Where does the money come from?

May 25, 2022

When a business really does well, where does the money come from? This is a serious question, because when your business isn’t making enough, or is underperforming in some way, it can all feel a little mysterious or unattainable.

I wrote recently about not trying to shift the entire dysfunctional economy on your own back (Trying to shift the entire economy through your own efforts) and I meant it.

I very much want you to make money, because it’s a very different thing for you as a small business owner, even if you have some amount of privilege, to start to make a thriving income, as opposed to a multi-millionaire+ who is adding more than they could spend in a lifetime to their personal pot.

It’s just different.

There are three ingredients to where money comes from in a thriving business.

Reaching enough people.
Having a truly sustainable, supportive price reflective of your audience size.
Selling more than one thing to each person.

Now, there’s more to the story, of course. Yet, at an essential level, this is really it.

Reaching enough people is important. Those of us who care about others and about the world don’t like to see business reduced to mere numbers. However, for a business to thrive, it needs to be connected to more people than you have just in your social/friendship circles.

This is compassionate, because when you’re reaching enough people, that takes the pressure off of each individual. When you have very few people you’re reaching, then there’s huge pressure on the individual, “Will *you* be my client?”

With a larger audience, allow each person their own timing, without getting too attached. It’s so freeing.

Sustainable pricing is critical. Now, this does not mean “charging what you’re worth” which doesn’t make any actual sense, because there’s no number that can ethically be attached to your person.

But, it does often mean charging more than you are immediately comfortable with. So often folks don’t truly have an understanding the time, energy and costs involved in running a thriving business. If you see clients, the client fees need to cover EVERYTHING else, not just the time you’re in front of your client. They need to cover administrative costs, professional development, creative thinking time, marketing, vacations, everything.

Repeat sales is the final click. I see many folks make the mistake of trying to create a sustainable business through endless one-off sales. A single individual session or reading per client. One time workshops, and the like. Compared to having an ongoing client, or group, it takes endless numbers to make it work.

Here’s some math: If an individual session/reading costs $225, you need to sell 20 of them per month to bring in $4500. That’s 240 people in a year, to bring in $54,000.

By the same token, if you can have a client stick with you for six months, and see you twice a month, to bring in that same revenue takes only 20 clients in a year. Fewer if some of them stick with you for longer than six months.

It’s a HUGE difference between finding 240 new people to each pay for one session, versus finding 20 people to stick with you to get deeper help.

Add in to that running a small group or two, another 12 people in the year, each person paying $225 per month, that adds $2700/month, $32400/year, and jumps your revenue to US$84,400.

You can absolutely do this.

I’m not trying to imply that it’s all snap-your-fingers easy. What I am saying is that by leaning into these three ingredients, it becomes MUCH easier, and you know what you’re focusing on.

If your business is reaching an audience of 500 people, I will tell you that having 240 new clients a year, a 50% enrollment rate, is banana-pants, impossible, not going to happen. But, finding 20 clients in 500, which is a 4% enrollment rate, is absolutely doable.

Yes, you have to do it with heart, with love, and with integrity. Yes, you have to have skills in what your business is. And, I’m hopeful that by making these three ingredients more visible, by highlighting them, that you can get a visceral feel for how your business can generate good revenue.

Settle in, embrace the journey, and let’s get you flying!

With love,
Mark Silver, M.Div.
Heart of Business, Inc.
Every act of business can be an act of love.

All the other details on how to make it work?

There are so many business development courses that teach individual strategies- funnel creation, copywriting, memberships, small group, high ticket clients, etc…

Missing from all of those courses is a true big-picture perspective of what a business needs to develop as a business. What are all the ingredients? What is the inner heart-perspective? How can you have a healthy, effective relationship with developing your business into something that can really support you?

This is exactly what The Heart of Your Business will teach you.

“I am loving this course. Thank you for inviting us to go so deeply. I realize there are many pieces to the ‘puzzle’, but for me, this deep foundational work is where the blocks have been.”

— Linda Lonseth, past participant

It starts June 21, with a bonus class May 31, that’s this coming Tuesday, for those registered in May. And it’s priced at pay-from-the-heart.