Our second guest episode and this time we have Chenae Carey with us to discuss the concept of entrepreneurial freedom and how it can be achieved. She explains how so many business owners have falling into a routine of running a business that actually leaves them feeling trapped. It is not at all what they imagined they would create when they set about to run a business. On the flip side, we discuss that entrepreneurial freedom is about creating a work-life balance that aligns with our desires and values. Chenae emphasizes the importance of awareness and reflection to determine if our business has become a prison rather than a vehicle for freedom. She suggests identifying the areas where we feel trapped and taking small steps to make changes. Chenae also mentions her book, 'Is Your Business a Prison?', which provides an inquiry process and keys to unlock different prisons and find the pathway to freedom.

 

Takeaways

Entrepreneurial freedom is about creating a work-life balance that aligns with our desires and values.

It is important to be aware of whether our business has become a prison rather than a vehicle for freedom.

Identify the areas where we feel trapped and make small changes to move towards freedom.

Chenae's book, 'Is Your Business a Prison?', provides an inquiry process and keys to unlock different prisons and find the pathway to freedom.

Resources: You can access the FREE Quiz here https://chenae-carey.involve.me/the-entrepreneurial-freedom-quiz

For more of Chenae's resources including her free webinars, blogs, podcast or to buy a copy of her book head to her website here https://chenaecarey.com/resources/

If you feel like you have a million moving parts in your business and things are not as smooth as they should be then this episode is for you! Wether you have a bunch of free tools to get the job done - or you have paid software - make sure you are getting the most from the tools and that they are actively helping you get your work done. In this episode, I will talk you through a quick process for assessing which tools you are naturally inclined to use, identify your needs, and fill any gaps with what works WITH your core tech. Following on from this episode we will break it down to auditing individual systems looking at data and analytics to confirm if the tool is doing what it needs to be doing. Let me know how you go and if there were any 'ah-ha' moments.

In this episode, I want to share a few things about money that have been catching my attention lately. The first is how often businesses use their revenue to wave a flag about how amazing their business is. But revenue is not the same as profit or what they paid themselves. We need to be careful not to get caught up in comparisons about how much better someone is doing when that revenue figure gets waved around. The second is a bit of a reality check on how all these magic rate calculators really don't take enough information into account and spit out a number that is not relevant. In this episode, we will talk about some of the different figures and why understanding your expenses is key to pricing yourself.

Welcome to our very FIRST guest episode. I am delighted to introduce you to a very good friend of mine - the lovely Hollie Barac! Hollie is a Capacity Advocate, design whizz, admin support human and mum. Her big-picture dream is seeing business owners enabled to 1) understand what they can actually commit to and 2) rearrange their time so they get the most out of their time without sabotaging things like family time. but... as business owners that may also have chronic health you might be thinking 'but how?? I already have less useable time than everyone else? this is exactly what we are talking about today. tune is as we discuss -understanding your capacity-why you might need to put some things down-why it is ok not to pick everything back up again -Hollie shares some insight into why she is so specific about her own capacity. In this episode, Hollie mentions her free desktop organiser. It includes space for your tasks, dates of importance,  calendar, and more! Plus it is fully customisable. Get it here https://holliebarac.com.au/free-2024-desktop-organiser/

If you are letting the fear of technology stop you from taking action on your goals - this episode is for you! I am seeing this pop up so much right now and I think it is because we are coming out of enthusiastic business planning and goal setting. This episode will (I hope) encourage you. I see you. And you are way more capable than you realise! As mentioned: if you need a cheerleader come message me on Instagram and let me know about those incy wincy wins as you take one step at a time. I'm celebrating you! www.instagram.com/knockonwoovirtualassistance

In this episode I am dropping some encouragement to make use of keyboard shortcuts! Imagine never having to type out your full email address, website link or intro again?? 

 

To watch the tutorial on accessing this setting see this Instagram video: https://www.instagram.com/p/C2gLVbGyE85/And to grab my FREE ebook with my guide on starting with Templates click here: https://www.knockonwoodvirtualassistance.com.au/templates/

Enjoying this podcast series so far? Please leave a review! This helps your favourite audio channel know to suggest my podcast to new listeners!

One of the most essential parts of managing my energy and avoiding burnout while supporting my amazing clients is understanding that I am not built to do the exact same thing every single day. There is a reason why content is sometimes easier to create or why tech sometimes makes you want to cry (even though you totally did the task before). And there is a reason why sometimes you want to throw the laptop out the window and burn your business to the ground. The good news is that we can learn to spot these strengths and understand how we can build practices in that let us max out productivity when we can and what tasks we should absolutely avoid when we are on the other side of that swing. Listen to this episode to find out more about working in flow and how this integrates with my business as a Period Coach who works with my clients in a Business Management and Marketing Capacity.

If you have listened to the million and one pieces of content on HOW to be productive and grow in business and found yourself going "but... how... I don't even have the energy to cook dinner much less do the XYZ shiney thing" this episode is for you! If you are a fellow spoonie (aka someone with a chronic health condition) then the reality is that you are working with a smaller capacity than some of the people you are watching in the business world. The same may be true if you are a full-time carer or have something else that consumes large chunks of your time beyond what others may be managing.So how do we go forward? Let's talk about some tools to help you make the most of your limited but very valuable time. In addition to the tools that I mentioned in this episode, I also use timers, heat packs, whiteboards, Google Calendar, and my project management tool to keep me on track with the portion of time I have to do work. Let me know if you will be tweaking how you manage your time this year to better reflect your own capacity.

Ready to set up some new systems in your business and not entirely sure where to start? Let's talk about it! My starting point is looking for the places where you repeat the same task the most or use the most time repeating the same task in your business. 9 times out of 10 this will be in the enquiry and onboarding process and this is where we make the single biggest impact in claiming back hours for you. But it can be a little bit complex. So why start here? And what can be done to make this step easier?

I obviously geek out a bit over business tech and systems. I love investing in tools that serve me well. BUT this is a really big area to look for money leaking out in your business too.Stats show Aussies spend about $1200-1300 per year per person on UNUSED subscriptions. And honestly, I suspect the cost is higher for women in business as we tend to look externally for solutions and grab one more thing hoping it will be the magic we were looking for.Can I encourage you to check over your software? Go check the tools you use to see what new features might have been added where it might now replace other things (like ClickUp's inbuilt recording tool instead of Loom). And look over your subscriptions to see if you are actually using everything you pay for (and if it adds value in exchange for it’s cost).So check it all over. Spot the subscriptions you aren’t using or places you could tweak so you can reroute money into the tools you DO use or put money back in your pocket! I mention a few tools in this episode but here are a few more for you -Rounded (mention my name to get a free month of this fab accounting software) -TidyCal-Indy-Trello-AffinityCheck over your subscription both inside and out of your business. Make sure everything is being used and is adding value. If not maybe consider putting that money onto tools you are going to get the most out of (Big fan of paid ClickUp here) or put that back into cashflow or your pocket!