I was sitting next to her, in her comfortable little wooden cabin. It was winter, and although there was no snow, it sure was cold outside. But inside the cabin, there was a small wood stove keeping us warm. It was the ideal space for coaching sessions. Her warm personality made the experience complete.
Kathy (not her real name) is a coach for children and young adults. I met her while working on a new business for helping children and young adults who required therapy or coaching. I had done a few interviews with her to gain insights for my own project.
This time, I was helping her set up a new coaching side-hustle for busy moms. It was not going well, and I felt the urge to help her. I had experience in building startups and she had helped me plenty also.
Creating a profitable business out of passion can be damn hard
A heart-centered business is born out of passion. You are hit by an idea and feel an urge to do something with it. However, making a profitable business from that idea can be damn hard. You need to find the right environment to build and grow it.
Although some business coaches make you believe that there is a way to “Kickstart A Business in 7 Days!”, there is no such blueprint for designing an impact-making heart-centered business. Impact is created when you are helping solve a problem worthy of solving. Those kinds of problems take time to uncover, especially when you want to pick out the ones you are passionate about. It took me seven years to realise this…
“What exactly is so urgent that they will come to you for help?”
“Kathy, can you tell me a bit more about the busy moms? Why do they need help? How will you help them?”, I ask her.
She replies, “Well, with my coaching I help them with mindset. You know how busy it can be when you have to take care of the children, do the housework, cook dinner and have a job to do… I help them to relax a bit more and take away the ‘must do all’.”
“Yes, I know exactly what you mean. There are plenty of moms out there who are in this situation. But what exactly is so urgent that they will come to you for help? What kind of questions do you get and how are they describing the situation?”
Kathy then describes what she has been experiencing in her own situation.
“I see, Kathy, it all makes a lot of sense why you want to help them. You know, every situation can be a bit different. We need to find a starting point and a desired result that is common for your clients. What are other moms telling you? What is their situation like? Can you find certain patterns that are similar?”
She goes on, “Well… okay, I don’t really have much clarity about that. I have done two ‘morning breakfast sessions’ where I invited a small group of moms. They were happy to accept my invitation. We had a nice breakfast and a lot of fun. I did a presentation of what I do as a coach. After the session, I invited them for a follow up session. However, none of them contacted me. “
“It’s great that you did those sessions. At least there is an itch, and they are showing up. But it looks like there is some more research needed in what kind of help they need. We can go deeper into this.”
To design a business for impact, you will need to do the homework
Having an itch can be really annoying. Especially, when you can’t reach it. However, most of the time you will find a way to scratch your own back (or other spots you thought of 😉).
With Kathy, we went deeper into the psychological profile and demographics of her potential customers and what kind of problems could be worth solving. Because she connected with her customers, she was able to dig deeper and uncover better ideas.
To design a business for impact, you will need to do the homework of talking and connecting. Exactly like what Kathy did by hosting the breakfast. Doing this will give insights and experience into what to create.
Kathy’s warm personality, intuition and insight into humans are great assets. Combined with her other talents and coaching training, she has developed great coaching skills. However, that doesn’t make her a good coach for everyone.
Finding your right environment for your impact-making business
What I mostly felt during the conversations about the busy moms, was a completely different energy than when she was talking about her work with children. She is a lot more passionate about helping children.
Although her guiding would be great for busy moms, it felt wrong. I told her about my intuition during the sessions and she later discovered it herself too. She stopped working on the side hustle and shifted her focus more towards the children and young adults.
Finding the right environment to design your impact-making heart-centered business is something that can take some time, but there are some processes that can help you on your way.
Having a coach to guide you will make the process go faster. Eventually, it is you who will need to do the work. Mostly it comes down to experimenting and connecting with people to see how it feels.
Discover your own wooden cabin
For Kathy, the wooden cabin is her ideal playground, where she finds joy and wants to create something she is passionate about. It’s a place where she unleashes her talent and feels comfortable. Where she invites only people with whom she wants to connect. Discovering this cabin is like finding a place that feels like ‘home’.
We all need to find our own wooden cabin. With a stove to keep us warm in cold winters. Where we can sit on the table, with people we enjoy. Giving them the right energy to grow, and designing an experience that creates a real impact.
P.S. Do you need guidance on how to find your own cosy ‘wooden cabin’? And doing business your own way, with the right energy? I have created a program to help you on your way 😊
Steven Poelmans
Steven Poelmans has supported hundreds of entrepreneurs and companies to build scalable products and grow meaningful businesses. He decided to restart his career and founded The Freedom Story Academy to support impact-making coaches and entrepreneurs worldwide to rewrite the way they work, live, and breathe and help them to structure and launch online services.
Steven Poelmans
Steven Poelmans has supported hundreds of entrepreneurs and companies to build scalable products and grow meaningful businesses. He decided to restart his career and founded The Freedom Story Academy to support impact-making coaches and entrepreneurs worldwide to rewrite the way they work, live, and breathe and help them to structure and launch online services.
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