EPISODE 123: 3 essential shifts to create a business that works for you!

In this episode of the Digitally She Does It podcast, I’m opening the door to the bold shifts that have completely transformed my business and how they can do the same for yours. I’m sharing my personal journey of rebranding and evolving, from running a creative studio under Pink Lemon to stepping fully into my role as a digital entrepreneur… and now moving into an exciting new chapter with my upcoming rebrand, Online Business Uncovered.

We’ll talk about what it really takes to break free from the burnout of trading time for money and start building scalable, sustainable income streams that support both your freedom and your finances. 

I’ll walk you through the mindset shifts, systems, and strategies that helped me create more space, more impact, and more profit on my own terms.

If you’re a passionate creative or entrepreneur who’s ready to do business differently, this episode will give you the motivation and tools to start making powerful changes today. Let’s uncover what’s truly possible for your business and create the kind of success that actually feels good.

Transcript

Karen Davies [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to the Digitally She Does It Show. This is episode 123 and in today's episode I'm going to be talking about the power of making bold shifts in your business. So let's jump right in and let's get started. Welcome to the Digitally She Does It Show. I am your host, Karen, and I'm here to lift the lid on what it actually takes to create a successful business. If you are an ambitious creative, ready to to build a business on your own terms and without compromise, then this podcast is perfect for you. With my award winning approach to marketing and expert knowledge in creating online courses, this show will leave you feeling inspired, energised and ready to bring those big dreams to life. Join me each week for a dose of motivation and marketing know how along with actionable step by step strategies to help you accelerate your business's growth.

Karen Davies [00:00:56]:
So let's dive in and don't forget to subscribe to all my upcoming episodes which drop every Wednesday. Foreign hello and welcome. Thank you for joining me today. I'm your host, Karen and I really do appreciate you hitting that play button to listen to today's episode. So today's a special episode because it's the last episode that I'm going to be releasing under the name of Digitally She Does It. Next week I will be moving over to my new podcast title, which is Online Business Uncovered. And you will see a new podcast cover, you will hear new intros and outros, and there will be a whole different sort of feel to this podcast because as I explained in Last week's episode, episode 1, 2, 2, I am making a shift in my business and I'm currently going through a rebrand. And so as of next Tuesday, which will be the first of July, I am going to be trading under the name of Sell youl Brilliance Online because my business over the past few years has shifted and big changes have been made.

Karen Davies [00:02:17]:
And when I had my branding studio, my business was Pink lemon and that's what I built my identity around. That's that that name at that time reflected where I was. I was running a creative studio and I was delivering creative projects and I wanted an identity to reflect that. And then when I moved over into the online course space, I decided that it made sense to trade under my name because of my personal brand and so I moved over to Karen Davies. So my business, if you like, has been running under karen-davies.com and that's been my, my website, that's where I've been sending people. But the Problem with that is that I never felt that it really reflected where I was or what my business was about. And I think using my name was a great sort of band aid, if you like, whilst I was bridging the move over from Pink Lemon. But it just never really felt like it gave justice to the work that I do.

Karen Davies [00:03:25]:
And so last year I made the decision that I was going to shift my business and I was going to move into completely into this online business space and therefore my name, my identity and obviously how I show up needed to reflect that. So my membership that I launched on 1 July last year is called Sell youl Brilliance Online. And I teach entrepreneurs and business owners how to create online courses through this membership. But over the past 12 months, because of the work that I've been doing and because of the people that I've been working with, I feel like there's been a shift in myself and I absolutely love this space. I'm so incredibly passionate about building an online business because over the past sort of five years, if you like, I have been building up my own passive income in my business through the different things that I've been doing. So I see the value of having these ready made offers in your business that kind of generate that reoccurring income. And that's now where I want to be spending my time because it's so powerful. And I see so many entrepreneurs and business owners burnt out because they're constantly on this treadmill of chasing the next client to keep the lights on in their business.

Karen Davies [00:04:51]:
And I think where I'm at right now on my own journey, I recognize that the shift that I've made over the past five years has been significant and it's made a huge difference in my business and how I feel about my business as well. I'm not saying I don't have clients, I've got a couple of clients at the moment, but the bulk of my income comes from reoccurring income that I've baked into my business and that has given me more time back, it's given me more sort of financial freedom, but also it's allowed me to explore different areas of my business that I want to uncover and I want to. There's a. There's loads that I want to do. I've got so many ideas and I want to be given the freedom of time and money to be able to explore them. And so that's why for me, moving your business, even if it's part partly in the online space, is a game changer. Because you do, you're setting your business up for that success in the future as opposed to just constantly feeling trapped within it. I had a discussion with one of my friends last week, one of my really close friends who runs a business, and it was a really open and honest conversation and it's really interesting because we've worked together for a long time, we have partnered on many projects and we've done lots of things together.

Karen Davies [00:06:25]:
And over our time we've, we've kind of gone in slightly different directions. I moved from being predominantly a service based provider into the online course space, becoming a digital entrepreneur and focusing on creating these passive income streams. Whereas my friend has stayed within her business serving clients. And it was a real, real moment when I was speaking to her last week because we, we've been in business similar amount of time, but how we feel about our businesses is very different because I love my business, I love what I've created and I love the prospect of what is to come because I know I can scale and expand and do the things that will only ever benefit the business that I'm building. Whereas my friend is feeling really trapped at the moment. Really trapped. She is beholden to clients and she is exhausted and her goal was to create a side of her business, business that could bring her in that passive income. But because she's been so engrossed in supporting her clients and she is, by the way, amazing at what she does and she is fully committed to her clients.

Karen Davies [00:07:45]:
But because of that she's trapped and now life is happening where she needs to be more at home because of her family's needs. She hasn't got that income stream coming in if she's not at her desk working. So she at the moment is having to kind of navigate those feelings of feeling trapped and stuck because she doesn't now have that extra time to be building something in. She, she knew she wouldn't needed to do it. She never got round to it. It was always going to be I'll do I' later, I'll do it later. I'm really busy at the moment. And now later is here and she needs that income because she's now having to take more time out of her business to support her family because of course her family's needs have to take priority.

Karen Davies [00:08:47]:
She's not in that financially stable position where she can just relax and focus on what needs to be done. She now needs to continue working even though she's been pulled in every which direction. So the, the whole purpose of my podcast, the Whole purpose of what I do, my mission, if you like, is to educate my listeners and my clients and other business owners so that you know that there is another way, there's a more sustainable way of building your business and it doesn't have to rely on you trading your time for money because it's exhausting and it's stressful and that just leads to burnout. And I speak from first hand experience. So I think what we need to do is look at what it is that we have, the business that we have cultivated so far and really be honest about what is the longevity of this and what is it going to give you in the future. Are you on that hamster wheel of having to constantly find those clients? And what if something was to happen in your personal life? Can you take time out of your business to support your family or the needs of others and not have to think about your business? And will you still make money? Now if the answer is no, then I want you to seriously consider looking at alternative methods of selling something in your business. I'm not telling you to stop working with clients. I would never say that to anybody because sometimes we, we want to work with clients.

Karen Davies [00:10:42]:
I'm working with an amazing client at the moment in the U.S. i absolutely love the project we're working on and I, I, I do that because it lights me up as does running my membership, selling my online products and doing all the things that I do. So I'm not saying give up on working with clients. Working with clients brings in cash flow. It's a smart business decision. But what I am going to encourage you to do is really look at your skills, your expertise, what it is that you do that helps, that moves the needle in somebody else's life and asks you, can you package up that process or framework and sell it on auto? Because that will give you income on auto. It will help you to build something that you can sell on repeat without you having to be there time and time again. So the first thing I want you to do is really be honest.

Karen Davies [00:11:57]:
And if your immediate response is no, then I also want you to ask the question, is that truth or is it ego? Is it that you feel like you have to be there? Because if you're not there, then it's not going to be good enough. Because sometimes we, we make decisions and what we don't realize is that it's coming from a place of ego. It's not a bad thing, it's a human thing. But what I want you to do is really be honest. With yourself and ask yourself, do I really need to be there to deliver that portion of what somebody may need, or can I package it up and sell it on repeat? Just ask yourself that question, because that alone is going to give you insight into where you can go in your business. And I suspect the majority of business owners can create something that they can take off the shelf and sell. They don't need to be there, which is going to be freeing up their time, their energy, and giving them more money in their business because it becomes a new income stream. Okay, So I really want you to think about that.

Karen Davies [00:13:11]:
Now. Today I'm talking about shifts and pivoting. And the reason why I am obviously sort of mentioning thinking about creating something digitally in your business, something you can sell online, is because when we veer down this route, what can happen is that you start to realize the brilliance that you have in your business, the brilliance that you own that you can make money from. And that can lead to a shift. Because before you know it, you realize that you can start to offer more of a hybrid approach to your business. And by doing so, you start to recognize maybe skills that you have that you haven't necessarily kind of tuned into before. Things like being able to deliver training and being able to market your business and talk about what you do in a way that pulls people in. Now, you might be sitting there thinking, no, I'm no good at this.

Karen Davies [00:14:20]:
I don't like video, I don't like recording myself. I don't like marketing, I don't like being out visible. And I completely get that. But what you may not realize is that actually you may be brilliant at doing all of those things, but you don't necessarily know that you're brilliant at doing those things because you've put a block there, because you've told yourself, I can't do it. So another thing that I would encourage you to do is give yourself the space and the grace to try to try and be more visible in your business and to kind of really own who you are, what you do, and the brilliance that you, you help people with. Because this, it is of huge value and people need to know what it is that you do. So I want to just touch upon three powerful shifts that I believe can really transform your business and your life, because two are not exclusively separate. They, they are very much together.

Karen Davies [00:15:30]:
So I want to talk about the, the shifts that you can make that is going to make a huge difference to you. The first one is the business model shift. So this is where you're Stuck in that one to one cycle, you're constantly trading your time for money and you start to feel like your income is capped. I understand this, I've been there, I get it. I know firsthand what it feels like. Until I started creating digital products, things like courses, toolkits, templates, I realized that actually I can have more impact in people's lives by creating these things than just showing up and working one to one with clients. So it doesn't have to be complicated. I would encourage you to start with what you already know and then create something that you can sell on repeat.

Karen Davies [00:16:28]:
Now what I mean by that is if you're at that stage where you're thinking, oh, but I don't have anything I want you to think about what clients come to you for? What questions are they asking you over and over again? Is there a theme to what people are coming to you for? Is there a theme around what you're helping people with? And there a certain result that you're getting for people. So really nail that down because that is content for your first scalable offer. The second shift that I would encourage is to look at your systems. Burnout isn't really from commented about doing too much, it's about doing too many things in a manual way. So if everything in your business is dependent on you, then you have no space to grow. So you need to put simple systems in place that are going to help you. Things like if you're sending emails out, then set up email sequences that nurture your audience whilst you sleep. Or maybe look at your sales pages.

Karen Davies [00:17:46]:
So maybe create a really good sales page that can help convert people so that you don't have to show up live. And then if you do have a product, then think about the way you automate that product delivery. The other thing I would also touch upon here is I know a lot of business owners deliver live workshops. Do you need to deliver a live workshop or could you automate it? Could you create an evergreen workshop that you deliver on auto? So maybe you record it, you set up the system behind find it and then people can opt in for it. They could either purchase it or they can just opt in if it's your lead magnet. It's about thinking about things differently, but in a smarter way because this is going to give you freedom and that's going to give you the mental space to be the visionary in your business and not just the person that operates it. So what is it that you can auto at the moment? What systems do you not have in place that you can change. And then the third shift that I just want to touch upon is the mindset shift.

Karen Davies [00:18:57]:
And this is going to be the biggest shift of all. Because for years I thought that the money that I made had to come from being a service provider, from having to go and find a client, serve that client, and make money from that client. I genuinely believed that was the only route to success. And what I discovered was that the harder I worked, I felt like the better the results I deserved. But with that, I became overworked and I became burnt out. Freedom doesn't come from overwork, believe me. If anything, you just end up feeling more trapped. It comes from clarity, strategy, and alignment.

Karen Davies [00:19:45]:
So when I started to realize that my ideas alone could start to generate income, not just my effort, that's when for me, things started to change. Because I realized that I had this knowledge and this expertise that people needed to get access to. So my question to you is, what if getting the results that you want is easier than you think? And what if you're already sitting on something that you could scale, which would give you the freedom that you're most likely craving? So I want you to really think about that. You don't have to work hard, burn yourself out in order to get results. There is another way, a smarter way that's going to build in that freedom. What is it that you can create in your business? So I want to just share with you a couple of signs where you may be ready to shift. So if you're thinking that, oh, I don't know if I'm ready for this, then I just want to. But I just want to share some stuff that I think might help.

Karen Davies [00:20:57]:
Firstly, these are, you will know it's time to shift and make a change in your business. If you've plateaued, maybe not just your income, but in excitement as well. So if you're sort of showing up in your business and you're a bit meh about it, you're a bit like, oh, another day, oh God, if I have to do this, then I'll do this. Then it's time to make a change. Because we need to be feeling joyful and excited about our businesses and hopeful for the future of what can happen. And if you. And if you've lost that spark, then you need to make a change because that spark is going to be the driving force behind the growth you for your business. The other sign is if you're saying yes to things that you've outgrown because you're afraid to pause it now.

Karen Davies [00:21:48]:
This is me. I honestly, I figure years I've been a part of something, a membership, and it's been my comfort ground. And I've known for a while that I've outgrown it, but I haven't had probably the courage to pause it or to stop it. I've been paying for it, I've been showing up at it, but I've been feeling really underwhelmed by it. It doesn't excite me anymore, the things that go on in there. I just feel, oh, you know, do I have to be a part of this? Instead of doing what I should have done, which is cancel it, I've continued with it. I'm just about to cancel it because I've decided I'm no longer needing of that thing. So if you have something that you are currently a part of and you're starting to feel bored by it or unchallenged by it, or just.

Karen Davies [00:22:46]:
You dread it, even then, it's time to step away. Another sign is that you feel more reactive in your business than intentional. So what I mean by that is you're doing things because you feel like you have to rather than intentionally wanting to do things. If that's the case, you'd need to make a change. And then the final thing, the final sign, is that you've started to fantasize, if you like, about walking away from it and maybe burning it all down and starting it again. That was me in lockdown. They were the thoughts that I were having because I was so over the business and where it was. I just wanted a change.

Karen Davies [00:23:35]:
I had enough of it. I was done with it. I was feeling like it was causing me too much stress and I just fallen out of love with it. So I just wanted to really get rid. I wanted to walk away from it and start again. If you've been feeling like that, it's time to make a change now. These aren't signs of failure, far from it. They're signs that you're just ready to expand and make a change and a shift in your business.

Karen Davies [00:24:02]:
And maybe you're just feeling like you don't have that alignment. Business should be about simplicity, impact, and alignment. That's what it boils down to. And those things don't come by staying stuck where you are. They come from pivoting and making changes. And I know that's really scary, but sometimes we have to push through the fear to get to what we actually want, which is on the other side. So that's what I'm doing at the moment. And that's why I wanted to really kind of create this episode.

Karen Davies [00:24:43]:
Because I just want you to know that if you're in that place, then I'm there with you. Things over the years have happened in my own business and I'm making that shift. I love my mission, but over time all that's happened is my clarity has deepened and my audience has evolved. And I realized I wasn't just helping people to get digital, I was helping them turn their expertise into income to build scalable products to create sustainable freedom. And that's huge. And that's what I'm stepping into. So from next week this podcast will officially become Online Business Uncovered and this is going to be your go to show for turning your brilliance into digital products, passive income and time freedom. It's the same heart, the same mission, but with more clarity, more strategy, and even more support for where you are right now.

Karen Davies [00:25:40]:
And for me, it's more than a name change, it's an expansion and I would love you to stay with me and come on the next phase of my journey. Thank you so much for joining me for today's episode. I hope it gave you some fresh insight and encouragement to start making powerful shifts in your business. If you found value in this conversation, then I'd love you to share it with fellow entrepreneurs who may just need a little reminder that change is not only okay, but it's essential for growth. And if you're ready to explore how to build your online presence and turn your brilliance into income, then I want you to head over to my brand new website, www.sellyourbrilliantonline.com where you'll find a whole library of free resources to help get you started. And if you're ready to take the step into building an online course, then please check out my members Sell your brilliance online at www.sellyourbrillianceonline.com/membership. I will be back next week with a brand new episode, a brand new name and a fresh feel and I look forward to seeing you then. So until then, keep so until then I am wishing you a brilliant week.

Karen Davies [00:27:15]:
I will be back with a brand new episode under a brand new name. But until then, have a great week. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the Digitally She Does It Show. Don't forget to check out the show notes for all the links and resources mentioned in today's episode. 

New episodes drop every week on a Wednesday, so why not rate and subscribe so you never miss an episode? Thank you for tuning in today and I will see you next time.