I'd completely run out of money.
I just couldn't keep going.
I had to pick my head out of the sand and think,
"What the bloody hell am I doing?!
"What is going on?!"
Somebody inside of my membership put out a really vulnerable post.
And I actually want to share it with you.
Because I know that so many of us feel this way
and have felt this way,
and can relate to this.
And I think that this is something is so important to talk about.
"I don't have a business.
I just realised that I don't have a business.
And I don't really know how I feel about that.
I am not making money.
I write blogs and share content on social media.
So I'm not the CEO, I wish I was.
I'm basically a content maker.
Shameful, isn't it?
And what's worse
is that I don't even know when it will be okay to say,
"I'm ready. I know my audience well enough, they are ready to purchase."
For anyone out there
that feels exactly like this person who put that post out,
you feel like you're a bit of a joke,
you feel like it's shameful,
that you're just kind of putting content out
but it's not making any money yet,
I really want us to flip it around,
and to help you to see the way through
and to see how you can get through this
and how you can actually start making the money that you want.
The first thing is to really sit down
and think about what is truly going on here?
What is truly going on here?
When I started the Female Entrepreneur Association,
creating something to sell felt really, really scary for me.
Nearly two years into running the business, I'd basically made no money.
And I basically reached a point where I'd completely run out of money.
I just couldn't keep going.
When I reached that point where I'd completely ran out of money,
I had to ask myself the bloomin' question,
I had to pick my head out of the sand and think,
What the bloody hell am I doing? What is going on?
And in really being honest with myself,
I realised that I had so many money blocks,
I had so much impostor syndrome.
And the question became,
"Am I going to have the courage to get out of my own way and finally do something about it?
Or am I not?
Because if I'm not going to have the courage to get on my own way
and do something about it,
then I'm gonna run it into the ground,
and I can't do anything, I can't continue with this mission, I can't be of use to anyone,
because it's not sustainable, just giving everything away for free forever.
Like that's not sustainable.
Really ask yourself that question.
And get a piece of paper and a pen
and start writing out what is going on for you?
What are some of the amazing things that you're doing?
Where are you seeing momentum building?
What are you seeing that is actually working?
Really looking at all of that,
and then also looking at
what is holding you back and stopping you from creating something to offer them to sell?
What is holding you back and stopping you from actually making money?
What are those beliefs or money blocks and doubts for you?
You've got to get it out and get clear on what it is,
so that you can actually do something about it,
and you can move out of your own way and get on with it.
The other thing is to look at,
are you building a solid business foundation for yourself?
So for me, when I was building FEA,
and I wasn't making money, and I was so stuck in my own way,
and I knew I was stuck in my own way,
and I just was really struggling to get out of it,
I looked at,
I can see that I'm building momentum.
I can see that people are really excited by what I'm doing.
The feedback I'm getting is great.
I'm making some real connections, and people constantly saying,
"Oh my gosh, I really love what you're doing.
Oh my gosh, I love this. This is so great."
I was building a real solid foundation for myself.
I was clear on my mission.
I was clear on who my audience were.
I was clear on how I want you to show up and communicate with them.
And I was chatting with them.
And I was engaging with them.
I could sense I was building momentum.
Not just sense it: I knew it, factually, I was building momentum.
I knew it factually, because my Facebook fan page was growing,
my social media following was growing,
my email list was growing.
Have you been working on that solid business foundation,
where you know what you're doing,
you know what you're here for,
you know what your mission is?
Look at the overall picture and look at the data, the statistics that you can pull.
And I think this leads into the third point really of,
what is your vision?
What is your vision for what you want to create?
And do you have that really clear vision mapped out,
so that you know where you're trying to get to?
So for me, for example, with FEA,
I was building this audience,
but I knew I was building this audience
because I knew if I could build this audience of female entrepreneurs,
who wanted help building a business,
I knew at some point, I would be able to sell them something,
and that they would buy it from me.
So what is your vision?
I knew I always had a goal to create a membership site.
I also knew that I wanted to create courses and other digital products.
I knew that's what I was trying to build myself up to creating.
So what is your vision?
Do you have any ideas for what it is that you would like to create?
So you know where you're going.
You know, "I am working on this, because this is where I'm trying to get to."
Make it easier for yourself to create something to sell.
So looking at what you have
and the audience that you've built
and what you're doing,
what is the path of least resistance
to get you to start making money from this?
What could you sell?
We literally just came out with our first ever
Resell Rights Bundle
that you can use, and you can sell it as your own.
So you can sell it as your own creation.
Getting Started doing something like that is so powerful.
It's not the be all and end all.
There is going to come a point in time when you do create your own things.
I know that, for myself,
selling someone else's product and service is so much easier mentally
than selling something that I've created, and I've poured my heart and soul into,
that might get rejected.
Do you know what I mean?
Like, it's so much easier to get rejected when you sell someone else's thing.
Once you've done it, it becomes easier.
And you're like, "Oh my God, it was so much easier than I thought it was gonna be."
"Why was I worried about this and struggling with this for such a long time?"
Just having something that's created and there, that you could just put out,
can help make it so much easier to just break through,
than figuring it all out yourself, and then creating. Because there's so many layers to that.
Honestly, sometimes I found that just taking action on something that creates the least resistance for me
is the fastest way to break through something.
It might not be an overnight path, it might still take some time,
but yeah, too many people give up on the brink of a breakthrough.
For any of you struggling with this right now, keep going.
You absolutely can build a successful business.
There's no doubt in my mind, everyone can build a successful business.
But it's just keeping on going, learning,
looking at what's happening, what is going on.
Getting the right help and support, obviously getting the right help and support can shortcut things so much.
Hope you feel like you aren't alone, and that you can do it,
because you absolutely can.
And even the courage to try
and to put yourself out there
is enormous.
So give yourself lots of credit, and a pat on the back.
The future holds the most exciting and incredible achievements.
There's so many opportunities.
The fruit is the last thing to grow on the fruit tree. The last thing.
Keep going with it. Keep tapping into it, keep figuring it out.
And you will get there, you will absolutely get there.
If you need anything, if you need support, then we're here for you, we're here to cheer you on.
If you feel like, "What am I even doing? I can't do this. I can't make it happen,",
then literally reach out!
Reach out on social media, reach out in the membership, whatever it is,
just reach out we are absolutely here for you.
Enjoy the rest of your week, and I will see you next Tuesday
for another episode of The She Means Business Show.
Bye!