Lessons For Small Business Owners

Welcome to A New Life podcast with Pamela Jean, where it's all about empowering women to empower more women. Get ready, friends, to create a new life. And here is your host, Pamela Jean.

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of A New Life podcast. I'm Pamela Jean, your host. Thank you, my friends, for being with me today. I'm so excited to talk to my small business owners today. I have so many clients. Most of my clients, business clients that I work with are small business owners. Not all, but most are. And I'm speaking to you today because this is a lesson that I think small business owners can really, really resonate with. I want to start with this. Your success doesn't depend on appealing to the masses. It's about crafting something so extraordinary for the right clients. I think sometimes as small business owners, we feel like we have to do a little bit of everything and not specialize in anything. In reality, if you only focus on being everything for everyone, you will not have a niche. You will not have a specific reason for people to come to you. And by doing so, you're going to get lost in the crowd. You're going to get lost in the crowd. I know you've seen those, those pieces of artwork before where there's a crowd of people and everything is in black and white and there's one element in color. And sometimes the one element in color might be, you know, someone with a red jacket on or a bright blue balloon or something like that. I think you know what I'm talking about. But think about all of the black objects in that piece of artwork as your competitors, the other people in the trenches of small business. Do you want to blend in with the many, many other small businesses out there, or do you want to stand out from. From the crowd? I think you know the answer. Of course, when you look at a piece of artwork like that, you see the red coat, you see the blue balloon. Whatever is different is what stands out. That's what you need to be thinking about, and that's what you need to become within your small business. If you're trying to compete with the masses by being the same and doing the same as them, then you end up competing on price. And you're going to be tempted to undercut the other person because, well, if I offer it a little bit cheaper, people will come to me because it's cheaper. Well, nobody wins in a price war. Nobody wins. In fact, both businesses will end up being closed at one point or another in the very near future because price wars with a small business is a losing battle. It's not a war you even want to fight. So how can you create a product that is so extraordinary, that is so extraordinary, so unique, so different for a very specific client? First of all, you're going to build this through word of mouth is everything. One to one connections. Building intimate connection communities, intentional communities is the best way to build your reputation. And you're going to be building that through impact and results, not noise. Think about that piece of artwork I was just talking about with all of the black objects and one thing in color, the black is the noise. The thing that stands out is not the noise. So word of mouth is everything. Attending your networking meetings. Now don't just attend, attend any networking meeting. Attend the networking meetings where your ideal client would be. If you have a very, very unique, specific product, look at the membership of a networking event or a gala or something that you're planning to attend. Is that where your ica, your ideal client avatar, your ICA is going to be? If they are not going to be there, well then don't waste your time. That's not an event that is going to serve you. But grassroots word of mouth is everything. Building people's trust, getting them to know you, building a relationship with clients, with people is how you're going to get word of mouth advertising, word of mouth marketing. The next thing is quality over quantity. You don't need hundreds and hundreds of clients. Focus on a select few who deeply resonate with you and your products. Set yourself apart. Hold the bar high. Quality over quantity. You don't want to manufacture everything, so it's so cheap, so it becomes for everyone. Remember, you want to stay exclusive. You want to stay elite. Quality over quantity. Exclusivity creates value. Be exclusive. Not everyone is meant to be your client, and that is okay. Not everyone gets to work with you and that's okay. But exclusivity is going to create value. Have you ever wanted something that was pricey, it was kind of expensive, maybe just barely out of your budget, but you wanted it so badly, you found a way. You found a way because you wanted to purchase something very specific for your home or for you personally or something for your family or your children? You found a way because you wanted that thing that was just out of reach, but you found a way to do it. That exclusivity creates value. You don't want to be the cheapest person in your field, in your craft. Exclusivity will create that value. And it's almost like the fear of missing out the FOMO mentality that not everyone gets to work with this person because they're so exclusive. Tailor your product and your business to be deeply personal for your client base. Tailor your work or your products to be transformational far beyond the surface of what people see or what they think they're getting from you. If you're a service based business, create something so deeply personal for your client that they will never forget how working with you transformed their life. It's not about touching the surface, it's about digging deep into the soul of your clients and creating this experience that is so personal for them that there is no way they could go anywhere else. They would feel seen and heard and know that they got quality over quantity and then will be talking about you to their friends. So that whole word of mouth marketing and advertising goes hand in hand with that Design your products and your services for the few. Stop trying to please everyone and create space to serve those who truly value your work. If you're service based, you are not for everyone. I am not everybody's coach. I'm not. And you know what friends, that's okay. But the people that I do coach, I coach with ferocity in a good way. I fiercely coach them to connect deeply and create an exclusive experience for them that no one else is willing and capable of doing. So stop trying to please everyone. Have you ever been in a situation where you have tried everything to please a client, bent over backwards, gave the refund, did all the things and they're still not happy? Or have you been in a situation where you have different tiers of pricing of products? But the people that complain the most are not the ones who spend the most money and invest the most money into their self development with you or into your products. But it's the ones who invested the least amount. It's the lower end of your client base that are the hardest to please. The ones that spend multiple, multiple thousands of dollars with you are the ones who are the happiest. So why would you not try to cultivate and curate more of that client? Because if you work with a bunch of people, clients that you cannot please, that doesn't motivate you to work on your craft. It slows you down, it stops your progress. It puts you into that second guessing of self, you're going to doubt who you are, which leads to self sabotage. And nothing good comes from that. If you've ever caught yourself in that cycle before, nothing good comes from that. So simply you need to do something extraordinary for the right People, it's plain and simple. Do something extraordinary for the right people. The best boutique businesses, small businesses and coaching practices are built for those who understand and appreciate their value. They're word of mouth, they're expensive, and they're not for everyone. And quite honestly, they're not designed to be. So if you are struggling with building your business properly and you have found that you're just trying to please too many people or service too many people, let's talk, let's have a conversation about this. Let's go through some mindset work. Let's go through finding out who your ideal client avatar is. Who do you want to serve? Who do you want to work for? Who? What client do you want to attract to your boutique store? What client do you want to attract to your interior design store, to your salon, to your spa, to your architect firm, to your whatever small business you're in? What client do you want to attract? Let me help you with that. Let me help you define that and find that clarity for you. If you find yourself stepping into a new year not knowing exactly what the right direction to go is and you feel like every month you're spinning your wheels and you're looking at your profits and your losses going, oh my gosh, I don't know if I can keep open one more month. Let's talk. Let's have a conversation. You don't have to stay stuck. Sometimes we choose to stay stuck. And if that's you, then find a way to get out of that. Let's have a conversation. Because you don't have to stay stuck. If you're stuck right now, what choices are you making to stay stuck? Let's have a conversation. Let's talk about that. Let's flush that out. Let's build the future to grow your business in an exclusive way to serve the clients that you are meant to serve. So friends, I would love to invite you to schedule a virtual coffee with me. Go to my website, Pamela jeanneanewlife.com click on the virtual Coffee tab and let's schedule a time to get together. We can do a zoom or we can do an in person coffee. If we live locally, we that's awesome. Most of those we do zoom, which is why they're called virtual coffees. If you would like to get a free copy of my book, Tiny Book, Big Solutions, I would love to send you one. You would just pay for the shipping, which is $8 for shipping. Go to my website as well. Or no, actually I'm going to leave a link in the show notes for you just to click on that and you can get your book ordered. Your free book ordered. It's just $8 for the shipping and postage and I will get that sent out to you. Friends, let's grow your business intentionally without scrambling with a clear, concise direction. Thank you so much for joining me today. I hope this podcast is helpful for you. If you found it helpful, please share it with your friends and family. I would love to help them create the business of their dreams as well. Make it a great day and I will see you next time. Buh. Bye.

Thank you for joining us today on a New Life podcast. We will see you next time.