10 Years of Entrepreneurship - Part 4

In Part 4 of my 10 Years of Entrepreneurship series, I’m sharing what it means to outgrow the business that built you.

Sometimes a service can still be profitable and familiar, but no longer fit who you are becoming. This episode is about honoring what got you here while making space for what comes next.

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Transcript

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Welcome to the House of CEO podcast, where entrepreneurship meets intention. I'm your host, Nikondra Moran, here to share how building a business with purpose can create freedom and balance in life. Join me in inspiring guests as we explore the strategies, stories, and insights that help entrepreneurs align their work with their values so you can craft a business and life that truly reflect who you are. Let's begin the journey to success on your own terms. Hey, hey, welcome back to the podcast. If you have been following along, I have been talking about 10 years of entrepreneurship, the things that I've learned along the journey, not only just as an accountant, but also as a small business owner. So I will leave you with this. You are definitely allowed to outgrow the business that you've built. I know this firsthand, and boy, did I struggle with this. Being good at something doesn't mean that you have to do it forever. A service can be profitable, it can be familiar and successful while also simultaneously just no longer fitting who you are becoming. And one of the main reasons that I've shared before that I dropped the exceptional tax services as just the main branding of my business was because I saw myself more than just a tax lady. I saw myself more than that. And that website and the way that I was positioned, it really just attracted like a tax preparation business model. And I saw myself as a strategist. I also saw myself as someone that you can work with completely year-round. And I had a really hard time marketing that when the name really just was about taxes, right? So I felt like I outgrew that, right? And I sat on it for a very long time. But over time, I was really able to find that space and that time to really make the shifts that I know that was gonna benefit me in the long term. And in hindsight, oh my gosh, it did. It was one of the catalysts to really start getting some of the client relationships and things that I've really wanted all of this time. So you are, if you need permission to hear this, you are allowed to outgrow the business that you built. The business can support one season, but you may outgrow it and it may not be there to serve you, to support you in your next season. And it can feel like grief, it can feel like abandonment, it can feel like who am I to feel like I can pivot, right? Letting go is not always easy because a lot of the times, which is a whole nother conversation, our work becomes a part of our identity. And here in such like a the society and the way that we live, our work is so closely tied to like our identity. So you carry a lot of guilt, ungratefulness, or even fear, like changing direction means you failed. So I think for me, I set on a lot of the branding changes that I wanted to make because why would I stop that momentum, right? Why would I pivot in a sense when I knew that I wanted to have like longer-term relationships or work with clients year-round as opposed to just tax season? And why would I pivot? Right? If it's not broke, don't fix it. So that's a mindset that we have, and then we kind of settle, and before you know it, we built this out of feeling that we had no other choice. So yeah, so I would say you definitely are gonna feel that grief, but you are not abandoning really your old business. Really, you are carrying your wisdom forward, you are taking all of the skills, the experiences, the relationships that you have, none of that stuff disappears. You use that and they become the foundation for the next iteration and level of where you're going, whether that's an advisor, a creator, an educator, or whatever that looks like for you. And then I also say that when you are feeling that like you're outgrowing the business that you've built, or you're kind of like feeling that energy in your business, it really requires a lot of space. When your work and time and energy, you really have to take some space to really try to figure out what the next chapter looks like as well, so that you can have clarity before you start to make next decisions. So that could look like not taking on so many clients, right? That can look like giving yourself some space so that you can figure out what the next steps for you look like. So, what I'll end with is if this is something that you may be struggling with or you're thinking about this, really ask yourself what part of your business are you holding on to because it is truly aligned, and what part are you holding on to because it feels too scary to release? So, hope this was helpful. I will see you in the next podcast episode. Thank you for tuning in to the House of CEO podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who would benefit from these insights. For more updates and resources, follow me on social media or visit Nicondramoran.com. Remember, success is yours to define. Keep building a business and life that reflects who you truly are. Until next time, take care.