This week I’d like to share with you a question I received from someone in my community as you might very well have asked yourself the same thing:

Caroline, can I ask you something?

“In your scheduling excercise, people spend like 20-25 hours a week working. But most people need to put in ridicoulous amounts of hours first in order to get the knowledge, skills and customer base first that can support that lifestyle later on. Ain’t that right? I mean, you cannot grow a 6-figure business from little effort, can you? So what does hard effort look like in terms of building a coaching business, let’s say? Hope you can answer this question – maybe in a newsletter? Please inspire us with your story. I mean most people just see a shiny object (aka a business) they desire… but the mechanics and the mindset that lie ahead of each and everyone no one really talks about and it gives this illusion that you can quickly jump to the end of the journey.”

If you’ve been here a while you’ll know that I’m totally transparent about what it took, and takes to grow your own business.

First I’m going to answer what you really want to hear…

Can you really grow your business in just 20-25 hours a week?

Yes, you totally can grow your business in just 25 hours a week (maybe 20, I don’t know as I worked 25, at least in the beginning).

I did it.

But, that does not mean that this requires ‘little effort’. It. Is. Hard. Work. Persistent, consistent, deeply focused and dedicated work. We’re not talking about the traditional sense of hard work meaning long, dreary hours. As a business owner it’s your privilege to let go of that. Please do.

More often than not you hear success stories of coaches who are living this now, after having gone through the hard slog of working night and day, 7 days a week, having finally discovered the secret formula to working fewer hours now that their bank balances are somewhat bulging.

And yes, when you’re literally just starting out, working a job and your business, the hours are going to stack up. You can read more about how to manage that here.  In this post I’m talking about the next stage, once you’re fully committed to your business.

Let me tell you what my secret formula was

I’m super introverted and highly sensitive. Seriously, I’ll only go to the supermarket if I absolutely have to (open-air markets, fine, love ‘em, supermarkets, not). So for me it was a personal choice based on personal mastery. My decision on how to grow my business was based on me knowing who I am and what works best for me.  I’ve been in seriously unhealthy places in the past and in my 30s when I started my business, I wasn’t willing to go there again. So I didn’t. No, this does not mean that I live a zen-like existence. Still working on that one. What it means is that I know what my priorities and limits are, so though there are times when things get on top of me and get me down (like everyone, still human), that’s the exception, not the rule.

Let me ask you – do you truly, deeply, honour the person you are and  how you are able to live and work to feel at your best?

This is why I know it’s possible to grow a profitable business, on 25 hours a week without burning out.

Now, a moment of truth, I have had coaches tell me they only work 3 days a week but are totally overwhelmed. That is not the aim. Work an extra day! Who cares if you work 3 days a week if you’re overwhelmed? It’s about letting go of notions and what seems to be ‘lifestyle flavour of the moment’ to truly step into what feels good to you whilst meeting and satisfying your needs.

You don’t just want to be working 25 hours a week for the sake of it, it has to work for you.

So, how did I make it work for me?

I was courageous. I invested.

I invested in administrative support (VA), I invested in coaches over and over and over again. Investing to learn the tools, mindset and know-how correctly provides massive return on saved energy, time and lost income.
You need to invest from where you want to be, not where you are now.

This is how you stay focused, this is how you conserve your energy and do work that matters in those hours that you do work, rather than flailing around wasting time on non-money making activities because you don’t know what you’re meant to be focusing on – and look, I know that because I did that too before I started investing in coaches and mentors. I wasted many hours earning no real money – this was my hobby stage. When I invested is when I started my business for real.

I barely made any profit the first couple of years. In my third year I made 90% profit. Ninety percent on 6 figures, because I keep to a really simple business model, because it suits my personality. You do not have to create group programs, e-courses, challenges, whatever it may be, unless it lights you up.

Moments of overwhelm, moments of feeling pressed, this is all normal when you have a deadline coming up. It should not be your normal when it comes to the every day of growing your business. And it doesn’t have to.

To be clear. It does not mean it’s easy and a breeze. It is a personal development journey because it will require more from you than anything you’ve ever done before (aside parenting).

With these words, find the support, cut those corners and by all means enjoy working fewer hours, truly, deeply, be grateful that you can and choose to.

Grab my ebook where I share exactly how I grew my business working just 20-25 hours a week.