Diamond Effect - Strategies to Build a Service Business Worth Owning

Your current happy clients that stay or keep coming back (depending on the services model you have), and also refer anyone they know to you, should be the bread and butter of your business.
Yes, bringing on new clients consistently is key, but if you cannot retain a core clientele you'll always be hustling. It's always harder, more expensive, and takes longer to convert someone who doesn't know you into a paying client.
In today's episode, I'm sharing 3 key practical strategies that will help you book out your service business with returning clients and referrals.
Plus the CEO mindset you need to adopt to implement them successfully in your business.

Ready to double your business without adding more work to your schedule? My T.O.P. CEO framework will help you achieve that. Book a sales call with me here and let's talk about it -  https://calendly.com/maggie-s2l/discovery-call

The prices of everything have gone up, and so are your business expenses. Rent. Fuel. Lunches. Vendors are raising prices. 

You’re worried about not making enough income or even going bankrupt. You can’t shake that off, which is making you feel panicky and hopeless. But being stuck in panic isn’t going to solve the problem. 

 As a business owner, the CEO, you have two levers to use to solve this. In today's Maggie's Moment, I tell you what those levers are and how you can use them.

Ready to double your business without adding more work and ditch the worry about rising costs and going bankrupt? Scheduling a free initial consultation with me HERE.

In today's episode, I'm talking with one of my clients, Paola Di Fonzo, owner of BallooniqueTO, an event decorator, and a balloon stylist. 

We delve deep into the world of entrepreneurship and success exploring a topic that's often glamorized but rarely understood: the difference between hustle and hard work in business.

1. Defining the Terms:

First things first. We clarify what we mean by "hustle" and "hard work." While they're often used interchangeably, there's a subtle yet significant distinction between the two. Hard work entails dedication, perseverance, and putting in the necessary effort to achieve your goals. On the other hand, hustle is characterized by relentless busyness, often at the expense of balance and well-being.

2. The Downside of Hustle:

Contrary to popular belief, hustle isn't always a recipe for success. In fact, it can be detrimental, both in the short and long term. Paola and I discuss how the hustle mentality can lead to burnout, and poor decision-making, and ultimately hinder your chances of sustainable success.

3. Finding Balance:

But fear not, there's a better way to approach business and entrepreneurship. By prioritizing self-care and setting boundaries, you can create a healthier, more sustainable approach to achieving your goals. We explore practical strategies for finding balance and maintaining your well-being while pursuing your entrepreneurial dreams.

4. Redefining Success:

Ultimately, success shouldn't come at the expense of your health and happiness. On the contrary, you experience more of it when you're at your best. We want to challenge the traditional notion of "hustle at all costs" and offer a new perspective on what it truly means to succeed in business and life.

Join us as we dive deep into this thought-provoking discussion and uncover the secrets to achieving success without sacrificing your sanity. So sit back, relax, and let's go beyond the grind.

To connect with Paola, visit her website  www.balloonique.ca
And connect with her on Instagram: @ballooniqueto

Also, tune in to the first interview with Paola and another client of mine on creativity in business.  We refer to it in this episode.
Episode 104 - The Power of Creativity when Growing a Service Business with Paola Di Fonzo (Event Decorator) and Stefanie Carroll (Excel and Data Management Expert)

39-41% of businesses in the US are women-owned
Canada is lacking at 17-18% but that number is growing

More and more women enter the entrepreneurship and business world. And with that more and more valuable perspectives and ideas.

Today I highlight what women value as they run their businesses. And encourage all of us #womenentreprenurs to use our voices and confidently share our perspectives. They are valuable and important. And I ask everyone else to listen. And with that consider how those perspectives can be right without making yours wrong. That's one of the key ways #businessworld can greatly benefit.

Happy #IWD2024 !

In this episode of the Diamond Effect podcast, I help you explore the intricacies of pricing strategies for service-based businesses.

I address the psychological barriers often leading to underpricing and the subsequent impact on business growth. With a focus on mindset and practical strategy tips on what to consider when first setting prices for your services and then how to raise them, this episode offers a comprehensive guide for business owners on how to raise prices effectively without alienating customers.

You'll learn a five-step process for implementing price increases - the most important being the alignment of your pricing with the value provided to your clients. That ensures that your services do not become commodities competing in a losing battle of cheapest pricing, enhances long-term customer retention, and enables you to maintain good profit margins.
Today's insights empower service entrepreneurs to enhance their business's profitability and success.

Ready to double your business without adding more work? Book your sales call with me HERE and explore in detail how it's possible for you.  https://calendly.com/maggie-s2l/discovery-call

As your service-based business grows and you start getting busier and busier with clients, inadvertently a time comes when you start feeling overwhelmed. The feeling itself is not a problem. It can prompt you to change how your business is structured and/ or how you, the service provider and the CEO, work in it.

The problem starts when you don't do anything. When you accept the overwhelm as something you just need to deal with and start hustling, getting busier, working longer hours, and feeling more and more exhausted. This is how you hop on the spinning hamster wheel of stress that is hard to get out of.

Today's Maggie's Moment shares with you 3 simple steps to stop overwhelm from escalating when you get busy with more clients but still want to grow your business long-term.

Find out how my T.O.P. CEO Continuous Success Recipe can help you double the business without overwhelm or adding more work to your schedule. Book your free call here - https://calendly.com/maggie-s2l/discovery-call

You feel like you are being pulled in all directions right now. Trying to keep up with clients' work. Post something on social media weekly. And occasionally do a networking lunch between service projects and client emergencies. 

It feels like you've barely kept your head above the water.

You're tired of shooting in the dark, figuring out how to sign the next client while overworking to maintain the current ones. You crave guidance. Direction. Especially since your energy is limited and usually drained by noon with all the daily decisions and chaos coming your way.

What if you could implement just one tiny change to create the direction and focus? 

To gain new energy. And create time you so much lack.

That change is the CEO Power Hour. 
It is investing one hour a week removed from the daily grind. One hour a week to strategically zoom out and check in with your business. 

To see what it needs to keep growing in a way that's not overwhelming for you.

Right now, even if you have some CEO time set aside every week, it gets overtaken to catch up on your to-do list. Or at best, you’re looking at what you can improve and just keep adding things to do for the next week’s list.

In this episode, I am sharing 5 specific CEO Power Hour sessions I had with different clients and the specific results they were able to create within just one week following those sessions.
 

When you work with me one-on-one, with my high-performance coaching during the CEO Power Hour, I teach you how to also decide what not to do. How to cut down on the amount of tasks you do each week and channel your limited time and energy into a couple of key things that create substantial progress.  

This is how I help my clients (and can help you) double your business without adding more work.

And you're probably thinking, "I'm not sure I can be consistent with that."
Or "Even if I managed to do it for the first three weeks of January, I don't even know where I'd find that one hour a week."

You do have one hour right now in your schedule. You would find it no problem if you had to go to an emergency client meeting. Once you create the first CEO Power Hour, I'll help you make it consistent. Especially that you’ll learn how to constrain the number of tasks you do each week, gain time, and with that add power to the ones you do.

Set up your first free CEO Power Hour now. During that time, I will help identify exactly what you need to focus on (and drop) in your business to pick up the speed of growth without getting overwhelmed. Schedule the session here - https://calendly.com/maggie-s2l/discovery-call

Two types of planning will increase your productivity and effectiveness and save precious time doing unnecessary things. I talk about them in today’s Maggie’s Moment. Tune in :).

I teach these planning skills as part of my T.O.P. CEO Performance Enhancer Formula. All is a simple, practical, and easy-to-implement way.

If you want to double your service business without adding more work to your schedule, let's talk. Schedule a free initial consultation with me here - https://calendly.com/maggie-s2l/discovery-call

We've all heard that to be successful in business and entrepreneurship "you should leave the emotions at the door" or "skip the feelings."

I disagree with it. Not only because it's humanly impossible to do, no matter what you can be telling yourself. As humans our actions are driven by emotions And emotions result from what we think and how we think about anything that's happening in our lives, any circumstances. That's just science.
But also when we try to actually "leave out emotions at the door" we do more harm than good to ourselves, business results, and people around us.

This episode dives deeper into this topic and also showcases a better, modern way to show up in business and your entrepreneurial journey. 

To work with me one-on-one and double your business without adding more work, schedule a free initial consultation here - https://calendly.com/maggie-s2l/discovery-call

Studies show that “talent” (the thing we are born with and can’t choose) doesn’t have as much weight on our success as learning and mastering skills through practice, training, and just work (the things we have control over and can influence).

And I believe that business skills are the “shortcut” to success as a service-based business owner. Not some new marketing tactic or one funnel.

So I challenge you to stop telling yourself you’re not good at something and ask the question: “What skill do I need to master and how can I do it in the most effective way to solve the problem I’m facing right now?”

If you want help mastering any business skill in a practical and very effective way, my T.O.P. CEO framework might be the answer. With it, I can help you double your business without adding more work. Click here to set up a chat with me so we can talk details - https://calendly.com/maggie-s2l/discovery-call