Many of my readers are alternative healing professionals of different types. Many of you do well in your small businesses, offering coaching or bodywork or constellations. But others struggle. I want to help you!
I was not a business “natural” when I started my solo business. I’d worked for others my whole life, and although I knew I was competent enough in my area of expertise to help people, starting a business seemed utterly overwhelming, and something only “certain kinds of people” (people not like me!) can do.
Like many new practitioners who need help getting started, I was tempted into high-pressure business coaching programs that cost me many thousands of dollars, and which, despite a lot of work, didn’t really help me very much. It left me discouraged, tired, ashamed, and wondering what was wrong with me. Please avoid these programs! They are not the right resource for new small business owners.
However, I still needed help. Most new practitioners need assistance and learning to make their businesses grow. Eventually, I met ethical coaches who helped me heal and grow as a business owner. I was on my way!
Today, I am a successful alternative healing solopreneur, and my business entirely meets my financial needs. I’ve also left behind the shame and self-accusation that was so much a part of my start. I enjoy being in business! Along the way, I’ve learned some ways we heart-based practitioners are different from other business owners. We need to understand those differences so we don’t try to pursue business in a way that simply won’t work for us.
What are some of the ways we may be different?
- We often don’t know a lot about business.
- We may not be attracted to business.
- We can feel business is fundamentally unethical, tainted.
- We may wonder if it’s somehow improper to be paid for healing work.
- We often have a personal family history of financial trauma.
- And, we may have already invested in business growth programs that weren’t a good fit or tried self-employment and it didn’t work.
There are many good re-frames to heal these perspectives. But let me offer one fundamental bit of good news to ground your business-building efforts:
The Sacred Marketplace has been around a long, long time. It’s a place where people with different gifts, products, and skills have gathered to exchange, all while building community. The world needs these endeavors to be ethical and community-oriented. It is possible for us to engage that effort equipped in today’s world with our values, expertise, and thoughtful business practices, and to find success.
But given that our world usually offers a very different, less ethical vision of business, most of us need to get some new learning about this approach, as well as the best steps we can take now to move forward in ways that will really build our businesses, whatever stage we are at.
Are you an alternative healing practitioner who’s run into any of these issues? Please share your stories on my blog, below!
Leave a Reply