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Does Your Business Work Around You?

If you want to make your dream lifestyle a reality, you need a business that supports it and works around you.

When you ask people why they started their own business, some answers crop up time and again. More time. More freedom. More flexibility. More money. Less stress.

But the reality for many freelancers is the exact opposite. They don't have nearly as much freedom and flexibility as they dreamed of. And the feast and famine cycle impacts time, money and stress levels.

Why?

Because they didn't build a business that aligned with what they wanted from life.

You can't expect to work a two-day week and earn six figures if you're pricing work at £20 an hour and taking on fifty new clients per week. You'll never get your weekends back if you keep taking on too much work and never set boundaries you are prepared to stick to.

So if you want a business that supports you, you need to decide what you want your life to look like and then figure out how to structure your business to make it happen.

Why did you start your business?

Think back to when you were starting your business. What made you consider self-employment? What drew you to it?

More flexibility
More control
More earning potential
More time with family
More time to travel
Less stress
Less bureaucracy
Try something new
Time for a change

Does your business live up to expectations? Does it give you the things you wanted and the life you dreamed of?

What does your business look like right now?

To understand what needs to change, you need to evaluate where you are now. What works, what doesn't? What's good, what's not so good? What do you love, what don't you love?

What does your business give you?
What doesn’t it give you?
What kind of clients do you like?
What kind of clients would you prefer to avoid?
What work do you love doing?
What work would you like to stop doing?
What brings you joy?
What brings you stress?
Why do you want to stay self-employed?

Answering these questions will help you figure out some of the things you need to change.

Where do you want to be, and what needs to change?

Now you need to decide what you want your life to look like and what that means for your business.

For example, if you want more free time, then more clients is not the answer - you probably need higher-paying clients instead.

And if you don't want to work evenings and weekends, you need to set stricter boundaries - no calls or emails after 6pm and no taking on projects with urgent deadlines.

So what do you need from your business to make it more aligned with the life you want?

More clients
Fewer clients
Better quality leads
Better quality clients
Higher-paying work
More work you enjoy
Less time-intensive work
Less demanding clients
Work fewer hours
More consistent flow of enquiries
Higher conversions
Higher turnover
Stricter boundaries

You might not be able to change everything in one go, but making small changes will help you get closer to where you want to be.

What do you need from your marketing?

Your marketing needs to support your business goal. If you want better quality clients, you need to create marketing messages that resonate with them. If you want higher-paid work, you need to demonstrate value and credibility. If you want to improve conversion rates so you spend less time on calls that don't go anywhere, you need your marketing to do more of the heavy lifting.

Improve visibility
Build trust and credibility
Establish expertise and authority
Increase the number of enquiries
Filter out timewasters or price buyers
Attract more of the right type of client
Improve conversion rates
Improve customer retention and loyalty
Attract long-term clients

Make your marketing work for you. Don’t just put out generic or broad marketing messages, hoping something will stick. Focus on attracting the right type of client for your business.

It won't happen overnight

I started my business in 2014 without much of a plan. I just went with the flow. But by 2019, I was miserable.

My marketing wasn't attracting the right kind of clients, so I was having to take on anything and everything. My pricing was too low, so I was filling my time with low-paid work. I was working long hours, barely paying myself minimum wage, and I didn't enjoy half the work I was doing.

So at the start of 2020, I started making some big changes. And by 2022, I genuinely had a business that made me happy. I was earning good money doing work I enjoyed for clients I liked.

It didn't happen overnight. It required doing things that didn't feel comfortable straight away (like turning away work and saying no more). And I got help. I invested in mentors. I invested in my business. I invested in myself.

But I did it. Then I started helping other people do it. And I can help you do it too. It won't be easy. And it will require doing some things you don't feel comfortable with. But if you want to build a business that works around you, book a 90-minute starter session and let's figure out how to close the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.