Christina: (00:02) You are listening to the scaling of freedom podcast. I’m your host, Christina Bernhard. And in this episode, I am going to share with you what happened when I slowed down my business growth. I wanted to do this episode because when I did start to dive into the online business world and to the coaching industry, um, and started to just learn how everyone else was building their business. Um, and just, you know, what the general messaging was, um, at the beginning of the pandemic is whenever I started to really submerge myself into the culture of online business and coaching. And the messaging was very strong of, you know, hustling and trying to grow your business as quickly as possible. And there was a lot of focus on business milestones, which was usually, uh, demonstrated in forms of like revenue growth, um, and the revenue that you’re hitting each month.

Christina: (00:55) And that was such a focus. And it was such a, um, like for the business coaches that I would follow, it was such a selling point of their programs that their clients were hitting this milestone and this milestone. And it just got to where, you know, the overall, like, feel of everything was just, you know, grow as fast as you can. And I will be honest that a lot of this messaging kind of served me in a way, because it did allow me to, um, have these milestones and have a very clear focus of what I wanted to hit. But, um, it was definitely something that, you know, was obviously not sustainable. Um, and something I had to really rearrange my thoughts around once my business like got off the ground, because there’s only so many more milestones that you can hit. And there are only so many times that you’re going to hit a plateau and be very, very uncomfortable there.

Christina: (01:50) If you think that business is just continuous, fast, fast growth all the time. And, um, I actually have like friends in the space and, um, you know, just people that I’ve meted through masterminds and connecting, and some people do grow their businesses that just continuously, um, keep growing and hitting these milestones very quickly. So I just want to share my experience of, um, what happened whenever I did actually decide to slow down my business growth and take the focus away from trying to just, you know, blind, like mindlessly hit these milestones just to like for the sake of hitting them. Um, and what happened whenever I stopped doing that, um, and really amazing things happened. And I definitely built way better business than I had before. And it’s not because we grew so much more in revenue. Um, it’s for a lot of other reasons.

Christina: (02:46) Um, it also did a lot for my personal life as well, because I was pretty unbalanced in the beginning, which honestly like when it comes to, you know, hustling and like balance and things like that, I don’t really have a lot of insight on how you could build a business and have kind of a balanced lifestyle. That’s not how I got my business started and I genuinely don’t know how to do that. I’ll be honest. like, I pretty much worked around the clock for almost a year. So that’s just my story and what I did. Um, I’m not saying it’s right or it’s the path, but that’s the only way that I know how to get something off the ground. And that’s what I did. Um, I certainly have a ton of balance in my life now more than I ever imagined at this point.

Christina: (03:31) Um, we still do like really big things and I, I do a very important work in my business, but, um, it’s very intentional and focused and I’m not doing very many fluff, like, you know, things. Uh, so, uh, I really love where this has gotten me. So I’m going to share five things that happened whenever I slowed my business down intentionally. So the first thing that happened was, um, I was able to focus on hiring and training a new team. So whenever my business was growing really quickly, I definitely needed to hire very fast, um, because it was growing quickly. But, um, it got to where whenever I was able to actually slow things down, I was able to actually train people and be very, very hands on because it was just me. And then I had a couple people on my team and whenever I wanted to expand beyond a couple of people, I really did need to take everything out of my brain and put it into these different processes.

Christina: (04:32) And that was such a process. I would say that I feel like it’s a strength of mine, but it still was so much more work than I anticipated. Like it just seems like it would be so simple to create systems and have just a simple like flow chart of how things are supposed to go. Um, but it’s, it’s way more complicated than that. So it definitely took so much of my time. And I think if I was, you know, running on a hamster wheel, just trying to get through my task every day and just trying to keep up with this business growth and just keep the business running. Um, I wouldn’t be able to really invest my time into creating these solid systems that can live without me. So with that extra time, it allowed me to train really well, but also create those super clear SOPs that are really full proof.

Christina: (05:19) Really. Um, we, all of our SOPs are very step by step with training videos, and I can’t recommend that enough. Um, I’ve really taken the time to do that. And it has just paid off like times 1 million. Um, and I just would not have been able to do that if I was just in the thick of just trying to keep my business afloat. And I know that you can hire people to try and create these SOPs for you. And I certainly have done that. I’ve not done it all on my own. Um, I’ve had a lot of help from like my OBM and like other people on my team, but, um, really whenever it is a task that I created and it’s a system that I, I created and how I want to run my business. Um, I’ve seen a lot of benefit in me creating my own SOPs because I know that my business forwards and backwards, I know what needs to happen.

Christina: (06:07) I know what, how I want things to be done. Um, and so being able to be such a big part of that process has just really allowed how I do things to trickle out throughout my business, um, in a very sustainable and, um, very thorough way. The second thing that happened was, um, I was having the space to take time off, um, which was something that was foreign to me at first. Um, so with this time off, um, what was, what I was able to do was I was able to like take more walks and just, you know, be still, um, and just have this space where I could tap into my creativity. So I’ve been able to come up with so many more ways to improve my business because we had a lower client load and I wasn’t focused on just trying to fill up our client roster.

Christina: (07:01) Whenever you fill up your client roster, um, you have created more work for yourself, which is the point of your business, but, um, at a certain point, like there are seasons where, um, I’ve really seen a lot of value in just focusing on how can I make things better and just kind of reflecting and reevaluating where we are. And, um, I have been able to identify which offers or systems, um, that were serving us and which ones that weren’t. So we were able to actually like cut things out, um, and, you know, kind of just cut the fat out of the business and focus on what was really working and what was really moving the needle. What was really serving my clients, what was really serving us and having just that space has done so much for where we’re going, um, and is also just made it where we just ha like overall the business is better because we’re able to identify those things.

Christina: (07:56) Whereas again, if I was running on a hamster wheel, just trying to keep things afloat, I just, there’s just not a time for a leisurely walk every day. Um, whenever you’re just in the thick of it, and you’re like close to burnout, because you have been just focusing on marketing and, you know, filling up that client roster, just so you can hit these revenue milestones. Um, so even though that time has taken a hit on our revenue during those seasons, sometimes it has paid off so much more because we’re able to make the business so much better. So we can then take those systems and they’re more solid and more stable, so we can take on a higher client load, but still have that space. So that’s what, um, has been really, really serving me is that I’m able to now have that space and the revenue, but there was a time where I couldn’t have both.

Christina: (08:49) The third thing that it has done is, um, I was able to have a better pulse on my business too. Um, just being able to be more present and aware of everything that’s going on. One of the most valuable things that I’ve found that I do in my business is just like piddle around, which I know sounds very unproductive and it might sound strange, but what I mean by that is just taking like half a day or a couple hours or something a week. And I just go through my website and I just click around. Um, I just click around my funnels. I look at the emails that are going out. Um, some things that I created forever ago, I just like piddle around through my content, read the comments and just something where I’m just kind of like being a, like a consumer and just seeing what I look like from the other side.

Christina: (09:36) And I find so many for one, like just little like random things that need to be fixed. Um, whether it’s like design issues or like little things on my website, or like maybe a broken link or something. Um, I find things like that, but I also just come up with all these ideas because I’m just like piddling around. So I’m just clicking through my website and I’m like, this would be so cool if this was separated this way, or I had a page that was about this or something like that, or I just really capitalized on this one part or added this more like this other copy here, whatever. Um, so I’ve come up with so many ideas and piddling around and just like clicking on your website and doing things like that. It’s just not something that you have time to do when you are just in, over your head with a huge client load, you know, barely making it by.

Christina: (10:22) Um, you’re not gonna probably just spend time, like, you know, lolly gagging around your website. Okay. Super quick. If you are enjoying this episode, I would love if you took a moment to screenshot this, add it to your stories and tag me so we can get this content to more people that are looking to scale their businesses to more freedom and wealth. Okay. Back to the episode. Another thing that happened whenever I slowed down my business was that I fell in love with my business. And this one was really huge because I did really, you know, I loved my business in the beginning, but there was a time where it was just a lot. Um, especially when you go the route of where you’re kind of working around the clock to get it off the ground. Um, there’s a point where I was just like, I don’t really know what I like to do outside of working or like who I am, or like what I really want.

Christina: (11:11) Like, I kind of went through this place where I just became my business and I had to figure out what life looked like. Not without it, because it was still, you know, there, but like I wanted to have a life outside of it. So when your business brings very minimal stress, because everything is stable, it just becomes so much more fun. So in the beginning, you know, when you’re trying to get these systems and things off the ground, um, the sooner that I was able to have those things in place and make that a priority, I was able to have a business that wasn’t so stressful because it’s not even just the amount of hours that you work or anything like that. It’s the mental capacity, um, that it requires of you, even when you step away, it’s even if you’re able to cut down the hours that you’re working, when you’re not working, like how heavy does it feel?

Christina: (12:02) Um, you know, and whenever things are like stable and you have those systems in place, you have that team in place that you spent the time to train properly. They know what they’re doing. You know, they know what they’re doing, and they have all the resources already there for them, whenever you aren’t there, they have the training videos and the step by step instructions and how things are done. This is all in manuals and recorded and all of that. Um, it you’re able to like, not just step away, like time wise and take that time to yourself, but you’re also able to do it with peace, which is a totally different than just forcing yourself to take time off. Even though you feel like there’s this show happening, um, in the background, but you’re taking time off because everyone says you need balance. It is very different.

Christina: (12:44) Um, and I had to give my business love for it to really love me back and I look forward to working because, um, the pieces that brought me so much stress I’ve found solutions for. So now I don’t have anxiety. When I look at my email or I open my slack, I used to have so much anxiety around my business because I just didn’t know what was going to come up. And, you know, part of this is also just like, you know, increasing your threshold of discomfort and just having more experience, being an entrepreneur, I’m still like learning and, um, figuring out, you know, how to manage different, you know, various situations. Um, and over time you just get better and better at managing those things and overcoming the different hurdles. So every time there is a new hurdle, you don’t feel like it’s the end of the world because you’ve already overcome that specific hurdle or something similar.

Christina: (13:36) Um, so that is part of it as well. But also once you’re able to like slow down and really like build something that is stable and not just chasing the next milestone, the amount of peace is unbelievable. Um, I really, there was a time where I just wasn’t sure if that was possible. like if I could really step away and be at peace, or if I was always going to feel stressed, like there was just this chaos happening. The fifth thing that happened was I was able to up level my personal life. And this isn’t, again, this isn’t just because I had, I now had the time to, although that is a component now I have so much more time to devote to my personal life, but it’s also that piece, it’s that mental capacity. Um, so I had more time to pursue other things that I loved, which just made me so much happier.

Christina: (14:28) It made me more creative. Um, it made me, um, just better at everything that I do in my business. It maybe better ads manager, it made me better leader. It made me better everything, um, because I’m just overall happier and fulfilled. Um, and I could also just tap into what I truly wanted. Um, and this even led me to realize that I was ready to have a baby. And so it has definitely changed my life completely because I know if my business felt like chaos and it was like not peaceful. Um, and I don’t mean like peaceful as in like nothing bad ever happens or it’s just sunshine and rainbows. That’s not the case. If you’re a business owner, you know, that’s not true. Um, but in comparison, I have a lot of just peace with, you know, how my business runs and I’m just so happy with it.

Christina: (15:16) Um, if, you know, things were still very chaotic and I was just always on the verge of burnout or always just trying to stay afloat. There’s no, there’s absolutely no way I would be ready for a baby. There’s just no way there, there would be absolutely no room for that. Um, and a couple of years ago there definitely just was not. Um, but now, you know, it’s because I was able to slow down my business, not focus on the revenue so much, um, which took a lot of, uh, coaching as well, because I had really separate myself from the revenue and not tie my worth or my business’s worth or anything like that to the revenue at that time and knew that I was being very intentional with that season. And so that has really, you know, changed so many things that I’ve talked about in this episode, but also in my personal life.

Christina: (16:04) I mean, that’s extremely like that’s life changing, right? To, um, decide that you’re ready to have a baby. So it also just made it possible to even do that. So not only was I able to have the space where I could tap in to figure out what I did want, but I was also able to carry it out. So, um, that is what I have for you today. These are the things that happened whenever I slowed down my business, stopped focusing so much on the revenue and holding just so much weight on the revenue and feeling like if I wasn’t doubling our revenue every month, then I wasn’t building a BI good business. That is absolutely not true. Um, and I can tell you as someone who is on the back end of a lot of seven figure coaches that, um, the revenue does not tell the entire story.

Christina: (16:49) Um, I have worked with many clients who are making tons of money and they are extremely unhappy and they are dealing with burnout every other month. Um, they’re really, really struggling. And, um, if you want to, I do have another episode that is the lessons I’ve learned from my seven figure clients. Um, I highly recommend that, um, because I’ve just learned so much for them or from them. And they have, um, you know, done so much and changed so much. And some of those clients I don’t work with anymore. Um, but I have been on the journey with many clients who no longer have that as their situation, but I was definitely there whenever they were going through that process of making lots of money, but being very unhappy and just barely keeping things afloat. So chasing the milestones and the revenue, it’s really not always worth it.

Christina: (17:42) um, and it also doesn’t mean that your business is necessarily better because you can also, you can hustle your way to a lot of money and be have like everything in the back end is an absolute show. I I’ve seen it. And, um, I, I still see it from time to time. So it’s very real to me. And I’m really, really blessed and grateful that I get to work on the back end of these businesses that have been so much like further ahead, um, for lack of a better term, as far as like revenue and, um, just being able to have these lessons from people who have been there. And that has really helped me in deciding on having these seasons where I slow down the revenue, um, and not focus on, you know, building up that client roster and focus more on the back end and making sure that we are building something that is very stable, so people can just come in and we’re still able to have that piece in that space and be able to, um, do really, really good work.

Christina: (18:40) So I hope that you found this helpful, um, just another perspective and just sharing my experience with building my business. Um, so those were the five things that happened whenever I did slow down my business. Um, I was able to focus on hiring and training a new team, building out those SOPs. Um, I was able to have the space to take time off and just like go on walks and tap into my creativity. Um, I was able to have a better pulse on my business, so I just knew everything that was going on, which was really important to be able to figure out how we could improve. Um, and I was also able to fall in love with, with my business and have just that peace with it. And I was able to up level my personal life, tap into what I truly, truly wanted, um, and able to pursue the things that I wanted. Um, so I hope that you enjoyed this episode and I will see you guys next week. Thank you for listening to the scaling to freedom podcast. If you are a seven figure coach looking for ads management with an agency that partners with you to get your work out into the world and amplify your impact. See if we are a good fit by applying for a spot in our agency@christinabernhard.com/apply. Find the link in our show notes.