ARTICLES

If you’re a business owner, course creator, service provider, or coach who has been in business for at least a couple of years, you’ve probably realised that striking a balance between making great money and working hours that suit you can be a bit of a juggling act.

But it is possible!

So this week we’re going to take a little step in that direction and I’ll show you how I streamline my work as a business owner in a way that boosts my sales, and gives my clients a high quality experience without me needing to work full time hours.

When you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner, it's easy to fall into the trap of thinking that perfection is the key to success. But the reality is, mistakes are an inevitable part of your journey. The true measure of your success lies not in avoiding errors but more in how you respond and learn from them.

Facing and overcoming mistakes builds resilience. It teaches you to adapt, pivot, and persevere in the face of a challenge. Resilience is really important for long-term success, as the entrepreneurial journey has plenty of obstacles and uncertainties!

When you view mistakes as opportunities for growth, you encourage more innovation and creativity, and you get more comfortable trying new ideas, knowing that mistakes don’t mean the end of the world, they’re part of the learning process.

Too many business owners focus on scaling and growing without the proper foundations in place which causes problems as they grow. This eventually leads to burnout and structural issues in their business that cost time, money, and energy to fix.

Scaling with sustainability at the forefront is the key to healthy, lasting growth.

Listen in as I talk about how scaling without sustainability can set you up to fail, what an integrator does, how to know when you need one, how having a second business brain helps you get more done with less effort on your part, and how strategic marketing and operations support can free you up to be the visionary in your business!

Do you ever feel like you’re supposed to follow a certain path just because it’s the "safe" or “expected” choice? Or think the only way to find success is to do what you see other successful people are doing?

Have you ever really had the chance to sit down and think about your life and career and whether what you’re doing makes you feel really, really good? When you’re an entrepreneur, real magic can happen when you ditch the conventional ways or the things you’re not excited about, and just follow the pathway that feels really good for you!

Listen in as I chat about what drives my guest as an entrepreneur, the biggest change she can attribute to quitting alcohol when it comes to her entrepreneurial journey, the best thing about being her own boss, and the advice she'd give to someone looking to set out on their own entrepreneurial journey!

If you’re a coach who feels like you’ve hit the ceiling for how much income you can make in your zone of genius, you’re going to LOVE this episode.

If you’ve made good money before, but you struggle to raise your rates…If you feel like something’s missing in your approach to running and growing your coaching business, but you don’t know what you don’t know...If you’re comparing yourself to other coaches and feeling like you’re not good enough and have to charge lower in order to “earn your stripes”…Then you’re in the right place, and you were meant to find this post today.

Listen in as we talk about why so many coaches are underbooked and underpaid, how to move through the “People can’t afford me” block, how to break free from imposter syndrome and charge more, and where to clients willing and able to pay five or six figures to work with you!

As entrepreneurs, it's often not just the external challenges that impact our business's success, but also our internal dialogue. The way we think about ourselves and our businesses can profoundly influence our performance and profitability. Making deliberate mindset shifts can be just as important as any other strategic business decision.

This week I’m sharing three transformative mindset shifts that can help you boost your sales and profits, and put you on a path to a more fulfilling and financially rewarding business journey, that feels good!

How you are going keeping up with your social media presence for your business?

There are so many platforms now that it feels almost impossible to be consistently present on all of them. And even if you can post daily on all platforms, is it really helping to grow your business and make more sales?

I spend a lot of time on social media, particularly on TikTok and Instagram - as a consumer. I love watching the trends pop up and seeing how creative people are.

Today I thought I’d run you through what that looks like in case you find it helpful and want to set up something similar for your business!

Being a business owner often means wearing multiple hats and juggling multiple tasks all by yourself. You want to do it all because you’re very conscious of your budget and need to be able to afford to run your business as it grows. But once you start to see consistent sales and cash flow, you get even busier managing your deliverables, and your business growth should not come at the expense of your efficiency or your personal wellbeing.

When that momentum starts to build - that’s when you need to hire help, and a Virtual Assistant (or VA) is the ideal place to start!

Where do you begin when looking for a VA? What should you look for in terms of their skills? How do you ensure they align with your business values and needs?

We’re talking about creativity today because creatives are often undervalued and restrained.

People think being creative is a soft skill, a nice thing to do but don’t consider it a business builder - and they’re wrong.

Whether you work for yourself or for a company, your creativity is one of your most powerful assets.

Companies and corporations suffer from high turnover, lack of job ownership and loss of profits because they focus on enforcing how someone else did the job before the new hire and stifling all ability to let employees adjust their job to work better individually, providing higher efficiency, pride in their work and overall happiness with their job.

Employees are humans, not machines.

And for business owners, creativity is a must if you’re looking to stand out and really connect with your customers. The ability to think outside the box can transform your brand, making it more relatable and memorable to your target audience.

So many of us think owning a business is going to give us better work life balance than a 9-5 or working under someone else, but the reality is many new business owners end up working 24/7, burning out, getting sick, and it’s almost seen as a right of passage for business owners.

At this point we start to make the necessary changes, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could skip the struggle and simply follow a better path from the start?

If you’re not enjoying your day to day journey of building your business, you won’t be able to fully enjoy or appreciate your results when you do start seeing your definition of success.

Listen in as we discuss why biz owners commonly feel guilt for having fun, some actionable steps to combat that, the importance of having fun in your biz - and the return on investment you get from it!

We talk about online courses a LOT here on the podcast because they’re such a game changer in your business when it comes to increasing your cash flow and freeing up your time.

Passive in my experience applies to everything once it’s all set up and working - you’ve created your product, you have a sales & delivery process set up for it, and you have a marketing strategy that actually converts.

So it’s not completely effort free, but it’s so much freer and easier than filling your week with 40 hours of on one on one coaching or services! I recommend adding an online course to pretty everyone I work with.

If you’ve been struggling with your passive product sales or procrastinating on creating them, or want to move away from live launches without a big drop in cashflow, you’re going to love this episode.

So you’ve been running your service business for a while now, and things are going well! You’ve got a steady stream of clients who are loving what you do, and you’re finding yourself getting busier and busier.

This is usually the point when we solo business owners start to think about what comes next for the business.

We see other business owners get to this point and start to focus on scaling and growing their business by hiring and training team members to help with the workload.

But what if you don’t want to manage a team? What if you’re happy with how things are, and want to bring in great money and help your clients without having to hire and train other people to do it with you? What if you love being a sole trader and want to achieve your business goals but still have a life? What if that one size fits all business framework, actually doesn’t fit with what YOU want?

When you do what comes naturally to you, when you do what you enjoy and you price your offers well, your whole business experience is smoother.

It doesn’t feel like hard work. You enjoy showing up and doing the things that move your business forward - and you have the freedom to ditch, delegate or automate the rest.

Sales are easier. You don’t have to put in long hours. Sometimes you do because you get so into a project you can’t stop thinking about it, but that tends to balance out in the long run because you have the opportunity to build space into your schedule for times of rest, rejuvenation, and creativity.

Back in 2011 I left corporate and started my first business, Beautifully Organised. I wanted more control over my time, to run my own schedule and to work on my terms. I wanted to be home for my young children more instead of having to work long hours, evenings and weekends. I wanted my work to fit around my life, and over the past 13 years I’ve worked with a lot of small business owners who want that too.

It took a lot of trial and error, but these days Beautifully Organised is an online business, and I make money sharing my organising tips via courses instead of personally going to people’s homes and organising them myself anymore. I have a very simple business model, and that’s actually what freed me up to start The Simpler Business podcast in the first place! I like to work a couple of hours a day, and I limit my private clients in this business to a handful so I’m not overworked anymore.

I also made a few other changes to my approach to running my business and thought I’d share them in case you find them helpful! Here’s what I do each year to run my 2 businesses and still have a life I love with plenty of down time.

Live launches are intense and can put your business into feast or famine mode - big influxes of cash every few months with nothing in between.

Evergreen funnels have gained popularity in recent years because they give you the opportunity to bring in regular cashflow without the intensity of launches - in theory it’s a set and forget job, you create your funnel, turn it on and let it do the selling for you!

Listen in as my guest and I chat about why a lot of evergreen funnels have low conversions, why live launching doesn’t work as well anymore, why Nicki’s Circuit System is perfect for coaches and course creators, and the results she’s seeing from her Circuit System members!

In November I went on my annual solo trip, a cruise through Spain, France and Italy - and it was AMAZING.

The cruise itself was with Norwegian Cruise Lines and it was the ultimate luxury. It’s easily the most beautiful ship I’ve been on.

What I found really interesting though was the little lessons I picked up while on the cruise ship - all about marketing and sales! I thought you might find them helpful too, so enjoy this casual chat about what I discovered and how we can apply it to our coaching, service or online course businesses!

My guest today is going to walk us through how to use data to help you make intuitive decisions confidently!

After realising that the business owners in her life were very uncomfortable with math and data, she now teaches creative consultants, coaches, and designers how to leverage data and their unique power to build the businesses of their dreams, easily easily delegating ALL the work that drains them while consistently delighting their clients.

Listen in as we chat about what type of data we should all be looking at, how intuition and data work together to make informed decisions, where most business owners are going wrong when it comes to their data, and what it looks like from a higher level!

There are a lot of areas when it comes to finances that us business owners often aren’t aware of. It’s not our area of expertise, so we don’t think about a lot of the financial information we need to run our businesses.

When was the last time you thought about how often you need to review your finances, or noticed the bottlenecks in your business that are slowing your growth?

Are you pricing products to ensure you’re making a profit? Do you know if or when your cash is about to run out? Are you clear on how much you need to set aside for taxes?

My guest this week is here to help business owners like us understand more about our finances, and show us the things we should be keeping our eyes on!

The goal as a business owner is for it to be a success, You want people to buy your products and book your services, to love the experience of working with you, to refer you to others, to have that cash flowing in and enjoy the limitless potential your business has!

It all sounds amazing and you’re on track to get there - but the challenge of being a successful business owner is that when your business grows, it starts to get too big for you to run it all by yourself.

Listen in as we chat about the top HR issues entrepreneurs should be aware of, whether you should just have independent contractors instead of employees, and what you need to do to hire your first employee!

Want to get an endless supply of clients from LinkedIn?

My podcast guest loves social media and believes LinkedIn is a powerful platform that so many people don't know how to use properly, so she’s here to walk us through it!

Listen in as we talk about how to establish your personal brand on LinkedIn, how we can build authentic relationships with no spam or cold calling, the secret to booking a few massively impactful calls on your calendar each week, and what’s happening in terms of LinkedIn trends right now.

You started your business, you created your offers, you’re ready to change lives… now you just need paying clients!

If you’ve ever launched an offer to crickets, you’re not alone.

We start our own businesses because we’re passionate about what we do and we’re highly skilled at it - but we’re not always natural marketers. In fact, for a lot of us, we’re really uncomfortable doing it.

Learn why entrepreneurs, coaches and service providers struggle to get clients, her simple way to attract clients, and how can we stand out from our competitors when positioning ourselves and our offers to potential clients!

What’s your approach to down time and rest?

Don’t let yourself get to the point of forced medical sabbatical or being burnt out from your business - take time out now and you’ll see benefits in the long term sustainability of your business and have more balance and enjoyment in your life!

Learn why systemising our business is the key to sustainable growth, the common systems most entrepreneurs ignore, how to develop the critical actions highlighted in her method, and how to integrate a sabbatical method in 90 days!

Does your ego get in your way and hold you back from greatness?

Your ego is your unconscious brain that is usually motivated by old past beliefs, mindsets and habits that you aren’t even aware you’re doing.

We live in a very reactive world—our egos are feeding on everything from social media rants to tabloids and news headlines, all designed to emotionally manipulate us for the benefit of the source.

Listen in as we discuss what Egos are present in your business, identify the three Egos and learn how they sabotage your success, how the Ego unconsciously runs your conversations and relationships, procrastination, and other Ego tactics that keep you stuck in your business!

Whether you’re just starting or you’re a seasoned coach, I bet you already know that while having a calendar full of clients sounds pretty amazing, it can also get overwhelming.

Plus, back to back client calls isn’t the best to get to your next income goal and it certainly isn’t a way to scale your business!

Listen in as we chat about the #1 thing to focus on when trying to reach 5 hour work week, time management hacks for more productivity, where to start with building out levels of offers & income, and how to build a sustainable & freedom-based coaching business that is not dependent on launching all the time!

If you’re a multi-passionate entrepreneur who struggles to keep things streamlined and simple because you feel called to do lots of different things, this episode is for you!

Everyone says to niche down and target a very specific audience with a very specific offer so that when they find us they know straight away we can help them, and that is good advice if you’re great at just one thing - but what if you’re great at lots of things? What if we choose the wrong thing to focus on? What if we waste a year focusing in one area and then realise later that we want to help people in other ways, with other products and services?

Listen in as we chat about the best ways that multi-passionate entrepreneurs can keep things simple without niching down.

If you have no idea where to start or feel overwhelmed by all the options out there when it comes to growing and scaling your business, you’re going to find today’s episode VERY helpful!

As your business grows, you can’t wing it anymore - you need systems and processes to support you and make your business and life easier.

If you’re ready to set up systems so they can help you organise and automate your businesses, hire and onboard your first team member with ease, and stay focused in your zone of genius as much as possible, I have just the guest for you!

Are you exhausted from making endless decisions?

Decision fatigue is a real thing, and as a business owner I bet you’re no stranger to it! We often find ourselves juggling numerous responsibilities, both in the business and our personal lives. The constant need to make important decisions - and even the smaller ones - can take a toll on our mental and emotional well-being, hindering our ability to find balance and actually enjoy what we’re doing.

The good news is, once you learn how to manage decision fatigue, you can reclaim your energy, flow through your day and enjoy better outcomes both in your business and overall well-being.

Once you’ve got your business foundations sorted - your ideal customer avatar, your product & services, your offers & deliverables - you’re ready to scale!

But scaling your business can be both exciting and a little daunting...

You want your business to grow but you don’t want to overwork yourself and burn out! After all, one of the reasons you started your business was to have more freedom.

Here are some key mindset shifts that will allow you to scale your business without sacrificing your freedom!

You know bookkeeping is important, but it's not easy, and getting a bookkeeper might feel like a big expense, especially in your first few years running your business.

So what do you do? Ask your accountant to sort it out for you (costing you a fortune), have a go yourself, make plenty of mistakes, spend time and money to fix it, or get your partner, family member or friend to help you out, even if you're not sure they are confident either?

The good news is, there’s a simple solution for you now!

In the world of online business, many entrepreneurs are constantly on the hunt for the perfect product or service to offer and high ticket offers seem to be the recommendation of many coaches.

These are high-priced products or services that typically require a significant investment from the customer (typically thousands) and this can create a significant income stream for the business owner, but while they can certainly be lucrative, they can also be trickier to sell.

The alternative option is a low ticket offer - a product or service priced at lower level, typically ranging from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars. These can be anything from digital products to coaching sessions or services. It’s an easier “Yes” for your customer, but can it provide the same level of revenue as high ticket offers?

As entrepreneurs, it's easy to get caught up in the pursuit of profits. We often measure our success by our bottom line and our monetary achievements, but when we solely on profits, we can neglect other important parts of our lives, which can lead to burnout, stress, and lack of purpose, which can negatively impact your output and in turn your financial stability in the long run.

When you prioritise balance, wellbeing and peace in your life and business as well as profits, you can achieve more success and sustainability without the stress and burnout.

ARTICLES TO HELP YOU RUN & GROW YOUR BUSINESS WITHOUT BURNOUT

READ THE BLOG

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Making the Most of Your Your Time as a Business Owner

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Creating Offers That Sell Themselves

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Surviving school holidays as a business owner or entrepreneur

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Say goodbye to burnout with these simple strategies

SIMPLE BUSINESS

How I create a simple business plan that’s not boring and encourages me to take action

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Embracing Mistakes As A Business Owner or Entrepreneur

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Scaling your business sustainably

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Transforming life through sobriety and entrepreneurship

SIMPLE BUSINESS

How to stop being underbooked & underpaid

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Sleaze free sales

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Simple branding for your solo business

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Three Mindset Shifts to Boost Your Sales and Profits

SIMPLE BUSINESS

SIMPLE BUSINESS

SIMPLE BUSINESS

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Business Lifestyle Balance: Guilt Free Fun

SIMPLE BUSINESS

How to stop waiting till you’re ready and start selling now

SIMPLE BUSINESS

The necessary healing that will grow your business

SIMPLE BUSINESS

How to create reliable passive income with your online course

SIMPLE BUSINESS

The power of staying solo as a business owner

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Building a Flow State Business

SIMPLE BUSINESS

How to scale your business without increasing your workload

SIMPLE BUSINESS

How to have a life when you run a business by yourself

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Turning your life experience into a business that helps others

SIMPLE BUSINESS

The simple way to never run out of clients

SIMPLE BUSINESS

How to beat the post holiday business slow down

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Simple Business Strategies for the New Year and beyond

SIMPLE BUSINESS

SIMPLE BUSINESS

How to bring in an extra $1000 before Christmas

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Marketing & sales lessons from my Mediterranean cruise

SIMPLE BUSINESS

How to have a stress free & profitable December

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Using your data to make intuitive decisions for your business

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Find & plug the money leaks in your business

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Avoiding common HR landmines that trip up entrepreneurs

SIMPLE BUSINESS

LinkedIn and PR

SIMPLE BUSINESS

The 4 Basics of Client Attraction & How to Standouts

SIMPLE BUSINESS

How to Leverage Rest and Grow Your Business

SIMPLE BUSINESS

How The Ego Plays A Role In Leadership And Team Success

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Scaling Your Coaching Business With 5-hour Work Weeks

SIMPLE BUSINESS

5 Ways To Prevent Burnout As A Service Based Business Owner

SIMPLE BUSINESS

Keeping Things Simple As A Multi-Passionate Entrepreneur