From Passion Project to Profitable Business (Without Burning Out)

Are you building a business... or funding a very expensive hobby?

In this episode of The Pleasurepreneur Podcast, we’re exploring what it really takes to shift from a heart-fuelled passion project to a sustainably profitable business—without losing your soul, your creativity, or your values along the way.

If you’ve been:

• Saying yes to every inquiry just to keep cash flowing 
• Constantly creating new offers but struggling to sell them 
• Creating loads of content but not seeing consistent conversions 
• Feeling like your business model can’t support the next level you’re craving…

Then this episode is your loving wake-up call.

🎙️ What We Cover:

• The key signs you're stuck in “passion project” mode
• How to shift into sustainable, scalable, and pleasurable profitability
• 3 core pillars of a profitable business (that still feels like you)
• The mindset and structural tweaks that change everything
• Behind-the-scenes coaching insights from Regan’s own biz + clients

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome to the Podcast
00:53 Passion Project vs. Profitable Business
03:37 Identifying Passion Project Traits
06:22 Shifting to a Profitable Business
16:10 Creating Irresistible Offers
17:49 Elevating Your Energy and Pricing
21:26 Coaching and Consult Calls
24:11 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

💌 WORK WITH ME:

If you’re ready to stop treating your business like a passion project and start getting paid like a pro, come join me inside 5 Days of Fire.

It’s a free 5-day experience to help you burn down the busywork and build a business that’s actually sustainable, profitable, and aligned with your deepest desires.
 🔥 Join here

And if you’re ready for personalised, next-level support to finally shift into consistent clients and income—apply now for 1 of the 2 final spots in my 1:1 coaching for the year.

Together, we’ll turn your passion into profit, simplify your path forward, and build the kind of business that supports you.

 🌹 Apply here 

💌 FIND ME ON INSTAGRAM: 

@regan_figg

Transcript

[00:00:00]  Hello and welcome to The Pleasurepreneur Podcast. This podcast will help you create what you desire in your business with pleasure. Whether that be calling in your ideal clients, making more money, or creating a balanced business life blend, I'm your host. Regan Fig pleasure and business coach, published author of a Mother's Pleasure wife and mama to three little Wildlings.

However, you're choosing to listen to this podcast. Ask yourself, how can I make this more pleasurable and do just that? I acknowledge the custodians of the land on which this podcast is recorded and produced, the Wadi Wadi people of Doland. Now let's proceed with pleasure.

Hi. Hi. Hi. Welcome back to The Pleasurepreneur podcast. Today we're going to be exploring whether you think your business is operating like a passion 

[00:01:00] project or a profitable business. Now, there is nothing wrong with starting out your business from a place of passion, from something that perhaps has completely changed your life, and now you are going to help others do the same.

Or from something that you just feel really emotionally connected with something that really lights that fire up in your belly and you know, maybe you're starting small. Maybe it isn't profitable to start with. Maybe it is. Yeah. You sharing your heart with the world and yeah. Calling in people who you can help.

You might be getting to a point where you're like, huh, I've been doing this a while and I'm not seeing the profits and the freedom and the finances that I had hoped, and that is okay. Nothing has gone wrong. I'm gonna share with you exactly how we go from having a passion project type of business 

[00:02:00] to a profitable business.

Now, this doesn't mean that we are losing the passion from the passion project and going into the profitable business. There is still passion in the profitable business. In fact, if we aren't doing what brings us passion, what you know, really connects us with our why, what really connects us with that fire in our belly, it's gonna feel like a bit of a struggle to make it profitable.

So. Just know the passion gets to stay. It's just about increasing the profitability of your business so it becomes a profitable business so it can sustain you and your lifestyle, not the other way round. where it's like, oh, I'm actually putting so much into this passion project. It's almost like a really expensive hobby.

I'm laughing now 'cause I'm like, there has been times. When I had that awareness around my business and it felt so uncomfortable, I was like, no. It's like I have to kind of put on my big girl pants now and, and I think this is part of the reason why 

[00:03:00] it can be difficult to go from a passion project into a profitable business and why it can be difficult for us to bridge that gap because it comes with.

Ideas or beliefs that we have to sacrifice, things that matter to us. We have to lose things that we don't wanna lose or we have to risk things that we don't wanna risk, that feel like too much of a risk. And so today we'll dive into the difference between the two, and we'll also dive into why we can end up continuing to run a passion project versus a profitable business.

And how to actually bridge that gap. How to make that shift. Here's how like you are going to identify whether you're in the kind of passion project zone or not. Number one is you are probably saying yes to any and every client who inquires because your income feels inconsistent. You are number two, you're probably constantly reinventing your offers or your prices.

You're kind of like not 

[00:04:00] sure what yet. It's, it's still like you're not sure what yet. I mean, it's still like a bit of an experiment to you. number three, you are in like content creation mode more than client conversion mode. And lastly, you have got beautiful ideas. You don't have any kind of a system that supports you to consistently bring in clients and cash flow.

So let me just say, I want this to be really clear from the get go. Like, these things are not a bad thing. Like this is where every pleasure preneur starts, right? It's where you learn what lights you up. It's where you feel where the edge of your comfort zone is. It's where you see the gaps that you need filled.

You know, it's where you build your business from, right? It's where, it's where we build that profitable business from.

But what happens is you reach a point where you are kind of maxed out, where you are realizing that you are doing lots of content and you're creating lots of 

[00:05:00] offers, and maybe you're having conversations online. You, you're feeling as though you're putting in a lot of effort, but you're not getting a lot of reward.

It starts to feel very, I wanna say unbalanced or uneven. And this isn't to say that it will always be really balanced, and even there will be times where you feel like you're putting in a lot more effort than reward then outcome. but you'll get to a point where your current business mo and the way you're running your business can't actually support.

The next level of income that you want. You know, instead of more freedom, you feel more depleted, you feel as though perhaps you've reached your capacity, and you start to maybe doubt yourself. And question if you can go further, if you can reach that next level. if you do have that, I wanna say desire, but I don't even think it's a desire.

If you have a knowing that your business is meant to be supporting you, that your business is meant to be profitable and 

[00:06:00] successful and create the income for you, then like, honour that, know that, then this just means you need to bridge from the passion project into the profitable business. As I said, nothing has gone wrong.

You are just ready for that next level up, and that's exciting. Like that gets to happen now. That gets to be where you are headed now, and I think that's so fun. So let's see what actually keeps us stuck in the passion project kind of zone. because when we know what keeps us stuck, obviously then might, we can identify how to then bridge us out of that.

Now I know for sure it's not your capability. I know that you know your stuff and as I said, you are capable. But it is more around your current structure. As I said, the way that you are running your business, what you've got, when you have a passion project in terms of structure, in terms of operations, typically most of that, it's not actually designed for sustainable growth.

Yeah. And so when you're operating in the passion project 

[00:07:00] zone, you're still operating from the same kind of habits that got you your first client, that got you your first thousand dollars or your first. 5K month, you know? and oftentimes they're not the thought patterns, they're not the habits that'll get you to consistent multiple four and 5K months that actually feel sustainable and pleasurable and easeful.

Yeah. So what keeps you stuck in Passion project zone is doing more instead of refining. Now this looks like, you know, creating new offers instead of mastering the ones that work. My gosh, this takes me back to, honestly, the first three years in my business, I created a new online program, like average of once a month.

Actually, let's just say average of six weeks. I'll be conservative every six weeks. I created a whole new online program for like three years. So I'm very practiced at selling. I'm very practiced at content creation. I'm very 

[00:08:00] practiced at like putting together offers, but those things don't necessarily create a profitable business.

Now, if you didn't catch the last episode, this is what I'm saying. This is kind of like a similar kind of flavor we're tacking on from that being busy doesn't equal profitable. Being productive doesn't equal profitable. Yeah. So. You get stuck in passion project when you are doing lots of more new stuff and creating new offers instead of refining, instead of mastering, like you do not need to keep reinventing the wheel.

You'll also know that, oh, you'll also notice like that marketing to everyone instead of selling to your people. Yeah. So if you're in. passion project zone. Chances are you are wanting to please everyone. You're still in people pleasing mode. You wanna sell to everyone. You wanna make sure everyone's happy, which means then you are probably censoring your content.

You are probably definitely 

[00:09:00] underpricing and we'll, we'll touch on that in a minute. undercharging I should say. and yeah, you're just like, I'm gonna take on any clients because I need them. I'm going to sell to everyone and market to everyone instead of selling to the people who I really wanna work with, who I know my work is really potent for.

instead of selling like the real work that I wanna be doing, instead of talking to my most ideal client that I wanna be working with, and this is the trap. This is the trap because we wanna, people please, we wanna feel productive, but really it is. Keeping you busy in your business instead of building your business.

Yeah, so here's what actually shifts when you build that profitable business, when you bridge the gap between passion, project, and profitable business.

There are three things, well, three main things that you take control of when you bridge that gap, when you step into profitable business energy. 

[00:10:00] Now, the first is the kind of clients you attract. You stop chasing and you start magnetising people who are like, heck yes to working with you. Number two, this is also what shifts when you step into profitable business energy.

It is how you sell and the structure of your offers and even maybe the structure of your business is immediately makes me think of. One of my clients, Anna, who I can share on here, she's actually had a podcast episode with me. I'll pop the link in the show notes. So Anna spoke about how I supported her to actually shift her business model going from in person on on-Call doula work.

To birth mentoring, sustainable, enjoyable, stress-free, work that she could do at home. Changing the structure of your offers 

[00:11:00] and how you actually sell is a big shift when you bridge that gap between passion project and profitable business. Remember, because we wanna build in sustainability, we wanna ensure that your business supports your lifestyle and not the other way around.

And the last thing that I really see shifts when you bridge that gap and build a profitable business is obviously your income. Your income becomes so much more consistent. Because you create repeatable systems that generate income, even when you take time off, when you have shorter or more easeful launches, or when you actually prioritize pleasure first.

Now, when I talk about creating repeatable systems, I'm not saying this has to be like complex, complicated technical systems. It's just oftentimes the systems that we're running when we're running our business like a passion project, we 

[00:12:00] can actually, we can actually just tweak those systems slightly and it changes so much to become a more profitable business.

I'm immediately thinking of, a client again from another podcast episode where we talked about going from $300 a month to $3,000 a month for her. And she was running women's circles, and so her system of getting bums on cushions for her women's circles, we slightly tweaked that and we slightly tweaked her offers.

So it was pretty much the same kind of system. However, it meant that she was getting repeat customers and people paying 10 x the ticket price than when she was running it as a passion project. So obviously when we bridge that gap, you are going to make more income and it's gonna be way more consistent.

Now, to me, those three things are kind of like the whole point, in being in business, attracting and magnetizing amazing clients. Selling and 

[00:13:00] strapping your offers in a way that is sustainable and supports your lifestyle and brings income, and of course then creating that consistent higher level of income.

These things just point to me that this is not a hobby. This is not a passion project. This is a business, and What pleasure it would be to be attracting clients that you can't wait to work with, to sell and structure your offers in a way that are sustainable and support your lifestyle and to increase your income and have more consistency of it.

You know, like this is where the magic happens, and this is where we start to realize our business versus. A hobby versus a passion project. Yeah, so how do we actually bridge that gap? How do we actually go from the passion project and starting out and experimenting, exploring and playing and learning some things to really getting that 

[00:14:00] profitable business that supports us? That is a lot more refined. And, you know, we've really mastered a number of things.

Like what would we actually do to get there? I'm so glad you asked. if you were my client, this is what we would work on together. and I've just, I've just put down the first four major things that came to my mind. The first is we would streamline your business. We would be cutting out the stuff that is complicated, it's not required, that drains you, and really focus only on what actually moves the needle.

Focus on what it is that we actually wanna achieve. Now, my freebie, five days of fire is all about this. It's all about cutting out the crap that isn't gonna support you to create what you really want in your business. It's all about refining. It's about taking things off your plate. It's about 

[00:15:00] simplifying and ensuring that we're focusing on the stuff that actually moves the needle.

Interrupting my own episode to let you know that five days of fire is just around the corner. This is your opportunity to see what it is that you can take off your plate, what it is you can remove, and simplify and burn down in order to achieve what it is you really want in your business. I am all for simplifying, refining, deleting anything that we don't need, making things simple and clearing out what is not actually serving you.

It kicks off October 20, where inside a Telegram group you'll get daily bite-sized trainings from me, along with five days of opportunity to coach with me on anything that comes up for you in those five days so that you can create that business that you really want, one that is profitable and sustainable and pleasurable.

Free and you'll find the link 

[00:16:00] to that in.

Now let's get.

Number two, if you are my client, here's what we'd work on to bridge this gap. It would be creating irresistible offers. Now, chances are not more new. Create not more new offers. But ones that you have perhaps done in the past, working out what worked, what didn't, and ensuring that the next offer you are putting out is the one that your ideal client cannot wait to say yes to and that you actually love to deliver.

It's the one that's going to bring you in income because it's so much easier to market. It's so much exciting for you. It's so much more enjoyable for you. So it's gonna, it's gonna be you selling in a way that's so much more enjoyable. You're gonna sell more than because you are showing up to sell more.

'cause it's more enjoyable, which means you're creating more 

[00:17:00] sales, hence increasing your income, making it more consistent. Thirdly, we would build consistency. Now we would do this through very simple, probably like weekly rhythms or actions that actually build momentum and create consistent sales. Now I am very much someone who likes to work with my energy.

I'm also very, someone who I like to work with, where I'm at in my cycle, and where I'm at just in life. You know, at the moment it's currently school holidays. I've got three kids home, so. I'm not intending on doing really heavy business stuff right now because I'm heavy on the kids right now. You know?

So we would look at, yes, building consistency that is actually, that actually fits in with your life. And the last thing, this is a big one. If you and my client, we would work together to bridge this gap by elevating your energy and your pricing. When I'm talking about elevating your energy, I'm not talking about like, you know, 

[00:18:00] toxic positivity.

I'm talking about like working with your energy so that it can meet you where you want to take your business, and elevating your pricing is exactly how it sounds, increasing your pricing. This is one of the biggest things that I, it's one of the biggest indicators that tells me you're in passion project zone and not profitable business zone.

You are selling. Offers that are under priced under you are undercharging without really any strategy behind it. Purely just because you are people pleasing, you feel uncomfortable to raise your prices. you don't feel like you've worked with enough people yet you don't feel like you've had enough, you don't have enough knowledge or qualifications or like, fill in the blank.

There'll be any kind of reasons why you think you can't increase your pricing. The increasing of the pricing is actually really simple, but what I actually help you with is the mind drama that comes with it. So all of the stories as to why you can't 

[00:19:00] increase your prices or why you can't charge charge a higher percentage or any of those kind of things is what I help you with.

When you increase your prices, you're actually going to support yourself in a more, You are actually gonna support your lifestyle. You are gonna support yourself to become a better service provider because you are more supported and because your business is becoming more sustainable because of the income it's bringing in for you.

When it comes to increasing your pricing, some of the other things that we work on is actually you seeing the true value of what it is that you offer.

I think sometimes we are so, it's so easy for us, especially as women, to discount the value that we provide for people to discredit the enormity of the results we help people create. I bet you are changing people's lives with the work you do with your clients. I bet your pricing does not reflect that.

So we will do the work to really see the value that you have to the 

[00:20:00] point where, I know this has worked in my coaching, when my clients are like brought to tears by how amazing their work is, you know? we would also be looking at, we'd also be working at anchoring in. Your confidence in yourself.

There's a number of ways we can do that. And really dialing in the pleasure piece as well when you feel so good about your pricing. And this comes with like, this is why I've bunched together, elevating your energy and your pricing together. When you feel so good about your pricing, about your work, about what it is you're offering.

It's so much easier to step into a profitable business that is sustainable, that is profitable, and of course enjoyable. Yeah. Like that is the sweet spot. You know, that is where business gets to feel good and grow. So if you have been listening to this and thinking, oh yes, Regan, you know exactly where I'm at.

I have been treating my business like a passion project. I have been undercharging, 

[00:21:00] I have been, you know, doing things that keeps me in this passion project zone. I've continued to do like a whole bunch of new stuff and a lot of just, I wanna keep saying new actions, and I haven't been refining a mastering like I would be if I was in the profitable business zone.

You know, I'm so ready for my business to pay me like a profitable business. Rather than a passion project, then I wanna help you do that. I've opened only two spots for one-on-one coaching with me for the rest of the year. Now I want you to click the link in the show notes and apply to work with me. We can have a chat together, a consult call, where we look at if coaching is right for you, and we look at what it would look like to map out your next for.

A more sustainable, profitable, enjoyable business, one that is a profitable business rather than a passion project. And so, as I said, we would do that together in coaching. So click the link and apply to coach with 

[00:22:00] me. you'll even get some clarity, just some filling in that form. We can have a consult call together that's completely free.

The whole purpose of the consult call is for you to get really clear on what it is that you want, whether coaching is for you or not. it's certainly not, I know some people call them sales calls for me, it's not about convincing you to say, yes, I'm laughing 'cause I'm like, that would feel so gross. And it would also be not the kind of business that I would wanna show up for.

I don't wanna be working with clients who don't wanna work with me, you know? so the whole purpose of the consult call is for me to coach you. To a place where you are really clear on whether it is a yes or a no for you, and that you are really happy with those reasons. It's my gift to you. Whether it's a yes or a no, I, the purpose is for you to reach a decision at the end of that call, not to reach a commitment.

So you reach your decision as to whether you wanna work together or not. We have a conversation about what it would look like working together. You can share with me all of 

[00:23:00] things about your business, what you're struggling with, what you're desiring. I love it so much. I love so much hearing about your business and where you wanna take it and what your desires are.

So as I said, it's a gift from me to you. Fill in the application form. There's a box where you can tick. If you want a consult call, if you know like, absolutely, let's go. I don't wanna hold off any longer. I wanna start creating consistent income now and really enjoy it and create that profitable business that I love that is so sustainable and enjoyable.

Um, there's also a box to tick. No, we don't need a consult call. Let's get started. Okay. So that's from me to you. Click the link in the show notes for a consult. Call for filling in that coaching application and there is also another link for our five days of fire. So that is where we are clearing out. we are burning down the stuff that you don't need to achieve what you really want in your business. Five days where I'm gonna give you bite-sized trainings. You are gonna approach me with any kind of questions you have, 

[00:24:00] that you have five days worth of opportunity to coach with me and where we simplify, we clear out the stuff that we do not need in order to take you where you are headed in your business.

All right, my love. Go be brilliant. Go take up space. Go enjoy yourself. Remember, business was never meant to burn you out. It's meant to turn you on. It's meant to be fun and enjoyable, and sustainable and sustain you and be profitable. It's the difference between a passion project and a business, a profitable business.

All right, my loves. Until next time, I need a catch with pleasure.