How long have you been afraid of the word “money?” I get it, it’s a scary term! First, we have to remember that we are in business to make money! We are not in business for fun or to save other people money. We have to shift that mentality first. Did you know that men are more likely to invest in themselves in larger amounts than women are, money-wise? It’s time to have the money mindset conversation, women. Now it’s important to dive into those reasons women may fear money and how one can overcome those fears!
Reasons Women Fear Money & How to Change the Money Mindset
1. You Fear Your Family Will Think Differently of You
A lot of women fear money because they are afraid of what their families will think of them. Perhaps you desire to make more money, but you are scared of what others will think. Once you stop fearing what other people think of you, you can stop fearing money!
From a young age, we’ve all been discouraged to talk about money and it’s time to change that! If your family thinks differently of you for making money, then it’s time to have the money, talk with them and help change their mindset! At the end of the day, God has the final say, anyway.
Deuteronomy 31:7-8 says “Be strong and courageous … The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (NIV) Don’t fear that your family will think differently of you, take the time to care only about what God thinks of your heart and your motives.
2. Everyone Will Start Asking You For Money
This feels like the truth doesn’t it? If people know or even think you have money, then they will start to ask you for it. Understanding the money mindset also comes with having boundaries. Just because you have money or are making money doesn’t put you under any obligation to take care of everyone else. Keep in mind what 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion since God loves a cheerful giver.” There has to be a good balance of wanting to help others but not allowing lazy people to take advantage of you. Seek God and ask for wisdom, He will help you on this path.
Also, to change your mindset, you need to stop thinking of money as intrinsically good or bad, but rather as a tool for living the life you want. If you WANT to help someone that’s different, but don’t fear money because you’re afraid everyone else will want it.
If you’re struggling with the thought of having “too” much money and others asking for it from you, then dwell on what God says about money. Proverbs 10:4 says, “Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring riches.” Don’t be afraid to share these scriptures with those who are constantly asking you for money.
3. You Can’t Have Money and Be There for Your Family
A common reason that women fear money is they think that it’s all or nothing. They truly believe that they can’t have money and be there for their family. This is so wrong on so many levels. It’s possible to make money and still be a woman, wife, and mom. Remember the money you make is a tool to help you to get where you want to go. Once you stop assigning a moral value to money, you will release the resistance you have towards generating greater wealth and become closer to achieving your financial goals. Letting go of this fear is so freeing!
Changing the Money Mindset
I have given you some good tools in this blog post to help you change your money mindset. Once I started digging around and understanding why women fear money, it all started making more sense. Changing the money mindset means women can STOP fearing money and start using it as a tool to their advantage. Stop being vague about your money goals:
Be bold enough to talk about your specific money goals.
Are you ready to invest in yourself and understand that there doesn’t have to be negative emotions about money? You can leave ALL the shame at the door! I am not an accountant, financial advisor, or anything like that, but I am a business mindset coach that can help you build confidence in having a money conversation with yourself and with your clients. SO sales mindset is my expertise. If you want to ease the fear of rejection when it comes to sales and begging to confidently fight those objections I’d love to help you!
Do you get stressed when you think about the idea of money? Perhaps growing up, your family just didn’t talk about money. Maybe your parents argued about money or you grew up where you felt there was a shortage of resources and money is a sensitive subject. There is no doubt in my mind that there are myths out there about money and we as women in business need to change our mindset about it in order to have successful money conversations in our businesses. Let’s open the conversation about money! I’ll start with breaking down myths the world has created about money. Hang on though because your mindset about money is going to change once you realize these myths are wrong.
Myths About Money & How to Change Your Mindset About It
1. You Shouldn’t Ask How Much a Person Makes
One myth about money that needs to be changed is that it’s taboo to ask how much a person makes. Sometimes asking the hard questions can help YOU understand how a person is making their life work. What if you want to do their line of work? What if you’re about to start a business? If you don’t ask you may never know, which means you may be shifting yourself. Let’s be honest, sometimes you’re just curious about what someone makes and that knowledge means you get to have insight into another industry. Of course there are polite ways to ask, but never hold yourself back from getting the info you need about salary, typical rates, and standard quoting and invoicing for your desired industry. If you do, you’ll stunt yourself financially, out of fear.
2. You Shouldn’t Talk About Your Salary
No one truly knows why the world thinks it is rude to talk about your own personal salary. However, this is a myth that needs to be changed. When talking about money it’s safe to involve talking about our salary. If you landed that perfect job and you’re EXCITED about your new salary, then you should totally share about it and allow those who love you and care about you to celebrate you. If your business has been blessed financially, share that with your audience and give thanks to God publicly.
When you talk about salary your heart has to be in a place of gratitude and honor to God for provision through your work. It also allows other people to know what’s possible. If my first coach didn’t share her monthly income with me, I wouldn’t have known what was possible in the field of coaching. So when God is blessing you financially, speak about it with joy and confidence. Let’s change the “taboo” part of talking about one’s salary. Let’s talk about it and get excited! In the first quarter of this year, we made $21,000 in sales and we give all the praise and honor to God for giving us the wisdom to create wealth!
3. You Shouldn’t Ask About What Someone Paid for an Item.
Sometimes out of curiosity, you may ask someone what they paid for something, for example, their house or home. In today’s society that can come across as taboo? Why? I think the bigger question is heart management, why are you asking? Is it to know what’s possible because you believe the item or home is beautiful and you’re wanting to know what it may take to achieve it? I see nothing wrong. If it’s to shame a person or judge a person then asking what they paid isn’t warranted. I believe that money has all sorts of emotions attached to it: joy, shame, contentment, anxiety, and stress can all be associated with money. This is what makes these types of conversations taboo. However, if we start asking these questions and have an open conversation, then the conversation about money can start changing!
4. Talking About Money is Considered Bragging
This is a big myth! When someone talks about money, then it’s automatically assumed that they are bragging. It’s okay to talk about money, good and bad. So, how does one walk in confidence when it comes to money conversations?
Acknowledge your fear of judgment
Know what heart space you’re coming from
Feel comfortable putting yourself first
Talking about money isn’t considered bragging. Money is a tool to get you to where you need to go. Money has no moral value. It is just something that allows you the resources to provide for your family, live a desired lifestyle, and create influence and impact
How to Change Your Mindset About Money
Now that you’ve been introduced to several myths about money, you may be wondering how to change your mindset about it. Your first step is to stop being vague about your money goals & desires. The truth is that you need to be bold enough to talk and share your specific goals and desires around money, resources, and provision. When we open the conversation and TALK about money, it’s amazing how things start changing! Stop allowing those thoughts in your head about money to get to you. It’s okay to talk about money, it’s okay to make money, and it’s okay to use money as a tool and resource to help you reach the BIG goals that God has placed in your heart.
I am not an accountant, financial advisor, or anything like that, but I am a business mindset coach that can help you build confidence in having a money conversation with yourself and with your clients. SO sales mindset is my expertise. If you want to ease the fear of rejection when it comes to sales and begging to confidently fight those objections I’d love to help you!
Money conversations can be difficult, but they are important. As a woman in business, money can be a hard conversation to have. In fact, it’s almost a taboo subject! Sixty percent of women say they have never negotiated their salary! From a young age, we’ve all been discouraged to talk about money. However, it’s time for that conversation to change! Here are 3 reasons we shouldn’t fear the money conversation.
Reasons We Shouldn’t Fear the Money Conversation
It’s time to set aside anything and everything you know about money. I am going to touch on a few points that I believe will help make the money conversation easier. Before you continue reading, remember some of these tips are going to challenge your belief about money.
1. Remember that we are in business to make money!
First, we have to remember that we are in business to make money! We are not in business for fun or to save other people money. We have to shift that mentality first. When you realize you’re in the business to make money, it will change your entire perspective on conversations about money.
2. Stop assigning a moral value to money
Do you know the saying “money is the root of all evil?” The truth is the LOVE of money is the root of all evil and even in that it means do you love money more than people, more than doing what’s right? The bible says “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” 1 Timothy 6:10
So, money in and of itself is not dirty, evil, nor causes problems for those who are wise about earning it. If you go around thinking of money as inherently bad, you’re always going to limit yourself when it comes to attaining financial abundance. Even subconsciously, there will always be doubts and resistance in your mind to obtaining wealth.
Money has no moral value. It is just something that allows you to buy things and live your lifestyle in a certain way. Once you stop assigning a moral value to money, you can start having a REAL conversation about it!
3. Money should be taken off the pedastool
How many times have you put money on a pedastool? Well, it’s time to stop because this is keeping us from the money conversation. Once you remove the idea that money is up here and you are down here, true conversations can start happening. Here are a few examples of people putting money on a pedastool.
“When I make this amount of money that’s when I know that I’ve arrived”
“When I have this many clients that’s when I’ll be enough and I can really show up”
“Glorifying a monthly money goal…get over it!”
“What thoughts in your head are making money a big deal?”
“Take back your power with money”
Once money is brought down to the right level, it’s much easier to talk about!
Tips for Making the Money Conversation Easier
I do have a few tips that will make having the money conversation easier. Take a deep breath and check out these tips to make the money conversion happen.
Find people you feel safe talking about money
Find a female mentor who is not afraid to talk about money
Create an environment for yourself where it’s safe to fail and learn
Find classes that educate you on sales, pricing, and negotiating
Build your confidence in talking about money by being transparent in your home first
Find opportunities in your community to talk about money
So, what can you do to help make the money conversation easier for yourself and those around you? One great way to start is by finding people with whom you feel safe talking about money. This could be a female mentor who is not afraid to talk openly about finances, or a group of friends with similar interests in learning more about personal finance.
Once you have a few people you feel comfortable talking to about money, begin creating an environment for yourself where it is safe to fail and learn. By taking these small steps, you can begin to make the conversation around money more comfortable and open – ultimately leading to a more financially empowered community.
Pivoting in business happens all the time. Most entrepreneurs start out on one path and end up creating several different ones along the way. While this may seem scary and like something you’d like to prevent from doing, not doing it could cost you money. Here are several tips on why pivoting in business is safe and a few pieces of advice about what happens when you fail to do so.
What does pivoting in business mean?
Simply put, when you decide to pivot in your business, you’re simply changing a few aspects of its core to better serve you and your clients. This can look like a number of things from changing products, adding services, or doing something different altogether.
Why is pivoting important in business?
Since pivoting means changing the direction of your business, it is typically necessary to ensure that what you’re offering continues to be valuable. Perhaps the current programs and/or services are not meeting the needs of your ideal client. Therefore, it is wise to step back and create a new strategy that will help you reach your goals and those set for your clients.
3 Reasons Why Pivoting in Business is Safe
1. Pivoting allows you to refocus.
Staying focused on your business mission, vision, and goals is one of the reasons that keep people going. However, when the path to those becomes foggy, it can be hard to see where your business is going. When you decide to pivot, seeking clarity (or refocusing) should be the top priority. Through your ability to refocus, you can ensure that you are doing exactly what you need to be doing and serving the right people through doing it.
2. Pivoting gives you the ability to recalibrate.
Recalibrating yourself (and your business) involves changing the way you do or think about something. As you go through the refocusing process, pay attention to anything that needs to be done differently in your business. Sometimes this means coming up with new programs, offering different services, and the like.
3. Pivoting gives you the opportunity to reset.
Once you’ve refocused and recalibrated, now you’re ready to reset. Again, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be starting over from scratch. However, the new strategy that you implement will take some time to roll out. Give yourself grace and don’t hesitate to keep your customers/clients in the know of what you have going on. The last thing you want to do is switch things up on your followers and leave them confused.
How Not Pivoting Sooner is Costing You Money
Now that we’ve talked about all the reasons why it’s okay to pivot in your business, let’s chat for a brief moment about what happens when you don’t. Not every hardship, question, or concern calls for a business pivot; however, there are times when you may be ignoring the signs to do so.
For starters, not pivoting when you could decrease your revenue. If you’ve invested hours and hours into creating courses, writing out coaching programs, putting out new resources and none of it sells… then you’ve pretty much wasted one of your most valuable assets. Then what happens is you have a bunch of products and services that no one is purchasing. Sure, you could find ways to reuse that content; however, without knowing what caters to your ideal client, you’ll only be wasting more time.
Not pivoting when you could also hinder your visibility. While you’re trying to show up in one aspect, it’s actually not reaching your ideal audience. Again, we’re talking about wasting time, energy, resources, etc.
Last but not least, not pivoting sooner than later could cause you to completely walk away from your calling. I’ve seen this happen before. Someone doesn’t see the return on what they’re trying to do and they run in the opposite direction. Instead, had they had taken that step back to come up with a new strategy and pivot their business, they’d be successful today!
Final Thoughts
As you move along your entrepreneurial journey, there will definitely be times when you may need to consider pivoting in business. And I’m here to tell you that it’s 100% safe and effective when done appropriately. This isn’t a one-time decision, change everything right now kind of thing. Instead, it takes coming up with a strategy that will smoothly transition your business into a new direction. Once you’ve done so, your data will show whether or not you’ve made moves in the right direction.
Fears around money hinder your visibility. This is why I talk about money mindset and do the coaching that I do around it. Simply put, it’s important to overcome the money piece. But the fact that it hinders your visibility isn’t enough. I want you to become aware of specific ways your mindset about money affects your overall business. I need you to understand your own money mindset and get the breakthroughs necessary for business growth.
3 Ways Fears Around Money Hinders Your Visibility
Your fears around money will stop your from asking for the sale.
How many times have you dodged talking about the price of a product or service you offer because you didn’t feel comfortable? Or perhaps you thought the price would shock your potential client? Don’t worry, it’s happened to all of us. You have to realize that your thoughts about money have to change. If not, you’ll continue to not ask for the sale. In most cases, you’ll continue playing it safe by offering free coaching and giving away free products, and free services. None of these will help your business grow financially.
Fears around money will cause you to undercharge for your services.
Think about the countless hours you’re currently pouring into your products and services. If you take those hours and divide them by what you are charging, are you truly being paid your worth? The subconscious downside to that is it affecting your visibility. Sure, you can keep putting yourself out there. You can keep showing up. But the truth of the matter is there’s a mindset shift when you know you’re being paid your worth. You get more confident, bold, and begin to show up even more!
Your fears around money can cause procrastination.
Believe it or not, this is the number one reason why most of my clients had not sold a signature course before coming through my Boost Your Visibility Course. They all shared a common thought process that said, “I need to have all my ducks in a row before setting a price and before selling my signature product, course, or service.” Wrong! The primary root of this procrastination is the hesitation to charge your desired rate and receive compensation for your God-given signature services.
Loo at it from a different perspective. If you had the confidence to charge $3000 for your 12 week program, you’d be able to ask for the sale, and boldly follow through with a service that’s creatable in the process. It’s doable and it’s what also grows businesses.
It’s time to conquer your fears around money and become visible.
It’s hard to show up with confidence and be visible in your industry if you struggle with the money piece. In my most recent Soulfully Aligned You podcast episode 17, my client Charlena shares how being in the visibility group coaching program has helped her with these things. She also shares her own conclusion and breakthroughs around the fear of money. We talk about removing the blocks around sales and selling first before you create the full-fledge thing!
in the meantime of listening to the episode, be sure to get on the waitlist for the Boost Your Visibility Course release! I can’t wait to have you join the course and get access to these bonus Q/A sections throughout the course!
Have you ever wondered why some small businesses seem to be more successful than others? If you find yourself at a stagnant spot in your business where real growth doesn’t seem to be happening, perhaps there are some subconscious issues hindering your business growth. The four tips below are something that can be revisited as needed to ensure you and your business always stay on the up and up.
Four tips to prevent subconscious hindrance of your Business growth
#1 CHECK YOUR DESIRES
While it is true that desires can change, sometimes a business owner’s desires can come to a full stop. This will without a doubt affect your business growth. It’s important to always check your desires to ensure they line up with the vision, mission, and goals set for your business. Without desire, it becomes difficult to truly work toward seeing those things come to pass.
In the event you find that your desires have decreased, take a step back and re-evaluate the purpose of your business. Don’t hesitate to take the time you need to re-brand, re-focus, and re-start with your new desires in mind.
#2 EVALUATE YOUR LEVELS OF COMMITMENT AND RESPONSIBILITY.
If you haven’t already experienced it, there are times when you simply may not feel like doing something for or in your business. There are times when there is a need for breaks. However, if you find yourself diminishing in the areas of commitment and responsibility, these are red-flag worthy to pay attention to and fix.
Ignoring anything that is affecting your ability to commit to your business and continue the level of responsibility that it takes will only hinder your business growth. This can also cause damage that is hard to recover from. Revisi newfound inspiration.
#3 ENSURE YOU ARE MEETING YOUR CUSTOMER’S/CLIENT’S NEEDS.
Even with the best plans, packages, and customer service skills, something you can still be missing the mark on is truly meeting your customer and/or client’s needs. In your mind you can believe that you are doing so; however, your business statistics will reveal if it’s true (or not). To keep from imagining or assuming needs are being met, consider incorporating some form of data collection.
This can be by means of a feedback form, testimonial request, or questionnaire. Give your customers/clients the opportunity to provide reviews, and ask them to be open and honest. Let them know that their response will help you provide better business, and is greatly appreciated.
DITCH THE “WING-IT” ATTITUDE.
It is one thing to have a plan or set of goals in your mind. It’s another to actually have them written down (or typed out) so you can visibly see them and actively work toward them. The “wing-it” attitude is one that can subconsciously hinder your business the most because it doesn’t provide real direction.
For example, without a strategic marketing plan for a product or service, you may be tempted to hop on social media and post content completely irrelevant to your business goals. Without clear cut goals, you could be missing out on reaching your audience and clearly communicating how you can help them. Each of these examples are typical side effects of the “wing-it” attitude, and things that definitely hinder your business growth.
#4 DON’T THINK INVESTING IN YOUR BUSINESS IS BAD.
When first starting a business, you may think that investing in it isn’t such a good idea. Or, you may not see a need for it. Most successful business owners will tell you that it is absolutely vital that you invest in your business. Whether you choose to invest in personal development, a business coach, or a virtual assistant to help with the backend – it is all super helpful.
Investing in your business only has a downfall when you are not investing in things that actually help you. Create a budget for investing in the growth of your business, then make relevant choices based on your preset (or future) needs.
ARE YOU SUBCONSCIOUSLY HINDERING YOUR BUSINESS GROWTH?
After reading these tips, how do you feel? Do you believe you could be subconsciously hindering the growth of your business? If so, it’s okay. You’ve taken the first step by identifying possible roadblocks. The next step is to take action toward getting past them.
Remember, these tips can be revisited from time to time to make sure you and your business stay in a constant flow of growth! As a soulful-business alignment practitioner, I can help you identify any hindrances and create the traction you need to take your business from stagnant to soaring. Let’s chat!
