business coach Archives - Page 12 of 15

Here's the thing: when you're done with playing small

Some time last year, something switched for me. I decided to play bigger – with Copper Boom Studio, with my life, with my dreams.

I worked hard and I made big choices to rent a commercial space, to employ staff, to take on debt. Somewhere in there, I got overwhelmed. Understandable, right? After a huge expansion often comes a contraction. We stick our heads above the parapet, and then we want to duck back to safety again.

So December and January were very much about safety – keeping it quiet and small and manageable.

And then at the end of January, after I’d finished my second retreat weekend of the year, I was sat in a small tea shop with my dear friend Kelly, and it hit me: I’m done with playing small.

You see, after the expansion and contraction, you wait a bit. And the next wave comes.

I’m at the beginning of the next wave of playing big.

And this year, with pace as my guiding word and plenty of personal projects going on as well (a wedding, a home), playing big feels even more powerful. It feels more permanent, more manageable because it’s contained in this idea of finding a sustainable pace.

The feeling when I sat in that tea shop was one of quiet determination, and of clear boundaries.

I’m done with fighting the battles that aren’t mine.

I’m done with saying yes when I mean no. (More on that soon.)

I’m done with worrying all the time. I’ll still worry, but how about it isn’t the default?

I’m done with people pleasing so that I don’t even know what’s right for me anymore.

I’m done with hiding.

I’m done with fearing that it won’t work – I’m determined to make it happen.

So here’s the thing:

I know that being done with worry and fear and bullshit doesn’t mean that all magically goes away. So I’m not here to tell you that it will!

But what I do know is that making small changes, taking small steps towards upholding boundaries and getting more organised (something I’ve been neglecting in the huge growth periods) is doable and will help me to move past fear, worry and struggle.

For me, there’s a specific feeling in my body. It feels like focus, like I did when I stepped on stage with a saxophone in my hand to play in front of hundreds of people at school. (True story.) It feels like energy, but in a calm way, rather than chaotic freaking out energy.

Kelly said she could see it in my eyes, and I can feel it now, too.

So, what’s true for you? Are you in expansion or contraction right now?

Have you had a phase in your life when you felt like you were just done?

What are you done with now? What are you ready to release?

What are you ready to embrace instead?

What practical steps will you take to move forward towards your dreams (and away from fear)?

I’d love to hear!

PS Achievable Dreams, my monthly in-person workshops to help you play bigger in a manageable way, are now open for earlybird tickets – just £45 and payable in two installments.

Here's the thing: tax returns

When it comes to the HMRC, there are some things I find painful. Their user experience on their website. Communication. Trying to register as an employer (which took me approx 50 billion years. Twice.).

But I actually love their current radio ads which focus on the inner peace you get once you’ve submitted your tax return. They’re not wrong!

In my experience, submitting is half the thing. There’s also the emotional process and the financial practices that go with it.

What’s done is done

Working on your tax return is like stepping back in time. You have to look at business decisions from 18 months ago and remember what happened – good and bad. You get to celebrate successes, for sure, but it can also be challenging to remember the things you thought would work and didn’t.

So remember, what’s done is done. You did your best (and PLEASE make sure you celebrate an awesome year and all the things that went well), and you’ve learnt so much since 30 March 2016. I know you have.

You’re not the only one

Whether you’re looking at no tax bill because you made no profit, or you’re looking at a huge tax bill that you can’t pay because you haven’t put the tax to one side, please know that you’re not alone. Hundreds, probably thousands, of businesses have been in the same place as you.

If you can’t pay your tax bill, get in touch with the HMRC to sort out a payment plan. It’s possible. They just want to know when you’ll be able to pay it. No judgement. No shame. You’re not alone, and you’re not “bad”.

If you didn’t make profit, you probably laid some good foundations for the future. Again, no judgement, no shame. You’ve got this.

Love your business afresh

Tax season is a great time to review your current financial practices. I know I am! Here are some ideas:

Set a weekly money date to keep up with your bookkeeping. When this is part of my routine, I easily make better business decisions and worry less. Find a morning or an afternoon and put an hour or so aside – whatever feels good to you. Track incoming and outgoing. File the papers.
Calculate and put aside your tax. 25% of your income is a great number to put aside for tax. Disclaimer: I’ve done this for one year, and struggled to do it this year. I’m resolving to use my savings account to do just this. I’ll need a spreadsheet to tell me how much should be in there, so I’ve set this up, too. I’ll check it when I do my weekly money dates.
Re-focus your priorities. If making a profit is important to you this year, let it influence your decisions. Not at the expense of happiness or creativity, but there’s something very clear and intentional when you know what you need. (Note: most clients I start working with can put their prices up by 20%. Consider and start there.) If profit has been good, but creativity has been stagnant, re-focus towards creative time and freedom. If you’re somewhere in the middle, do a bit of one and then a bit of the other.

Get support

I can’t imagine not hiring an accountant to do my tax return. First, it means I have very little direct contact with HMRC, which helps my sanity. It also means it’s not on my shoulders and I don’t worry about getting it wrong.

My accountant and recommendation for creative businesses is Amy Taylor. She specialises in NOTHS and Etsy sellers – she knows those systems and how they work. She helps with my sole trader business AND my now big, limited company with VAT. Her team includes specialists, so I know I can email all my little questions when I need to.

She also invoices monthly, so I spread the cost of tax returns, VAT returns, payroll etc, rather than getting caught out.

If you need help, I recommend getting in touch. Tell Amy I sent you. (I’ll get a little gift if you sign up, but I’d recommend her anyway.)

And if you need support creating business plans, re-focusing, working on your marketing strategy, I’m here. One on one mentoring options open up again in February. Let’s crack this thing.

Jenny x

PS Did you know you can my blog posts delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe here.

Here's the thing: strength

Yesterday, I launched a Crowdfunder for Copper Boom. I will tell you all about it, I promise, but right now I need to tell you about strength.

Isn’t it sometimes true that you have to go beyond your limits (or what you thought were your limits) in order to see how capable you are? In order to see how strong you are? Strength, it seems, is what I’m discovering new layers of, beyond the surface and the next rung down and the places I knew so well.

Last week, Copper Boom moved out of my house and into commercial premises, and I tell you, it is a relief. It feels better already. Bigger, more real, more professional, more capable. But boy is it hard work. Hard in ways I hadn’t quite imagined. We still have no phone line, no internet, because lord love them, BT cancelled my order without telling me three times. After I diligently planned ahead and had a date a whole week before we moved in when they would install! There is strength in calling them back – again! – to see what the hell is going on.

My team also trebled overnight. Two permanent team members started last week. Thank goodness. I held a team lunch on Friday and there were eight of us around the table. Eight! And at the end of that long week, it felt like strength to sit there and not let all of my fears and exhaustion show through, but instead introduce them to each other and give us all the opportunity to celebrate and get excited.

There’s strength in being so completely brain-dead at the end of the day that I burn the dinner, and then getting up in the morning to do it all over again.

There’s strength (or is it just an ache?) in my calves, thighs, shoulders, from standing and lifting and moving and working on photoshoots.

There’s strength in coming back to my vision, my integrity, my dream – even when I see other people doing other stuff, or when I’m asked if we can do something else.

I was thinking about strength, and I wondered what my strengths are. In the chaos of moving and building and adding people and launching a Crowdfunder, it doesn’t feel like organisation is my strength. But perhaps flexibility or riding the wave is a strength.

Writing and communication are strengths of mine, and yet I’ve called two people the wrong names every time I’ve seen them this week. And I’ve read over emails I’ve written and thought, Jenny, that really isn’t clear at all. I know that they’re still strengths underneath it all, but in this busy phase, who’s to know?

I do believe one of my strengths is hope. I am good at finding hope in dark places, whether for myself or for others. Recently, I worried that perhaps hope was my downfall – do I just hope too much, without really putting the effort in to make it happen? This is a genuine question I have put to several friends. They all laughed at me. Apparently running two businesses and pushing one of them quite hard is practically the definition of “putting enough effort in”.

And you know me. I see strength in the tears, in admitting that it’s hard and I still want to do it. There is strength in acknowledging that there’s still so far to go and, damn it, I’d just like a rest, please.

There’s strength in becoming more visible. (Oh, I have a whole book to write on this subject, but safe to say I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently.) Especially when you don’t feel polished and up to scrutiny.

I see strength in the client who emailed today saying she has two staff members out of action and is struggling to draw breath. I hear ya, sister. There’s strength in powering through.

There’s strength in the client who asked me to create a business plan with her, even though she’s going through IVF treatment, because whether she’s pregnant tomorrow or not, she needs her business to change.

This year, I chose bloom as my word. I think about it a lot. It’s been very apt, so far. Today, thinking about strength, I notice what a vital component it is to blooming. A flower needs strength to grow, to stand, to open its petals. Even the most delicate flora needs strength. It doesn’t question whether it will be strong enough, or whether being strong is even worth it. It just blooms.

And so here’s the thing:

Let’s be strong together. Let’s recognise our strengths. When was the last time you considered what your personal and professional strengths are? Perhaps now is the time to make a note of them.

And: what do you need to be strong? I need sleep and good food and space to completely collapse at the end of the day, with no expectations that I will have anything further to give. Right now, that’s what this building-a-business strength requires.

I am strong. And I’m glad of it.

Here’s to us.

So here’s the thing:

What’s done is done

You’re not the only one

Love your business afresh

Get support

And so here’s the thing:

Enter The Forge