Seeds of Wisdom: The DNA of your Business

I visited my mother last week.

Even though I know that I share her DNA, I’m always surprised by how much more I look like her as I age. And because my mother looks just like her mother did in her mid-80s, I have a pretty good idea of what I will look like at that age.

DNA is a powerful force. It determines what flourishes and what does not.

Although I’ve never birthed any children of my own, I see the imprint of my DNA in my business. It is a direct reflection of my strengths, interests, and areas of expertise. My brand colors are my favorite colors. My company brand voice is my voice.

But it wasn’t always this way.

I was a good mimic

I spent the first 15 years in business mimicking someone else’s business DNA. I did well as a protégé of this model but couldn’t sustain it.

At first, I thought maybe I wasn’t cut out for entrepreneurship. I considered getting a job and leaving my dream of financial and professional freedom behind.

You see, I had joined a business that was already 2 years old, and the business resembled the founder more than me. I was a good stepmother to the business, but I needed to create something in my own image.

The more I tried to introduce my entrepreneurial DNA, the more we disagreed. The more we disagreed in the office, the more we struggled in our personal lives. When it became clear that we couldn’t be business partners and be married, we chose to end our business partnership and work on our marriage.

The first 5 years after I bought the business from him, I struggled with reshaping the business. I needed to make changes, but I was overwhelmed. In a panic, I hired a coach and followed her advice. Within a couple of years, my business started looking like her model.

The funny thing is, from the outside I looked successful. I was making money, had plenty of clients, and was well known in my field.

At the end of each week, however, I was still dissatisfied. I felt like I was playing dress up and the shoes didn’t fit.

You can only hear your heartbeat when it’s quiet

Then I took the time to get quiet and listen. I inventoried my business. Did some deep cleaning. Paid attention to where I felt energized, leaned forward, and lost all sense of time. I noticed what kind of people I was excited to be around, learn from, and support.

Then I heard it, the song of my own heartbeat.

In the quiet space, I re-membered why I wanted to be an entrepreneur in the first place. As a young, dissatisfied professional, I recognized entrepreneurship as a vehicle to create true financial freedom. With 25+ years of experience and more credentials than I needed, I left corporate consulting behind and focused my services on serving women entrepreneurs.

Finding the Door into my Sphere of Brilliance

After a year of offering generalized business coaching to women and watching my bank account dwindle, I drilled down further. I needed to distinguish my services from all the other brilliant coaches.

As I listened more closely, I realized that every client asked me how to price their services. Men usually started higher and jumped even higher. Women tended to start lower and wanted to argue with me about why they shouldn’t raise their prices. Regardless, pricing vexes everyone.

I noticed a pattern: the number one reason that true financial freedom eludes women more than men is that women don’t charge enough for their services. And there it was . . . the Door into my Sphere of Brilliance – Pricing.

This niche gave me a space to start a conversation with potential clients. And since pricing touches everything in a business, it opens the door to a bigger conversation about offers, marketing, operations, and finance.

My niche didn’t limit me, it liberated me.

When I got clear that I wanted to help women create financial freedom by getting paid what they’re WORTH, my business finally made sense, my message became clear, and my elevator pitch became crisp. I cleaned up my website, and I no longer wondered what to post on social media or who my ideal client is.

What is your Business DNA?

Your business already has a natural intelligence. Your business’s DNA was present in the seed of inspiration that sprouted when you started.

As you grew your business, you may have doubted yourself, ignored your intuition, and kept yourself too busy to hear your heartbeat. In the fog of imposter syndrome, you may have sought quick fixes, chased trends, and jumped into flashy programs with big promises of success if only you mimicked someone else’s system.

I am here to call you back to yourself. I invite you to allow Your DNA to be the organizing intelligence of your business by understanding your S.E.E.D Code.

· SHAPE - What is the true Shape of your services?

· ENTRY POINT - Which Entry Door into your Sphere of Brilliance is the magic portal?

· ESSENCE - How does your Essence inform your marketing messaging & strategy?

· DIFFERENTATION – Why will your best fit clients choose you over all the other people who occupy your space?

Your S.E.E.D Code is your business DNA. Like all seeds, all it needs is fertile soil, some water and sunshine and it will flourish.

If your business feels like a stepchild you never asked for, it’s time to re-frame, re-form, and re-connect with your DNA. When your business is in alignment, it becomes your vehicle for true financial freedom.