The business backbone you need to stand and deliver your dharma
“The Gita says that even a little practice within your dharma protects one from fear. Fear prevents us from fully showing up in the world. To be successful in this industry we need to be able to talk about ourselves, our offer, and all of its benefits. All the time.”
- Ericka Thomas
Transcript
The business backbone you need to stand and deliver your dharma
The nature of entrepreneurship is experimental. There isn’t any certainty that what you have to offer is what people want. So we test and investigate and try things. There comes a point in every business and especially wellness business where you have to stop testing and stand and deliver. Today on The Work IN we’re going to take a look at what that looks like for successful fit-preneurs and the critical mindset skills you need to build a business backbone, stay creative, focused and grow professionally and personally.
Full disclosure, I graduated from the Squirrel School of Business. That means I am a master at the pivot. I can shift on a dime and thanks to my innate curiosity I have a broad scope of expertise. It also means that I can get distracted by the great ideas other people have and too much testing of said ideas. That’s not to say we shouldn’t test ideas. We need to test however that process should never keep you from moving forward.
When I first started in online business I knew nothing about any of it. AND I was building my audience basically from scratch. I had an idea of what I thought would work and what I wanted to do and so the work was going out to find those people. Growing meant adding people to my email list. Developing and testing “opt-ins”. This included social media and marketing online. I spent a lot of time and money learning how to do facebook ads to grow my email list. Who to write the exact words to get people to click. And I don’t begrudge that time. But a lot of it was discovering what doesn’t work. Which is fine. It’s valuable. The leads that I acquired during that time, the fast cheap leads, were just that. Fast and cheap. And what they call in business low quality leads. The purpose of growing your email list is so that you have more of “your people” to sell to when you launch your offers. It isn’t to feed your ego. So much of social media and the marketing that goes along with it is a vanity metric. But in the beginning if you don’t know who you are yet you can learn a lot here. We just shouldn’t stay too long.
Now I will say that if you are someone who is very certain of exactly what you want to do and who you want to do it for, what that is going to look like, these things are probably not going to be an issue for you in your business.
Personally, I find too many choices to be paralyzing. It doesn’t matter if that’s in the grocery store or in my business. So I have found that I need to create some boundaries around some of the sources of ideas. It’s good to watch other people and collect inspiration. But your journey is your journey and the testing is in figuring out what works for you.
The great thing and the challenge of being your own boss is that You’re the only one who can tell yourself what to do. ANd you’re the only one who tells you what to do. SO you can’t really get it wrong. When something doesn’t work, change, learn and move forward.
In the fitness industry when you come in as an independent contractor often there is both a lot of freedom in who you are serving and what it is you offer. That’s because in order to make a living as an IC you may need to diversify your skills. Not only for the income but also simply to protect you from burnout, physical and emotional. I love yoga, I teach a lot of yoga, but if I only do yoga practices and nothing else, my body is not going to be happy. Same goes for everything else. Not to mention that even with regular teacher training and cec’s I think I would start to get a bit bored if I’m honest doing the same thing over and over.
When you decide to start treating yourself as the business as you are and think about scaling or perhaps giving yourself a base of operations (AKA the mother ship) either with an online studio or brick and mortar now you’ll need to make some decisions beyond yes I can teach this or no that doesn’t fit in my schedule.
Now we start getting into “who am I as an instructor?” and “Who is my target audience?” and “what exactly do I offer, what sets me apart from everyone else who is doing the same thing?” “How do I want to offer this thing I do?”
Sometimes those questions can only be answered by trial and error. And we can get stuck, lost in the weeds of trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t. Testing in your business is important in the beginning. It helps you get comfortable with all your systems, it lets you know where your strengths and weaknesses are and it will validate what you’re offering (ie: will people pay you for this?)
Once you discover some of those answers it’s time to clarify, simplify and amplify.
What does that mean for fit-preneurs? 3 things.
Know who you are and what you do.
Narrow down how you deliver your offer.
Lean in to every opportunity to put it out into the world.
Anything doesn’t mean everything.
Just because you CAN do it doesn’t mean you should. Nor does it mean you HAVE to do it. IC issues with being a jack of all trades master of none. Find your dharma. Your purpose. (Hint: it’s not to be a yoga instructor even if you are one.) You’re more than what you teach more than what you do.
Growing the positive mind book - Talks about using your strengths. Those strengths are a guide to your dharma.
We don’t have to serve everyone. What you love will speak to certain people.
Limit your content scope.
Packaging matters
Packaging doesn’t matter…or does it? Your package isn’t what you look like despite what the body brand nation tells us. Package is your process.
What works for you first.
Fall in love with it. Everything about it. Including the process. Class, course, retreat, etc.
Become your own best advocate.
Promote yourself. Under promise and over deliver. Know the benefits.
The first 2 will make this part easier.
Practice writing and talking about yourself and what you offer.
The Gita says that even a little practice within your dharma protects one from fear. Fear prevents us from fully showing up in the world. To be successful in this industry we need to be able to talk about ourselves, our offer, and all of its benefits. All the time.
Fear in business is a giant career killer. Fear keeps us small. We think it comes from outside ourselves. That our uncertainty is driven by the actions of others. And that makes sense on the surface. We have no control over what other people do or say or think.
In the dream land of the yoga business all is well. Your students love you. The community supports you and wants you to succeed. You have a beautiful work life balance. The classes you offer serve the community and create a sustainable income every month. “If you build it they will come.” People flock to everything you offer.
In real life people are going to challenge you. The realities of business will challenge you. You have to go out every month and show yourself. You have to become visible in your community. Create content that attracts not all people but your people to you.
The fitness industry in general and yoga in particular is difficult. Anyone who feels called to this career had better have a thick skin and a hell of a lot of creativity if you want to pay your bills and pay yourself. Yoga instructors aren’t necessarily known for their thick skin. We are known for our dharma though.
And when we are grounded in our own dharma. When we know and love who we are and what we do, and who we serve, when we have strong boundaries personally and professionally, then it’s no problem whatsoever to simply stand and deliver our dharma.
I had a dream the other night. It was kind of scary. There was a giant roaming around and I was walking through an arena with a fence and there were all these animals running around. I thought I was going to get trample because I couldn't be seen. Then someone opened the gate and let all these pigs out. And I started to chase them but stopped myself because I remembered I have no desire to chase pigs. I stood still. I could feel my legs strong in the dream. And I put my hand out and the pigs all of them turned around and came back to me and went back in the pen. I looked up and the giant laid down. It was weird.
It’s just as scary being invisible as it is to be seen in this world. In dreams pigs represent success and abundance. Giants represent fear.
You don’t have to chase your success around every corner. Simply ground yourself into who you are and let you and your work speak for itself. And watch all your giants lay down before you.
Thanks for listening! If you’re just beginning your journey as a fit pro and you want to get started on the right foot I’ve created a business backbone booklist to give you a leg up on building your legacy. These are 5 of my favorite books. Essentials in my opinion. And they will change the way you look at your personal and professional life and help you integrate all the things we talk about here on the Work IN. Go to SavageGracecoaching.com/theworkin to get your copy!
And you’re ready to stand and deliver your dharma to the world, and you’re looking for practical, actionable guidance and support to take that leap, I want to work with you. If you are a fit pro, wellness coach or solo-preneur and you’re standing at a crossroads between burnout and unbridled success but you’re not sure what that looks like or how to create it, I can help. I work privately with clients just like you to bring personal and professional visions to life. Using a simple, personalized approach that I call the Clarity Compass, I can teach you how to create and navigate a legacy career that brings you as much joy as you give with less stress and a built in buffer from burnout.
If that’s something you’re interested in go to Savagegracecoaching.com/clarity and book a call.
Let’s get started today!
Hey there!
I’m your host Ericka Thomas. I'm a resilience coach and fit-preneur offering an authentic, actionable realistic approach to personal and professional balance for coaches in any format.
Savage Grace Coaching is all about bringing resilience and burnout recovery. Especially for overwhelmed entrepreneurs, creators and coaches in the fitness industry.
Schedule a free consultation call to see if my brand of actionable accountability is right for you and your business.