"I feel like I'm running five businesses. I have no idea how to market them all, much less how to charge. I'm going nuts- how do I bring them all together?"



Five businesses, my goodness. She could go for an even dozen, and call it quits, but I think there's a better solution.

The problem with multiple businesses

I could never in good faith suggest anyone try to run more than one business at a time, and certainly don't start up more than one at time.

But, what to do when you're already in the midst of it? Besides, how hard would it be for our friend the business owner to give up four of those modalities and just focus on, say, reflexology?

That would be like Solomon telling the women to just cut the child in two, and share halvsies. Well, as we know, Solomon never intended for the child to be cut in half, and I don't want you to give up something you love.

Let's cut lengthwise instead of cross-ways

The problem is how our friend is looking at her business(es). She thinks the business is defined by what she does. If she's massaging, she's in one business, and if she's menu-planning she's in another.

But that's not how you define a business. If you defined a business by what you did, then it would change every moment: "I'm on the phone, I'm in a talking business. I'm adding up my expenses, I'm in the accounting business. I'm running errands, I'm in the concierge business."

Sounds crazy when it's put that way. So, instead of defining a business by what you do, define the business in terms of who comes to it.

Your business destination

We have to come to the 'why' of your business, to find a sane definition. Now we are talking about intention. Intention is defined as "a determination to act in a certain way." Intention is an action, and involves movement.

A simple thing like 'massage' or 'accounting' or 'talking on the phone' is, perhaps, action. But, it's the kind of action that happens when you row with one oar in the water- you turn around in circles.

If your action is going to take you, and your business, somewhere then it needs a destination. And that destination is related to some part of the world around you that you think is in trouble, that needs help.

For a massage therapist, perhaps you are tired of seeing people who are so stressed out all the time that they can't enjoy their life. And without enjoyment, there is a sense of richness that is missing.

Suddenly you aren't in the massage business, you are helping people who are stressed out and not enjoying their lives, and missing the richness.

Get the whole family under the roof

If the business 'why' is to help people who are stressed out and not enjoying their lives, then it's permissible to use anything and everything to help those people. Suddenly massage, reflexology, nutrition, Reiki, herbs all seem to fit together.

If your client needs some Reiki and herbs, and a little massage, it's okay- it's all in service to the 'why.'

So now you've get them all under one roof, how does it work? For instance, how do you handle charging different amounts for different services?

Read on...

Keys to having a big, happy business

? Scale your offers according to how much commitment.

If you are going on a date with someone, what kind of date it is depends largely on your commitment. Someone you see casually might be a lunch date. Someone you know better might be a day trip somewhere. A serious relationship might be able to withstand several days at the beach together. :)

But, what you do on the date is less important, than the amount of time and connection that's involved. When you craft your offers, instead of thinking about what you are offering, think first about how much of a commitment your customer is making.

The main question here is: how much do they have to show up? Is it just a book they can read? Is it a recording they have to listen to?

Or do they have to show up with you at a particular time and place. And can they be anonymous in a crowd, or do they have to be vulnerable and reveal everything to you?

Start new customers out with small commitments, for instance an article, a book, or a recording, and, as trust builds, you can offer them bigger commitments such as individual consulting, a six-month course, the mega-product that provides everything, that will also get them bigger results.

? One price.

Similarly, just offer one price. Whether you charge by the hour, by the project, by the offer, make your prices uniform. Don't charge one price for massage and another price for nutrition counseling.

If you keep separate pricing for different modalities, it means that your customer needs to make a different purchasing decision every time you want to bring in a new tool to help them.

Uniform pricing, based on commitment level, means you can offer them whatever they need in the moment, without feeling like you need to move everything into a new office.

One business is more than enough. Define your business by your customers, and scale your offers by commitment, and everyone will be able to get in out of the rain.