The self-employed rollercoaster. It's very real, and we've all ridden it.
When the chips are down – which is usually when we're lacking financial security – we often start to doubt ourselves. And it can be hard to keep focus of WHY we are doing this.
Why have we chosen such a hard route? Why did we ever think being self-employed was a good idea???
But that's just the noise in our heads. Because it doesn’t have to be a hard route. And it IS a good idea.
When we're at this stage … which, I'll be honest, most of us are at one point … we need to start by remembering why we DID start out as self-employed.
Maybe it was for financial reasons, maybe for the freedom to work when and where WE want. Maybe we no longer wanted to answer to a boss, or focus all our energies on someone else's business. Maybe we were tired of the commute, or the office politics...
There are lots of reasons, and we all probably have more than a few … but there's one that underlies all of them.
Control.
Control of how much we earn. Control of HOW we earn it … control of how often we work, and where. Control of who we work with, what we do, why we do it.
The greatest benefit of being self-employed is the CONTROL that it gives us, the control that enables us all those other great benefits.
So when we find ourselves doubting it all, we need to remember this….
Because not only was GAINING control the reason we set out on this path … but by TAKING control, we can get those chips back up again.
Taking Control of Your Business and Financial Security
If you've read my blogs before, or indeed, know anything about my work, you'll know about the 3Fs.
And you'll know that Financial Security is the first F, and the first step in achieving everything we set out for as an entrepreneur.
Most of us hit the "What Am I Doing?" stage when we've been working for a while, without the success … or ease … or having reached the financial security that we need.
And a lot of the time, that is because we are working hard, but not working smart.
We've thrown ourselves into setting up our business, figuring things out as we go, and we've gradually found more clients … and more work. We've gradually been getting busier as we go … and we’ve carried on down that path.
Being busy makes us feel like we're doing things right … but if we're not earning enough, or happy enough, by being that busy, we're not.
Maybe we're too busy to have the time off that we need. Maybe we're too busy to keep finding new clients, so we're in a perpetual cycle of feast and famine. Maybe we're so busy we don't have time for more clients, but we're not earning enough from those we have.
Which is when we hit our slump.
It's what I call the Busyness Delusion, and recognising this is part of the first step to gaining financial security … which is to look at HOW you are earning your money, and realise that you don't NEED to be busy ... you probably don't WANT to be busy either. You WANT to have a successful business, which provides you with those 3Fs.
Then it's time to take back that control, and change things so you start to achieve what you really want.
And you take that control by changing your HOW.
You stop being led by your customers' expectations, and your competitors' strategies. You stop being led by the "status quo" you have developed.
And you start creating an offer for your clients that solves their biggest problems...
An offer that makes your SOLUTION far more important than your price.
That makes you stand out from the crowd….
That takes the focus AWAY from your rates, AWAY from your time, and ONTO the value that you can provide.
Meaning you can earn MORE without being so BUSY.
Understand Your Clients' REAL Problems.
So, how do you find this solution?
Well, it's not a one-stop answer, and helping entrepreneurs find this is what I do. But here's a starting point:
The key is to understanding your clients' REAL problems. And their real problems AT THAT moment in time.
Which often, are the problems that they don’t even realise are their problems.
Imagine someone who has bad acne – they've tried everything to get rid of it, without success.
If there was an easy fix, great – the problem is acne, the solution is to "cure" it.
But if that solution isn't possible … if that "fix" doesn't exist … or if it just isn't working for them … there IS still a solution. And you can find that solution by looking at the problem differently.
Is this person's problem actually the acne itself? Does that acne stop that person from physically being able to do anything? Or does it cause them physical pain…?
No … the REAL problem is how they FEEL about it – their anxiety in wanting it to go, their frustration in the fact that it hasn't, their lack of self-confidence, because they don't like how it looks. The problem isn't so much the acne itself, as the way that they feel about it.
Help them solve THAT problem, and you're not only giving them a solution … but a solution in the NOW. You've given them a solution, right now, that they otherwise wouldn't have.
And for that solution, they will pay the price that you want to charge …
Understand your client's root problem, offer them a solution, and they won't be focusing on the price. They'll be focusing on the fact that you can solve their problem.
And if you're no longer charging for that solution by the hour, or the day … you're no longer going to be constrained by the number of hours you have to work.
If you're no longer pricing to match your competitors, and offering the same solutions as them too … you'll be standing out from the crowd, and attracting even more clients … which you'll have the time, and the capacity, to help too.
You'll be well on your way to finding your financial security.
Not sure such a solution exists in your line of work? I promise you it does….
Want help finding it? No problem! … from Facebook Groups to Private Sessions, I am helping many service-based entrepreneurs achieve financial security, and I can help you too.
Discover how to achieve financial security and get paid what you're WORTH on my 5 Day FREE Challenge … click here for more information.