Nikita Williams argues that a small, engaged audience beats a large indifferent one. She uses a plant-repotting metaphor to show how 30, 400, or even 1,000 loyal followers can sustain a profitable coaching business without burnout, if you focus on depth over numbers and celebrate small wins like one email subscriber or $100 in sales.
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I wanna speak to you about something that comes often with clients that I'm talking to, whether they reach their goals or not. It's a very real end of the year moment when you're looking at your audience, your sales, and your growth and thinking it's not enough, or you wish you did more. Sometimes that's happening. Sometimes that's maybe the voice you're trying to ignore or push to the background. And if you've been feeling like your list is too small, your community isn't growing fast enough, and you're talking to the same people over and over again, that's what you feel. I want you to take a moment and breathe for me for a second. What you're about to hear in a little archived audio I originally shared inside my private podcast, and honestly, it's even more relevant right now as we step into the new year. The most sustainable, burnout-proof businesses aren't ones chasing size. They're the ones nurturing depth. Small doesn't mean stuck. Small doesn't mean failing. Small often means rooting, going deeper. And rooted things grow in their own time, in their own rhythm, and in a way that actually supports your health and your business long term. So as you plan, dream, and set intentions for the year ahead, let this be a gentle reminder that a tiny audience whatever that definition is for you, because I've had clients that say like 10,000 followers or email list is tiny, and then I've had people who say 100 is tiny, right? Whatever that number is for you can still be wildly powerful, profitable, and even sustainable when you build it with intention. So stay tuned.
Welcome to Business with Chronic Illness, the globally ranked podcast for women living with chronic illness who want to start and grow a business online. I'm your host Nikita Williams, and I went from living a normal life to all of a sudden being in constant pain with no answers, to being diagnosed with multiple chronic illnesses and trying to make a livable income. I faced the challenge of adapting traditional business advice to fit my unique circumstances with chronic illness, feeling frustrated and more burned out than I already was while managing my chronic illness, to becoming an award-winning coach with a flexible, sustainable online coaching business. I found the surprisingly simple steps to starting and growing a profitable business without compromising my health or my peace. Since then, I've helped dozens of women just like you learn how to do the same. If you're ready to create a thriving business that aligns with your lifestyle and well-being, you're in the right place. Together, we're shifting the narrative of what's possible for women with chronic illness and how we make a living. This is Business with Chronic Illness.
I just got done planting, repotting. I'm a new plant mama, so I'm a little nervous because I might have killed them. I might have killed the plants. We don't know. This is usually when things get icky, but I have committed to myself that if they die, I will just start over again and learn a lesson and do some more research. Okay, so I wanted to share with you guys something that I, you know, I've been really focusing on small but mighty, small but mighty businesses, like going deeper, having more intimate connection and things like that, right? And how you can have a list of 30 people, 400, or 1,000 and make a business that's profitable and sustainable. And I was replanting one of my viney plants. Don't ask me the name. I think it's a Pothos, potentially. And since I'm a new plant mama, I don't know what the root systems all look like, except I have one plant that I'll have to post in the community when we get it up that is in like a glass jar and you can see the root system. And I've started to replant plants most of them except for my bigger plants into like a clear pot so it's easier to see what's going on with the roots and things like that. Something I learned from someone that I follow. But anyway, and I'm just looking at the vine of this plant that's just flourished into this beautiful thing, and the root system is so tiny. Like, comparative to the pot, the pot is bigger. The, the soil inside of the pot is bigger. However, it's just made me think about the nutrients and the happiness and the coziness and the experience that it had in this pot, right, to foster this beautiful growing, a little voluptuous plant, right? And it didn't need a whole lot of things. It needed the right environment. And I think in businesses we're missing that. Like, over the years we definitely heard a lot of coaching and things and business, like the numbers, the numbers, the expansion, the expansion, the growth. And for a lot of people, they have the growth, but they didn't have profit, they didn't have sustainability, they had burnt out and pain, right? And they quit their businesses. And I wonder if we all just first start with the first mindset of I want to build small but mighty, nurturing, engaging communities that literally lead to more vines that connect out on the outside for me and for those that I serve. And so that's kind of like the mindset or the approach I think about businesses. Like when you have one person show to show up to a masterclass, that's amazing. If you have one person on your email, that's amazing. If you have made $100 today or this month, that's amazing, right? And those small things lead to these beautiful, luxurious, like, plants, if you will, your business. Beautiful, sustainable, and profitable businesses. When we get too big, get in our— like, try to do all of the things, try to— all of the stuff, right? And we just focus on the big endgame, we miss out on the growth that happens and the profitability and the sustainable and the peace and the ease that comes with one-to-one connecting, building, nurturing, and deep relationships with those that we want to serve. And so it doesn't have to be this huge all-or-nothing. Huge is loud, right? It can be loud. And if you want a huge business, great, but huge businesses that are sustainable and profitable start from small but mighty businesses, okay? And so if you have a big business right now and you don't feel like it's deep or connected to your per— your purpose, mission, and your vision, and you feel disconnected, go back into the smaller things that led to this beautiful big community. And for those of you who are just getting started started, it's like love and appreciate and be filled with joy around the fact that you are building this nurturing, enriching community and business that's not only just going to serve people, but it's going to serve your life of what you want, how you want to live it, right? And when we come from that place, it creates ripple, ripple effects. Right? It creates this vine, these beautiful vines that just keep telling others to come into your small but mighty community and business, and it's lovely. So just wanted to share that as I finish cleaning up my mess of this small but mighty. All right, loves, stay beautiful, stay wonderful.
Peace out.
That's a wrap for this episode of Business with chronic illness, if you would like to start and grow an online coaching business with me, head to the show notes to click a link to book a sales call and learn how to make money with chronic illness. You can also check out our website at www.craftedtothrive.com for this episode's show notes and join our email list to get exclusive content where I coach you on how to chronically grow a profitable business while living with chronic illness. Until next time, remember, yes, you You are crafted to thrive.
