Hey loved listeners,
I’m back in the podcasting groove and will be answering some of your questions in solo episodes over the summer. If you have one please email me at hello@yarrowdigital.com!
In this episode I am talking about what it means to build resilience in our businesses, about sharing honestly what things feel like and what kind of support we need to make it though. Here are the journaling prompts I mentioned:
- What can resilience look like for you right now?
- What services, skills and products can you offer online?
- What do the people you serve need right now? How has that changed?
- How are other people in your industry adapting?
- How do you want to trade with people?
- What are your core values in business?
- What kind of goals would feel good?
I hope this is helpful for you!
I also mentioned my first book called Rituals: httpss://www.yarrowmagdalena.com/book/
and you can still sign up for the free summer workshop series here: httpss://pinkwellstudio.com/free-workshops/
Thank you so much for listening!
Love,
Yarrow
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⋒ Hi, my name is Yarrow.
My show is a podcast for introverts who want to build gentle & sustainable businesses that are aligned with their values and fun to work in. Subscribe to be supported in defining your own ethical marketing compass, building rock solid systems and finding the confidence you need to thrive.
You can learn more about my work and listen to other episodes at PinkWellStudio.com. I also offer free monthly Spark Sessions and share resources, ideas & new episodes about once per month over on Substack ⋒
Transcript
Hey, everyone, my name is Yarrow and you’re listening to the DIY small business podcast. Really happy to have you here and to spend a bit of time exploring what it means to be more resilient in our businesses and what we can do to diversify our income streams to fear and bring our practices online if that’s what we want to do. Before I start, just a few announcements, I am back in podcasting mode. So you will hear a lot more from me over the rest of the summer. Please let me know if you have any questions or things that you want me to cover I really enjoy. Yeah, riffing on specific specific things that you would like to know more about. So message me on Instagram or send me an email at Hello at Yarrow Digital lock COMM And I’ll record an episode about your question, if I think that I can answer it. My book is coming out very soon, probably this week, I’m just waiting for it released on Ingram sparks. So stay tuned for that by the time you’re listening, it might already be out, in which case, you’ll find the link in the show notes. And then finally, the buddy business community is opening again in late August, so about in about four weeks. This is a year long group coaching programme where we have monthly group coaching calls and live workshops, as well as co working spaces and Monday accountability posts, and a really cool community on mighty networks where we ask questions and talk to each other about what’s really happening in our businesses. I feel that this community is really based around the values and conversations that we had on the podcast in the last few years. And so if that’s your jam, you might enjoy that the price for a year is going to be $300. And there’s going to be payment plans as well. And you will also get a one of mentoring session with me which I’m very excited about, it’s a great way to get to know one. Okay, so today’s episode is about moving things on our online building my resilience and our businesses and really thinking about how we’re affected this year by the pandemic, and what that means moving forward. So beginning with how we are affected, I’m really wanting to invite you to make some space to sit with the anxiety, the grief, sadness, discomfort, whatever it is you’re feeling about what has been happening in your business and last month. And that has been huge waves of uncertainty and sometimes chaos for all of us. There’s been different levels of support from our governments. Sometimes that has been helpful, sometimes not so much. It hasn’t even always been clear in terms of what it means and who can receive it. And that’s really hard, it’s really difficult to know what the next two years or however long this is going to play out, we’ll look like how the economy as a whole is going to be affected, and then how the communities that were part of are going to be affected. And just making some space for yourself to see how that feels, maybe you want to journal about it. I’m also inviting you to not make any assumptions about what you need, or what this means to you. I think in times of change, it’s easy to fall into these narratives of like, I should be resilient in this particular way, or I still have work. So I should be really grateful. I’m certainly grateful for the work that I have. But I’m also allowing myself to feel sad about other things that I have lost. And I’m honouring that there’s different ways of preparing for whatever comes next. So sometimes, you know, that looks like spending a lot of time with exes, she’s thinking really carefully about my finances, thinking about things that maybe I can simplify. And other times it looks like building resilience in my body and meditating more and trying to get my head to a space where I can be a little bit more creative and adaptive, which has been really hard, especially in the first few months. I also really like creating spaces that allow you know room for us to be true. And to say what’s really in our mind and what we’re worried about. Because so often in small business and entrepreneurial worlds, there is a tendency to say only what has been really successful, what feels really good. And yeah, it’s important that we’re staying human and that we connect with each other about how we’re feeling about things. I also feel like this is the time of where we are particularly call to really think about what it means to prioritise creative problem solving skills, overplaying productivity, so being adaptive and being able to respond rather than just react to things like what can that look like for you in your business right now.
And then beyond that, what other things can you name that make you feel resilient and your body and your business so To me, the first answer that comes to mind has always been having savings and having financial stability. And that makes sense, because that’s something I’ve not really had growing up and something that felt very unstable and tender, especially in the beginning of my business. But I think there’s actually more than that. And I want to honour that financial stability and having my basic needs met is really important for me and my communities. But there’s also other things that can make me feel resilient, such as being part of a community where I can be myself or having access to healing tools, like being able to walk in the woods or going to the beach, or having a sense that I still have some choices. And that I have resources in place that might help me get through periods of less income. So if you like, you can pause the recording and take a moment and write about what this means to you what it means to be resilient. And to be able to adapt this year. Many people have moved their practice online, especially people that have been affected by lockdowns in a way that meant they couldn’t be of service that the way that they used to anymore, they couldn’t sell any products. And many people have shifted what they’re offering completely, which is amazing. And, and probably also a bit scary, and just a really big deal you probably had imagine your business to grow in different ways. And you find yourself having to make choices that you really hadn’t seen coming in any way. But maybe this is a good time to ask yourself what services skills or products you can offer online? And also, what do you want to offer people right now? And how has that changed? So when you think about what your customers really want need, and what they needed last summer, versus what they need right now? How is that changed? How’s that different? Is there maybe different buying behaviour or different services that they require different formats or boundaries? And then maybe also looking around your industry and seeing how other people are adapting? What are they doing? What’s working for them? And how do you see that possibly working for you as well. Another thing I want to offer and thinking about resilience is the fact that we can engage our customers and our communities in our future. And I think we see this all the time. Like in my local High Street, for example, businesses are very honest about how hard it’s been, to not be able to open to customers or to organise deliveries, for example. And many of them have done such an amazing job, like we have this local bakery, now we can pre order your bread and then instead of queuing up and going into the shop, you can just kind of grab it at the window. And it’s prepaid or we have another shop that has done deliveries almost throughout lockdown, which has been so helpful for many people who couldn’t get any supermarket deliveries as slots here. So I think there’s a mutual investment between the local community and these businesses on the high street. Because obviously, we’re all understanding that there’s a real threat to the diversity that we’re seeing in the shops that are available to us. And we all want to sustain and support these small businesses. And they are letting us know how we can do that by pre ordering by committing to a subscription by utilising online offerings that they may have. There’s also a bookshop in Glasgow, for example, called categories. His books are just one by two amazing quiz. And I love ordering books for them at a time where I can go to my local bookshop. And it just means too much so much to me. And the more that they, the businesses that I support, also share about what that means to them, the more committed I feel, and the more I can really sense that we’re in a in an interconnected network together. So I’m inviting you to kind of think about ways in which you can maybe involve your clients and your communities and the well being of your business, and in which case, in which ways you can maybe allow yourselves to communicate what’s hard for you right now, and what you have to offer and then what ways you’re aiming to adapt.
So this could, for example, look like starting a Patreon or crowdfunding campaign, it could just mean sharing your thoughts and processes around what you’re doing right now. It can just mean like some extra honesty, or it can look like inviting people to buy a few vouchers for the future or setting up a subscription with you. I think that we really kind of underestimate sometimes how open people are to getting involved if they can see that it really makes The difference Do you also want to share a quote by Kate from wonderware Consulting who’s also been on the podcast, she recently sent out a newsletter and said that a lot of businesses will survive this year by becoming smaller, more intimate versions of themselves. And I want to read that again, because it really means so much to me, for me that I was such a big aha moment. I was like, yeah, I’m willing to become a smaller, more intimate version of myself. I don’t know exactly what that means. And it might be hard, but it feels like the way through. So I’m going to read it again, a lot of small businesses will survive this year, by becoming smaller, more intimate versions of themselves. This is by Kate of Wonderwall consulting, check her workout. So maybe this is a moment to kind of just take a really deep breath and see how this is landing in your body. What does it mean to become a smaller, more intimate, maybe also more transparent, more open version of yourself and your business? And then when you’re grounding that, how am I that shift your offerings, maybe you’re offering donation based online classes, or consultations. Maybe you’re experimenting with different kinds of pricing modules, we’re also holding really clear and firm boundaries for you, or on your time and energy and your creativity. Maybe you’re building a Patreon, maybe you’re providing a space to connect them process. Maybe you’re running an online group or self study course. Or maybe you’re creating something at home that you can post to people. And also allowing yourself to be discerning when so when you’re hearing about all these options, and you’re looking around your own industry, and there’s all these ideas popping up, you still get to choose, you don’t have to do all these things. And you don’t even have to justify saying no to something if it doesn’t feel right for you. Another thing I want to touch on is working with downtime. So many people find themselves with extra time or like gaps in the booking, I usually would web design book one project at a time. And things have been a bit slower over the summer, which isn’t totally unusual summer as often a time where people have other things in their mind then building a new website. But yeah, it’s been tangible. I’ve been doing more mentoring, which I also really enjoy. But it’s a different way of working, I guess. And so, and May and June, for example, I’ve written a book, which is, which is like I mentioned coming out this week, hopefully, it’s called rituals, simple and radical practices when time and in times of crisis. It’s not super long, like about 150 pages. And I just felt that at that time, it was good for me to get up every morning and write 1000 words before doing anything else. So that’s how I did it. And I don’t want to play into productivity culture too much. I also want to say that I’ve given myself so much time and space to just flop down and cry and eat. And in that time, but that felt like a structure that I could really commit to and it was also kind of, you know, like not cluttering my time, but it was filling some of the extra time that came from not being able to be social. And it made me feel less lonely. So maybe there’s also a way that you can work with downtime that feels good for you. Maybe you want to write a scene for your book, maybe you want to start a podcast or record a course, or just pour a little bit more energy into making connections and building community around your business. There’s many resources around reading a Patreon or other creative projects on this podcast. So maybe you have the time you want to go back into the archives and check those out and see what applies to you. Again, giving yourself so much permission to be discerning. And to not take all these different things on but just to see if there’s one thing that feels really good for you to do right now. There’s also lots and lots of tech tools that can support you in that. And what I see a lot around me at the moment is that people feel really overwhelmed with options or not really sure where to start because I think it’s so human because our brains are so overloaded with information right now there’s so much going on so much to take in and so much shifting all the time. So of course that will be hard. But I think the main thing that I want to kind of encouraged you to
hold on to is that there’s always a resource for whatever you want to do. So for example, if you want to set up a bookkeeping system for online consultations, and you don’t know how something like acuity works, you can totally find a tutorial on YouTube. There’s definitely one for whichever software you want to use. There are episodes on here by building a Patreon you can learn about how you can work with zoom There’s information out there on YouTube that shows you exactly how to set up a SoundCloud account for your podcast. Really everything that you might need to know or might have to figure out is out there. So don’t force yourself to do it all yourself, you can definitely just turn to people who will share information and have done what you’re trying to do. This is not, you know, this is not about you doing everything yourself. I’m also encouraging people to really think about how this is affecting the way they share and create content in their business right now. So maybe this is a good time to come back to some core questions like how do I want to trade with people? What are the core values in my business? And what kinds of goals feel good right now. And then, as a next step, if you want, you can come up with a content planning sheet, which I love doing and colour coordinating. And I’m just kind of like really sitting with these core values. And I’m thinking about, okay, how does this show up for me on Instagram? How does this manifest in my podcast? What does it look like in my newsletter, and I’m really writing it down. It sounds simple, but really putting it into words. And committing to what you want to share with space and how is going to make kind of stay active in your make marketing so much easier, because you’re not constantly reinventing the wheel, you’re not opening Instagram feeling, oh, my God, I feel like I haven’t shared them ages. I don’t know what to say, I don’t even know where to begin. Because you have done this groundwork, it really makes it so much easier. And also, I have another episode and content strategy planning. So if this resonates with you, you want to explore that more, go check that out. And then finally, I think it’s really important that we think about the user experience right now. How are people getting to know you? And how has that state of mind maybe changed? What does it mean for them to be overwhelmed, and then kind of reach out for something that you might have to offer? And so where do you want to draw attention to? And how are you inviting into action? And where do you need strong boundaries the most so that you’re not depleting yourself? I know in this episode, I’ve kind of given you more questions than answers, I will put them in the show notes. And I really hope that they useful and that you might make some time to journal about them, because that’s sort of where the magic happens. And it’s so tempting to say, Oh, I just answered as in my mind, but trust me, when I say it’s so much more magical effective, if you can also trace your thought process back. If a year from now you can open your journal and be like, Oh, yeah, this is what this has been like. And this is where I’ve come to now. And this is how these two spaces are different. I think that’s really powerful. And I really wish that for you. So thank you so much for listening, do reach out to me if you’d like business mentoring or a website done for you. I am definitely available for that and I’m grateful for your time. Thank you.
