Speaker 1: 0:03

Well, hello. This is Kimberly Brock, and for over 20 years I've been running my own businesses that have not only been profitable but personally fulfilling to me. So now I'm on a mission to help other new business owners, just like you, make money doing what you love to. Now we're going to have some fun, so let's get started Now we're going to have some fun, so let's get started.

Speaker 2: 0:31

Well, hello, this is Kimberly.

Speaker 3: 0:32

It's episode 296, and I'm so glad that you are here today, because we're talking about starting small but playing big. Oh, yes, I'm speaking directly to all of you new business owners, whether you're a new coach, new service provider, new online business owner, and you have found yourself saying that you're just starting small, or saying it in your head, maybe, just saying it to yourself, and kind of hiding behind that and being like, yeah, I'm just starting small, kind of giving yourself an out to really go big with your business. We're going to discuss this today because I want you to know that there's a difference, that you can start small but play big. You can, you can set yourself up for success, and that means success with however you define it. Everyone's definition of success is different, and it may be more about a lifestyle. For you, it may be more about getting to do something that you love. It may be more about making money, all of the things. It may be more about making impact, all of that. But today we're going to talk about it. We're going to talk about how to start small but play big, because the last thing I want you to do is start small and keep it so small that you never really make any money, okay, so we're gonna talk about it today.

Speaker 3: 1:46

If you're new here, welcome. I'm so glad that you found this podcast. I have no doubt it's going to help you along your business journey. Whether you're in the idea stage, starting or growing. This is for you. Again, whether you have a coaching business, service business, or you're an online business owner, this is for you and I have some free goodies for you. Owner this is for you and I have some free goodies for you. If you scroll down in the show notes right now, you will see I have some free downloads that will be super helpful for you. Okay, I've got a 16-step checklist that people tell me they absolutely love. It's my most popular downloaded item and it's a printable one-pager you can put out on your desk and work through as you're beginning your business. If you're looking to grow your business or start a podcast, I've got some free goodies down below for you too, so make sure you'll check out everything. Also, I have a free Facebook group called Women Starting Businesses and Podcasts Doing what we Love, so you can jump in there. I would love to have you. Make sure you get plugged in. I just don't want you going about this alone and I can save you a whole bunch of time if you just grab those free goodies and get to work on them today and if you've been listening a while.

Speaker 3: 2:50

Thank you so much to all my loyal listeners. Thank you for the reviews and all the kind words. It means the world to me. You have no idea because I do this every week and you know it's quiet in here except for my dog. I like to say he's in here, but I don't really get any feedback. And so when I get feedback from you to say, yes, I loved episode 296, or another episode or your podcast is helping me, it motivates me.

Speaker 3: 3:14

I listen to it on the way to work. It literally means the world to me. So if you have a second right now and you have been listening to this podcast, you find value in it would you give it a five-star rating super quick? It's an Apple podcast, spotify, whatever player you are and hit the five-star rating If you have 30 seconds to write a written review again. It would mean the world to me and thank you again to all of you who have already done this. It's just, you know, something that warms my soul when I get a new review and I get so excited to read it. You'll see too, you have a podcast. Reviews are like gold and they mean so much. So that's it. Okay, on to the episode.

Speaker 2: 3:58

Well, hello friends. How are you today?

Speaker 3: 4:01

What is shaking, what is happening in your business. I need all the scoop. Y'all make sure y'all are replying to the weekly posts in our Women Starting Businesses and Podcast Facebook group, because I love to get updated on your progress, your milestones. Shout out to Amanda Richardson with Wearing the Park. Y'all may have heard her a few episodes back. If you haven't listened, you need to. She started a business selling game packs no-transcript.

Speaker 3: 4:54

You are starting small, which I think is smart, but you're not playing big. You're just not playing big. And what do I mean by that? We're going to go into it. I want to help you play bigger without having to risk big. I think that's the last thing we want is to be super risky. Am I right? Like you, don't want to start something that has no chance of succeeding, right? Nobody wants to do that. And you also don't want to start something that you know you have to mortgage your home to be able to pay for it or you have to take out a half a million dollar loan.

Speaker 3: 5:27

Many of you know that before I started this business here, I was kind of in transition, figuring out, after I'd closed my online gift boutiques, like what I was going to do next and I seriously considered opening a facial spa in my town and I looked into even franchises around that were opening up. In fact, orange Theory I know many of y'all have heard of that I used to go there in Colorado when we moved here like 13 years ago. I had often thought, oh, that'd be fun to open one of those franchises, but they were already all sold out. But I did a whole bunch of investigation and in fact for this facial spa I was actually just going to open my own. It was just a single location. I was going to have my own brand of facial products and stuff and I was super stoked about it, but it was going to be like a half a million dollar loan for our family and I just thought at the end of the day I got nervous about the location of where it was and it just felt risky. I didn't feel like all the ducks were in a row and thank goodness I didn't, because that was 2019. And we all know what happened in the spring of 2020. And I feel so bad for all the spas and just service businesses that were relying on helping people in person and you know masseuses and all that kind of thing, because you know so many feared doing that. You know so many consumers feared going to places like that. I know a lot went out of business, so I can't even imagine if that had happened to me. So thank you, lord, that I was led in another direction to start this business, which is amazing and been so fulfilling and virtually no risk. Virtually no risk Y'all.

Speaker 3: 7:02

Your business does not have to require you to outlay a ton of cash. Now, some of you do. I have clients who have opened bakeries and stores and things like that. They've gone on to have like a mobile business and I totally understand. They've got all their ducks in a row and they end up needing some type of consultant or coach specifically for that type of business. Because I've never opened a store or even had like a mobile type of business like a groomer or some kind of food trucker. I've never had anything like that right. I've had online businesses, but those require more money and some of you here are not willing to do that right now.

Speaker 3: 7:41

You just kind of want to start small, maybe out of your home. A lot of you are doing this on the side. You have a full-time job, part-time job and you don't want it to be risky, am I right? I mean, we want to spend the least amount of money we can. However, we do want to play big. We want to play big. I know you want to play big. I know that you don't just want to hide and like, be like a little mouse and be like my business is open and not tell anybody and just sit there and just cross your fingers that orders are going to come in, like you know that that's not going to work, right? You know that that's actually a hobby, right? You're aware of that. That, just like making something and saying it's for sale and then sitting back and not doing anything, is actually a hobby and it's not a business. And you're here for a business, right? You are here for a business.

Speaker 3: 8:34

So the question is how do you start small with low risk but play big? And let's talk about that today. I'm going to give you three things to think through on how you can actually play big with your business. Ok, because if you're not playing big, then you're playing super small and you run the risk of it just being a hobby. So number one you can start small with low risk, but play big by offering something you already know people want. You already know You've gotten proof, you know that there's maybe even people selling what you want to sell in your area. You know it's something popular or it's something brand new that's come about that you want to jump on in. You want to get in on that because it's a trend. And I think this is actually a huge problem for a lot of new business owners is that they haven't done the research and they haven't really thought through this business that they're putting time, energy and money into and they can end up starting something that is based on a product or service that is not really in demand. That's the last thing you want people. You do not want to be selling something that is not in demand. The way you can play big is to get in on I'm going to say trend, which is hard, because when I say trend, you may think it's something trendy that it's like flare pants or skinny jeans and it's going to go out pretty quick. But it's almost like you have to get in on the new way, the new way that things are going. So let me give you an example.

Speaker 3: 10:13

So I had my first business, you know, with a friend and we did pop-up shows in Austin, texas, and in 2003,. I was like I need to be able to work more from home. I can't be schlepping to shows every weekend. I have two little kids. I have a four-year-old and a one-year-old and I just didn't have time to be doing all that and taking up my weekends and I was like I got to figure out how to do this and I was like you know what? I just want to have an online store.

Speaker 3: 10:39

This is what I feel the future is going to anyways, and I was in the very early years of people building online boutiques Okay, I'm like a dinosaur in that and luckily I was young and hip, okay, and knew about that stuff. So I always respect all of you young people out there that are in your 20s and even early 30s, because you see the future well, you get it, you get what's coming and I always trust them, because when I was that age, people didn't trust me. I would try to buy products for my business from other wholesalers and they would be like we don't do business with online. They all thought it was fraud, they thought it was scammy, and I'm like this is where it's going. It's not because I was some Steve Jobs, who could see the future and had a vision for everything in the future. I just had real life experience. Knowing like online is really cool and this is so much better, right? So much more efficient, right. So, anyways, my point is you want to be jumping on in to the wave of the future and if it means a trend for a while, then jump in on a trend. If something is popular, then you want to jump in. Online business has been very popular.

Speaker 3: 11:57

I jumped in on that with my business when I was taking family portraits of people. I jumped in on that. People were loving getting really good family portraits. When I was growing up, we didn't get family portraits. I don't know about y'all. I grew up in the 70s and 80s. Did y'all get a lot of family portraits? Is it just my family?

Speaker 3: 12:15

I feel like, as cameras have become better and now we have phones and all that, so many more family photos, which I think is so awesome, right, but you should always be jumping in on the wave of the future, right? So ask yourself what is it like? What niche are you in already, like, maybe you're an artist, maybe you're a coach, maybe you are a service provider and you have seen something gain popularity and people are yearning for something. You can see other businesses selling it, or maybe no one's selling it yet, but you know that it's on the cusp of a breakthrough. Right Then you want to jump in, like I'm thinking just about Pickleball. Right now, y'all Pickleball is booming and I remember a year or two ago and I'm like Pickleball courts are going to be everywhere. We need Pickleball studios and sure enough you know there's all these pickleball clubs coming about and I'm in Texas where it's hot all the time, so being a member of an indoor pickleball club is amazing. And there's franchises popping up everywhere because they are jumping in on the wave of the future that a lot of people are playing pickleball, whether you love it or not.

Speaker 3: 13:17

That order to play big needs to be a part of the wave of the future. And yes, you can capitalize on trends that may only be here for a few years and that's fine, but you have to have a plan for how you're going to have brand extension and you're going to grow your brand beyond that initial trend. Does that make sense? So you play big when you know there's demand, when you know that people want to fork over their money for something when you know that when you talk to people, they light up and they get excited and you've actually done your due diligence to figure out if you have a good business idea or not. Okay, you've got to be doing that. Side note, I have a workshop you can go through. That's very inexpensive If you're trying to narrow down your ideas and figure out the best business idea for you. Check it out down below. You've gotta do your due diligence. Y'all. You have to, because you have to be able to ensure that this business is going to go big and not just flail around, become a hobby and just be a time suck and not really make the money you set out for. I really do y'all.

Speaker 3: 14:29

I coach a lot of new business owners. I coach women and I see it that they're playing small because they are just wanting to offer something that they are passionate about but don't really know if it has legs, if it has longevity, if it's going to be something that people actually want to pay for. And that's the scariest thing is getting into a business that you really have no idea whether people are going to buy it or not. You should never be in that position. You should be in a position where you know there's demand. You've just got to figure out how to get this business up and going and get everything set up strategically and offer the product that they already want to buy. That is how you play big. Now caveat Some of you have leveraged a trend or a new thing, mainly mainly these are mainly product sellers, but I have seen this with coaches too.

Speaker 3: 15:28

You're kind of embarking on something new that's coming out and there is some education that's involved. Okay, so you may have a product or a service that a lot of people don't know about yet, but it's maybe linked to something else that is very popular in this world right now and you know that once people know about it, it's going to go gangbusters. You love it. You know other people that would love this and have tested it and know. Then you're okay, it will take you a little more time to educate people, right? Your obvious first choice is something that you already know people know about and want to buy. But if you do have a product or service that's cutting edge, it's brand new. A lot of people don't know about it. You are going to have to educate people through social media, through talking to people through showing up. So you may have a little more ramp, that's okay. But you're playing big when you know it's on the cusp of something bigger.

Speaker 3: 16:19

Okay, don't just sit back and hold it for yourself and just think it's cute and not tell people about it. Or think it's great, but not put yourself out there. I really feel like when you know in your heart that this is something that's cutting edge, that is really helpful, that will help them. Now that is a wave of the future. You are more confident showing up and that's how you play big too in this. Okay, so your offer again needs to be something that there is demand for, that people are actually wanting to buy, and it will give you the confidence to put yourself out there and you will be getting sales. That's how you play big. You play small by just offering a product that only you like, that you have no idea if other people like, and you hide and don't put yourself out there because you are not totally sure that people are going to like it. Okay, we want something we believe in and we know there is demand for. Okay, so that's number one.

Speaker 3: 17:14

Number two make sure that you are very clear about the people you are meant to serve. You should have all your words together, all of your we call it messaging together. You should know exactly who you're meant to serve, who you are targeting and what the heck you're saying online and in person. Y'all messaging is so important. It is massively important because business owners will kind of create things but they don't specify who it's for and I'm talking about mainly new business owners. They won't specify who it's best for. They won't feel confident showing up and talking about their business because they don't know what to say, they don't know what words to use, they fumble, they look like they're scared and then you're like wondering, when you're listening to them, like, do they really think their product or service is good? Like I can't tell, like you're getting an uneasy feeling from them. When you know who you are truly meant to serve, when you have done the homework and I'm talking about digging deep into that and digging deep into the problems that your people have and the transformation that they're seeking when you know all of that and then you know what to say on your website and in person, you're playing much bigger, because now you're doing what big companies do, which is target certain people.

Speaker 3: 18:52

Right, target certain people you have to go in, and I know we hear the word niche all the time. I have a love-hate and I don't like the word hate, but I just said it. I have a love-dislike about the word niche because I've seen small business owners go completely crazy trying to figure out their niche. Like it is wasted hours and hours and hours and days and days and weeks and weeks because people are like I don't know my niche, because there's this marketing being thrown at you that you have to know your niche. I think we can even sometimes just take the word niche off the table. If that is freaking you out, if that word is causing problems for you, throw it out the window and just say who the heck am I meant to serve? Who would love this and what are they actually looking for? How can I help them and what are the words I can say to attract them and make them raise their hand and wanna be in my circle and possibly buy my products or service? Who are those people? So I'm telling you now your messaging is massively important and that's how you play big.

Speaker 3: 20:04

If you want to just sit back, make your sourdough, bread or whatever you're going to make, but then again, don't tell anybody and then be scared every time you talk about it that people are going to think you're a weirdo for doing that business and that you think everyone's judging you, that you're not going to be successful and you don't know how to confidently talk about your business and why you're doing it and why you believe in it. You're not playing big, you're just not. You're not playing big when you don't have your messaging down. Okay, promise me that you will work on this. And, by the way, if you don't know how to work through this, I have my whole Grow Getters course and part of this part of that course is about messaging and it's massively helpful for you. Okay, I lay it all out, everything you need to do. So, if you haven't considered the Grow Getters course, there's so much to it, but messaging is a big chunk of it, so just want to share that here. You can scroll down the show notes and it's, or you can just go to grow-getterscom, okay, and you can be working on your messaging today.

Speaker 3: 21:08

So, number one, it's something that's an offer that you know people are already looking for. Okay, they're already looking for what, and maybe specifically what you love to make or offer the most isn't what you've been hearing about. Try to offer something close to it in the wording that people would say, so that you attract their attention and then you can share why your offer is maybe slightly different than the most popular thing going on. Okay, just as a side note. Okay, so you want to. You want a clear offer with something that is obviously popular or that you know some people out there actually are looking for and want to buy, okay.

Speaker 3: 21:48

The second one is really good messaging. That's how you play big. You play big with good messaging, okay. And the third way you play big is you actually have an intentional strategy for how you turn strangers to buyers. Like you've created this strategy. Some people call it your whole funnel, but that can kind of mean just the technical side of your funnel. I'm talking about how you funnel people in from a stranger. You're talking to them, maybe you tell them about your business, maybe they hear you on a podcast because you're a stranger the first time they hear you on a podcast and how you turn those listeners or those YouTube watchers or your Instagram followers or people that you meet, into someone who's either buying right away which most people won't buy, right, that second, okay. So either buying right away or being nurtured by you in some way and them offering them raising their hand to want to be in your circle somehow to follow you, watch you continue on with something, get a free download, whatever it is, and then turn into a buyer Like, actually have a strategy for that.

Speaker 3: 22:59

That's what businesses do. Y'all Businesses do that. Do you know what hobbies do? They make their sourdough bread or they create their coaching offer and they sit back and they're embarrassed and they just cross their fingers and they're like praying please, customers come. Maybe I'll do one Instagram post and see if people will come. Y'all, they don't. The clients that I've worked with, they don't. You have to have a strategy for how you turn the strangers to buyers. Now, messaging that I mentioned before is a piece of that, okay, but I think messaging is literally the most important thing I really do over the whole strategy, because I think you can kind of have really good messaging and people will raise their hand and come in and buy. But I do think having the full strategy is massively important too, and you need it if you're actually gonna play big with this business.

Speaker 3: 23:55

Now, again, this doesn't mean spending a bazillion dollars on tech. This doesn't mean investing a bazillion dollars in anything. This doesn't even mean necessarily spending a ton more time. This just means you have set out an intentional strategy. And then you ask yourself okay, what can I offer them? Or what can I say to them? To, you know, invite them to next steps with me, whatever that is, to watch your YouTube videos, to get a free quote, to have a consult call, to get a coupon, whatever it is. I don't know what it is for you, but what can I invite them to do next? So then they're in my circle and I can nurture them, and then, if they are the right person, I have presented them with an easy way to buy.

Speaker 3: 24:49

You have to have a strategy. So many of you have no strategy, have zero. You're saying random things to random people all the time and you're getting random sales. That's what's happening. That's that's exactly what happens. I see it all the time. And you're getting random sales. That's what's happening. That's exactly what happens. I see it all the time and you're like I'm just not getting consistent sales. Well, and then you're kind of going well, I'm not, because I'm not consistently like knowing what to do, like you don't even know what you're supposed to do. But what if you actually had a strategy that felt comfortable to you? You're like, oh, I can do that. That's what we want. We want a strategy that feels authentic to you, so that you can turn strangers by yourself. And you have to have it mapped out and it's like something you repeat all the time. You're just doing all the time, so it just becomes something second nature to you. By the way, that's what I teach in Grow Getters as well. I teach the five-step process. It is the strategy. Messaging is the first piece of that strategy. I teach all of it to you.

Speaker 3: 25:55

If you don't have a strategy, let me ask you right now how's it going? How's it going? Do you feel good when you show up and talk to people about your business? Are you fumbling over words or you feel confident? Are you getting responses? Are you getting traction? Are people buying all the time? Ask yourself, be honest with yourself Now.

Speaker 3: 26:17

Some of you out there may be going, heck, yeah, I have not had a strategy. Everyone wants my stuff. Kudos to you. Round of applause. I'm so excited for you. You're better than about 90% of the people that that I come in contact with that are small business owners. Most tell me it's a process, they have to work on it and it's a constant process.

Speaker 3: 26:36

Every small business owner that I know that is that is on the way up. Okay, maybe they're new and they're all of a sudden now they're gaining traction or they're already super successful. They've had a strategy. They've had a strategy for turning strangers to buyers that feels authentic to them, that's doable for the time they have at this season of their life. And if you don't have that, you're not playing big. You're just over there with your products or services, your coaching, your consulting, whatever it is, and you're just hoping and hope is not a plan. Hope is not a plan. You have to have a strategy.

Speaker 3: 27:11

So again, let's recap how do you play big without being risky? Okay, how do you do that? But still kind of start small in a way that's comfortable. I'm all about being comfortable. I'm never here telling you you have to do all these things, you have to spend all this money, right? I'm never, ever going to tell you that.

Speaker 3: 27:32

I'm going to say what fits into this season of your life and a lot of times with brand new business owners who are just starting, we talk about this. We talk about your season of life because it's super important and I can help you craft your business around the season. Maybe you have kids, maybe you have you know, maybe you're homeschooling, you volunteer, maybe you're taking care of elderly family members it could be anything right and that is important. Everyone's situation is different and some people have 2 hours a week, some people have 8 hours a week, some people have two hours a week, some people have eight hours a week, some people have 20 hours a week. It's different for everyone, but I can help you craft it so it fits that and everything feels in alignment with you.

Speaker 3: 28:10

It has to be aligned with you in your life right now, or this is going to go to pot, it's going to turn into a hobby and you're here because you want it to be a business. So take it seriously to be a business, so take it seriously. I mean, that's really the gist of this is like take your business seriously. I don't care how small you are, I don't care if you make one sale a week on a $30 item, I literally don't care. It means nothing to me. You know. What it means to me is we need a system. We need a system, you need a plan, you need a strategy for how you're going to turn strangers to buyers, how you're going to do this on repeat, all the time, every day, on repeat.

Speaker 3: 28:50

It's a process. You should almost get bored of your process because you know it and you already have it down and it works. But if you don't have that today, you got to get it. Okay, you got to get it. And again, I teach you how to do that inside GrowGetters. It's the strategy that I've used. It's a strategy that I've used again for the past 25 years and the strategy I teach all my clients and they feel like a weight has been lifted off of them, because they're actually excited to go out and market their business, because they actually have a plan and they're like, oh, this did not have to be that hard and I didn't have to sit back and feel like I wasn't in control. I could actually take control of my business. Take this seriously. I don't care again what your revenue is.

Speaker 3: 29:34

This is about playing big. Even though you're starting small. Okay, so that you can become big. If you want to become big. Everyone has their own definition of success, okay. So again, let's repeat one more time, because I want you to leave today knowing how you are going to play big without risking everything or spending umpteen hours wasting your life. You're not. You're. You're building this business in a way that feels true to you and brings you so much joy and fulfillment.

Speaker 3: 30:00

Okay, number one you're going to offer something that you already know that people want to buy, so that you can actually be getting sales pretty quick, okay, and then you can other offer other variations later, but start with something you know that people are struggling with. They're struggling with XYZ, and that's what you're going to put out there. Something that's already in demand would be ideal. There's already high demand for it. Okay, that's how you can play big, because it makes you ante up and it makes you get in the game.

Speaker 3: 30:30

Number two is your messaging has to be very clear what you're saying on your website and in person, so that you're confident and so people actually know that you're for them. And number three is actually having a strategy for turning strangers to buyers. If you have no strategy, you're not actually in the game. You're just sitting back and this is a hobby. Okay, that's it.

Speaker 3: 30:50

I'm so excited for you. You can start small, however small you want, I don't care. My job here is to make sure you play big, that you take the steps that are actually going to build a successful business. I'm so excited for you. If you want to check out GrowGetters again, the link is down below or I offer one-on-one coaching. Okay, and one-on-one coaching is awesome for those of you that just want to knock things out, that want personal help in the quickest amount of time and you want feedback on what you're doing, affirmation that some of the things that you're doing are right and then getting clarity on what you need to start working on. Power hours have been so successful for my clients. I love doing power hours. I feel like this is kind of my zone of genius to be in there digging as quick as possible to give you clarity for your business. Okay, so I'd love to help you. You can reach out to me. Just copy an email down below and.

Speaker 2: 31:44

I'd love to help see you know what I could do to help you build this business dream. So that's it.

Speaker 3: 31:51

Y'all have a great day until next time. Bye now.

Speaker 2: 31:58

Now this episode may be over, but our relationship does not have to end here. Head on over to KimberlyBrockcom and, yes, you can get more valuable information for your journey and you know what. You don't need to go through this alone. I would love to help you. Thank you so much and have a great day. Bye.