3 things that helped my business to grow in 2022
At the beginning of 2020 I was running a tiny business and doing a load of freelance work. I had a turnover of about 20k.
Then COVID happened and I had to pivot my business overnight. For 3 months I had no face to face courses, I had requests coming in for online learning but I had no online platform and my freelance work also stopped abruptly.
Now at the end of 2022 I have more than doubled my turnover, I have a growing business, an increasing number of online learners and hundreds of learners have attended first aid courses.
So what are the 3 key things that I think helped my business to grow in 2022?
Having a growth mindset and in particular working on my money mindset
Seeking help and support - I have had 2 business coaches over the last 2 years, enrolled in and completed a number of business focussed courses and also joined business masterminds. I have really found value in community and recognise the importance of surrounding myself with people who inspire me and who I can learn from.
Developing an understanding of my brand. Knowing my brand pillars and the values that underpin these has been crucial for developing my marketing strategy.
Mindset
Before 2020 I did not even know what mindset was. As a teacher I was encouraging the children to have a growth mindset but I have to admit I never even thought to learn what that actually meant!
So what changed? I began to listen to podcasts and people were talking about mindset and money blocks. I listened to the audio book version of ‘Get Rich, Lucky Bitch’ and started to understand about money blocks. I bought a business course and module 1 was ‘Money mindset’, the first exercise was to write my money mindset story. This is when I really began to understand what was holding me back in terms of business growth.
I now understand about growth mindset, I recognise when my actions and decisions are based on a lack mindset and I can change my thinking.
One thing that was holding me back was my own ceiling that I was putting on my earning. I believed that people of my family earned a certain amount and that was it. Also I realised that all I was doing was trading time for money and that was holding me back.
Support and community
As part of my mindset work I began journaling, looking back through the journal I found the question “Who is supporting you?”
This was a question I was asked about 10 years ago at a time when I was going through a difficult season of my life. I was so busy supporting other people and did not even consider that I needed support myself. In fact if I had been offered support I would probably have brushed it off and declined.
Now I am in a completely different place and understand how important support and community is. I also understand that support is not just giving but also receiving.
I have a business coach and mentor, I have been part of two business masterminds. I have invested money in developing both myself and my business. I have a community of fellow trainers that I can talk to and receive support from.
This means that as well as developing my own business, I can also offer support to others for both business and personal development
Brand
Working on my brand has been a big part of my business development over the last two years. The first thing I did was to get a logo designed and colours chosen. Orange has now become a big part of my life!
Engaging a brand photographer to take some professional photographs has really helped me to create a consistent look across my website and social media.
I have also worked to identify my brand pillars and these help me decide my content for social media and other promotions.
My brand pillars are courses, outdoor adventures, vanlife and remote working, lifelong learning and mindset.
I have also considered my values which underpin everything that I do, these include: quality, lifelong learning and flexible lifestyle.
Working from the van on the Suffolk coast
What next?
You might notice that the 3 things I talked about above have not included any standard business items such as marketing and financial strategies. They have also been happening but I consider that they support the growth that is created by the other work. Work on my mindset, a supportive community and developing my brand have been the key things that have doubled my income in 2 years. Now that the foundations are in place I plan to double my income again in 1 year.
Do you need some support and community in your work life? Come and join my membership group, you can join at any time, and get access to a supportive community of trainers and assessors. Gain access to online training courses, book reviews, guest speakers and networking sessions. This is one of the best ways to interact and get support from other people on an ongoing basis. We have a private Facebook group too so there is always a space to ask questions and get positive answers. I am really looking forward to building this membership group in 2023 so come and join in.