What does it take to Build a Solid Business Foundation?
October 5, 2021
“Don’t build your business on sand.”
This statement rang in my ears for MONTHS.
A trap that many coaches and service providers fall into, is pouring their time and energy into everyone else’s businesses, and not their own.
As a woman on a mission building her business during maternity leave, admittedly much of my initial business foundations were built amongst the nooks and crankies of my day.
Early on, I had ONE baby-free day per week that was dedicated to my client calls. Everything else was in between.
While I managed to grow to 5K months like this, it was by no means sustainable. The niggle in my chest continued to grow.
“Slow down to speed up.”
Another statement. I was so torn between trusting my gut instinct vs listening to the copious amounts of advice that I didn’t need in order to succeed.
The thing is, I DESIRED to uplevel my systems, I desired to build out systems to support me and ultimately set my business up for long-term success.
Here’s the thing about business: like building a house, if your foundations are weak and not laid properly, it compromises the entire structure.
The moment I made the internal decision to trust my instinct to ‘slow down to speed up’, everything fell into place: a long-term client paused her contract, so I applied for and successfully secured a systems scholarship AND I found a business operations strategist that was SO aligned.
If you didn’t lay the proper foundations at the start of your business, then it is ok, because you can take action NOW to support your business moving forward!
The Quadess™ Methodology – Academy of Soulful Business Leadership
I like to view my businesses foundation through the lens of a pyramid, it’s the base layer that is key to stabilising every other aspect of your business.
Yet this area is often the most overlooked, growing a business isn’t just about your sales and marketing strategy. The work is in elevating your mindset, raising your standards, stepping into your leadership and creating lasting impact.
Over the last decade of coaching people I’ve seen time and time again that the most determining factor to whether a business will thrive or struggle comes down to the business leaders’ ability to lead themselves.
Self leadership and emotional mastery extends far beyond your mindset, this encompasses your internal beliefs, thoughts, habits, behaviours, characteristics and energetic state. This is about who you are at your core and what you believe.
Successful businesses are built from the inside out. It’s an inner game, when this foundational layer is strong it drives every other aspect of the business.
This is why I focus on strengthening your relationship with yourself inside everyone one of my mentorship programs, the ripple effect created by the shifts that occur that can be felt through your online presence, the way you show up for your clients as well as your personal relationships.
Now that you have a solid base of self leadership and emotional mastery it’s time to lay your strategic business foundations.
Level 2 – Strategic Business Foundations (Strategy)
In this step you want to get clear on the group of people that you serve. What are their biggest challenges, problems and pain points? What is your offer and how does it support your clients transformation?
If you try to speak to everyone you end up speaking to no one, specificity is key. Honing in on exactly who you are speaking to and what point in their journey they are at will form the basis for your offer, message and position in the marketplace.
1. Who do you serve? 2. What do you serve them with? 3. What’s your method for transformation? 4. Does your business model & offer align to your values and desired lifestyle? 5. Do you have systems in place to support your delivery?
For me I had points 1 – 4 in place yet my systems weren’t strong enough to execute at the level I desired. I knew who I served, I had a transformational offer but I was operating as a one woman show.
I needed systems in place to automate certain aspects of my business to elevate my client delivery and deliver the world class experience I was committed to. Building these systems was my version of ‘slowing down’ in order to speed up.
This pillar is transformational for both new and existing business owners, many of my clients see some level of success prior to going about these aspects of their business with intention.
Have you created a business model and way of working that is sustainable? Are your current ways of working aligned to your lifestyle and set up for you to thrive? Does your offer and the clients you are working with truly light you up?
Building a strong foundation means understanding all elements of your business, because if you understand it, it probably exists.
Can you describe your brand strategy, marketing or sales process? If you can, it’s more than likely happening with intention and bringing in results you want them to.
If not, you’re not alone – many rising entrepreneurs aren’t building their personal brand with intention, they don’t truly understand sales or marketing and to some degree they are throwing spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.
I’ve been there, it’s exhausting, it’s overwhelming and it just wastes so much of your time.
You need to find clarity, you need to embrace simplicity, structure and systems that feel expansive to you.
I rebelled against having strategic branding, sales and marketing systems simply because I hadn’t found the right mix of intellect and intuition.
You can still embrace your feminine fluid nature, I’ve found having this structure actually allows for more freedom, purpose and creativity.
My signature Quadess™ methodology is founded upon these four principles:
I’ve found that no matter where you are in your business, brand new, existing or scaling. Your next level lies within these principles.
Which of the four areas are you currently working on to make your business foundations rock solid? Jump over the IG to connect, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
If you’d like to go deeper on these principles Business Alchemist is my FREE 3-day Masterclass series designed to move you, activate you and call you to rise. Click this link to join me live October 11th, 12th and 13th, let’s bring your business vision to life.