Why Bigger Isn’t Always Better: How to Make Massive Profits with a Small Business

In this episode of MarieTV, we do have some adult language. So if you have little ones around, grab your headphones now. 

Before you decide to add any complexity to the business or a new revenue stream, I'm saying this from my heart to yours, really get grounded in knowing - is the juice going to be worth the squeeze? 

Hey, it's Marie Forleo, and welcome to another episode of The Marie Forleo Podcast and MarieTV, the place to be to create a business and life you freaking love, and today, it's actually Q&A Tuesday, and today's question comes from Daisha.

Daisha:

Hi, Marie. My name is Daisha. I live in Tucson, Arizona, and I am currently going through a B-School. I think my main question or concern has to do with the scale of business that I actually want to run. I don't have big, grandiose dreams of making millions and millions of dollars. Me and my husband actually sat down and talked about that a few weeks ago, and we would be very comfortable making six figures, making somewhere between one, maybe 200 grand a year. We just want enough to be able to go on vacations with our family and maybe pay off some small credit cards and things.

But I think probably my main question for you is what does that look like when you're not trying to scale to make things larger, but you're actually wanting to just keep things very manageable? I am a health coach. I currently run my own coaching program online. I currently have six one-on-one clients, and it's actually a perfect schedule for me. I'm also a group fitness instructor so I'd like to do some boot camps here in my town, but anyway, your thoughts on micro businesses and making things smaller as opposed to making them larger when it comes to income?

Marie Forleo:

So the first thing that I wanted to say, and I want to make sure that this really gets through to your heart, you and everyone watching right now, is that bigger dreams aren't necessarily better dreams, and this more, more, more, more, more, more is not actually healthy or sustainable, not for many of us. So I heard you say like, "Sometimes I feel bad because I don't dream of having a gajillion dollar business or something like that," and Daisha, I've often felt that way too because I get to interact with so many wonderful different types of humans, and some of them are like, they are beasts, they're monsters, they're like, "Oh my God, I want to earn a billion dollars," and I've had to check myself.

I've really had to check myself. I'm like making everything shake, sorry, editors, but the point of that is because my ego can get into comparison thinking that I must not be dreaming big enough. Maybe I'm not a real entrepreneur. I don't know if you relate to any of this, but as I've gotten older and hopefully a little bit wiser, I've come to realize that really bigger dreams are not better dreams, and the size of your dream is perfect for the unique expression of your soul. So just want to lay that as a foundation. That's number one. Number two, your clarity is fantastic. So step number one that I wanted to share with you is that we want to begin with the end in mind.

So since you're a B-Schooler, I love this because there's certain parts of the program that you can go back into and we can refresh, but one of them is about being really clear for you and your family. Is it $100,000 in take home income? Is that $100,000 in revenue? Is it 150 in take home? Is it 200, again, because I know you're kind of in that range of going what does my ideal business look like, and so I want to invite you to get that extra level of clarity because the difference between revenue versus profit versus take home income, that is a big swing. So I know for me in our business, when I'm looking to reverse engineer to make sure that my business stays really aligned with my lifestyle and my unique goals, I'm going like, "Okay, well what are the revenue numbers that we want to hit?"

And I'm the person who happens to live in New York City, one of the highest taxed areas ever. My accountant's always like, "Girl, can't you move to another state," and I'm like, "No, that does not fit my unique soul's expression of life. I love the grit of New York City and I pay for that privilege." So that's step number one, you down with that, to get ultra clear for you, and also to talk with your accountant to make sure that when we're setting these targets, whether it's 100 or one 150 or two, that you're clear on whether it's top line revenue or take home income. Cool?

Daisha:

Right. Yes, that makes sense.

Marie Forleo:

Yes. Okay. So step number two, and again, this might be a little bit of a reminder from B-School, but this is fun to talk about, is that there are so many different ways, we'll use $100,000 just because it's a nice even number, for you to hit that revenue goal. So it could be possible. I know you've got like... Well, tell everybody because I know a little bit about you, tell us about your business and what you do just because what I'm about to say is going to play into that.

Daisha:

Yes. So I'm a master health and wellness coach. I have created my own coaching program where I have one-on-one clients, but I also have a group coaching program. So that is the bulk of my business and my income at the moment.

Marie Forleo:

Cool. And I know you also do some group fitness. Again, fitness person here, old Nike elite dance athlete. Yes. Let's get in those classes together. So you got that as a passion too, which I love, and there can be some fun boot camps and different things that you can offer. So for example, let's say we're just playing with that $100,000 number, for instance, you could have 10 premium clients at 10K a piece, and bam, you knock that out, or you could have 20 clients paying you $5,000 a year for whatever type of extraordinary value or program that you want to create. Bam, we hit that number again.

Or we can have any kind of combination thereof, a handful of those higher end clients where you have a particular package, and then I know you're possibly interested in some group programs too, but I think just understanding that you have so many awesome ways to reach that specific goal once we identify it, I think it becomes really fun then because you're such a joyful person and you're so courageous, honestly, to be able to say, "Hey, I don't want a gajillion dollars. I don't want a multimillion-dollar business. I want a really thriving, healthy business that matches my lifestyle and allows myself and my family to travel and have freedom and time," which again, I'm so with you on that.

So that'll be the next part of your homework assignment is to really let yourself dream into what that ideal mix might come out like. What feels good for you? And something I've learned in my world is I love playing with numbers and I love money. You've heard me say that in the program. It's always about aligning that love and those targets with how you actually want to earn that money. So many people have said to me in my business, "Marie, what are you doing? You're leaving so much money on the table. Why don't you have this high-end mentorship program? Why don't you do X, Y, or Z."

And I did that in the beginning of my career and it was awesome and I really appreciated it, but then my vision and my priorities changed and I didn't want to offer it any longer. So I'm saying that to you and for the benefit of everyone, that even though other people tell you, you could do X, Y, or Z, if it doesn't light you up from the inside out and feel like a beautiful expression of your joy, there are so many different ways for us to hit that target. Does that make sense?

Daisha:

Right. Yes. That hits home because there is a particular area that I could focus in on, but like you said, my heart isn't in it. I know that I would be doing it because I could hit the number, but my heart isn't necessarily in doing that so it's at the bottom of my list. It's there, but it's not my bread and butter and it's not the thing, like I said, it doesn't light me up to know that that could be the thing that takes a lot of my time, but yes, could obviously put me at that revenue goal that I have.

Marie Forleo:

Yes. And I always, for me, when I'm looking at this, if there's something that's a possibility that doesn't light me up unless it's a dire situation, again, talking to the person who bartended and waited tables for seven years, man, I'm not afraid of hard work. I will take out the garbage. You know what I mean? I will do the thing if it is necessary to put a roof over my head and keep my family fed, I will do whatever it takes, but if you're not in that position and you have a chance like you do right now to design something and to make those revenue streams align with your joy, it's like that's our ideal.

That's what we're going for, and then the third thing is before you decide, and it's an extension of step number two, before you decide to add any complexity to the business or a new revenue stream, I'm saying this from my heart to yours, really get grounded in knowing is the juice going to be worth the squeeze, just like what we were saying? Even though on paper you see other people doing this or other people doing that, you're like, okay, Daisha, you could do this, but it's not feeling good. It's like, no, let it go, and this is a question. You answer it however you will. Do you have any kind of faith practice or do you believe in any kind of power, higher power, higher intelligence?

Daisha:

I do, and I have my own personal faith practice and meditation. That's something that I've really come to in the past couple of years. As I've coached that with women, it's actually become part of my own journey and stuff as well. So I use both of those a lot to get me grounded in figuring out, okay, this path, like you said, not what they're doing over there, but my own path.

Marie Forleo:

Yes. And the reason I brought that up is because I often find that when I'm in this stage of looking to design what's next, that is one of my greatest sources of intelligence, wisdom, guidance, and direction. It's like, sure, this thing is awesome, we appreciate it, but it can be filled with a lot of programming from the past and comparison of what other people are doing, but that humility and that willingness to ask for some guidance and go, "Wow, I'm exploring this. I'm exploring that, I'm considering this," and to ask for a sign, to ask for an intuitive hit, to ask for a message to show up when you're in stillness or prayer or whatever that looks like for you.

For me, it has been absolutely miraculous, and then this was one last thing that I wanted to mention because I know when we were getting ready for this conversation, you had mentioned something like, "Hey, I'm excited to build this particular business because in addition to having time to travel with my family, I'm also excited to pay down this little bit of debt that I have." So can we talk about that for a second because that's something-

Daisha:

Of course.

Marie Forleo:

So here's what I did because I remember there was a point in my life where I was, for me and my experience, was carrying so much debt and it brought a lot of heaviness, it brought a lot of shame, it brought a lot of anxiety. There were so many things that were tied up in that, and I remember when I made the decision for myself, I was like, "Okay, I'm going to get and then live debt free," and it took courage because I was so scared. I didn't know what the number was going to be, for me, and then once I finally got super clear on what that number was, I was like, okay, I faced it and now I can deal with this, and then I started to play a game with myself.

Then it got super fun. It was like, how quickly can I knock this thing out, and it was awesome how it started to infiltrate my decision-making on every level of where I could cut back and it didn't feel like a sacrifice, quite honestly. It was just me becoming more conscious about my spending and aligning this flow of money with the thing that I really, really wanted, which was to be debt free. So I don't know if there's anything in there for you for going like, this isn't that bad, or whatever this number is, this is it.

But the last thing I wanted to share with you is having that clarity from the business perspective, beginning with the end in mind, that top line revenue, the profit and the take home. Then you look at that debt number, then it becomes so fun to go, oh, well, maybe I could teach this one-off workshop, or I could do this one-off bootcamp or something where it may not be a commitment you want to make forever, but it could help you knock out that debt goal and then you're like, "Oh my God, I'm free," which is how I felt and it's just the best feeling ever. I want everyone to be and live debt free. So I just wanted to offer that to you if it was any inspiration.

Daisha:

I love that, especially when you said that one-off part. Those things that you can do that are once or twice a year maybe, or something that happens, but like you said, you can throw that at the debt that you've accrued. So I love that. It's a great idea.

Marie Forleo:

Yeah. So Daisha, was this helpful?

Daisha:

Yes, so helpful. Marie, thank you so much. I just love hearing from people that I admire and that I aspire to be like, and this was just amazing. Thank you so much for your information.

Marie Forleo:

You're a B-Schooler so I'm going to be with you and as much as you want to come retake the program, you come back and dip back in, and I want you to keep us posted on your progress because I think honestly, there are so many more people like us and we're particularly surrounded by them in B-School, but I think more and more people want permission to say, "You know what? Gosh, I know everyone tells me if you're not dreaming big, you got to go home," and it's like, that's some bullshit. That's some serious bullshit. It really is.

Daisha:

Thank you. Thank you, real talk.

Marie Forleo:

No, but it is because it's like what is there at this point? I don't even know, close to nine billion of us on the planet. There's a lot of us, and if everyone were the same and having the same, how boring would we be? We would be so boring. So the diversity and the differences of what we want to experience and achieve. I'm such a believer that every single soul comes into this body at this particular time with a particular journey and experiences and lessons that they need to learn, and it's not supposed to look like anyone else's. It's supposed to look like yours. So whatever it is that lights you up, whatever size business, it's like chef kiss, perfect. Let's reverse engineer and let's bring that to life.

Daisha:

Yes, that's wonderful. I love that. Thank you so much, Marie.

Marie Forleo:

Wasn't Daisha awesome? Oh my gosh, I love that conversation so much. So I'm curious, what's the biggest insight or aha you are taking away from this episode and how can you put that insight into action starting right now? Leave a comment below and let us know, and by the way, if you enjoyed this video, smash that like button, subscribe because it really helps us reach more of our amazing community, and I don't want you to miss an episode when we put a new one up. Until next time, stay on your game and keep going for your big or small dreams because the world really needs that very special gift that only you have. Thanks so much and I'll see you soon.

One year from now, you’re either going to be living that dream that’s in your heart right now and bringing that thing to life, or you’re going to be sitting on the sidelines like a sad sack.