascend or my one-on-one coaching program, CEO Partner, I'll drop some links in the show notes Today we're talking about future-proofing your business. What does that even mean? Future-proofing means building or designing things today so that they stay useful tomorrow or in the future. In this episode, I'm going to talk about some strategies and mindsets to help us build longevity in our businesses. I heard on a podcast once that the business owners who succeed are the ones who keep going. And often that's easier said than done because being a business owner can feel like a rollercoaster sometimes with really high highs and really low lows. So how can we build resilience in our mindset and remember that as the leader of this business, we get to make the decisions, we get to decide the direction we go, And if we're not happy with how something is going, that we have the power to change that and try something different. One of the most impactful pieces of advice that has stuck with me as a business owner is to imagine that I'm already the future version of myself that is leading the successful business that I want to have When you joined this program, in your onboarding, there was a question asking what your business looks like in a year, because it's important to visualize where you're headed before you get there. And so I want you to think about what you wrote in that questionnaire or how you'd answer that question today and imagine that that's your current reality, and that's the business that you have right now. How would you act as the business owner that's booking your ideal clients, that's hitting your revenue goals? If you knew your business was going to be successful, how would you feel, and how would you carry yourself? Can you channel that version of yourself here today? So, how would you be making decisions and investments? Are there some things that you might outsource in your business? And sure, maybe your bank account today isn't able to support the investments that you would have in the future version of your business, but maybe you can make smaller investments in the same directions or in the same areas. So for example, if in the future you would wanna hire a social media manager, maybe today you could invest in some Canva templates or an Instagram course or even someone who can help create content for you without managing your entire social media account and doing all the posting and responding to DMs and things like that. I actually did that for a little bit in my business. If you can already be making decisions like future you, you're going to feel so much closer to that reality today. The second thing that's helped me stay resilient as a business owner is to remember that happiness isn't a constant. Maybe this sounds like a downer, but there's really, like, a positive message here, so hear me out. I think growing up, I used to think that, you know, I'd get to a point in my adult life where I just achieved happiness, Like, it was a permanent destination. And of course, there have been times where I've been really happy in my business, in my life, and then of course, that shifts and evolves. And today, I don't see that as a bad thing, because as we master something, It's natural to seek out new challenges. And in those moments where we're not exactly where we wanna be, we feel friction, unease, or just out of alignment. And it might feel uncomfortable, but it presents an opportunity for us to do things differently and build a business that we love again. I personally experienced this probably the most deeply after I had my first child. It really pushed me to go deeper into this coaching space, as I felt like this is what I was now called to do in this season of life. It just took me some time to really name it, articulate it, and figure out what that looked like and what I needed in this stage. Because so many things in my life were changing all at once. So all that to say, if you don't wake up happy one day as your own boss, as an entrepreneur, it doesn't mean anything other than you're human and your interests and your desires change. I know sometimes it can feel like there's this pressure to be happy as a business owner all the time. Like, we hear, "Do what you love, and you won't work a day in your life," and I call BS on that. Because, of course, we can love our business and still feel the entire spectrum of emotions depending on what day of the week it is. Even when you reach all of the goals that you set for yourself today and you are happy, there are going to be new challenges in your business. One of my clients told me that she is currently overwhelmed by the number of leads and opportunities coming her way. Her feelings are absolutely valid, and it's also a great chance to recognize that she today has the dream business that she once wanted. Her challenges today are different challenges than what she had a, you know, a year ago even. So now for her business, it's not about getting more leads, it's about scaling and strategies to handle this new volume. What I want you to take away from all this is that you can absolutely have a business that you love and supports your life, and that it's going to be ever evolving. And so I hope you feel empowered to grow, to have permission to change your mind, and design your business in a way that fits your life right now, And also recognize when things feel out of alignment, which is of course a thing that we can discuss together in coaching. This leads me to a third way of future-proofing your business is removing the shoulds. This might be one of the toughest things to do when what we want to do doesn't match what we feel like we should be doing. Yes, there are definitely some things that maybe you don't enjoy that you have to do, like accounting or legal things for our businesses. There are also a lot of things I think we make ourselves do as a business owner that we don't necessarily want to or need to do. Things like I feel like I should give this client a discount because I might not be in their budget. I feel like I should take on this job even though it really isn't my ideal client, but I kind of have a slow month right now. I feel like I should jump on this social media trend, or I should have a blog, or I should be on Pinterest or have a newsletter. I mean, I hear this all the time, like, I should do all of the marketing things. Pushing yourself to do something you don't really want to do can lead you to feel resentful about that client, even if they book, for example. We can't remove all the things that we don't wanna do, but you'll feel a lot more creative and motivated if you're working on something that is a hell yes or something that you're excited about. Remember that when you say no to an opportunity that you're doesn't feel totally aligned, that leaves more room for the opportunities that you are really excited about. And there will always be more opportunities. I think this is just a core belief to try to remember, is that there are always going to be more opportunities. So quick story here. I received a live calligraphy inquiry for a conference. Their budget was below my minimum, and it, the pay wasn't enough to kind of justify the commute and missing dinner with my family for two days, so I decided to turn it down. Over the next two weeks, I received four other inquiries for live calligraphy for the same conference from different companies who are going to be at the conference. A few of the leads I responded to, they did not reply back, and then the last one booked me at the full rate that I asked for, which was 60% more than what that first lead would have paid me if I had said yes. And this is just such a great reminder and, like, a very visceral illustration that there are always more opportunities out there. When it comes to marketing and talking about the shoulds there, you don't need to have a presence on every single marketing channel. How can you lean into the pieces that you do enjoy? So even within something like Instagram, maybe you find Reels to be a fun creative outlet or maybe you don't, and so you prefer to post carousels with captions that speak to the people that you wanna call in because you're a strong writer. So This is your business. Let's try as much as we can to lean in the things that we do well and the things we enjoy, and let's make it fun. The last tip I'll end on for future-proofing is that rest is required. It's absolutely necessary for a sustainable business and one that supports you and your life. Fully booked does not mean that you're always busy. You get to decide what fully booked means based on what else you have going on in your life, so maybe that's only taking two clients a month. Maybe it's taking three months off in the summer. You get to design your business, your schedule, and your pricing in a way that accounts for rest I'll drop in a few journal prompts into the show notes, and as always, I'd love to hear your takeaways or aha moments from this episode in our coaching channel