Ep. 104: In Defense of Slow Business
I first heard the term Slow Business when my friend Heather Thorkelson (https://heatherthorkelson.com/) posted about her experience attending a business retreat in Norway called Slow Business Adventure.
It sounded right up my alley and I was quickly introduced to one of the women behind the event Torill Wilhelmsen, and booked my ticket right away. Sadly COVID derailed the event in 2020, but it gave me language for how I approach my business now.
After burning out hard in 2016 after constantly chasing carrots in my previous business, I knew I needed a different more sustainable approach. In this episode I share what I've discovered along the way and why I'm such a fan of "going slow to go fast."
Links:
Slow Business Adventure: https://www.slowbusinessadventure.com/
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Welcome back to the, sell it sister podcast. Today, I am going to be chatting about the concept of slow business. I was first introduced to this term in a. I think it was either the end of 2019, or very early 20, 20 by a friend of mine, Heather Torkleson, who is awesome. And, uh, she was recounting her time in the fall of like September-ish of 2019, um, going to this slow business adventure retreat in Norway, like in.
Rural Norway. And she was sharing pictures and she was sharing, um, just like a whole bunch of stuff about her experience. She was there as a speaker. And I had been thinking at the time, obviously this is like pre COVID. Uh, I was like, you know, I really, what I really want to spend my time on in 2020, what I really want to be intentional about.
Is, uh, traveling for like conferences and retreats, but not like the huge ones. Right. I wanted more like intimate retreats and everything. And so when I saw her post, I was like, Oh my gosh, I feel like this is literally exactly what I was streaming out of. And so, um, Heather quickly introduced me to Toro Williamson, who was one of the founders.
And she, and I had a great coffee chat over zoom cause she, she lives in Norway and uh, I was just like, I'm in, I'm totally in. I bought my ticket everything. Uh, and then of course it ended up not happening because of COVID, but I just, I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of. I needed to be a part of.
Because I felt like it was, uh, it gave me language around what I had been trying to articulate, which is this idea of, you know, slower business, a slower approach to entrepreneurship. Uh, that was really. Born out of when I super duper burned out at the end of 2016 and my previous business. And I was like, I need a different way forward.
I, this is, this is totally unsustainable. I have no idea what that new model of business will look like. I have never experienced it. I know that others have, so I'm going to trust that it can be done, but this feels very foreign and scary to me. And I feel like I don't trust it, but I also have to trust it because otherwise, like I can't, as Heather calls her people like incurable entrepreneurs that is very much.
Me. So I was like, I can't go back. I can't go back to like the world of nine to five or something like that. So I have to find a way forward in the world of, of business and slow business. Like by the time that I'd heard that phrase either again end of 20, 19, early 20, 20, I don't really remember which, um, I just was like, ah, yes, that is what I have been experimenting with since.
The middle of 2017. And so I, I, this is very much my approach. It's my approach, my own business. It's pretty much my approach with my clients as well. Um, not that I'm ever imposing timelines or goals or anything on them, I'm certainly not, but I'm also not willing to give them strategic. Sales and marketing plans and, you know, growth or scaling plans that are going to be unsustainable for them.
And it doesn't mean that their growth or their results are necessarily going to be slow. It's just that our approach is going to be, uh, in a way that is again, sustainable for them. Right. So it kind of. Like lives into that, that saying like, go slow to go fast. So your results can actually come very quickly when you eliminate a lot of the noise and a lot of the busy-ness and have this slower sort of approach.
So again, this doesn't mean you're not making any money or that you have to wait years and years to see like the fruits of your labor. Um, it said it just means that you aren't. Focus on beating yourself up for not being further ahead. It's really approaching the whole thing, the whole realm of entrepreneurship as more of a journey rather than a race, because I don't know about you, but my approach to it and the people who I work best with are in it for the long haul.
Right. They, they are. In it to win it. Right. And by winning, I mean, like have longevity in terms of, you know, making their own schedule, doing work that lights them up, working with people, they feel really good about serving all of that. Right. They're not just trying to see how much money they can make in a year or two years, three years.
And then cash out and move on with their life. Like this is their, uh, maybe not their whole life's work, but it's a portion of their life's work and they need it to last and they need it to be supportive and sustainable for years and years and years, even if they pivot, even if they change, even if you know, things shift, they are still having the intention that they are going to be an entrepreneur for awhile.
So let's talk about some ways that you can practice the idea of slow business, first set goals that excite and inspire you rather than fill you with dread. If having a seven figure business is super motivating and it lights you up and it gets you out of bed and it gets you doing things that maybe you would rather not do in your business.
That's fine. That's great. If it's not, if it feels, um, suffocating, if it feels stifling, then also, you know, you, you don't need to have that goal. Right. You can have a, uh, a lower monetary goal that does not mean that you are playing small or. Uh, you're afraid or anything like that. It's just that we have different things that motivate us.
And so think about what motivates you, even if you feel like it's not right, putting that in air quotes, like it's not right. Or it's not standard or. People would laugh at it. If that is what inspires you go for it. If you literally are like, I want to live in a converted van and have the freedom to travel all over and work from anywhere.
And I, you know, you really just want to make enough money to make that financially viable for you then that's awesome. Like you don't, you don't even need it. If, if that doesn't require even six figures a year. Cool. Don't sweat it, uh, next up choose marketing tasks that honor your personality and the way that you enjoy working.
So if there are things like when I am creating marketing plans for my clients, It's really important that I don't give them things to do that they are going to absolutely hate and will just zap their energy and not in a good way. There are some things that I do that I love and they utilize a lot of my energy, but it's that like, it's that good.
Tired in the end. It's not the like exhausted, I'm worn out sort of tired. Um, so, you know, if. Having a podcast or a YouTube channel or whatever is not, uh, does not light you up. If that is going to really be a slog, then you don't have to do it. Right. Even if it seems like everyone else around you is. You personally do not need to do it.
There are so many different things you can do for marketing. I promise you don't need a YouTube channel. Uh, it same goes for, you know, reels, right? You're like, I don't want to dance on reels. Cool. You don't have to dance on a rails. Uh, next is setting up workflows for yourself that are sustainable. Even if others tell you that you should be doing something else.
So if you have, uh, if your personality lends itself to, you know, you only take calls, um, two days a week, and it's only in the middle of the day, because that is when. You feel your best in terms of, you know, interacting with people like that, um, on calls then. Do that right? You, depending on the work you do, and depending on your offers, other things may need to change for that to make sense.
Um, but if, if that is going to work, then do that. If you are somebody who is, uh, very easily drained by a lot of zoom calls, like don't have Monday through Friday, you know, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Zoom calls and then expect to be able to do that forever. It's just, it's not, it's not worth it. Um, be honest about what success looks like for you.
Um, and again, how much money do you really need for your dream life? Kind of already covered that in terms of the goals, but like really, and truly like, um, map out. Uh, I know my friend, my friend, Becky Mellencamp has, um, uh, died that I'm blanking on the name right now, but it's, it's like an actual way that you can map out your.
Like sort of like your dream life, like financially, what would that look like and how much would it cost and all of that. And surprisingly often our dream life, even if it's more like short-term dream life is actually not as much as we. I assume it will be right. Like, unless you're like, I want the Oprah compound and all of that.
Okay. That's, you know, it's a bit, it's going to take maybe a bit longer to, to reach, but again, If you're like, I just want to pay myself this salary and I want to be able to donate, you know, this much a month to my favorite charities. And I want to be able to pay off my student loans by such and such date and take a couple of cool vacations a year.
Like when you actually add that up, it tends not to be. Quite as much as sometimes it can seem in our head. So do some, do some journaling, map it out and, uh, put some actual numbers to what you want. Um, also drop any guilt that comes from being partially supported by a paid job or a partner. I know this can be easier said than done.
Um, but seriously, this, this was just the one, the reality of our world housing is expensive. Um, depending on where you live, like if you're in the United States, healthcare is expensive. Education is expensive. Uh, children are expensive. A lot of these things cost a lot of money and we don't all have partners who, uh, don't want to be working like the, the whole idea, which I just.
Hate, and I'm not going to go off in the rant, but the whole idea of like in heteronormative relationships where the man works a traditional job, the woman is the entrepreneur guy who's to see us all the time in the direct sales industry. There's always this rhetoric like retire. Your husband. Don't you want to retire your husband?
No, my. No, Chris doesn't want me to retire him. Like he, he might joke about it, but he really doesn't like he is a worker bee. He likes to work. Uh, he. You know, he likes to use his own talents and skills and experience and everything for work that feels meaningful to him. And that's fine. I don't, I don't need to work my ass off to retire him because like, what is he going to do?
Sit around the house all day. Now it's not who he is. It's not, it's honestly not how most people are. Right. So, um, Yeah. And if you have other stuff like a very good friend of mine, she has a very, very flexible. Job. She treats them like one of her clients and, uh, it pays her well and you know what? She has several kids and she has to, you know, pay for her own, um, housing and all of that.
And so her job provides a level of security that allows her to be playful and creative in her business. So if this is, if this is you and you are feeling like you are somehow less than. Because you aren't relying 100% on your business to pay for everything in your life. Now you, maybe other people will make you feel bad.
I'm here to tell you that it is, uh, it is quite all right. The only time I would say it's ever not great is if that other thing, like, if, if that situation is causing you undue stress or something else, then it's great to make a plan for how to phase it out. But if it's working for you, then, you know, it can be a really lovely, um, cushion to not put so much pressure on your business, especially if you are building your business up.
If you're in that phase, um, next is viewing paid support as a gift to yourself and honoring the talents of the other person, uh, rather than feeling bad about wanting or needing support. This is a really, really, really huge one. I know, uh, again, I can only speak from an American point of view because I've only ever lived in America, but there is this big, uh, like sort of belief system, this systemic ideology of.
The power of the individual and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and relying only on yourself. And there are times when financially this. Might be all that you can really do, like is, is just do what you can do and learn from free content. That is a, that is a real thing. So I'm not just going to say like, you know, just go get a credit card and like hire somebody to help you.
Cause again, that might put you into a worse situation. Um, but it doesn't mean anything about like anything bad about you to get. Help and support. It doesn't mean you're weak. It doesn't mean you're lazy. It doesn't mean you're stupid. It doesn't mean anything like that. It means that you are saying I am worthy of being supported by somebody else, even for, even for me, like in my launch that I just had earlier this year, I hired a friend of mine who does something very similar to what I do because I wanted.
That feeling of support as I did my launch and you know, what it was worth, every penny, um, okay. Next unfollowing, unsubscribing from anyone that doesn't make you feel good, even if you know, they're a nice person. So this can be really hard. Obviously, if somebody is like really pissing you off, it's fairly easy to be like, you know, mute unfollow, block on subscribe, whatever.
But sometimes there is just something, you know, some people it's just, it's like triggering you every time you see them. It's, you know, it logically doesn't make any sense. You know, they're a good person. You're happy for all their success, but there is this part of you that like the comparison itis just rears its ugly head and it brings you down every time you see it.
You obviously don't have to tell them or anything. You don't have to like stop being their friend or stop any, nothing like that. But if it means that, like you just mute them for a while, uh, while you deal with your own internal stuff, like just, just do that. That's all good. It's okay. Um, also get super clear on your personal and business values and filter every choice and decision.
Through that lens. Um, I'm going to have an upcoming episode. That's about decision making and saying no to certain things so that you can say yes to better things, but really like knowing what you, knowing, what you value is going to really help you with those other choices. So for instance, if you are a.
You know, feeling a certain way about that. Like having that partner that also is paying for some of the bills or needing to rely on them while you're like building up your business or relying on that paid job, or maybe you had another business. I have some clients who do this, like they had another, um, Business that made them money in a different way.
Like, like freelance writing. Right. And now they're pivoting and it can feel like, Oh, why am I, I'm still doing this freelance writing, but I want to be doing this other thing again. What are your values are your values to be, um, supportive and not feel super stressed about money and take your time so that you could focus on like doing your best work, uh, and not feeling you have to take on.
Less than ideal clients just to pay the bills. Right? What are your values? Same thing with getting, getting help investing in that help. Like I just talked about, does the person you're investing in are, does it look like their values are aligned with yours? Because it doesn't really matter. Like there's a lot of people who can get you the results you're after, but I think it's really important to find.
Somebody who you feel really aligned with, especially if you're going to be working with them over a period of time. Um, also connect with supportive people and nurture those relationships rather than always going for bigger numbers. So this could be, you know, your email list, your social media, et cetera.
Uh, I feel like there is this trend in the online industry of people trying to, I don't know, like, look. Like, Oh, I'm, I'm like at the cool kids table or something like that. Um, we see it from like some, you know, some bigger name people and everything, but there's also a lot of quote unquote nobodies in the industry who are amazing and supportive and will never be widely known, but they are successful.
They are brilliant. They are wonderful. And so. Again, this is really just that permission to not feel like you have to be chasing the dragon of building a massive email list, building a massive social media presence being well-known in order to have success. Like, no, you can have some great deep relationships that.
Are essential to your success, your longterm success, all of that. Um, and again, you know, there, there are people who align with your values, right? That the support I've had from friends over the years, um, from other, you know, fellow entrepreneurs, I. I couldn't even put a dollar figure on how valuable it is.
It's just, it really, really, really is so quality rather than quantity, for sure. Um, get clear on your long-term vision and what your non-negotiables are. So this kind of aligns also with your, your business values and, you know, looking at your numbers and all of that. Think about what your long-term impact is that you want for your business.
And again, you know, what, what are those non negotiables, right? So, uh, whether that is types of people, you hang out with types of people you invest in types of offers that like you would, or wouldn't. Um, put out there, any, any of those things, again, this is personal to you, even if other people are doing it differently.
Uh, no again, no. What that is for you. Um, and lastly, be kind to yourself because nobody has a perfect business and there will always be more to do. There will always be more ideas than you have energy or time for. Even if you have paid support, this is normal and you aren't broken. And this is why I feel like having that long-term vision is so essential because you will have to prioritize.
You will have to, you will have things that come along that you're like, that seems really cool. I want to do that. Or I have this idea. I want to make it happen. And. You'll have to say no to it, or you'll have to say not now, or you'll have to, uh, make short-term sacrifices for long-term gains. And I don't necessarily mean like, you'll have to wake up at 4:00 AM or anything, but something else might have to adjust temporarily, you know, for that to happen, things need sometimes need to get put on parking lot lists.
Right. And it can feel like when you see other people. When it looks like, Oh my gosh, they're doing all this amazing stuff. And they're producing all this stuff. They're, they're, you know, they seem to be everywhere. They're doing this, that, and the other thing it can feel like, how are they able to do this?
And I'm not. And the reality is there's probably a lot of other stuff that is actually not being seen. Right. That, that you don't know that is happening behind the scenes. That is. Uh, like able to support that. It, you also don't know what other things in their life they are saying no to as well. So ultimately it really comes down to, I feel like trusting yourself and honoring who you are and understanding, and really like embodying the fact that there are so many different ways to reach.
A specific goal, right? If the, if five people have a goal of having a six-figure business, all five of those people are different humans with different lives and different challenges and different, you know, everything. And there are five different ways that those people can get to that number. And my approach is always.
The easiest and best path to that number is not as, it's not always obsessing again about a certain length of time. Right. It's not always about like, okay, it's going to happen in this calendar year. Right. Because what if it took 14 months instead of 12, would that in, in the big picture, if you're, if you're in it for the long haul, is that really gonna make that big of a difference?
No, but what if you got there in the 12 months, right. But you were exhausted. You were, uh, working in a way that was unsustainable for you. You were working in a way that wasn't aligned with your values. You were being pulled up away from your long-term vision. You are compromising on your non-negotiables.
You were connecting with people who. Maybe are not people that you actually want to be friends and connections with. Right. W would that feel good to be at that a hundred thousand? I mean, I'm sure some people would say us, but the people who I work with now, they would rather it take. A little bit longer, but feel fully aligned with who they are and the bigger picture of why they do what they do.
Um, and be able to keep up with that pace, uh, for, you know, a length of time. So I just want to wrap it up there. Um, but I would say, you know, don't worry about, I know this is easier said than done to be like, Oh, don't, don't worry if it's taking a while, but, um, Trust that there is a way that is unique to you and that can honor all of you.
Uh, and it, you know, it might require getting some help to find that path. But again, that doesn't say anything bad about you. Just means she needed a little help. We all need some help from time to time. So I hope this helped you think about the idea of slow business. Um, hopefully embrace it a little bit, or at least not feel such a panicked rush to get to a certain dollar amount and as always happy selling.
Oh, and I almost forgot if you loved this episode and you know, somebody who you think would also love it, feel free to send it their way. And I also love saying hi to my listeners. So if you screenshot, uh, your phone from the podcast app and post it on Instagram, Uh, in your stories and tag me at Eric Dobbins consulting, I would love it because then I would love to say thank you.
I'd love to hear, you know, what your biggest takeaway was from the episode. And also of course, there's probably people following you who could benefit from it as well. And they will see it there too. So. That was it one last thing. I just want him to be sure to pop in there. I really do read all my own DMS.
So come on by say hi, find me at Eric Tobin's consulting and have an amazing rest of your day.
