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From The Desk Of Grace Lever
Aldgate, South Australia
Hey Lovely,
What I feel the most as a business owner who has 14 million tasks, 26 staff, another business in the pipeline and family who lives over the place…
Is that time is ticking.
I think it’s a vibe and a stress point we’re all feeling at the moment!
And time is the resource that I value the most.
Because unlike money, it’s the one thing that I can’t replenish, make back or buy.
But…I don’t think that lack of time is a valid excuse for not showing up anymore.
Because from experience, we mostly run out of time when it’s not valued right.
If reading this is making you think ‘But Grace, how many more tasks can I possibly fit into my day?!’, just hear me out for a second.
It’s said that every single person in the world has the same 24 hours.
But I want you to stop believing you have the same 24 hours as Beyonce…
(Or whoever else’s name is on that inspirational quote card 🙂
Beyonce doesn’t have the same bunch of tasks on her plate that you do.
As much as she might achieve in a day; run the world and do it looking like a glamazon…
Running a business can sometimes feel like you are carrying the world on your shoulders.
(And it can feel like a lonely place under all that weight too.)
So instead of trying to pack everything into 24 hours, there’s a much smarter way to fit the most into each day.
Where you’re not crushed under all the doing.
And it starts with a truth bomb, so stick with me 🙂
It might just cast a new light on the way you plan and organise each day from this moment on.
If you don’t financially know what your time is worth, you can’t respect it.
And you will get stuck in a vortex of tasks that you shouldn’t be doing, at the cost of your goals.
Lovely Lady, these are my top tips for respecting your time, and packing the most into each day.
- Figure out your financial goal – i.e. $5K per week.
- Divide that by the number of hours you want to spend working – i.e. 24 per week. You’ve just calculated your hourly rate.
- Pull up that rate before you do any task. Because if you can pay someone less, then you’ve just freed yourself up to tasks that are worth thousands of dollars.
To put it into context, the CEO of McDonalds isn’t flipping burgers – not that there’s anything wrong with that, but his high-value tasks are worth thousands of dollars an hour.
When I began a business, I started outsourcing tasks on Fiverr and Freelancer early on.
And my matra today is ‘I will only do what I can only do’.
It mentality switches up everything.
So next time you pick up a task, ask yourself if it’s automatable. 90% of business tasks are.
And ask yourself if it’s worth your hourly rate.
If not, outsource it, delegate it and start freeing up hours in your day.
xx
Grace
Want help building your business online? Wish you had a simple and proven roadmap to follow, instead of the guesswork? Get a $47 trial of The Doers Inner Circle today, and you’ll have clarity and confidence implementing this strategy faster.
From The Desk Of Beth Richardson
Aldgate, South Australia
Hey Lovely,
So, Instagram…
I’m sure you’ve heard of it.
It’s big (and it’s growing).
But, even as marketing-ninjas (who consider ourselves ahead of the game when it comes to the latest and greatest opportunities online)…
We couldn’t believe just how big this particular opportunity actually was.
Check out the 10 stats below that blew our minds…
And let us know if they shocked you too:
1. Instagram has 1 billion monthly active users…
… and 63% of those users login at least once per day.
So, you can see why we’re kinda sceptical when people say their market “aren’t on Instagram”, right?
Oh, but I coach businessmen, and Instagram is more of a girls club, right?
Not even!
The gender mix on Instagram is 52% female, and 48% male… a pretty even split if you ask me.
Oh…
But my market are older, and Instagram is for those millennials and youthes, right?!
Wrong again!
29% of users are above 35… and almost 10% are above 45!
Trust me, they’re there. And if not? Their kids are there (never underestimate how much say they have!)
2. 500 million people use Instagram Stories every day… and a third of those are from businesses (like yours).
Stories are short and fleeting…
But that’s not to say they aren’t one of the platform’s most powerful assets.
In fact, 62% of people say they have become more interested in a brand or product after seeing it in Stories.
Soooo, if you’re not already creating quick and organic content on your Stories, we strongly suggest you get on this bandwagon ASAP.
Not sure how to establish your business online? We can help. Join The Doers Inner Circle on a risk-free trial today to get your free 90-day roadmap.
3. People LOVE following brands on Instagram
If you thought users didn’t want to follow brands anymore than they wanted their inboxes blowing up with promotions, you’re not alone. Turns out, that’s not the case!
The number of Instagram Users who are willingly following their loved brands and businesses is on the rise. Brand follower growth increases from 6% to 8% month over month over month…
And 80% of Instagram Users follow a business account.
You don’t need to worry about being a wolf in sheep’s clothing, by pretending you’re not looking for new clients…
You can confidently offer up your Genius Zone to your followers online!
That is, as long as you pair those opportunities with valuable, relevant, and authentic content.
4. Having at least one hashtag will get you 12.6% more engagement
Hashtags aren’t just #mainstream, they also serve a practical purpose to get more eyes engaging in your content.
Not sure what to actually hashtag?
There are plenty of great online generators that will pick the highest trending and hottest hashtags to use.
5. On average, your cost-per-click (CPC) will be lower on Instagram than Facebook
Got a shoe-string advertising budget? Instagram can potentially save you $1 a click on your ads!
The average CPC for Instagram feed ads is around $0.60! (Facebook’s average is $1.72).
6. Worried you can’t sell high-ticket coaching on Insta? Don’t fret…
If you think Instagram users are mainly broke teens and college students, don’t worry!
The annual income of users is pretty evenly spread…
Meaning although some users are just there to browse…
Others will be willing to pay you what you’re worth!
Here’s who you’ll reach on Instagram:
- 31% of the people making over $75,000 a year
- 32% of the people making $50,000–$74,000 a year
- 32% of the people making $30,000–$49,000 a year
Need help building your high-ticket coaching offers? Join The Doers Inners Circle on a risk-free trial today, and we can show you the fastest path to your freedom metric.
7. Instagram has the highest engagement rates across all social media
Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, YouTube… there’s a huge number of social media sites with hot, active users. But instagram takes the cake when it comes to user engagement.
2 – 7% of users interact with posts, giving you the opportunity to start real conversations and online (professional) relationships with followers online.
8. Users don’t see 70% of what’s on their feed
Worried you’re posting too much? Don’t want to spam your followers?
Well, the good (and bad news) is, thanks to a more recent switch up of Instagram’s algorithm, your followers probably aren’t seeing your posts at all!
Erm… yay?
Feeds aren’t chronological anymore. Instead, users will see the posts of accounts they engage with the most.
Focus less on quantity, and more on quality.
9. Instagram users engage more on weekdays
Logically, it would make sense for weekends to be more popular, right? Users have more time to scroll and engage…
But in reality, that’s not the case.
Instagram Users are much more likely to not only see, but actually engage with posts on a weekday. Perhaps as a bit of an escape from the 9-5 grind, maybe?
We checked our own stats, and realised how spot-on this is.
Our worst engagement days are Saturdays & Sundays, while posts on Monday & Tuesday get hundreds more views.
We also discovered that almost half our followers are in the USA…
So posting in the morning is best for us to get engagement across timezones.
Neat, huh?
10. Instagram posts with a face in them get 38% more likes… so get your mug out!
Look, selfies aren’t a trend for nothing.
Although you don’t have to plaster a duck faced selfie on your feed to get engagement…
Posting a picture that features your gorgeous mug will get up to 38% more likes than those that don’t.
Why?
We think it’s simple. Humans love following humans.
Show your followers that there’s a real human behind your content, and you’ll be rewarded for it.
So, if you want to reach more people with your message… and meet more clients where they’re at…
Then 2020 is the year to jump on the Instagram fast-train.
Want to reach more people with your business, but don’t know where to start? Access my 7-figure coaching advice, and huge community of like-minded women to keep you accountable.
From The Desk Of Grace Lever
Aldgate, South Australia
Hey Lovely,
Are you completely sick of the glorification of hustle?
So am I and I’m breaking it apart!
And fact: I’ve made over $20 million without hustle and this is why I believe you can be more successful without it…
In a digital world where virtually anyone can amass a following and start a business…
And bootstrap their way to a viable company…
I hear the words hustle and side-hustle bounced around a lot.
And I have a gripe with those words!
Because viable doesn’t always equal success, and I truly believe that hustle on its own leads to burn out.
I was there myself.
When I first set out to start a business, so many people told me I’d be running on coffee and sacrificing sleep 🙁
And I was convinced that wouldn’t be me; it just wasn’t the way I wanted to run.
Sure, I knew I’d have to put in the hard yards…
But ultimately I wanted to work with ease and flow.
And neither of those things have a place in exhaustion.
I’d left my job in corporate events so I could escape working 50 hours a week.
And sacrificing sleep; well that’s just not me!
But the deeper I got, the more I found myself putting in 10, 12, then 16 hours days.
And sure enough surviving on eight cups of coffee while trading time for money…
Hand cranking every task and approaching burnout.
It wasn’t until I started getting strategic…
Turning my Genius Zone into online courses to automate my business where I could…
So I could begin scaling my reach and step out of the doing.
And that’s why I think that hustle and grind without a strategy only leads to one place…
Burnout.
Today I’ve built a hands-free, scalable income that runs while I rest.
But I’ve seen so many women in the same place I was; reaching their limit and burning out fast.
And that breaks my heart 🙁
I think the epitome of it was when I was talking to an entrepreneur recently, who’d built a really successful business.
He was all for the hustle and said roughly these words:
“I mean, sure. I don’t have any friends.
I don’t get to have time out of the business.
I can’t remember the last time I took a holiday.
I’m feeling pretty burned out.
I’ve had two divorces and I never get to see my kids.
But geez, I got a big, good business that I’m proud of.”
And I was like…What??
Why are we teaching the mentality where we can only build a successful business at the cost of all else?
I 100% do not believe it’s worth getting to the end of the line literally burnt out.
Or that you have to destroy your life to start enjoying it.
And I 100% believe in a profitable businesses.
I’m not working for a hobby.
That’s why I’ve made over $20 million in the last couple of years and why I continue to focus on profit.
But, I also truly believe in the duality of profit and lifestyle, and that these two things can co-exist.
You see, too many people miss the lifestyle part.
And if you fall in that camp, you need to stick that word up beside your computer as a constant reminder to start basing your decisions not just on profit…
But on lifestyle too.
Lifestyle is achievable by putting automation in place, outsourcing and/or delegating tasks, taking the time to rest and recover and scheduling laptop-free holidays or mini-breaks.
I know I work more efficiently, get more done and make better decisions when I’m calm, collected and rested…
Not when I’m burnt out, stressed out or reaching for a quick solution because my brain literally can’t hold any more capacity.
So, Lovely Lady.
Can we just wipe this whole hustle mentality and enjoy the journey?
As someone who’s walked through chronic fatigue, cancer, burnout and breakdowns, I can guarantee nothing is worth the toll of those things.
So it’s time to put things back in their rightful order.
It’s time to have balance in life.
And it’s time to remember that I give you permission to rest, pause, take breaks and vacations and actually enjoy the ride.
xx
Grace
Are you wanting to grow your business… but the thought of hiring a huge team terrifies the heck out of you? Check out this blog post to reveal how automation allowed me to grow an 8-figure team with only a small, loyal team. Then, check out how you can get ongoing support and accountability to do the same, by joining my Doers Inner Circle on a $47 Trial.
From The Desk Of Grace Lever
Aldgate, South Australia
Hey Lovely,
When I realised just how capped I was when it came to growing my business…
I knew I needed back-up.
The thought of automating my business hadn’t really crossed my mind…
And instead, I figured the next logical step was to hire a team to help me.
But if you’ve been at a similar crossroads, you’ve probably felt the same way I did…
Totally freaking terrified. 😮
Hiring another HUMAN to come and help me run my business!?
Are you kidding me?
The thought of someone else’s livelihood riding on my business made me want to throw up.
I mean, I could barely rely on myself for an income…
Let alone paying someone else.
And it didn’t take much research to confirm my suspicions…
It’s not cheap to hire good staff.
Actually, it’s not cheap to hire bad staff either…
And with the way the employment industry is going, it’s becoming less and less likely for coaches and consultants to take this “logical next step” to grow their business.
From their salary…
Annual and sick leave…
Public holidays…
Payroll tax…
Recruitment…
Training and professional development costs…
Office space…
Stationary…
Computers…
Furniture…
And a hefty supply of peppermint tea to keep the office moral afloat… 😉
Hiring just ONE staff member to carry the load of your business seems pretty intimidating, right?
Or even as far as totally unrealistic for a lot of women 🙁
And as I dug a little deeper, it got worse.
Do you know that the average Australian business spends 25% – 40% of their revenue on staff and wages?!
40%!
For every $5,000, that’s $2,000 gone.
So, what are we supposed to do?
Either way will cost us 🙁
We can’t move forward without hiring a team member…
But we can’t hire a team member without moving forward, right?!
Well… Not quite.
By harnessing the power of automation in my business, I’ve taken a third route that I didn’t realise existed.
What if I told you that you could automate entire positions in your business as well…
So you can focus on doing what only YOU can do… serving your clients…
Without spending 40% of your income on wages?
“Heck yes please, Grace!” 🙂
In fact, when I shared this same message with a woman I was coaching…
She came up to me a few months later…
And proudly announced she’d fired 6 of her staff members.
(Don’t worry, from the stories she told me, they weren’t a good fit for her company anyway 😉)
But that was the winning part:
She didn’t have to hire new ones in their place! She could automate their work, and not only save thousands of dollars…
But hours of frustration trying to manage a team she didn’t click with.
Want more advice on how to grow your business without a big team? Join the Doers Inner Circle on a risk-free trial today, and access my roadmaps from anywhere.
So, the obvious next question is: how do YOU work out what roles in your business can be automated…
And what roles do need another person to take them over?
Because don’t get me wrong… I love my team.
And I do recommend finding a loyal, hard-working team if you can…
There are roles like your customer success, inboxes, Facebook group management and more that need a human touch.
Otherwise, we run the risk of seeming like robots to dream clients, right?
BUT –
There are probably more to-do’s than you think that can actually be streamlined with a do-it-once-and-it’s-done-approach.
As in, you can automate them ONCE…
And not pay a staff member $50k a year to do that instead 😉
So, how do you define which roles need that human touch… and which would benefit more from a system?
Step 1: Figure out what you’re actually doing on a day-to-day
I kept a diary for two weeks, writing down every single task, and how long it took me.
Literally… a mega list of to-do’s.
When you do this too, you’ll find that every task you’re doing for your business should fit into one of your four “hats”…
Marketing, sales, product, and customer success.
Marketing get new prospects, Sales turn them into paying customers, Product deliver incredible programs, and Customer Success make sure they get results!
Step 2: Decide which tasks are high-value, and which are low-value
Which ones YOU should be doing, and which ones are better suited for someone else.
My high-value tasks look something like this:
- Creating new content for my members, like courses and training…
- Jumping on live coaching calls to serve my clients…
- Speaking face-to-face with prospects at events…
- Dreaming up new, exciting ways to grow my business. Working ON my business…
- Spending half an hour a day in the inbox, so I can speak personally with my members…
Basically anything that involved me sitting in my Genius Zone…
And the tasks that no one else could do in my place.
Not sure how to turn your Genius Zone into an irresistible program your dream clients will love. Join the Doers Inner Circle on a risk-free trial today, and we can help you figure it out!
Step 3: Decide whether the remaining low-value tasks required a Human or a System
For example, my inboxes… they needed a human in them whenever I wasn’t.
But manually sending invoices… well, that could use a system, right?
Building out funnels and landing pages… that needed a human to do.
But rescheduling missed consult calls… that could be automated, surely.
See what I mean?
When I did this in my business, I was surprised by how many of those tasks actually didn’t need a human at all!
They could be set up once, and could then run in the background like clockwork, without me having to lift a finger.
It was so exciting…
If I could cut down my time in my inbox to just half an hour a week…
I would have 2 extra hours every single day that I could meet a girlfriend for lunch…
Take my dog out for a walk…
Or invest back into automating more of my business 😉
The hours kept adding up, task by task.
As I reclaimed the time I didn’t know I had!
I automated the more repetitive tasks first…
Things like confirmation emails whenever a new prospect would book into my calendar…
An automated text message to go out the morning of our consult so they’d remember to rock up…
And even an automatic email that would ask them to re-schedule if they missed their appointment… to cover all my bases.
It was so much more simple when I could take it in bite-sized chunks.
And the best part…
I didn’t need to hire, train, or manage a new staff member to do any of it!
Flash forward to today…
Every time I go to hire a new staff member…
I ask myself… could I just automate this role instead?
Seriously.
And it’s been a game-changer for me.
Remember how I said the average Aussie business spends 20-40% of their revenue on wages and staff?
Well, my 8-figure business now spends just 10%.
Of every dollar I turn over, only 10c goes towards salaries.
In fact, when I did the maths not too long ago…
At this moment in history, I’ve automated the work of 21 different staff members.
That’s a MILLION DOLLARS back in my pocket every single year…
Can you see how powerful that is?
Now, I know I may get some backlash…
Grace, you’re making Australian’s redundant 🙁
But here’s the thing:
If I can automate a position…
And avoid having to search high and wide to find an incredible, loyal, hard-working human to do that role…
Spend the time to train them, pay them, and maintain them…
Then I say heck yes, right?!
The idea of having a huge team terrifies me…
So I’m more than content growing my 8-figure empire with just 15 full-timers on my team 🙂
Meet my team in-person at our next doers weekend away. Join the Doers Inner Circle on a risk-free trial today for free tickets (worth $5,000).
And the best part?
Those 15 full-timers are freed up as well, to only focus on high-value tasks that come from their Genius Zone…
And empowered to automate the rest.
Game-changer, right?
Xx
Grace
From The Desk Of Grace Lever
Aldgate, South Australia
Hi Darl,
If you experience imposter syndrome, then this is a must-read 🙂
That tiny voice inside your head telling you that you need more experience is there for a valid reason.
It can push you further, drive you to take action and make you step outside the square.
But…when it discourages you, it’s just plain damaging.
And it’s important to recognise the difference.
If you have a voice inside your head telling you that you’re not enough of an expert, consider this:
Every single one of us is encoded with a Genius Zone that’s meant to be shared with the world.
It lets you show people the way out of their most painful problems.
And what makes it so special and one-of-a-kind is that it comes from you; infused with your own set of insights and experiences.
If you don’t start or take too long to start because you worry that your Genius Zone isn’t good enough…
If you feel like there are already experts out there doing what you do, and there isn’t enough room for you…
Or if you feel like there’s a buzzing neon sign above your head flashing ‘FAKE’…
Then news flash!
Your Genius Zone is unique because it comes from you.
No one else has the rich tapestry – the combination of experience, perspective and insight – that you do.
And, you can bet that everyone – everyone – experiences imposter syndrome.
Even the people who we perceive as the most accomplished and experienced have felt this crushing feeling, even at the peak of their success.
What really frustrates me, that I repeatedly see in my industry, is when women don’t start because of that tiny voice I’ve described.
They think that they’re not expert or experienced enough, and I repeatedly see this from the brightest, most switched-on entrepreneurs.
If that’s you, I truly hope these next few words are the much-needed shake up you need to get out of your head.
Firstly, YOU were created for this.
You were born with skills, gifts and passions, and you’ve lived a life with experiences and moments and challenges that only you have.
There’s a flavour that only you bring to the table and that’s what makes your Genius Zone unique.
Just imagine for a moment sitting down to a meal at your favourite restaurant.
It could be a pizzeria, or a Greek restaurant that serves the best Saganaki you’ve ever tasted.
You mouth starts to water and your tummy starts to rumble just thinking about it.
You love it so much, it’s practically imprinted into your DNA 🙂
Can you imagine if they never opened, just because there were already other Greek restaurants in the area?
What a complete waste of talent that would be.
And sure, there are others, but no one else does it their way.
See what I mean?
Another red flag I constantly see is when female entrepreneurs don’t believe they’ve had enough experience to price at where they need to.
They think “When I start, I have to charge $37 because I’m not experienced. I’m not an expert yet.”
And I get it. There are upsides to coming in at a lower price point like creating a competitive edge as you lay a foundation.
But when you’re brand new, it can feel like you have to earn a level of reputation and experience before you can start charging what you need to.
And that’s just not true.
When I started my business, there were so many business coaches out there who were 10, 20 steps in front of me.
But what I realised was that automation is my Genius Zone.
I had a natural bend to automating any job I did more than two or three times, and I just loved mapping every step out on a whiteboard.
I wasn’t the best automation expert in the world, but I was better than most business coaches.
And that’s where I started – with an automation coaching agency where I charged at the price point I needed, not the price I thought a beginner deserved.
I really want you to think about that.
You don’t have to be the best in the world.
It’s very unlikely you will be when you start, but you’ll be better than most.
And that’s your competitive edge.
It’s kinda like when you’re visiting a national park – let’s call it the Rocky Mountains in Canada.
And there’s a bear coming at you.
You don’t have to be the fastest.
You just have to be faster than that dude who’s going to get eaten.
You just have to be better than most.
And because of that, you can charge the price you need. I promise you of that.
So to wrap it up Lovely Lady, you have a Genius Zone.
You were born with it and it allows you to be an expert in it.
And you don’t have to be the best in the world.
You just have to be better than most.
So don’t give up on your pipedream just because there’s someone else in your space.
Own it and run with it.
xx
Grace
Want help navigating the ups and downs of building an online business? And need help blocking out external distractions so you can focus on what really matters? Get a $47 trial of The Doers Inner Circle today, and receive support and accountability every step of the way.
From The Desk Of Grace Lever
Aldgate, South Australia
Hi Lovely
Fact: Haters gonna hate.
But here’s how to flip it around and see it as a positive (as hard as that can be in the moment).
As you get in front of more people, there will inevitably be a higher percentage that have personal issues…
And you can BET that they will project all of their problems onto you!
It’s a numbers game and it’s part and parcel of having a following.
But…
All it really means is that you have more eyes watching you.
In fact, it actually has zero to do with you.
I found this out a few thousand followers in. And I’ve received all kinds of hate messages. Just watch the video on this page to see.
If ever I read a hate message today, I don’t take it on.
In fact, I see it as a positive… It means I have something to say and people are listening.
But if you’re someone who’s going through a stage where maybe you’ve just had your first hate comment or a negative email…
Or if it’s been happening for a while and it brings you down every time…
Then I hope these words have helped you.
I heard it said the other day that:
People ahead of you in business… they’re not the ones judging you, right?
And it’s true, right?
Because they understand what it takes, and if anything, they will relate to you.
If you haven’t already… surround yourself with those people!
They’re the ones to listen to.
You do you, Darl…
And just know there’s zero judgement in this corner. In fact, we are so proud of you 🙂
Another thing I wanted to add, is that when you receive these kinds of comments, you block, delete and get rid of them.
I’ve spoken to some business owners who don’t believe in deleting comments, for authenticity I guess?
Not me.
I block and delete.
You have no obligation to leave those up.
Need help blocking out external distractions so you can focus on what really matters? Get a $47 trial of The Doers Inner Circle today, and receive support and accountability every step of the way.
Because if someone came up to your shopfront and graffitied horrific words all over it, would you leave them up because it’s someone’s opinion that needs to be respected?
Heck no!
You would wash those walls and get it down, and the same applies to your social accounts that are basically your virtual shop front.
You’ve got my full support 🙂
Another tip is set up walls.
Don’t give your phone number out in a public place like Facebook…
If you have a team around you, ask someone to filter your public email account before you jump in it.
(This is a smart way to protect your time and make sure you stay focussed on the tasks that only you can do too.)
And if you don’t yet have a team, well, just take it in your stride because when you have an audience, there will almost always be some hate.
I know it’s easier said than done.
Sure, today I brush hate off… but I used to really take it to heart.
Until one day, when as I was reading a particularly upsetting comment, my sister glanced over my shoulder and started to laugh.
Kinda shocked, I turned around and asked her how she could find it funny?!
Like here I was… crushed….
And she was laughing?!
She pointed out that this hater didn’t know me personally. So it wasn’t personal.
And I’ve followed this advice since 🙂
So lovely lady, if hate comments start to come through, please know that you have a worthy mission and a Genius Zone to share. And there are many people who need to hear from you.
Don’t let a hater stop you. Block, delete and delegate it to someone else.
And remember, it can’t be personal because they don’t know you personally.
xx
Grace
Want help navigating the ups and downs of building an online business? Get a $47 trial of The Doers Inner Circle today, and receive support and accountability every step of the way.
From The Desk Of Grace Lever
Aldgate, South Australia
Hi Lovely
Starting a business from zero is a topic I can really talk about…like really, hand-on-heart paint a picture, because that’s where I started…
Well, not exactly. Let me clarify that.
If you’re reading this off an iPhone or computer, you’ve got money.
And so did I.
But it doesn’t feel like you have available money…
Money just sitting around to put in a business.
A common misconception is that to grow a business to 7 or 8-figures million like we’ve done…
You have to start from somewhere big.
That’s what most people assume.
I was $100,000 in debt that I’d spent on my business, spread across six credit cards.
Yep! Talk about stepping out of my comfort zone.
And I was very lucky. I had so many blessings to count and so much privilege. I would never be without a roof over my head or three square meals a day.
But put it this way: my life wasn’t exactly a well-curated Instagram grid.
I was packing my husband’s lunch box and finding online recipes that had the cheapest types of meats that I could put in dinner…
And if I bought the $3 steak instead of the $12 one, there was some sort of slow cooking method I could do to make it edible.
I’d lived in 12 rentals at that point, and the last two were demolished after I moved out. They were horrendous.
And we were sleeping in jackets and beanies under a stack of blankets and doonas in winter because our place wasn’t insulated and we couldn’t afford heating.
I will never forget that stage of life and I was lucky that it was just that – a stage.
And I know that surviving startup takes grit, resilience and a lot of sacrifice.
But for most of us there is money, and there has never been a better time to start a business.
So you don’t need $5,000 in the bank to start a business. I don’t even believe you need $1,000 – I was six credit cards in debt.
You just have to be willing to invest money in the right areas.
I realised that was putting $10 into Facebook, watching it make $10 back and generating a client who was going to pay me in the future.
And that’s how I was able to scale, little-by-little with $10 a day, purely because I didn’t have more.
Investing $10 a day into Facebook Ads meant that I didn’t go out for lunches that week.
Instead of date night we ate in, because I had to have that $70 a week to spend on Facebook.
So you don’t need a bag of money to start a business, but it does take sacrifice to make it work.
In fact, I don’t know any successful entrepreneur who didn’t have to sacrifice to get to where they are.
It’s kinda freeing right?
Knowing you can start at any given moment and that you don’t have to come from a place of money to create the dream you always wanted?
xx
Grace
From The Desk Of Grace Lever
Aldgate, South Australia
Hi Lovely
Stop believing you have the same 24 hours as Beyonce.
Beyonce doesn’t have the same bunch of tasks on her plate that you do.
As much as she might achieve in a day; run the world and do it looking like a glamazon…
Running a business can sometimes feel like you are carrying the world on your shoulders.
(And it can feel like a lonely place under all that weight too.)
Instead there’s a much smarter way to fit the most into each day. Where you strategically pack more in without being crushed under all the doing.
It starts with a truth bomb, so stick with me 🙂 It might just cast a new light on the way you plan and organise each day from this moment on.
If you don’t financially know what your time is worth, you cannot respect it.
And you will get stuck in a vortex of tasks that you shouldn’t be doing, at the cost of your goals.
It might sound harsh, but I really don’t want to waste a second!
So Lovely, these are my top tips for respecting your time, and fitting the most into each day.
- Figure out your financial goal. For many female entrepreneurs that number starts at $5,000 per week.
- Divide that by the number of hours you want to spend working – i.e. 24 per week. You’ve just calculated your hourly rate. (If you are anything like me and want to free up your time, you will want to aim for a lot less down the track. However 24 hours is a great starting point as you begin to automate and transition to a hands-free, scalable business.)
- Pull up that rate before you do any task. Because if you can pay someone less, then you’ve just freed yourself up to tasks that are worth thousands of dollars.
To put it into context, the CEO of McDonalds isn’t flipping burgers – not that there’s anything wrong with that, but his high-value tasks are worth thousands of dollars an hour.
I started outsourcing tasks on Fiverr and Freelancer early on, and my matra today is ‘I will only do what I can only do’.
You can start by listing out what low-value tasks you can take off your plate.
And just like you can’t automate a business overnight, outsourcing tasks will take time too. Take small steps and a dose of patience 🙂
Another tip to manage your time is to divide each day into high and low-value tasks.
High value tasks are those which will make you money, like writing a nurture sequence to place into a funnel. If one email sequence can yield $30,000, it’s 100% worth your time right?
High-value tasks take time and energy and it’s better to do them at the start of each day with a fresh mind and a clean slate.
Low value tasks (the tasks you should ideally be outsourcing) are the things on your list that need to be done, but won’t directly make you money. These are things like scheduling, responding to emails and administrative tasks and they typically take less concentration and focus.
So next time you pick up a task, ask yourself if it’s worth your hourly rate, and if it’s a low-value or high-value task.
It mentality switches up everything.
xx
Grace
From The Desk Of Grace Lever
Aldgate, South Australia
Dear Lovely Lady,
My biggest breakthrough of 2018 was realising that running with the right crowd can massively level up your business, and that sticking to the wrong people can stagnate growth and make you second guess some of the most important decisions you will ever make.
And before I go on, let me explain that your circle of influence isn’t always the people you spend time with outside of business, like your mom.
It isn’t necessarily the friends you vacation with, although it can be.
You can spend time with whomever you want to from all walks of life, and so you should!
Rather, your circle of influence is the people who mentor and coach you, who you learn from and who you talk shop, collaborate, learn and attend events with.
And these are the people who can really shape your business as you bounce and gauge ideas, and who (hopefully) support and encourage you and aren’t afraid of telling you their frank and honest feedback.
I have five people in my circle of influence who are at my level of business or higher. We catch up once a month over dinner or a coffee and talk everything business.
Since growing my circle of influence, my business has increased x 4.
Crazy, right? And the reason is these people pull me up on my limits, expand my thinking and challenge me to step out of my comfort zone; that sweet spot where the magic happens.
They talk and think differently, because they’ve crushed any limiting beliefs or scarcity in their mindset.
So what I get from them is the purest form of support and unobjective feedback that’s attached to higher outcomes, to help me always look forward and take greater calculated risks in business.
It’s said that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. I found this is so incredibly powerful when applied in business.
So thought of the day: choose the people who you spend time with wisely 🙂
xx
Grace
From The Desk Of Grace Lever
Aldgate, South Australia
Dear Lovely Lady,
Massive Imperfect Action. It’s the accidental path I stumbled upon that catapulted my business to $20 million in online course sales.
And full disclaimer, it’s a little controversial, and it might be completely counterintuitive to everything you’ve ever done.
Especially in a world of Instagram where everything looks glossier than a Vogue cover.
Or in school, where you were taught to have everything ready and prepared so you could get the gold star 🙂
Or, whenever you launch something, you might always have everything lined up and ready to go before you pushed the button, right?
And it’s not surprising. We’re told to strive towards perfection every single day.
But today I’m inviting you to just for a moment, consider another way.
Since taking perfection and swapping it for Massive Imperfect Action, I’ve never looked back, and today it’s not just a strategy but I run my business. It’s baked into our culture and underpins everything we do here at The Doers Way.
And here’s how it all unfolded.
I was mapping out my first online course and one of my team accidentally switched on the funnel when I hadn’t even started building it.
And someone bought my non-existent course. Talk about a panic-stricken, right?!
I was sitting in a green room about to present a workshop to a room full of prospects when someone came in and brought to my attention that a course sale had just come through.
The conversation went a little like this:
“We’ve just sold a workshop project”.
“Pardon?”
“We just sold a workshop project.”
“No, no, no, no, no. It must be something else. The funnel’s not even on yet.”
“No. No, it is. And we just sold it. We turned it on this morning.”
That’s right, the course was up and the cart was open, but in reality, I hadn’t even thought about what I was going to put inside. Total meltdown moment, right?
So I sent my new buyer an email letting her know I was putting the ‘final tweaks’ on the course (I had to get creative with the way I angled it!).
And I asked if she’d be happy to get going on Monday instead (it was Friday at that point!).
And she said, “Of course. I can’t wait. Very excited.”
So I got to work, and in less than two days, I cobbled together the first module.
Then, I simply stayed a week in front of her (and the handful of other students who had bought too) in building out the rest, all while receiving their feedback to shape and refine my course…so it answered their questions and contained exactly what they wanted.
It happened to me in a webinar too, where I accidentally turned it on before I created the product inside it. And the sales started coming in. Whoops.
That course I mentioned went on to break $5 million in sales and we’ve stuck to this approach since.
It’s completely changed my world and today I apply it to every single launch.
Because guess what? You don’t make money from creating things, you make money from selling them.
I’m a firm believer in taking Massive Imperfect Action and I believe it has the potential to propel your business forward too.
xx
Grace