The Oxford dictionary defines an entrepreneur as: “A person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope of profit.”
Does that sound like you? Probably not.
Typical entrepreneurs tend to have a passion for entrepreneurship and business building in and of itself, and their main motivation for being in business is money & growth.
Typical entrepreneurs also tend to already be well-versed in business & marketing, and have likely come from careers related to sales, finance or marketing – or have already run previous businesses.
Heart-centered entrepreneurs tend to be a bit different in three key ways:
- Their main motivation for being in business isn’t money or growth. Instead, their primary motivation is connected to their purpose – the transformation they want to help people make or the important message they want to share.
- They don’t have a passion for business building in-and-of-itself. In fact, having a business & being an entrepreneur is more of a necessary evil to getting their important messages out into the world.
- They don’t have a background in business, sales or marketing & haven’t run businesses before. Instead, they’re transitioning from unrelated careers & starting businesses for the first time.
And then there’s a fourth way that life coaches & heart centered entrepreneurs tend to be different that’s pretty interesting:
They likely have a personality style that falls into the intuitive-feeler category (if you know the Myers-Briggs type indicator – this is usually anyone with NF in the middle of their four letter code).
This means that you like to understand the big picture, know how everything fits together, and do things your own way. It also means that everything you do needs to feel authentic and “right” for who you are.
Typical entrepreneurs on the other hand, tend to have a intuitive-thinker or sensor-thinker personality style (not all – but many). This often means they are most focused on finding the “best” and most effective or most efficient way to get something done & aren’t as concerned as to whether they like or enjoy doing it (that might be important too – but it’s MORE important that it’s effective).
It’s important to know you’re not a typical entrepreneur for four main reasons:
Reason #1: Because money isn’t your primary motivation – but you need to MAKE money in order to do your important work & leave your soul-sucking career behind – fear & perceived (or real) family or social pressure can easily block you or lead you off track.
And then you can find yourself accidentally building your business around something that isn’t your true passion & purpose (because you think it will make you more money and quell those fears) – and then lose all motivation for running your business (because you’re not following your passion & purpose, and are not motivated by money). This turns into a vicious chicken-and-egg loop that’s hard to get out of – and is a trap that many new heart-centered entrepreneurs fall into.
Reason #2: Because you don’t have a background in business or marketing & are starting a business for the first time – it means that you have a lot to learn, and you can’t just expect to understand everything or have it all click together overnight.
It also means that you need to learn business & marketing BASICS first, and set up your initial foundation. BUT – most of the business & marketing programs out there are more advanced and targeted to experienced entrepreneurs who already know the basics & have their foundation in place. And because you’re just starting out, it’s hard to tell the difference.
Reason #3: Because “being an entrepreneur” and starting a business is more of a necessary evil vs. your true passion, you need to make running & marketing your business as fun & easy as possible – otherwise you simply won’t do it.
Reason #4: Because you have a more intuitive-feeling personality type, it means that everything about your business needs to feel authentic & right for who you are. It also means that you need to know how everything fits together at the big picture level and “why” you’re doing something.
This means that following someone else’s set step-by-step system usually won’t work for you. If you don’t understand the system or why you’re doing something, you won’t do it and it won’t work. Or if just one step in the system feels wrong or inauthentic for who you are, you won’t do it and it won’t work.
But most of the programs out there ARE step-by-step systems that work for the person who created it. And how do create your own right & true authentic system when you’re just starting out? When you don’t yet know how everything fits together?
Well, what many coaches and heart-centered entrepreneurs do is try to build their business the same way as typical entrepreneurs. Usually, because they don’t realize that they need something different, or because they don’t know there’s an alternative.
And then when things don’t work out, when their businesses don’t get off the ground, they make it mean that no one wants what they have to offer. That they can’t run a business. That they are failures. And that they need to stay in their soul-sucking careers.
But they really have no way of knowing if this is true. Why? Because they haven’t yet tried to build their businesses in a way that is right and works for them.
Instead of advanced marketing programs like list building or online advertising, what you need right now instead is:
- A realistic career to business transition plan that gives you a sigh of relief
- Clarity on who you are, including your true passion, purpose, unique flow & genius
- An understanding of business, marketing & being an entrepreneur at a big picture level – so everything clicks
- Practical knowledge of business & marketing basics so you know how to build the right foundation
- The ability to customize every aspect of your business & marketing to who you are and how you work best
- To focus on incrementally building a business that stays true and aligned with who you are & what you truly want
So What Are Your Next Steps?
If this post resonates with you, it’s highly possible that you’re part of the Purpose Tribe. And when you’re part of the Purpose Tribe, you NEED to connect to your purpose and do work that feels deeply meaningful, or you suffer.
You’re also likely to be an empath, and have a passionate, highly sensitive, and intuitive personality style – which means for you, having a career everyone thinks you should have is not enough. And working the same way as everyone else simply doesn’t work. Why? Because more than money or material success, you need to love what you do, follow your passion & purpose, and do things your own way. A way that feels right, authentic & energizing for who you are.
If this is you, and you want to dive deeper into your unique personality style and genius – start here:
- Don’t know your personality style? Take the test RIGHT HERE
- Do you already know your personality style? Get your Personality Starter Kit RIGHT HERE
- Are you an INFJ/ENFJ/INFP/ENFP? Do you want to learn how to embrace & develop your intuition? Take the Intuitive Awakening Course RIGHT HERE
You can also grab my new eBook, Love Your Business, where I talk about all seven steps new life coaches (and all difference-makers!) need to take to transition from their 9-5 job and design, market & run a business they love – because it fits who they are:
