There’s power in knowing your numbers.

I teed up this post a couple of days ago and then a request for assistance showed up in my feed.

The basic gist of it was: a female founder has a growing business and is at the point of needing to bring on team members to help serve her clients, and she is wondering how to address this in terms of financial forecasting.

I was so darn happy to see the question because this is exactly the right way to look at it.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had several conversations with remarkably smart and talented women business owners about confidence, or rather a lack of it.

con-fi-dence [kon-fi-duhns] - noun

“Belief in oneself and one's powers or abilities.”

When I interact with these fierce female founders, I see nothing but power and ability and possibility. And I want them to see the same in themselves.

The topic is Generative A.I. (think ChatGPT) and how we might think about it in terms of our businesses.

It’s been coming up on monthly coaching calls with my 1:1 clients. And I’ve seen it written about in every online publication, several blog posts, and social media captions, and heard it discussed in videos and on podcasts.

Most experts believe that this moment is on par with the creation of the Internet as we know it. A sea change is coming, and every business owner needs to get up to speed.

As a fellow female business owner, I know what it's like - you have a new client opportunity and you're excited! Your initial call went well, you totally vibed, and you want to send a proposal - ASAP. Let me know go on record with this - one conversation or meeting is usually never enough.

Rushing to pitch a B2B client can lead to missed opportunities for research, understanding, and relationship building - all necessary for a solid proposal that is well-received by your potential client.

Here are 5 signs you’re pitching too soon.

As a business coach for smart, savvy female entrepreneurs, one of the questions I’m often asked is, “Should I launch an online course?” And my usual answer is, “Well, that depends.”

Online programs can be a fantastic way to expand your reach, generate passive income, and make your knowledge more accessible to a wider audience.

But there are several factors you need to consider when deciding whether it makes sense for your business and, based on these factors, the right formats and tools to create and successfully deliver your course.

You’re an overwhelmed solopreneur. You’ve got too much on your to-do list. You're ping-ponging between trying to build a social media presence, nurturing your email list, rewriting your website, posting on your blog, starting your podcast, and actually serving your clients.

Your attention has been pulled in a million directions and you're pretty sure that none of them are getting you closer to where you want to be. You think, “I need help.” Now is the time to outsource some of what I’m doing to be able to grow my business and still have a life.”

I don’t know about you, but as a female business owner, this concept has been a tough one for me.

Because, as much as I believe (and share in my social posts), that “there is only one you, with your unique set of life experiences, expertise, passions, and interests,” sometimes it’s difficult for me to “take my own medicine.”

If you’re a female entrepreneur with a specific revenue goal for the year, you spend a good amount of time and/or money trying to generate new leads for your business.

After 10 years of consulting with just women like you, here are the lessons I’ve learned — both personally and through my 1:1 client work.

The business lesson. This story stayed with me. I took its staying power as a sign — there was something more to mine here.

And it got me thinking…

How can you use the time you have available during the week to create more of it for what you love to do…

What's ONE new initiative you want to try in your business in 2023?

Notice, I didn’t ask for 10, or even 5. Just one.

As a female founder, what’s one innovative idea you can implement in order to shift the trajectory of your small business?

Are there parts of your life and business where you keep asking the same question(s), but you’re not getting answers?

Or you’re not getting answers that feel right to you?

You know you’re missing something, but you’re not sure what it is.

As some of you know, I am a member of a networking group of business consultants called The Upside. Each quarter there is a new Member Spotlight Campaign that The Upside team dreams up - with questions to answer and a lovely graphic. For Q4, it was “My Year of <insert theme>.”

The theme that hit home for me was “discovery.” Everything about the word resonated. Know this… I didn’t enter 2022 thinking of it as My Year of Discovery.

How do new clients and customers find you?

As a female entrepreneur, this question deserves your attention as we roll into the New Year.

Ask yourself - what’s working for you when it comes to seeking out and attracting your ideal client or customer? What’s not? What do you want to do the same or differently in 2023?

When was the last time you asked this question? Really asked it – thoughtfully, deeply, and with genuine curiosity? As a female business owner, and maybe even a solopreneur, what’s working well in your business?

My guess is that it may have been a while.

I meditate on the semi-regular. It’s been several years now — yes, I went through all the usual internal protests. I can’t sit here for 15 minutes, I’m not doing it right, what’s the point of this? But I kept at it (#persistence).

If you’ve tried meditating, or perhaps now have a practice, you’ll know what I mean. And if you’ve kept at it, you’ll have experienced the benefits of meditation, off-the-cushion, in your life and business.

Why this matters…

Here is one woman who did just that, over 150 years ago. Madame Louise Pommery took over the company her husband had founded after he died suddenly in 1858, changing management rules and setting out to capture a greater share of national and international markets. And she did so much more.

As I’ve mentioned before, I pay close attention when messages arrive in three’s - hearing the same thing three times, in three slightly different ways, from three different people.

The theme of “flow” kept showing up after my encounter with the check-in agent, so I’ve been paying attention.

Learn from my mistakes.

I’m sharing three things that I wish I had known when I was setting out to start my business, in hopes that they'll save you time, money, energy, worry… all of the above.

1. The first is this. I was never going to be ready to launch my business, and you will never be ready.

Have you heard of the “Parable of the Trapeze”? It’s the story that tells us that in order to reach out and grab hold of the next rung of a trapeze, you must first let go of the rung you are holding onto.

It came onto my radar a few times these last 6-8 weeks.

The first time was when I caught an episode of the “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast. As a female business owner, it hit home.

Devin Lee, Certified OBM + Dubsado Specialist was a guest on my Instagram Live Series: CANDID CONVERSATIONS to Level Up Your Business.

If you’ve tuned in to any of them (or caught the replay), you’ll know the third question I ask is “What is the one mistake you see female business owners make when it comes to <insert area of expertise>?" — in Devin’s case that became… “when it comes to their client experience?”