I'm a big believer in the power of evolution in business. It's what keeps us fresh, relevant, and moving forward. And it's something that my client, Janine Stanton, knows a thing or two about. So I was thrilled to have her on my podcast recently to share her story.
Janine is the founder of Lemon Crush, a white-label website and brand design agency that works with marketing consultants and boutique marketing agencies. But it didn't start out that way. Janine started her business six years ago with a “do it all” approach, offering everything from marketing to graphic design to social media scheduling. It was only after several years of working with clients and finding what she truly loved to do that Janine was able to hone in on her niche and build the successful business she has today.
Janine's story is a great example of how pivoting your business can lead to success, and I wanted to share some of the key takeaways from our conversation with you.
When Janine first started her business, she offered a wide range of services, from marketing and graphic design to website development. However, she quickly realised that trying to do everything was not only exhausting, but it also made it difficult for her to stand out and attract her ideal clients.
It wasn't until she narrowed her focus to website design and brand development that Janine finally found her niche. By specialising in these areas, she was able to build a reputation as an expert and attract the clients she truly wanted to work with.
As a business owner, it can be tempting to say yes to every opportunity that comes your way. However, Janine learned the hard way that not every opportunity is a good fit for your business. In fact, saying yes to the wrong opportunities can actually hold you back from achieving your goals.
Janine used to have a mentality of “if someone is going to pay me to do it, I should do it.” But she quickly realised that this approach was not sustainable or fulfilling. By learning to say no to opportunities that were not aligned with her goals or values, Janine was able to focus on the work that truly mattered and build a business that she loved.
When Janine first started her business, she didn't have a consistent marketing strategy. She would often put off marketing tasks because they didn't feel urgent or important. However, as she began to shift her business model, Janine realised that consistent marketing was essential to growing her business.
She started planning her marketing in advance and making it a priority in her weekly schedule. By focusing on building relationships and providing value to her audience, Janine was able to attract her ideal clients and grow her business.
As a solo business owner, it can be easy to feel like you have to do everything on your own. However, Janine learned that having a support system is essential to building a successful business.
By surrounding herself with other business owners who were going through similar experiences, Janine was able to get advice, feedback, and support when she needed it. She also realized that she could help others by sharing her own experiences and expertise.
If you're feeling stuck in your own business or struggling to find your niche, I hope that Janine's story inspires you to take action and make the changes you need to succeed. Remember, building a successful business is a journey, not a destination, and it's never too late to pivot and find your path to success.
Listen in to previous episode with Janine www.suzchadwick.com/pod297
Connect with Janine:
https://www.facebook.com/lemoncrushdesign/
https://www.instagram.com/lemoncrushdesign/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/janine-staunton-04066879/
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Suzanne Chadwick 0:00
Hey, lovely, welcome back to the podcast. awesome to have you here. Today, I have got one of my faves on the podcast. I've been wanting to get some of my amazing clients on the podcast. So we had Leanne wolf a little while ago. And today, we've got Janine Stanton, who's actually accidentally been on the podcast before, when I asked her if we could repurpose a coaching call that we had that was just so good. And I included it in another podcast episode around defining our own success. So Janine is somebody that I have worked with for quite a few years now. She was in BBA, she's in amplify, now, she's been on retreats with me. And we always have these friendly, amazing conversations. And those owners love clients, where I have these really deep, incredible conversations. That's not just about business, but about life, and how we want to live our lives and how we build success. And you know, how we find the right clients that we want to work with, and everything in between. So I'm super excited to share this episode with you. Janine has evolved her business over the last few years and changed her ideal customer, her target audience, the work that she's doing, and really found what has worked for her. And so I wanted to get her on to talk about what that evolution has looked like. Because one of the things that I'm talking to a lot of people about, is changing business models and changing the type of people that you're targeting and the work that you're doing. And I think that when you've been in business for a while, as well, it's totally normal and natural to want to evolve it. So even for myself, I started out in events and community etc, and then have moved, you know, to more course based work. I've also started BVC, which is bold vibes consulting, which is all about content creation. And it came out of the work that I've been doing with clients and the need to help them to create higher quality, more impactful content for their business because that's where the market is going. And so I think that it's just natural for us to be evolving what it is that we do, and thinking about where the growth in our business can be and how it really meets our needs and our family's needs or the life that we want to build as well like how we evolve our business to really fit that evolving lifestyle, too. So that's what Janine and I are talking about today, which I'm super excited about. I also wanted to let you know that I'm going to be doing a live round of BBA coming up in the next month or so. So probably at the end of April. So if you have been wanting to join BBA and we are going back to brand builders Academy, we used to be brand builders Academy, I changed it to the bold Business Academy and I want to change it back. So if you have been wanting to work with me in BBA, to get the structure systems and strategies in place so that you know how to grow your business in a very clean, lean and organized way then that is what we do in BBA. So make sure that you're on my email list, you can go to CS chadwick.com, forward slash subscribe. Otherwise, you can come and join BBA now and just know that we've got a live round coming up as well where we'll be working together every single week to help you to get your business in a place that is going to be profitable, and where you know how to grow it and build it to what you want it to be. But listen, without further ado, let's dive into today's episode and this awesome conversation with Janine Stanton from lemon crush. Welcome to the brandbuilders love podcast.
Janine Staunton 4:34
Hello, thank you for having me.
Suzanne Chadwick 4:36
Yeah. You kind of accidentally been on the podcast before. Because you and I were in a coaching conversation and we were talking about what success means and how we define our own success. And it was just such a great conversation that I was like, Can I use this on the podcast? very generously said that I could. So I should be saying welcome back to the podcast. Actually, yes, that's true. That's true. You and I have some very deep and meaningful and really thought provoking conversations, which I always enjoy. When we get the chance to
Janine Staunton 5:20
Yeah, I love our coaching calls, because I ended up it's just much bigger than what's actually going on day to day in the business, it becomes such a much bigger, more inspiring conversation. So I love that I love our chats.
Suzanne Chadwick 5:35
Yeah, I know, there's like a, there's so good. Awesome. So what I really wanted you to come onto the podcast and talk about today, because I know that there's a lot of business owners out there and, you know, clients that I've got as well, where we have this conversation about shifting your client base and your services. And we've been working together for quite a few years now. And it's been amazing to see your iterations in business and how you've shifted along the way to now being pretty much booked out with the type of clients that you are wanting to work with, which has also been quite a recent shift, too. So we'll get to that in just a minute. But for my listeners who don't know you, do you want to just give us a little bit of background about who you are, what your business is now. And kind of how you got here.
Janine Staunton 6:28
Yeah, sure. So my business name is Lemon crush, and I've been in business for six years now. What the business looks like at the moment, is a deal like that at the moment. Who knows where it'll go again, love it. But at the moment, I am white label website designer and brand designer, and I work with marketing consultants, and boutique marketing agencies. So if they have overflow in their business, or they're looking to expand their services into web design, or brand design, they come to me and I do that work behind the scenes on their behalf and under their brand. So they continue to manage the client relationship. And I work on creating beautiful websites and brands behind the scenes. That's that's where the business stands at the moment. Yeah,
Suzanne Chadwick 7:28
yeah, I love that. And I used to work with people just like you and I had the brand agency back in corporate where we do the whole strategy for the client would decide what it is that they needed. And then we'd like get somebody like you to come and deliver that particular work to them. So I totally get that model. I think it's a great model for anybody who's doing strategy for their clients, and who's doing you know, whether it's marketing, etc. agency work to have somebody like you in the background. But obviously, that's not where it all started. So how did you get into
Janine Staunton 8:04
the business started because I needed a lot of flexibility around family commitments. with special needs child I needed to be around, I couldn't be continuing to work outside of the home and nine to five, but I absolutely love work. So I wanted to do something. And I thought, Well, I'm just going to put myself out there and see what happens. So basically, offered everything from marketing to websites to graphic design to I was even doing social media scheduling for people at one point, just whatever anyone would hire me for basically. So I advertised locally to start with and build up a good client base. That way. So the first couple of years of business was really anything that anyone would pay me for.
Suzanne Chadwick 9:01
What were you doing before you started your business?
Janine Staunton 9:06
I worked in nonprofits, so we did fundraising and marketing for charities. So I did that for 10 years. So within that I did a lot of graphic design websites, marketing, and fundraising appeals and things like that. And then before that, I was in a more general marketing role. So my background is in in marketing. And I taught myself I taught myself web design at a job I was working for Gainsborough selling doorknobs basically marketing. And I didn't have a website this is in 2002 or than me and I taught myself Dreamweaver at the time, and I just ended up loving it so it kind of stuck. That was the first website I did and that kind of stuck through all the roles that done, then though. Yeah, so basically took all of those skills and started Lemon Crush and thought please someone pay me to do something, anything and see how it goes. So that was the first that was the first iteration of the business was please pay me to do anything? Was was how it started? Yeah.
Suzanne Chadwick 10:25
And then how when When did you narrow your niche?
Janine Staunton 10:30
Okay, so probably the second phase of that was loving the website side of things. And that was seemed to be who I was attracting the most was small businesses that needed a website that didn't know where to start. And I became sort of the go to for startup websites, basically. So that ended up being what I was doing for quite a while. And then I was in a group at the Digital picnic group, because I'd done some training through them. And someone had posted in there that they needed someone to do a landing page. And so I contacted her and got on the phone with her. And she said, Oh, would you do it on a white label basis? And I was like, Oh, I had no idea what that term meant. I didn't know what she meant. And so I said, Oh, let me look into it. And I went in here, I'm googling quickly, like, what is what? What is what level? And then it to me, it sounded like, Oh, okay. Yeah, that sounds great. Let's just see how that works. And so that was five years ago. So it was really early on in the business. And I have worked with her ever since. So it started off doing, you know, a landing page, and then a website. And then she found out did graphic design. So she was like, could you do the branding. And so ended up turning into a partnership with her. And we still work every day together. And that was my sort of introduction to what white label was, but she was my only sort of white label client at that, at that point. And then, because I had been doing so many different things, and not making any money, like, I think that was the, you know, when I started working with you, it was like getting clients in the door. But there's something something eating at me something felt really plotted in the business, my head felt cluttered, I felt like it was a little chaotic. And that can sometimes be my personality as well. But it was there was just so so many different client types, so many different pricing, I was doing different pricing for clients, depending on who they were, it was all just a bit, there was no real structure. So the next phase was when I started working with you, and really, you know, having a look at the business and in a more structured strategic way rather than the sort of organic evolution that it had been up until up until that point. And then I started taking things out getting a little bit more clear on who I wanted to work with charging consistently and charging a little bit more. And that worked really well that felt really good. And then Meantime, in the background, I've still got a white label partnership going on in the background. And then another one came on that she found me through word of mouth. So then I had to white label going on here. And then all the small business websites going on on the other side. And it still felt quite chaotic. But I wasn't sure why. And I tried lots of different things, you know, getting in, you know, trying social media and to promote the business and then, you know, thinking, Should I do a course and should I do this and there was something in my gut while I was going through that process that stopped me that was like, No, there's something niggling at me that this isn't the right thing, even though, you know, there's a lot of what you should be doing and looking at what other people are doing and are that's working for them. So that could work for me and, you know, just trying all the different things and, and it really wasn't until I started working on my messaging, and really looking at that and I ended up it became quite clear through that process that I had two very distinct audiences. Which in my head, they were sort of All Mixed Up into one, it seems really obvious now that there were two distinct audiences in there. But it became quite clear. And then, when I was working on the messaging for the small businesses, it felt like a slog, like it really felt like, oh, you know, what makes me different? No, God, I don't know, like, you know, I can say all the right things, and, you know, really good at it. But it wasn't lighting. Which I know is such a cliche to say that, but it genuinely that is what it was, if I'd had to spend a day doing the client facing work, then I would feel quite exhausted, were the white label partnerships and working with the same people on a long term basis and seeing results. And what I quite like working behind the scenes, that made me feel really excited. And then thinking, Ah, and then the nugget, you know, was there? And like, Could I just do that? Could I just do that? Would that work? How would that look? And then that's when all the conversation started off? Could I do this. And that's where it's really important to have people that you trust to talk about because when you're in your businesses on your own, that stuff stays messed up in your head, it stays in a big jumble. But if you've got people to run that by like you and Haley and the people that I trusted at that time, to sense check what I'm feeling and is this a good business decision? Or? And then, I think, how I knew it was right, was it felt so obvious? Yeah, I felt like, of course, that course that would work. And of course, that would make sense. So that's sort of how it progressed to. to that to that point.
Suzanne Chadwick 16:59
Yeah. And I want to just, I wanted to just touch on a couple of things, as I remember the conversation where you were kind of like, I don't know that I want to work directly with small businesses anymore. Like I really enjoy having somebody else do the client facing work. And then I can just deliver what I deliver, we kind of speak the same language, they're managing any of the issues at the front end, and then I kind of just get to do what I get to do. And I think that sometimes we feel like, but I've been doing something for a while, or this is, you know, where I started. And so I, like I feel bad letting that go, or, you know, it's what I've been doing, so I'm used to it. So can I shift over here. And I just love the fact that you follow, it's kind of following the breadcrumbs, it's kind of going back and saying, but this is actually what I really love to do. And I think that not enough times, business owners check in with that. It's like, I could be doing all of this, we talked about you creating an online course for people to learn how to do their own websites. But then we also talked about the fact that people don't want to do their websites, which is why they hire somebody like you. So that's also then going to be a different audience where it's like people who are happy to DIY, then you'll be doing websites for people who don't want to DIY, then you're doing white label, and it just almost was more chaotic, if you were going to go down that path. Whereas when you listened to yourself and what it is you really enjoyed doing what was stress free? You know, where you wanted to take things, it just felt so obvious.
Janine Staunton 18:38
Yes. And it felt myself to obvious, you know, now I know when I think back to all the big decisions in my life that have been good ones. It felt the same. It's felt clear, crystal clear and obvious and right, like, why didn't I think of that before? And so I kind of feel like now I know that that's the sign that it's probably a really, really good decision.
Suzanne Chadwick 19:06
And do you know why sometimes it doesn't feel obvious is because and you said this earlier? It's like, well, other people are doing this, and maybe I should be doing that. And it's and it's the shoulding, where it's like, oh, well, maybe I should follow other people's paths or what other people are doing, because that looks like what I'm maybe supposed to be doing. Whereas when you come back to what do I love? And what do I want to do and what am I good at? And what feels easier for me, instead of looking at what everybody else is doing that's kind of led you on the right path to being where you are now, which is amazing. And I think we've need to maybe do that more often.
Janine Staunton 19:47
Well, definitely. And I think it comes back to the conversation that we had the last time about what success is. And for me, what I'm doing might not look like success for somebody else and what they're doing You know, it looks successful from a Instagram comparison way. But actually, I would hate to live, I would hate to be on all the time and, you know, out there and ah, you know, like that kind of it really visible way of working doesn't suit my personalities. So for me, I get to do what I love with people that I love to work with, in my own way. And I'm happier than I've ever been in my business. You know, I'm literally getting up every morning, excited to get my desk. And I haven't felt like that since probably the really early days of the business. So it just it's worked out so well. And it really was just giving my giving myself space, the last, what do you think like 18 months, probably two years, giving myself space every week to actually sit down and think about the business and think what do I want? It would have been would have been really easy for me to not invest that time and and to just keep going how I was going, you know, and maybe, you know, I could have kept doing that. And it would have been fine. But I probably would be completely burnt out now. Or I probably might have gotten a real job.
Suzanne Chadwick 21:27
Oh, no. No.
Janine Staunton 21:30
Yeah. So I think it was really having that niggling feeling of need to do it differently. And actually acting on that and giving myself the time and space. And yeah, investing working that out as well, I think was key.
Suzanne Chadwick 21:48
Yeah. And I think that I think that not enough people value. And I mean, you know, all my clients know, I bang on about this, like investing that time, your CEO days or your thinking time, that strategic thinking time of so what what do we want to do? How is this going to work? What do we want to evolve this into? What decisions do we have to make? Those sorts of things like what does success look like to me? And how do I make sure that I'm looking internally and externally for that validation, or for that next thing that, you know, I need to be thinking about as well. So even for you, you know, we were talking about this not that long ago was getting clients in what it is you're doing and creating the Insta site, because you don't really want to be posting on socials. But you realize that that's obviously a place where people might go and find you, and what are the right sales strategies for you. And so, you know, in the other people that are listening, I think it's kind of coming back to the while everybody else is doing it. So should I do it that way. And I think that there's always a way that is going to work for you. And it may not be what other people are doing. And I think just asking those questions as well. Because that's also then giving you freedom to not be posting all the time and not be doing things that suck your energy rather than help you get the right clients that you're wanting to get as well.
Janine Staunton 23:18
So, you know, the marketing that I'm doing now, isn't what I would have said, what if you'd asked me to that? Well, that's not proper marketing. You know, that's not enough. But actually, because it is what I enjoy doing it, it's one on one conversations, it's meeting people, it's that side of things, rather than, you know, sort of broadcast type things and posting every day. And that is working so well. And it fits comfortably with myself and who I am that it's working. So it Yeah, I totally agree with you. I think, you know, there's lots of ways to how many ways to skin a cat or
Suzanne Chadwick 24:07
no cat hurt in this podcast, kind of went from small business owners to agencies, working with agencies and then not working with small business owners directly anymore. And then even from agencies, you've now evolved that as well. And so what has, where did that shift come from? Why did you make the change to potentially look, you know, or include a new client base in the white labeling that you're doing?
Janine Staunton 24:40
When I started, you know, fully into the white label, I said, marketing agencies as my main target market and once I started going through that process and talking to them, I was getting a lot of market and consultants, so people who were on their own in their business slack, me, and not necessarily wanting to fire more people to grow, but still wanted to grow and scale which they should be able to do. And so I was able to help them grow and scale their businesses without hiring and taking that risk of hiring. And you become genuinely like colleagues in their business partners in their business. And I'm seeing massive impact massive results for those businesses. And so that was making me all excited and inspired. And we get to do this together. And so again, it was a feeling it was, I was enjoying that process of working with some solo business owners, again, that we're trying to grow and becoming real partners in that business long term agencies I still like working with because they get great jobs, you know, with great clients, different industries. But really, with agencies, it's really helping them in times of overflow. So but sort of stepping in and out of the business, rather than a real partnership model. And I think it's the partnership side of things that really appeals to me, more so than the kind of ducking in and out with the agencies. So now I'm thinking, well, I might focus purely on the marketing consultants and grow, grow that that way. So again, it's again, it's evolved, depending on that field. Really?
Suzanne Chadwick 26:46
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I know, you know, for people that have been in business for a while now, I think that it's natural to want to evolve and want to take a look at what the business is going to do next. And so through the iterations that you've been through, is there anything in particular that you look at and you go, you know, something like, these are the questions that I asked myself, or these are the things that I thought of that really helped me make better decisions as well, when it came to shifting my business model? Like, was there anything that you needed to do personally to change the way that you were showing up? Or that you were working? I've got another question. I'm not going to load you with a whole lot of questions. But there's like another question after that, that I want to ask you. But yeah, what what has been your thinking throughout that?
Janine Staunton 27:40
Artists thing to get over was saying no, to jobs. So when I because I still get, you know, requests to do websites for small businesses, because, you know, I was doing that for so long. And people refer to me, and I think the hardest thing is not saying yes to everything. So this, you know, for a long time, in my business, there was a mentality of if someone's gonna pay me to do it, I should do it. Don't turn down money, where now I feel much more confident thinking this isn't my ideal client, this isn't moving my business forward. Me saying yes to that means I'll probably have to say no, to who I really want to work with. So becoming confident enough to, in my decision about the business to say no, and it's not what I've realized, it's not letting people down. It's now giving another website designer an opportunity to take that job on who really wants to work with that business. So it's really been a mindset shift around No, and saying no, and how I feel after I say, No, it's not what I would have expected, I thought I would feel disappointed. But actually, I feel completely empowered when I make that decision. Which sounds cheesy, but I do I feel like, good well, yes, because it's fitting within my boundaries and my sense of how I want this to look and how I want my day to look and how would I feel if I took on that job? Well, I'd probably feel pretty depleted and maybe a bit resentful. And do you want that that's not ideal for client relationships. So I think that was probably the hugest thing was saying no other opportunities. Yeah.
Suzanne Chadwick 29:34
I love that because there's definitely is a sense of self confidence that comes through with that like knowing yourself, knowing what you want to do, kind of being really clear on the direction that you're taking your business. It is a very SEO, strategic mindset to have as well. Like I think that that, you know, when you're thinking about saying you know, it is kind of saying, I am going to make this too decision as the CEO of my business and claim the direction that I want to go in. And so in order for me to do that, I have to be strong and say no to this, instead of being the yes person that just takes whatever comes as well. And so the follow on question that I had to that is, was there a time during the transmissions of changing, you know, your target your target audience of the clients that you're working with, and the work that you were doing, where you had a bit of a revenue job drop, whilst you were kind of working to get this new side of the business up to where you wanted to go? Like, how did you manage the financials, of saying no, and building something new?
Janine Staunton 30:44
Yes, there was definitely times it was definitely more unpredictable in terms of what I would get in, so it's probably fairly predictable what I was bringing in, and then in those times of change, it would drop, I've been really lucky that I've had consistent jobs through it. So I was never in, you know, real trouble. But there was definitely times where it was almost like a panic of go back and take, you know, go back to the other jobs and take them for now. You know, just do it for now. But then also the thinking, or, if I do that, for now, this is never gonna happen, you know, so I work well, under pressure. So it probably was more motivating to see a drop to then really go full into marketing, on the new iteration of the business. So I think that's one good thing about my personality, let's see a little bit of a drop, and I go into full panic hyper focus mode, let's, let's market the, you know, the hell out of this and get on. But, I mean, I think it's, it would be unusual, I would say if there wasn't a risk involved, or financial risk, so I guess it is managing that, but it's certainly, you know, never been more than a couple of months. And then you start to see the fruits of what you're doing, you know, in terms of marketing, and the results of that panic.
Suzanne Chadwick 32:27
Yeah. And do you feel like your marketing, like the way in which your marketing and the, the, you know, the rate at which you're marketing is that change? Like, what's, what's been the shift in your marketing strategy, maybe somebody who's come from a marketing background, what has been that shifted, where you kind of changed from being more small business focus to now more marketing consultant and agency focused.
Janine Staunton 32:53
It's much more strategic. So I'm definitely planning my marketing now. Well, in advance, I know what I'm doing every week in terms of marketing. I've got, you know, it set out, you know, my new new before, it was pretty much ad hoc. You know, there wasn't a lot of planning in advance, whereas now I've very much like, No, this needs to be priority one, really, and I'm making it the first priority. And because it's marketing that I'm enjoying doing, I don't mind that I'm not putting it off. I'm not procrastinating it. I'm enjoying the conversations that I'm having. So it's like all the puzzle pieces have fallen into place around that. And it feels more natural. It definitely feels more natural. The marketing as well doesn't feel like a slog, like something that's on my list that I have to do. That makes me feel icky or tired. Just thinking about it. It's it's very much the opposite of right. Oh, great. Who am I talking to this week? Or what am I doing this week about it? And what am I, you know, what am I creating this week for this? And that feels feels more natural, as well? Yeah, yes,
Suzanne Chadwick 34:18
So good. I love that. I think one of the things that people do struggle with kind of going a little bit back to what we were talking about before, is the the building of the new business and letting go of the old in order to build the new and I think that just thinking about, you know what marketing you might need to do now to start building that new part of the businesses is so important. Like I think making time in your business and in the marketing that you're doing, to be able to start talking to the clients that you want to be attracting and then also ensuring that you're was starting to get them on board so that you're building that revenue. But there is going to be a time where you're going to have to let go of the stuff that you're doing now not fully, but to a point in order to give yourself time for the new things as well. And I think the more that I speak to clients who were wanting to shift their business model, that's one of the biggest things that we come up against, is, well, I've got all of this work, and I'm making the money. And you know, I do really want to build this other part of the business. And I really want to, like, that's what I want to grow for the future. But it's hard to let go of what's there now. And I think that that has been, you know, one of the biggest things that if you are looking to shift your business model, or you're looking to shift your audience and what you're doing, you've got to make time for the new business. Otherwise, the new businesses never going to happen, or the new the new marketing that you need to do, or the new clients you need to be working with, like, there's got to be something that gives with what you're doing now in order to build what's new, and what's coming. And I mean, even within my business, as we've moving our tech and things like that, sometimes you've got to be okay with like earning less in times of change. And obviously not to the point where you're, you know, it's detrimental. But there's going to be times when revenue is great, and it's flowing in and you know, you've got clients coming in, and things are working, amazingly. But sometimes you've got to break the business. And you know, I love my glow stick analogy, sometimes you gotta break the glow stick in order for it to glow brighter. And sometimes you got to break the business and do things that you're not used to doing in order to grow the business in the way that you want as well. And so being getting comfortable with being uncomfortable in that shift, I think is another skill that you've got to cultivate in order to shift change and grow the way that you want.
Janine Staunton 37:00
No, I couldn't agree more. And, and that's definitely how I felt. And from a practical side of things, I made the decision to say no to new clients, but maintained existing clients. So if an existing client came back to me, you know, for something, I would say yes to that, but no to new opportunities. felt less, like an absolute cut, you know, or an absolute no to everyone. It's really, you know, making choices of what you are going to continue with what you're not during that transition period. It wasn't just saying no to everything, and only do this, you know, making those choices as well. Yeah, comfortable. Yeah.
Suzanne Chadwick 37:48
So good. I love it. So, so good. Awesome. Janine, is there anything else you want to share when it comes to the shift and the change of moving your business model? Any other lessons that you've learnt?
Janine Staunton 38:00
I think the other thing would be that this stuff doesn't happen on your own in your own head. And I think it's really important to have people to bounce things off. And standing boards and advice, you know, I wouldn't have gotten to this point or made these decisions without having other people. I think it's really important as business owners, and particularly solo business owners that we do have good networks around us and people that we can trust to talk to about these big decisions. Because it's too huge, I think to do this stuff on your own. It's way too huge to do it on your own. So I'm so grateful for everybody. That's, that's helped me in my journey. And I love helping other people, as well. And you're one of those people series that's helped, you know, so much during this process. And so I think that would be the that would be the biggest thing as well as is having a good support system. Yeah. as well. Yeah.
Suzanne Chadwick 39:05
Yeah. So I got and so for those who are listening, so who exactly do you work with now?
Janine Staunton 39:12
I work with marketing consultants in service based businesses, and I help them with website design, branding, design and graphic design behind the scenes. If they want to outsource those client projects. They asked me.
Suzanne Chadwick 39:31
I love it, and where can they get in contact with you for those that are walking the dog or driving in their car?
Janine Staunton 39:39
My website is lemoncrush.com.au And you can find me under the lemon crush design on Instagram as well. If anyone wants to DM me.
Suzanne Chadwick 39:48
I will have all of today's links in the show notes as well as the previous conversation that we talked about in regards to making success. Is your own and what does success look like to you was such a good conversation. So, Janine, thanks so much for coming on and sharing your journey. It's been such a pleasure to be part of your journey as well and see all the iterations that you've been through and for you to get to a place now that is so successful, and you're so happy. And it's just working in a way that really works for you, and your family, and what you need personally as well, I think, you know, we talk about what success means to us. And it's, you know, we love earning money. We love talking about money, but it's not always about, you know, the massive launches and the 100k months, so it's about does your business pay you well, and help you to live the life and support your family or support the lifestyle that you want to have. That's what success really is. So yeah, I love that. That is what your business is doing for you now.
Janine Staunton 40:54
Thank you so much. Thanks, Suz.
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