Let’s talk about one of the most important things in your business: why you are in business, your Big WHY. This is the North Star. This is the thing that guides you, that keeps you in alignment and on track with what you're doing all the time. This is your deepest belief, your desires, your core values. You have to figure those out not just when you start your business, but to BE in business.
I want to make a distinction: many of you are doing “fine,” but then where you get stuck is often because you don't really have a business. You have a service. What is it actually that you need to do to build a business? Getting very clear on this mindset piece, the Big WHY is really important right from the beginning. Even if you are already in mid-six figures and you're getting stuck, you might want to go back and examine this piece. This is really thinking about, why are you doing what you're doing? Who are you helping? Who are you serving? What is this contributing to you on a very personal level? Then you have to take it broader. First, you look at it from this 30,000 foot view: why am I doing this thing? Then also you bring it in closer. How is it affecting my family, my community, my direct environment, the people around me? What's really important about me doing this stuff?
Here, you're connecting to your life purpose in a really, really powerful way. It will keep you on track. It will keep you motivated when the going gets tough because the simple truth is, when you're an entrepreneur you're on a rollercoaster ride. You can think it's scary and terrifying and you never want to do it again or you can throw your hands up and ride the ride and have a great time. Sometimes you feel like you're going to fly out of your seat but that's the ride. Being an entrepreneur is that ride. It gets really rough sometimes. You have to have a purpose. You have to have a decision for why you're doing what you're doing so you can stay with it, you can stick with it.
That connection to your life purpose, and also when you're inspired about what you're doing, when you love what you do, has a ripple effect. It inspires others. You have to keep remembering that. If you are an expression of your business and your business is an expression of you, if you're not super connected to your purpose, if you're not really aligned and in congruence with it, that will bleed through. Your clients will know. Your marketing will know. It won't land. You need to be in alignment with your message. This also builds loyal clients because, you want to become that thought leader who people are following because you've got some interesting stuff to say and some interesting new direction, but you need to connect with people on a soul level as well. I know this sounds kind of woo-woo but here’s the deal: when you're connecting with somebody it's because something matches in you. When your purpose and your message are matching, that's what actually lands with your clients.
Just think about this moment. What's this thing that you have to absolutely bring forward to the world for you to feel like you're doing it right, you're landing, you're connecting with your clients? Keep thinking about this because, as woo-woo as this sounds, that’s actually a super practical, strategical thing: the core message in your marketing. Marketing is everything. If that core message isn't in alignment and doesn't match, your marketing isn't going to land. That's the mindset piece around the Big WHY. Think about it as your leading star, as this thing that's guiding you to your purpose, and keeping you connected.
When we get to strategy, you have to think about the message. When you're in alignment, your message lands with your clients. You want to have the right message so you attract the right clients. For those of us who have been in business for a while, you know what it's like when you get clients into your tribe who are just paying you money. They're making it easier on your checking account, but you're dreading to get on the phone with them. You know that there's always a problem. It feels like this push and pull. It's a difficult client. Not only do they usually not pay you as well but they also often times take up a tremendous amount of time and energy and bandwidth. You want to make sure that your Big WHY is matched up with your message so you can attract that right client who's really super fun to work with. You can also help that client generally make really big results happen, which is really good for your business.
When you think about having that Big WHY dialed in, it has so many functions. It helps you get clients. It also helps you keep clients because you are a good match with the client. You get along. You love each other. You can contribute to each other in many different ways. It helps you keep your clients on board too. It's also an incredibly empowering sales tool that will help you convert your leads in a powerful way.
There's a great book called Start With Why by Simon Sinek. I highly recommend it. He talks a lot about this. When you can match your purpose with your client's purpose then your sales conversation becomes fun. When you think about the old strategy of the used cars sales lot, what isn't happening there is you don't have alignment. You don't have alignment in the message. You're not connecting. It feels gross. You want to take a shower.
When you have your sales conversation and you are in alignment with your Big WHY and your client's Big WHY, it's this beautiful moment where you're just really having a conversation. It's not about convincing somebody. It's not about manipulating somebody. It's just really knowing your intention behind your call. You're helping them to see the truth, you're finding out how you can help them and then you're serving them. It's a much, much different intention that feels really different for your client than if you were trying to pressure them or talk them into it or feeling like you're pulling out all the stops to “make them do” something. This is, again, matching up your Big WHY with your client's Big WHY.
This also perpetuates in the long run because what happens when you actually start scaling and you have a team? If you do it right, you are hiring for culture fit. Again, the culture fit is that your Big WHY matches with your team member's Big WHY. Everybody you're hiring knows what the purpose is. They know what the mission is. They know what the core values are. They know what you're going for, the big vision in the company in the long run and you're all agreeing with it. You get to do your best. They get to do their best. You're on the same page all the time. That helps you hire a team that's highly effective, that has your back, that always knows where you're going with this and why you're doing this, and so there's a lot of longevity, there's a lot of growth. Again, that's one of the most important things when you're taking your business to a new level.
There are heart and soul based sales. I want you to think about this in the next week and do a little exercise. Sit down and think about what success means to you. Come up with at least six markers for that. Then take those six success markers and come up with four elements that describe each of those. If one of your success markers, for instance, is, making a lot of money, what does that mean to you? Does that mean you're going to just buy a new house, you're going to contribute to a charity, you're going to change your health, you're going to have your mom move in with you? Whatever it is, what are you going to do with it? What are the elements that describe this?
There's a great quote by Viktor Frankl that says, "If you know why, you can bear the how." Keep thinking about that. When you get out of alignment with what you're doing, you're out of alignment with your why, and the going gets really tough. If you're having a hard day you might want to sit down and really think about, "Where am I not in alignment with my why?" It's a great exercise to do every morning in your Dawn Patrol.
When this is dialed in, you also have a lot more clients who stick with you. Your client transaction really changes. You go from having one-time clients to clients who come back because they're your raving fans. They love you. They agree with what you're doing. They agree with your thinking. They're matching with this. It's building a transformational business versus a transactional.
Once you know your Big WHY you can ask yourself a lot of questions. You can ask yourself, "What do I need to change in my business right now? What do I need to let go?" Come up with a mantra that supports your Big WHY throughout the day when you're having a hard time.
This is just the beginning. This is a lot of stuff to think about. Go through the exercise that I gave you. Observe what happens when you practice this over a couple of weeks. When you keep connecting with why you're in business and what's important to you and having the really big picture, the 10,000 foot view of this, or 30,000 foot view, and you'll get what I'm talking about. You'll really see the difference in your client interactions, in your people interactions in general. You can practice this all across the board with your husband, with your kids, with your mother-in-law.
If you want to learn more, go to our Facebook group, The Art of Scaling to Seven Figures. Join the thread. Join the conversations. We have some really good stuff going on. Also, if you want even more help, you can go to SevenFigureCEO.com/apply and apply for a strategy session with me there.