This week, an email newsletter came into my email inbox, marketing yet another 'business boot camp' for small-business owners and solopreneurs who wanted their businesses to thrive. Like the others that have come along, this one had its own angle on how to do that.
And like many others written in the old-fashioned direct-mail format, it tapped into fear-based marketing to sell its program.
In this case, it told its readers that there is a simple formula for business: you attract customers or clients, bring in revenues, and make a profit. 'No profits, no business' it said; that meant it's a hobby, not a business.
Oddly enough, the previous email from the same group spoke of how sometimes you have to spend money to make it; getting started, going to the next level, or turning things around often meant investing money to solidify the foundation and get the momentum going.
I remember reading, years ago when Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com, was in the news as a dot-com darling. I also remember reading that Amazon.com didn't make a profit until the eighth year, and when it did, it was in their original book-selling business (they had expanded into other markets by then). Until then, money was flying out faster than it was coming in.
By the measure above, since there wasn't a profit for those first seven or eight years, Amazon.com was a hobby. This of course is pretty ridiculous, as we now see, given that Amazon.com is not just alive and well, but has revolutionized the marketplace and set a whole new reality for publishing, among other things.
And there are many other prominent examples of 'name' businesses that took years to become profitable. They, and many others who aren't as visible, challenge the notion of 'instant profit' or 'overnight success'. All required years of effort, experimentation, financial investment, time, and the perseverance, belief, focused intention, and vision of their leaders who no doubt faced a barrage of nay-saying from traditionalists.
Of course, it's handy if you want to sell programs the old-marketing way to get fears aroused in your readers and potential customers, and get them thinking that they're definitely not doing something right. It's well-known in traditional marketing psychology that fears and feelings of inadequacy, coupled with the promise of purchasing something that will take this inadequacy away, are very successful in promoting emotion-driven impulse purchases. But instead of emotions like excitement and passion stimulating the sale, fear and shame stimulate the sale.
This is a great example between old and new-paradigm business. The old-paradigm uses the tools of persuasion and communication to manipulate, stimulating fear to sell and prosper; new-paradigm communication uses the tools of skillful communication and persuasion to connect with a genuine excitement and passion to sell a product or service that can take the customer in the direction of his or her dreams in a way that doesn't have fear and existential anxiety as the predominant undercurrent.
It's important to make the distinction of whether what you're doing is a hobby or a business. To me, the child of two long-time self-employed parents, and myself having been self-employed since the middle of 1992, and having navigated all manner of market ups and downs, upheavals and booms, and trends and transformation, your intention and vision are the strongest indicator, and how you move forward based on that intention and vision.
After that, your revenues, profits, and other factors may wax and wane, based on how much of an investment in time, money, and energy your dream will require, and what's going on in your life and the world around you. And there may be stages, or 'fits and starts', as your dream gains traction and momentum, and your investments begin to show forth in manifested ways.
There are times when you very definitely have a business, and yet you may not at the moment be making a profit. This may be a time of research and development, it may be a time of expansion or evolution of the business, it may be due to a hiccup in the economy, or it may be that you've had to shift part of your focus to taking care of aging parents or to deal with an illness.
For people who are self-employed business owners, business is part of life, and life affects it, as any honest solopreneur or small-enterprise owner will tell you. If you, through all of that from conception of the idea through to the blossoming of it, through the ups and downs that may come along, persevere through the various investments required, using an array of tools that help you with clear vision, solid intention, motivation, and getting through the touch patches, and your solid intention and ultimate manifestation is that it brings in revenues and, ultimately and ideally, serves as a vehicle for your contribution and dreams, it's a business.
If you experience extended periods of time when revenues are an issue and it's beyond some of the things I mentioned above -- clear reasons there might be a shorter-term lag in revenues -- then it's good to take a look at the clarity and energy of your vision, how you're approaching your business, and whether underlying beliefs or habits may be sabotaging your success. During more challenging cycles, shoring up your vision, intention-clarity, and focused right-action become even more important.
And during your free time, as you relax and balance by pruning your orchids, tending your garden, or knitting a scarf, you can rest assured that you're enjoying your hobby so that it feeds your soul and gives you new creativity and energy to tend to the real-world challenges of being self-employed and running your business.
Joyful Blessings,
Jamie
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