Today I wanted to talk about how we evolve in our business and what it looks like to evolve in your business.
What I’ve found is that sometimes we build our business in a way that works at the time and then we keep growing in the same way. We do the same things, we use the same tools, we continue to create but we may not be taking a step back to look at what’s work and what’s not.
So today I wanted to share some of the key things we work through together in BBA and as I said this is what I work through myself every year too. I’ve put it into the profitable Growth Model which is what we use in BBA.
When it comes to constantly evolving your business, some of the key things that we work through on a regular (3-6-12 month) are:
✨ Working through mindset blocks
✨ Developing your brand strategy
✨ Reassessing your business strategy and how you're earning revenue in your business
✨ Getting creative with your pricing and packaging
✨ Marketing & sales
✨ Creating savvy systems in your business
✨ and most importantly operating a bold business and setting up as the CEO.
EPSIODES Mentioned:
Episode 192 – Building Your Belief Ladders [listen here]
Join Brand Builders Academy to learn how to use the Profit Growth Model in your business!
Hello friend, how are you? Welcome back to the podcast. I'm recording this in the afternoon and I'm feeling very mellow. I just went out and had lunch with my content manager and virtual assistant Kesh. And we did a bit of planning this morning. So which was great. I took her through and I did some training with her. We talked about the content strategy that we're going to be using this year. So I'm feeling like in the groove plus, I am in the middle of Brand Builder Academy launch, which obviously I have shared with you. So I'm super excited. It's very exciting to have the ladies that have joined, join us. That's always amazing. And doors are still open when this episode goes live, which will be I think, the second of February 2022. And so you are welcome. You are invited to come and join us. All you have to do is go to suzchadwick.com forward slash BBA and come and join our incredible community. Also, I do have more live webinars happening this week and next week. So just go to suzchadwick.com forward slash level up if you want to come and hang with me, we're talking about three powerful strategies to build your confidence, your clients and your momentum. We've had some amazing women that were on live, we had some great chats, my webinars, my masterclasses are very interactive. So come along learn some stuff. Say hi, we'd love to see you there.
But listen, today we're going to be talking about constantly evolving in your business. And one of the things that we do within Brand Builders Academy is that you get lifetime access. And my clients come back, they come back for live rounds. So clients who went through it a year or two ago, they're like Suz, I want to uplevel let me come back. And obviously they can, because that is one of the perks of joining Brand Builders Academy, every time you are ready to level up, you can go through the programme again. And the reason that I say that is because it's something that I do myself. So today I'm going to take you through some of the key things that I think are super important when it comes to constantly evolving in your business. And these are some of the key things that we go through in Brand Builders Academy as well. So if you are ready to be on a journey to constantly and consistently be evolving in your business, then come and join us my friend. But listen, without further ado, let's dive into this week's episode.
So today, I want to talk about how we continue to evolve in our business and what it looks like to evolve as well. Now, if you're listening to this in real time, then obviously as I mentioned, you know that the doors to Brand Builders Academy open. And the reason that I mentioned it is because this is how I've built BBA. Yeah. It's one of the reasons why my clients get lifetime access. It's one of the reasons why we have beginners through to six figure businesses because they constantly go through, they up level, they tweak different parts of their business, through different live coaching rounds that we have, really they can do at any time because they've always got access to it. But it's what I use myself every year to level up and evolve as well, which is why I know it works and why I know that it can really support businesses to continue to evolve. And what I found is that sometimes we build our business in a way that works at the time. And then we keep growing in the same way, we don't really change what we're doing in a way that can really help us to springboard where we are now to where we want to be. So we might do the same things. We use the same tools, we continue to create the same kind of content, that sort of thing. And it's because, well, you know, if I just keep doing what I'm doing, then obviously it will work. But as business owners, I'm sure you know it's so important for us to continue to evolve. So today I wanted to share some of the key things that we worked through in BBA. And as I said, this is what I worked through myself. So I've put it together in what I call the profitable growth model, which is how we work through things. So the first thing is really around mindset and I know lots of people talk about it, and I don't care what anybody says, if your head is not in the right place, then nothing else is gonna go well either has been my experience for myself, as well as watching other people working with a lot of clients. You can have the best strategies, I've shared it before, that's how I started my business, I can give you the best strategy in the world. But if you're not confident enough, if you don't, if you're not courageous enough, if you don't feel like it's something that you can do, if you're worried about what people are gonna say, all the rest of it, you've got that negative self talk, comparing yourself all the things. And if you're in business, then you'll know that it's a one of the things that you have to consistently be working on. Even my mindset mentors who have 10 and $20 million businesses say that they are working on this all the time. So sometimes I feel like we're like, oh, that's just you know, like, everybody talks about it. And it's something that you deal with at the beginning of your business. But it's not, it's something that you have to be aware of all the time. So I know that it's something I not only spend time on, but I invest in, one of the biggest pitfalls I think that you can experience is thinking that there is nothing else to work on. When it comes to your mindset. I feel like that's even a mindset block is I have nothing else to work on. So even in the last week, I had somebody massively challenged my thinking on something. And it's made me look at my business in a whole new way. I love that it's one of my favourite things, is when one of my online mental says, What about if you thought about it like this? And I'm like, That is amazing. I love it. How do I now implement that in my business. So mindset is something that I think you should always or should always be on your agenda when it comes to evolving your business. And if you don't evolve your mind, you can't evolve your business is my philosophy. And that's what I believe. And that's what I believe for a long time I welcome it, I welcome somebody who is killing it in business challenging my thinking. And so some of the things that we've been through within Brand Builders Academy and we and we go through, is really looking at how we break through our mindset, how we identify what we think when it comes to certain things, how we evaluate how that is impacting the work that we do, the strategies that we have, the way that we show up, the offers that we make, the prices that we charge, like, what exactly are we thinking, what does that look like? And then also, what is the drama that we're creating around making decisions in our business? What's the drama, we're creating around pricing? What's the drama we're creating around clients and how we think about clients. And I think one of the big things and I had this conversation recently with a client was really around, I don't want people to think I'm salesy. I'm you know,
if I put it out there and somebody says something, I'm like, has anybody said anything? They're like, No, they haven't. And just that that fear, that fear of being seen that fear of putting what you want to sell out there. And we feel a lot of the time that there's all this judgement. But at the end of the day, if you know that what you have really serves your clients, then working on their mindset to really move into that CEO mindset and saying, if I want my business to prosper, if I want my business to thrive, then I have to become good at sales. And if I have all these limiting beliefs, or I have all of these blocks around how I show up what I say how I share what I've got, then how can I possibly ever create a thriving, financially thriving business, when I'm not willing to talk about what I have. And so that is something we work on. And we work on across multiple issues, blocks and barriers that our clients talk about in VBA. And I think one of the things is that when you're in a safe space like that, being really open to say, you know, something I really struggle with this is something that can help you to move forward. Think so often we have a lot of thoughts that we keep to ourselves because we feel ashamed or embarrassed, or we actually don't have anybody to share those with. And I think that when you're in a community where there's such an open conversation, then you can share that and you can hear what other people are dealing with and the conversation around what other people have done to overcome it. And what you can potentially learn, adapt, you know, share for yourself to be able to grow and evolve as well. And so mindset is a big one. We also look at how you break through that drama in a really effective way and really simple way so that you can really start to build more Momentum, get the traction, create the business that you want as well. And I love that one of my clients said, you know, Suz, you know, the way that you can really eliminate drama from how you how you build your business as well. The second thing that we go through and that I think is really important to go through as a business is your brand strategy. So with the market always changing, you need to think about how you're going to become known now. Yeah, and in what I do the the eight ways to grow your brand. One of the things I talk about is that brand awareness, you know, and I talked about it on a masterclass the other night as well with Aussie Biz Chicks was really taking a look at at the beginning of the year, what your brand's strategy is going to look like. So how are you going to become known? Is your message still the same? Are you wanting to evolve it and change it? Are you wanting to target new audiences? What does your strategy around connecting with your cold, your warm, your hot audiences look like? When you're like? How am I going to get new eyeballs on what I'm doing? How I'm going to, how am I going to convert or take my warm audience who already know me? Through to being clients? And then how am I going to continue to serve the clients that I've got, and make sure that, you know, I'm keeping them happy, and that they're getting the results that they want and that they're talking about me too. And so really starting to take a look at and I think this is important every year because the market shifts, you've got to take a look at your position in the market, competitors that are coming through? Do you need to evolve that message? Do you need to evolve your position? What does it take to shift that position? Do you need to do a rebrand? Do you need to do an update of your products and services? And I think pricing does you know it comes into business strategy as well as brand strategy. And so really thinking about how you want to, I guess attack your strategy this year, when it comes to being know what kind of collaborations are you going to potentially embark on as well? Who do you want to be working with? Yeah, whose zone of awareness do you want to be in?
And so that's one thing that I think a lot of businesses don't spend a lot of time on. And I think that it's so worth it. If you want to grow your business, continue to have consistency, continue to attract new people into your market and into the work that you do. So really having a think about what is my brand strategy? And also, like I said before, revisiting what you have right now. And deciding does that still work for me? Did I reach my goals last year? And doing that evaluation and assessment? And then taking a look at if I want to uplevel? If I want to shift and change and grow? What needs to change as well? Am I just doing more of the same thing? Or do I need to have some really different strategies when it comes to how I'm becoming known, the money that I'm spending on my marketing, the different strategies that we're using, as well.
And we go through all of that, in BBA we bounce ideas around, we talk about what that could look like, we've got some super smart, super amazing people who this is their world. So we can really tap into the community and the knowledge that is within that room as well, which is fantastic. The next thing when it comes to evolving in your business as well is obviously having the business strategy now I've talked about this before, is that at the beginning of every year, I take a look at what my business strategy is going to be. I provide a spreadsheet within BBA to students, where we take a look at what it is they want to achieve how they're going to achieve it. And when I ran my recent masterclass, this was one of the things that so many people said that they really struggled with having a clear plan around how you're going to generate the revenue you want to in your business, where that revenue is coming from. And also look at if it's working for you. So when we talk about evolving, I think your business strategy is one of the most important things. So you might want to go more online, you might want to start a product business, you know, looking at your business now and then where you want it to go and how you want to do that, and how you're going to plan to get there. And I think just really understanding what your outline is. So your revenue line for me what we do is that, you know, I run my profit and loss I take a look at all of my products and services. I take a look at the percentage that each product and service made in my business. And I was sharing this a while ago is that, you know, a year or so ago I ran the report and I found that one of my services and products made why loads more money, than I thought it had. And it was a bigger percentage of my income. And so I started to focus on that more. But the thing is, is that if you're not looking at that, if you don't know where that revenue is coming from, and I'm not just talking about like a profit and loss, where you take a look at, like how much money you've earned, and how much profit there was, etc, obviously, doing all of that is really important. And we go through that in BBA, which is really understanding what your revenue streams are, what percentage they are, how they work, what your costs are, etc, and really managing your money so that you can pay yourself is so important. And so really starting to understand that. And it doesn't have to be complicated. I think that's the thing. It's about making it simple. And we make it as simple as possible. And I think that that's where so many of our BBA clients have had success. You know, I just got an email from gorgeous Brianna, who's the ambitious dietician, and she said to me, you know, Suz, we're almost at 100k, which was my goal. And the icing on the cake is that, you know, my, my twins are there last year before they go into kinderen. School. And when I look at my calendar, I've been able to spend so much time with them, been able to take them to play dates, and have holidays, and medical appointments and all the rest of it. And that's really what drives so many of my clients. And I think that I was talking about this in the master class, is really understanding what your clients desire. And understanding how you deliver on that desire is so important. And that's one of the things that when we look at business strategy, I feel like this has been one of the biggest shifts for so many of my clients in BBA, is really understanding what's happening with their money, and how they going after the products and services and the big things that they really, really want to grow. And it can be such a simple shift, but that transparency and understanding how it works means that you can evolve your business in the way that works for you. If it means having more time off, then you've got to counterbalance that with well, do I need to increase my prices? How am I going to increase my brand awareness so that more people know about me? How can I reduce my costs so that I've got more profitability to pay myself. And so you can only evolve your business when you really understand what is going on. And so that is one of the key things we go through in Brand Builders Academy. It's something I'm super passionate about. It's where I started my business. As in I used to do business and brand strategies for women in business. And I used to do business and brand strategies when I was in corporate as well. Yes, this is like, this is what I love to talk.
And I love mindset. And I love branding. And I love all the marketing and all the sexy stuff. But this is like the most important thing. And by having a really solid business strategy where you understand your profit and loss, your finances, your revenue streams, etc. That's where you can really start to play with how you pay yourself better. So for me, and I talk about this a lot, like I'm paid up for the next six months, so I could like not generate any revenue for you know, four or five, six months, and I'm still paying myself. And so it's only been through really nailing this, that I've been able to do that. Yeah, and that's what I want my clients to be able to do as well. The next thing when it comes to consistently and constantly evolving is really taking a look at your pricing and packaging. And pricing and packaging as your business evolves can feel tricky. Sometimes, you know, you've got clients that maybe you've worked with before. And some people just struggle with putting their prices up or wanting to move away from that hourly and move into packages. And I am a big believer that packages are where you get your time. Otherwise you're always locked into trading hours for dollars. So looking once again, at your business strategy, your revenue streams is where you can start to work out where you can go with your pricing and packaging. So where can you shift things in, you know how you're delivering them, what you've got, how you get really creative. I think that's one of the things I love working with clients on BBA is how you get super creative with the way that you price and package and just make things a no brainer for people to buy from you as well. And I think that this has been a really big shift for some of my clients where they're like oh my gosh, you know, some of the people that they work with and I say this all the time, just like give me the VIP package like tell me what the best thing is that you do don't like nickel and dime me very American saying but don't nickel and dime you don't give me a like all you know we could do this for $300 we could do that for $800. I'm like, if you sorted me out, if you solved my problem, if you made my desires a reality, what's the best package that you've got? And I think that really shifting from being somebody who's like, oh, you know, this is what I charged, but I could discount to, here's an incredible package that will blow your mind and blow your socks off, to get to where we want to be. You know, that's the confidence that we want to have when we're pricing and packaging, we're creating things that are like wow factor. We're not creating things that are nickel and diming. And kind of attracting clients who are like, can you do it for cheaper. So I think really understanding how all of this fits together. And understanding how you bring your best work to life and being able to price and package to create incredible brand experiences, incredible transformations, incredible outcomes for your clients, is so important. And so we really dive into this, we look at everybody's packages, we talk about the money and the blocks, and like why somebody won't charge more, you know, but also then really looking at and being realistic about creating that demand and getting more people to know that this is what you have, so that you can sell what you've got. And then as demand goes up as well, hello, supply and demand, as demand goes up as well, you can increase your prices, too. So understanding and really working on your own mindset, understanding how more people can find out about you, understanding what your revenue streams are the percentage in your business, how you can pay yourself better. And then really looking at how you service your clients in a better way by creating incredible, you know, your best work transformational packages, is what we're all about. Yes. So we want to make sure that we are giving our clients wow factor.
The next thing that we go through too is the marketing sales and momentum. So we're always looking at our marketing strategy, you know, every year, which I'm sure you do, as well, where did our sales come from? What's our online? You know, for me, it's coaching programmes, speaking events and affiliate. But we look at where the percentage has come from, so that we can really focus on increasing our marketing in certain areas. So we work on what does you know, really work on what does your marketing look like this year? What did you enjoy? What do you not enjoy what works, what hasn't worked? I also think that so many people struggle with sales. So I have a podcast in my private client podcast, which you get when you join Brand Builders Academy as well. And it's about selling. And one of my clients said to me the other day, I listened to what you said about sales, and I had a client console. And I approached it in a totally different way and secured the client with you know, without the drama, basically. And really going into it with a completely different mindset. So really understanding that when clients come to you, most of the work is already done. And I think sometimes we feel like we have to like do the hard sell. But just knowing that when you show up, you provide value, you've got a great brand, you've got a really clear, you know, price and outcome and transformation for your clients, then the selling becomes so much easier. But you've really got to have that, you know, confidence in yourself and know that the client is there for a reason, like they've picked you. And so you've just really got to be able to answer the questions that they have in order to secure them as well. And we talk a lot about this because I do think that this is where a lot of women in business, and it's only because you told me, this fall down is that we're posting content where it's like crossing fingers strategy. If I cross my fingers, and I post lots of content, then hopefully some clients will come to me. And you've really got to have a very diverse marketing and sales strategy in order to build the momentum in your business. And I just interviewed somebody on the podcast around influencer marketing, which will be released in the next few weeks. And I was asking her, what's been one of the traits that has really helped you to be more successful in business. And she was like, constantly trying different things, like testing things, trying things, seeing what works, speaking to people, you know, knowing that the more people that I speak to surprisingly, the better outcomes I get. And I do think that social media has made us lazy. I also think that in a pandemic, it's really hard to build your network and connect with people so I totally get that as well. And I've experienced it myself. Yes. So really taking a look at what is going to build momentum in my business is consistently taking the actions that are going to help me to become known to make the offer, and to help people coming to me in a sales conversation, and for me to be confident enough, and have the capability to offer them what they need, and answer their questions and ask the right questions as well. And I know that it's not always easy. You know, I
remember struggling with it at the beginning of my business as well. And even this year, like the energy and the momentum, like it's been, you know, it's like grinding a little bit as well. But I just think you constantly got to be looking at how am I shifting and moving this. And I think when you're around other people, where they're really looking at getting more momentum in their business, they're taking action, they're going after big things, they're sharing the action that they're taking the, you know, the mindset shifts that they've had, learning in that environment is such an amazing place to be, it's such an energetic place to be as well. And then there's two other things that we go through as well in BBA. And I think that both of these are really essential, as well for continuing to evolve your business. The next one is really around systems. And systems can be not just tech systems, yeah, systems of how you work with your team, systems of tech systems, systems of how you manage your money. There's lots of different systems in our business has lots of different practices. And it's really about taking a look at where am I spending my time? What am I doing, what's working, what's not, and what needs to change. And so this is something that I look at, in my business, I shared on the podcast that I've just hired somebody to do my Active Campaign and to completely overhaul that. And so even now, you know, after seven years in business, I'm still like, what can be better if we really want to, you know, triple what we're doing, get more clients and grow our list all the rest of it, how do we make what we've got the best that it can be. And so that's something that I am always working with my clients on as well. And I love that one of my clients who's like a multi six figure business, by the way, she had a thought that if she automated her diary, as in sent somebody like a Calendly link to book themselves in that that would not be a great brand experience. And so she used to spend a lot of time like 20 minutes, half an hour backwards and forwards on emails, trying to find a time for clients because she's working with like CEOs and stuff like that. And so after doing BBA I love that she came back to me, she's like, oh my gosh, this has changed my life. It's saved me so much time, where she just sent them a link and said, you know, work to find a time that works for you. And they loved it. The client loved it. Whenever we can create ease for our clients. It's always a win win, we can create ease for ourselves ease for our clients, it's always a win. And the thing is, this is where you know, we talk about it all the time. And more money work less this is the stuff Yeah, and more money no your finances, sell with confidence and sell well. And then systemize automate constantly be evolving this get more time back. That is what we're all about. So like I always say if you want to earn more, work less, and it's not about not working. Yeah, we were workers we like to work were ambitious women. But you know something it is about how do I earn more, deliver incredible things to my clients like top of the line platinum programmes, platinum products and services, wow, them, surprise and delight them, but get more time back in my business and make things a lot more systemized and working like a well oiled machine. This is where it's at. And so this is one of the modules that we work through. And we really take a look at what's your mindset around your systems? What is what's the nuts and bolts like? What does it look like? What are the practical money systems that you've got as well? Like, is it easy for people to pay you? Is it easy for you people for you to manage your money, like all of those sorts of things. So it's not just tech, there's so much that goes around the way that you operate and run your business. Which leads us into the last thing that we go through and BBA and something that you do absolutely need to do in order to constantly and consistently evolve your business as well. is operating as a bold CEO.
and things like you know, really looking into your daily practices really looking at what you're going after. And whether what you're going after is aligned with where you want the business to go. You know, I always say to my clients build the business starting now that you want to have in like, 1224 months. Yeah, it's not about all in two years time, I'm going to have that business and then I'll like start thinking about it, then. It's really about looking at what kind of business do I want to have in the next 12 and 24 months? And what do I need to start doing now in order to build that? What do I need to clean up? What do I need to activate? What do I need to implement? How do I need to shift and change as well? Really becoming incredible as hiring yourself as the CEO, you know, making commercial decisions, not making emotional decisions, making sure that you understand what is going on. You know, I remember, I think a year or two ago, I did an episode on becoming the CEO of your business, which I had so much amazing feedback about, and I had so many people that were like, Oh my gosh Suz, I need to be that person. Because we spend so much time in how it feels like this is so hard. And this feels like it's not going the way that I want. And, you know, I just I'm just not feeling like I want to show up. And, you know, I'm worried what people are going to say, and am I being too salesy, and I don't want to make the offer. And there's all of this emotion and I get it, I get it. I've been there. And this is something that we talked about, you know, working on all the time, but it's about singing, okay, let's get out of the emotion get out of the drama, let's make commercial decisions here. What needs to happen? If I've got a financial goal for this month, and I don't hit it, I'm not going to sit and wallow in it. Yeah, I might have a glass of wine and winch to my husband for a little bit. But what am I going to do next? That's the question. That's the kind of attitude that's the kind of practices professional practices, you have to get into what are you going to do next? Yeah, you're not going to wallow in this and allow that to affect your business for another month or two? Like, what is the next action you're going to take? What is the next CEO decision you're going to make? What is the next practice you are going to, you know, implement, and operate in. And really, really stepping into that role is so important. And so these are the key things that we go through in brand builders Academy. We go into them deep, we coach on them. So every Monday, we do like Mindset Monday, so I do a Facebook Live,
I set everybody up for the week, both new and old clients. And we're like, right this this week, this is what we're going into, these are the things you need to be aware of. These are the things to think about. These are the things that might trip you up. Yeah, so let's be aware, let's do that. And so we set ourselves up for the week. And then on a Thursday night, and on a Friday morning, we've got live coaching calls so that we cover all of our time zones, because we've got some clients in the UK, we've got some clients in the US, we've got obviously a lot of clients, here in Australia. And so you could come to both of the calls, or one of the calls, it's totally up to you. If you're if you can't make a call, you can ask a question and watch the recording. But we're constantly working on how we become that CEO. All of these things are about how you become that CEO, who makes commercial decisions that are not emotional, that help you grow your business that help you pay yourself more, get more time back in your business as well. And people who have been in business for years come into BBA. And then they're like, totally changed how we're doing this thing. Changed my pricing and packaging changed how we're operating had the biggest month that we've ever had in the last four years since we started operating. So I know that this is how you evolve. And this is why I go through it myself every year. 100% go through it, did my business strategy the other day, looked at my revenue, looked at my profit and loss looked at what I want to do I plan out my actions, my calendar relooked at our pricing as well. Thinking of new marketing strategies, updating systems, thinking what do I need to do? I feel like the last few years has knocked me I'm not gonna lie to you. It's knocked me about having the kids home the whole time pandemic locks downs, I have not done a lot of the things that I would really have loved to have done. So this year Our fingers crossed, hoping all that goes well. I'm like says what are you going to do? Like, what's that next level SEO stuff you are going to step into. And so I'm always challenging myself, just like I'm challenging my clients. So I am on this ride with you. I am here to support you. I am here to get you results. I'm here to dive into your business. You can ask any of my clients, I'm constantly sending messages going, did you do that? Where are you out with that? What happened with this conversation? You know, and I was talking to a client the other day, and she's like, ah, like, I didn't have the sales that I wanted to in this particular, you know, programme and in this particular product. And so we bounced a few ideas around. And then I checked in with her today. And she's like, Yep, got signups for so. And it's 1000s and 1000s of dollars worth, like, you know, I am here, my team is here, the community within BBA is here to really support you to think differently. We don't do standard bog standard run of the mill. We're like, let's like power up, let's do some stuff that's really going to shake it up and make you think differently so you can grow your business, and more money, work less. That's what it's all about. So, if that sounds like something you would love to do, then come and join us in brandbuilders Academy. Come and join us. I want to help you to grow your business and become the CEO that you really want to be. Yeah, and for those of my listeners who are BBA students, let's go let's do it again. You will always welcome back for any live round coaching calls, Monday Mindset, Facebook Lives, all the rest of it. I cannot wait to see you all in there. And for us to grow together and have really honest, open, deep, productive conversations that help us all to thrive in business. If you've got any questions, let me know. Send me a DM at Suz Chadwick on Instagram. But have an amazing week. And I can't wait to see you on the inside of BBA. If you're gonna come and join me. Yeah, go on. Do it. You know you want to.
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