Now What?® Coaching

Blog

  • Is It Time for Your Own Business?

    Is It Time for Your Own Business?

    According to the Census Bureau, more than 4.4 million new businesses were created in the U.S. during 2020 — the highest total on record. For reference, that’s a 24.3% increase from 2019 and 51.0% higher than the 2010-19 average. Half a million new businesses were started in January 2021, alone.*

    What does that mean for you if you’re thinking of making the leap? It’ll mean you’re not alone, you’re not crazy and that the time has finally come for you to oversee your own schedule and destiny.

    Will it be easy? NO.

    But is it possible? YES.

    Here are some things to consider if you’re contemplating your corporate exit:

    Time

    Will you create a side-hustle or leap in full time? It can take one to three years to build a sustainable service business depending on your network and propensity for hustle.

    Money

    It’s not out of the question to be able to start a service-based business with a few thousand dollars if equipment is not needed, but it’s all about how fast you can get cash coming in.

    Figure out if you’ll be funding this yourself and how long you can go without an income as you build. If you are going to try to secure funding from family and friends, make very clear agreement and discuss each other’s expectations.

    Here is a general idea of some things to budget for and what to think about.

    What are you selling?

    Where your original idea can change over time, it’s important to know what you are offering and for how much. How will the marketplace value your service? Does it match what you hope for? Do some informal market research speaking to several people you feel might be potential customers down the road. Find competitors and get a sense of what is working out there.

    (Note: If you test this with friend, they will not be a good gauge of your worth in the marketplace. They are not likely to offer up big numbers that they wouldn’t pay themselves but remember others might)

    Gaps in strengths and knowledge

    You have to be honest with yourself. What is the skill you can’t wait to charge for? The result you can’t wait to create? Then, ask yourself what could get in the way of you being paid to use/create that? Are you afraid to talk to people? Are you unclear about how to market your service or even how to have a sales conversation? Do you have a hurdle to climb when it comes to understanding the technology, you’ll need to be all things as a solopreneur?

    It is critical that you do an honest assessment and start upgrading your skills to fill the gaps or identify a partner or help that could be a part of the business to make it succeed.

    Your odds

    Just like adding kids to your life, or buying a home, you can’t wait for the perfect timing because there is no such thing. However, the trend is here and it’s a favorable time. Remember though, that according to JP Morgan Chase statistics, roughly a third of new businesses exit within their first two years, and half exit within their first five years. The survival rate of new businesses has been remarkably consistent over time.

    All that means for you is to do your homework and prepare. Consistency of action, some planning, and a tremendous amount of gumption (fear is a good motivator!) are what will put you over the top.

  • The Forecast for 2022: Happy New Year

    The Forecast for 2022: Happy New Year

    You’re receiving this while I’m on vacation with my family which is a great relief after a year of hard work, tripling my business, and caretaking extended family members.  Last year, I did a predictive post which is not my usual MO.

    I’m coming back this year to compare how those predictions played out and set the stage for what we need to think about in our businesses and careers in the new year.

    ⚡️ Prediction 2021: COVID-19 will obviously still be a factor for many months.

    Status: Correct

    Forecast:  We are not eradicating this virus anytime soon. Although many are more relaxed about it, we are not gaining enough traction to eradicate it in 2022
    ⚡️ Prediction 2021: Living anywhere you want is a possibility in 2021.  Remote work will not stop after COVID-19 restrictions ease up.
    Status: Correct
    Forecast: This will be a retention issue as the Great Resignation has emboldened many to have some sort of remote option be a condition for retention or hire.
    ⚡️ Prediction 2021: Your mental health, well-being, and physical health will matter more to companies than it has in the past after getting through COVID-19
    Status: Uncertain

    Forecast: Although many suffered mental health issues during COVID isolation, it is the employee who will make decisions based on keeping their mental health intact and the employers are going to take longer to realize they can no longer ignore the effects of the pandemic nor how the demands they make on the workforce affects their employees’ ability to be well and do their jobs.

    ⚡️ Prediction 2021: The gig economy got some respect during COVID-19 as many states recognized unemployment benefits for the self-employed for the first time. The gig worker is not going anywhere, and it is how many people will cope with industry changes and being laid off.

    Status: Correct

    According to Salesforce:  The Census Bureau reports more than 4.4 million new businesses were created in the U.S. during 2020 — the highest total on record. For reference, that’s a 24.3% increase from 2019 and 51.0% higher than the 2010-19 average. Half a million new businesses were started in January 2021, alone.

    Forecast:  I’ve been screaming this since 1998 when I wrote “Take Yourself to the Top”, we are moving away from the corporate life being the American dream. More and more people (women in greater numbers) will move to self-employment to tame work to fit their lives.

    ⚡️ Prediction 2021: The hospitality, live-entertainment, and restaurant industry will be back with a vengeance, yet the question remains as to how much damage was done and did these establishments survive long enough to be resuscitated?  I hope we will have fair lending practices to bring back these staples of our social and cultural life we took for granted.

    Status: I was wrong

    The business are back and demand is there but establishments can’t find enough workers. Folks are done with low wage, thankless jobs. And many report the rudeness and entitlement of Americans as a major factor in leaving these jobs if they attempted to come back to them post-shut down. Hospitality, Restaurant Servers and even Flight Attendants are over it.

    Forecast: Higher prices to cover higher wages required for employee retention.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we started to see more automation if workers abandon these fields altogether. Are you seeing more self-checkout at food markets?  Same concept.

    Outside of entertainment/travel, we’ve got teachers and nurses being large swaths of caring and devoted workers reaching their breaking point and looking for new careers. (I talk to them every week)  Shortage in these areas will greatly affect our society.

    There will be opportunity for younger folks to break in but if we don’t fix the core reasons why these folks are leaving their profession, it’ll be a perpetual problem.

    ⚡️ Prediction 2021: Climate events will continue to remind us who is in charge. The automobile industry decided to keep moving ahead with the development of clean energy cars despite some restrictions being lifted. They know that consumer demand is to save the earth, and the need to do so remains. When we are out of the COVID-19 disruption, people will think about this again.

    Status: Correct  But only on the climate events part. 100 people dead in Kentucky from tornados as I write this. What will it take for people to demand change?

    Forecast: Mother Nature will keep kicking our butts. It’s a new world and we do not have the infrastructure in place to withstand it. So if we did not prepare, we are forced into reaction mode. Which is more expensive? Preparing or reacting? Think of that in your businesses too.

    What should you be preparing for? What infrastructure is needed to withstand what’s ahead (not necessarily climate-wise)

    ⚡️ Prediction 2021: The political climate will improve slightly, but the country remains divided, so it will be up to the individuals to reset the tone.

    If a pandemic could not bring people together, a war won’t either. I’m reminded of a secular prayer:  Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.  Fear is divisive and creates scarcity. Peace within us requires hard work, but it needs to be done. Do your part in 2021.

    Status: Correct and I was wrong —Correct, that not much improved. Wrong, in thinking that people might get tired enough of division to evolve.

    Forecast: This is more of an intent than a prediction. Let’s start over. Press restart. Go see West Side Story if you didn’t see it yet. A remake of an old story of what hate does. It reminds us what the roots of hate are and shows us humans are slooooooow to learn.
    The root of hate is fear. Not understanding a person, a culture, or a race and instead of becoming curious, becoming suspicious and scarcity minded.  That fear leads to tribalism and the result is division.

    I wish you, your loved ones, your business team and all who matter to you, a prosperous new year filled with love, safety and inclusion.

  • How Do You Measure A Year In The Life?

    How Do You Measure A Year In The Life?

    In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee
    In inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife
    In 525,600 minutes
    How do you measure a year in the life?*

    Another year is ending, and while we thought last year was unique as we endured a pandemic-induced disruption of daily life, this one has left us further changed.

    Did you go back to work? Did you quit? Did you shift your priorities? Did you discover something new about yourself?

    How do you measure this year in your life?

    I’m measuring in time spent with people. A lot more with many and too little with some and then others who fell away due to safety protocols or truthfully, politics. It was a terrific year for my business, but my life is smaller, and I like it. Less travel, zoom rooms instead of large gatherings, and more time at home post shutdown than I would’ve expected.

    I’m happier with a smaller sphere, reaching more people with less sweat, stress and miles crossed. The camera has become my friend. Not something hits extrovert, ex-performer would have expected.

    How do you measure a year in the life?

    Truth. Tears shared. Healing.
    Music, togetherness, laughter.
    Internet purchases, redecorating (still only half completed)
    New connections, new community (online),
    New knowledge, pushing up against the edges, testing limits
    Breaking barriers, standing in strength
    Allowing partnership, asking for help.
    Learning, learning, learning. Crying some.
    Laughter, laughter, more laughter.
    Love. A return to love**.

    How will you measure yours?

    I wish you every wish come true for this season of light-filled holidays.

  • Work: Are You Bored?

    Work: Are You Bored?

    There’s a parenting practice where if your child complains that they’re bored, you come back with “If you have an imagination, there’s no such thing as being bored.”

    And the parent sends the kid off to use their imagination and challenges them to create something to do.

    What about you?

    The adult version of bored, especially at work, speaks volumes about letting yourself be on autopilot for way too long and snuffing out any thoughts about a way out of what you’re doing now. This doesn’t apply to corporately employed job holders alone. It also applies to business owners and entrepreneurs who feel stymie by what they’ve created, even if it’s highly successful.

    Unsettled and antsy? Or has it turned into depression?

    Here’s what to do if you’re BORED.

    Be aware

    Feelings of angst, frustration, lethargy and sometimes despair can indicate that you have lost interest and satisfaction in your work.

    Overthrow the outdated

    This is a huge wake up call. It’s time to UPLEVEL. Gain new skills, admit it’s time for a new job and if you’re an entrepreneur give yourself a business challenge. It might be removing yourself more from your business, dropping the bottom third of your clientele, or entering a new market for your services.

    Realize you’ve grown

    It is possible to outgrow a job or career. You can coast and die inside, reinvent your work where you are or start the process of figuring out what is next. CLEARLY, any of these choices are easier said than done, but in my experience, those are the choices at hand.

    Expect success

    When boredom strikes, it’s a sign that you are not living up to your potential. You’re likely scared of making a move or trying something new, so you let that uncertainty fester into boredom and ennui. Although it may be hard to imagine, make moves to take that growth step and do so expecting success. You don’t have to let go of your sure-thing yet but start moving. Eventually, you’ll have no choice but to let go of the old (or at least the form it’s currently in).

    I remember when someone I was coaching had been developing a side hustle through our work. There came a point where she resented her job because it was in the way of all the activities she wanted to be doing in her new business. That was the point at which we knew it was time for the leap. The side hustle wasn’t paying all the bills yet, but it needed all the time, effort and energy the job was taking to take it the last mile to full success.

    She succeeded.

    Delete doubt

    Doubt. Fear. Whatever you want to call It. It’ll be there but don’t let it stop you.

    Never stop moving forward. Keep moving the needle on your next reach. Boredom will dissipate. Energy will return. Feeling alive again will be worth beating the doubt.

    If you have an imagination, you can’t be bored. Use your imagination to ‘Act As IF’ it’s already a done deal…THAT will beat back boredom, for sure.

  • The Pandemic Changed My Business: How One Question Might Help You

    The pandemic shut down was hard for so many people including people I know personally.

    For me, it was fraught with challenges but turned out to be one of the best years I’ve had in a long time.

    I shed 32 pounds after gaining 19 in the early months of the upheaval. Most of my work that required travel, public appearances and many active negotiations all died out to nothing.

    I am fortunate to have coaching clients consistently and as crushing as it was to see my young adult children have the most exciting years of their youth brought to a complete halt, it was a treasured gift to have everyone under one roof for 18 months.

    So many people contemplated their work and lives with the extra time at home and I’m not any different. Instead of drowning in anxiety about what I had lost and what the future might look like because of it, I decided to make a HUGE assumption that catapulted me into clarity and action and I’m so, so happy I did.

    I said to myself: “SELF!—Proceed like none of it is coming back.”

    I transformed my Now What? Coaching business, producing and delivering a new online version available to more people than I could possibly serve one on one  in my coaching practice.

    I’ve given work to the coaches I’ve trained to use my methodology as a result and we’ve doubled the business. (Oh, and the other work has come back too!)

    But here is what I really want to tell you.

    I’m starting a second business. I’m not giving up my career coaching work nor the company that houses it. I am adding on something that I haven’t done since my early days as a founding member of the International Coaching Federation: serve coaches.

    82% of talented people who train as a coach, quit within two years. As an ex-actor those numbers hit me extra hard because they are way too close to the numbers that the actors’ unions report about the percentage of members who don’t work.

    That is UNACCEPTABLE to me. I have 27 years of experience and I’m preparing to share everything I know that has allowed me to sustain a profitable business through three huge economic downturns, the game-changing world of social media and more that is not worth dating myself over.

    Every downturn in my business and life has become a catalyst for new growth and discoveries. They are not fun or particularly joyous and they can be outright painful, however, the sooner we mourn the loss, the sooner we can innovate.

    I invite you, if you are in a valley, to adopt my question above: “What if it (the industry, the job, the money or even a person) is not coming back? Stop waiting and start moving.

    I’m pumped up about my new offerings coming up and look forward to continuing to serve all you Now What?’ers who have stuck with me over the years!

  • Bypass Your Brain and Get to the Truth!

    Our brains are command central for all operations in our body but when it comes to finding direction for your life and career, it can be your biggest obstacle to clarity.

    If I could invent a magic pill, it wouldn’t be one to make your wishes come true. It would be a pill to turn off the linear, logical, analytic, judgmental part of  your brain so you can compute POSSIBILITIES!

    Week after week, I am in conversation with people trying to find their next professional step. My job is not to prescribe a path or psychically predict where they’ll end up.  It’s never been clearer that my job is to change people’s thinking. From no options to new horizons.

    From impossible impasses to new tributaries—-it all gets down to how we think. If you think you’re too old, not good enough, part of an irreplaceable dead industry or too insolvent to go back to school, then YOU ARE!

    I’m not talking about magical thinking or denying cold, hard facts but I am talking about finding what you are looking for. And if you’re looking for that list of NO’s, you’ll have no problem finding them. On the other hand, you can use  the same amount of energy looking for possibilities and open doors. It’s MUCH MORE PRODUCTIVE.

    In a single one hour group call this week, with one simple exercise, we by-passed logic and unleashed exciting, life affirming possibilities:

    (Names changed for confidentiality)

    Jane, in a safe, well-paying job saw no way to get to her dream because of the cost of going back to school. With logic, out of the way, she reported in twelve hours later, that she had identified several programs where there are scholarship opportunities.

    Roseanne, stuck and somewhat depressed for months, was paralyzed because her industry has shrunk, and she was seeing no other avenue for herself. When her left  brain was sideline by the exercise, she confessed she had a project she kept locked in a drawer that would open a whole new path for her.

    She giggled in delight as she  promised to act the next day to contact a person who could point her in the right direction.

    James asked to use a personal situation instead. A recent emergency put a spotlight on what had been missing for months in his romantic relationship. His logical, left brain convinced him that he would not find love again and that he had no choice but to settle for a relationship that was not ideal for him.

    He admitted that the truth had to be told and was preparing for what that would mean. Instead of sadness, he felt relief and was feeling confident that he deserved and could find the partnership he needed.

    Lillian reported being exhausted by her job and in a cyclical trap of not having the energy to work on the novel she’s been trying to write for years. She was stuck in a litany of reasons, all very logical, for having to shelve that project day after day, week after week and file it under ‘someday’.

    Now this may seem obvious, but only when we used the exercise to remove the logic, it  was clear that writing had to happen first every, single day. The possibilities this unleashed revealed a path to Lillian’s dreams and she revealed that it wasn’t only one novel she was writing but that she has seven already mapped out in her mind! All in one quick conversation.

    These are four examples of the eight we covered in one hour.

    By now, you’re probably asking: “What is the exercise, Laura?!” It’s not going to be shared yet.

    The reason being is that I want this read to prime the pump. Think about how you stop yourself from revealing what you really want. Notice how your beautiful brain gets in the way. Notice how every story I mentioned here revealed a hidden desire on top of the primary one.

    Let those truths come out!

    As it is said: “The truth will set you free”. It will unleash a fabulous, positive energy and THEN, you must act on it. None of the exercise matters if you don’t get into motion and stay in motion within the context of the new possibility/revealed truth.

    Bypass your brain and get on with your (true) life! I’ll be right here to help.