The Earn More, Stress Less Growth System Explained

I often get asked "How do you work with Small Business Owners".  

In this episode, Jennifer Kok, small business strategist and founder of the Earn More, Stress Less Growth System, shares the real reason why so many entrepreneurs burn out — and how you can avoid it and how she helps. 

Jennifer walks listeners through her proven 3-step framework that has helped countless service-based business owners double their profits, attract better clients, and grow without relying on endless hustle.

She explains:

• Why focusing only on revenue is a dangerous trap (and why profit matters most)
• How to price yourself smartly so you can finally pay yourself consistently
• How to attract better clients by positioning your signature service
• How to sell without feeling "salesy" by becoming instantly referable
• Why mindset (not just marketing) determines long-term success

Jennifer also outlines the three levels of how small business owners can work with her — from a self-paced digital course, to a group coaching mastermind, all the way up to 1:1 fractional CEO support for scaling businesses.

🛠️ How Jennifer Helps Small Business Owners:

• Helps you price your services for profit (and finally pay yourself consistently)
• Shows you how to attract high-quality clients without ads or hustle
• Teaches you how to create a marketing message that makes you instantly referable
• Gives you a clear roadmap, community, and ongoing support
• Helps you break through mindset blocks that limit your growth

Join 100’s of creative entrepreneurs getting paid (finally) Earn More. Stress Less. Grow Smarter 
https://nextwavebusinesscoaching.com/earn-more-stress-less-program

FREE Masterclass:  3 Keys to Growing a Profitable Business *Replay Available*
https://nextwavebusinesscoaching.com/masterclass-info

Schedule a Discovery Call with Jen
https://class.nextwavebusinesscoaching.com/discovery-call

🙌 If you know a small business owner who's ready to scale smartly, please share this episode with them!

Transcript

Jennifer Kok (00:01.644)
If you could earn more and stress less, that be appealing to you? For most small business owners, the answer is yes. And so today what I want to do is take you through what I call the Earn More Stress Less Growth System.

Welcome to Main Street Success Stories. I'm your host, Jennifer Koch. I left a corporate career to start my own business. Two days later, delivered my second daughter, went on to pivot during a recession that ultimately ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me. I created a national brand and franchise. After 20 years of owning this business, I sold it for a profit, which was a huge legacy to my family. Today, I now consult and help other small business owners earn more and stress less.

So welcome to the show. So today I'm going to do something a little differently. I often get asked, what is the earn more stress less? So I wanted to spend some time taking you through it so that you can think about it for your own business. Well, first of all, it's a three step program that I developed. And you know, looking back, I was developing this for the last 20 years, not just since I became a consultant five years ago. You know, these were best proven practices that I was using in my business that helped me build a profitable business that

could sell. So I focus on three areas. Revenue, yes, but more importantly profit, how to pay yourself consistently,

how to put yourself on the map in your local market, a signature product or service, so that you can become referable. Because when you put these three things together, what happens is you attract more clients, you do end up earning more, and it's easier. We're taking the hard out of building a business. And I will tell you that my clients see success. My clients see double digit growth. It's really fun, frankly.

Jennifer Kok (01:52.514)
So let's talk about kind of how I break it out and how this came to be. So the first step of working with me is always about the profit and loss statement. And the reason being is this is the data. This is what tells you what's going on with your business. This helps me know, you priced properly? Are you set up for profit? And the goal is to help service-based entrepreneurs strategize how they can price smartly.

so that they can continue to grow their business for years to come. So we have to start with the profit, with the financials. And I know for some that can feel a little like, that's boring. You I'm a creative entrepreneur. I work with a lot of creative entrepreneurs, people in like interior design, people that make really cool things, own boutiques. But...

If you are not priced properly, all that does is drain you. You end up working with the clients you shouldn't be working with. You end up hustling more and you just honestly get exhausted. So that's why we start with the pricing. So today I want to take you through kind of the how, the why, and the where of working with me. So like I said, we start with the P &L. Okay, I want you to look at it this way. Let's say a friend of yours owns just built

house, brand new house, and they invite you over. What is usually the first thing as women we do? We run to see the kitchen. I mean the kitchen is cool, right? We want to see the latest cool cabinets and the cool appliances. The kitchen is the revenue. The kitchen is the shiny object. The kitchen is the what I call the vanity number revenue. Revenue is the vanity number. I don't know too many people

who walk into a brand new house or go to the parade of homes and walk through brand new homes and run to the basement and look at the foundation. But the foundation is the profit. The foundation is what is going to dictate if your business is gonna be here in three years, five years, 10 years. And as business owners, we do the same thing. We always look at the revenue, the vanity number, the shiny object. We fail to, a lot of times, look at the foundation.

Jennifer Kok (04:10.22)
So that's why we start with the foundation. We start with the profit. We start with the pricing. We start with understanding all of the key metrics that are going to help you build a long-term sustainable business. Because I know firsthand what it takes to build a long-term sustainable business. And I want you to have that freedom and flexibility as well. So that's kind of the first step.

The second step is we then look at who are your best clients. Because as service-based entrepreneurs, if we're not working with what I call our best clients, it can be draining. They can drain you emotionally and mentally and your time. I I'm sure everybody can relate to one client who just put us through the wringer. We had to jump through so many hoops to help them. So the second piece of this program of Earn More, Stress Less

is all about is your marketing message on point to attract the best clients? You know, it's a really noisy world nowadays. So we need to position ourselves in our local market to be found, put you on the map. And to do that, I usually say, choose a signature product or service that's going to really help you be known for something. So that's the second phase. The third phase is then what I call the non-ic sales process.

entrepreneurs, we have a heart for helping people, especially service-based. We don't want to get into the sales process, and it can feel icky. So we're going to take the ick out of that. We're going to do it in authentic way that's genuine, best practices, and what I like are instantly referable. Because here's what's cool about being instantly referable. 71 % of those warm leads go on to be clients.

And so I like to teach you how to become instantly referable as well as what I call the fortune in the follow-up. A lot of us have great conversations with potential clients or leads, and then we get caught up in our mindset, and we start thinking about the sales process when, you let's not even call it a sales process. Let's call it the fortune in the follow-up. So that is kind of the third step of the program. I'm here to tell you this framework works. I have had such fun.

Jennifer Kok (06:30.54)
with clients. We've had clients four times their revenue. We've had clients increase their profit 193%. We've had clients increase their gross profit margin by 5 to 10%. And I've had clients go on to most of them have double digit growth. So the system works. And why does it work?

Well, it works for those that are in a position who have usually been in business about two to three years. And it works because we're using data. We're taking out the emotion when it comes to key decision.

key markers in your business, key benchmarks. We're using data. And it also works because you get to a place when you're at about year two to three where what got you here is not going to keep you going. We get stuck, if you will. Sales start to kind of plateau. Things start to kind of even out. And so then our natural tendency as humans, as business owners, is to just step on the gas and hustle more, work harder. If I grow revenue, grow revenue.

grow revenue, it's all going to improve. Well, that's not going to improve if the bottom number, if the pricing, if everything else is not in a line. And when you take on this, I just got to hustle more. I'll just work harder mentality. All you end up doing is burning out. And the statistics aren't in our favor, friends. I mean, I am so passionate about helping business owners get to year five because the statistics aren't great. Only one out of two make it to year five. And I always say, they don't fail.

they quit. And why do they quit? They quit because they burn out because they're trying to hustle instead of stepping back, bringing in experts and looking at the big picture. And that's hard for us to do as business owners. We are in the weeds. We're on the hamster wheel. So that's why this program works is you're given a clear roadmap. You're given proven strategies that have worked time and time again. You're given accountability. But more importantly, we talk about the mindset block.

Jennifer Kok (08:33.328)
The mindset blocks are real. It doesn't matter if you've been in business one year or 10 years. You are going to come up against a mindset block, whether it's imposter syndrome, whether it's comparison, whether it's doubt, whatever it is. And unless you have people that get it in your corner, it's really hard to get yourself out of it. So let's talk about how to work with me. What are those levels? There's three levels.

So let's talk about level one. Level one is a digital training that I created based on the system and the best practices. It's eight modules. It's a digital training. It's self-paced. It's a DIY option. It's a great way for you to dip your toe into this earn more, stress less, to look at how to price yourself, look at who your best client is, and start to create that marketing plan that's easy to execute, that's going to bring in referrals. So that is level one.

It's full of worksheets and honestly it saves you time I know a lot of time people are afraid of doing digital trainings because they're like where am I gonna have the time for that but when you make the time and When you put the time into it you actually end up saving time in the long run. So that's level one But I know as business owners, it's more than just the strategies a lot of times. It's the mindset So that's where level two is level two is if you're thinking, you know what? I really want to follow along and learn

better practices, better systems. I really need to evaluate my pricing.

But I would like to do it with some accountability. That's where Level 2 comes in. Level 2 is a group program where we go through that digital training together. So you are going to meet with me one on one. I'm going to help you create a customized roadmap that you can use for your growth. We are going to go through the digital training together. There's going to be monthly coaching calls where you can get your questions answered. So if you're thinking, gosh, another group program. I've been there, done that.

Jennifer Kok (10:35.74)
There's always that one person that takes over. I'm here to tell you that that doesn't work with me. I'm really good about making sure everybody gets heard. And I also attract people that really are authentic. They want to grow. They want to learn from others. And they're encouraging. There's no drama. There's no comparison. There's no competition in our groups. We truly want to move everybody forward. And so I just want you to know that in this group program.

about that too is a lot of times, sometimes we're at a point where we don't really know what questions to ask. And when you sit in on something like that, you're going to learn from others just based on their questions. So each month we're going to have coaching with me where we all learn together. And then each month we're going to have a marketing call. We're going to have a marketing coaching call where we can talk about how can we authentically market our businesses so that we can attract more customers instead of chasing customers and not spend money. These are not marketing calls.

where they're paid ads and you're spending a lot of money. And then the other thing too is I am surrounded by a lot of great experts and I love to bring them in. So I will bring in subject matter experts that might teach us a little bit more on LinkedIn or teach us on email marketing or teach us something very specific. So I also bring in a lot of subject matter experts. So level two is the digital training with the accountability, the group, you you'll get me as a cheerleader, a mentor.

the one-on-one calls, and then in addition, you'll have access to me and the group in an online community every day. Because there's a lot to be said for that. When you're working through something and all of a sudden you're like, oh shoot, I just want to get this question answered real quick. You'll have access to me and the group. So that is level two. Well, once you have navigated all these best practices and your pricing is great and you're attracting your best clients and you're referable, then we move

on to level three. And level three is for businesses that have been in business at least

Jennifer Kok (12:42.178)
I would say at least three to five years, and they are bringing in a revenue of about a half a million or more. And level three is where I become your fractional CEO. And what does that mean? It's a one-on-one program. We are going to meet multiple times throughout the month. We are going to talk about all the things it takes to level up your business, and I am going to help you step into the role of CEO. So we're going to talk more about hiring. We're going to talk more about leadership.

more about scaling, just getting in front of bigger audiences. And so that is level three, and that is for someone who their revenue is at least a half a million dollars. So when it comes to this, I just want you to know that.

You know, I want you to price yourself for profit. And I want your clients to be an easy yes. I don't want you to be working with clients that drain you. You know, I want you to have clear metrics so that you can make the best decisions. Data is power. And for a lot of us, creatives, we just really don't know what to do with our numbers or how to use them to make decisions. So I want to help you make those strong decisions. You know, I want you to know how to position yourself in the marketplace so that you can attract your best

clients and reduce stress. No more chasing. It's so exhausting to hustle and chase. Trust me, we've all been there. I've learned this stuff the hard way. You know, I want you to have such clear messaging that when you're talking to somebody

and you tell them what you do, that person instantly has a name of what I call pass the face test, where they're like, I know somebody that'd be a perfect client for you. Those are the things that I want for you. And here's where a lot of programs get it wrong, a lot of podcasts get it wrong, a lot of other coaches get it wrong, is they focus on revenue.

Jennifer Kok (14:33.16)
Revenue is the shiny number. Revenue is the vanity number. Revenue is that fun kitchen. And yes, revenue is fun. We need revenue. But I don't want you hustling for revenue if your profit margins aren't going to keep you in the game long term. I want you to have such a solid foundation that what you learn working with me in either it's level one, level two, or level three is going to carry you for the next 10 years of owning your business. And I also know.

There's a mindset shift that comes with leveling up.

And that's where it can be really hard to navigate that on your own. And when we bring in other people, when we get ourselves in a position that's profitable, what happens is your confidence goes up. Your clarity increases. You know exactly what you want for your business and your family. And when your confidence increases, it shows. It shows up with your clients in the way that you talk and speak, and you might not even realize it. And then clients start to lean in more.

instead of being like, does she really know what she's talking about? So that's what I want for you. So this is a proven system. I call it the earn more, less because I want to save you time and money. I don't want this to be a hustle system. And I'm your cheerleader. I'm your mentor. When you get stuck, I help you navigate through that, whether it's just a quick little pick me up message or something that we need to tackle a strategy. And my group coaching is focused on real results. The people that join me.

want to win, they want a business for long term, they want to do something really cool for their family. And so I just invite you in to this program and if you're unsure what level is for you let's have a conversation. I am going to put in the show notes a link that shows you the different levels but I just want to invite you in to join me, join the people that surround me. This is a great program for anybody less than five years and I really look forward to helping you.

Jennifer Kok (16:35.726)
Because you I know that building a business can be really lonely. And I also know that to get to the next level, what got you here isn't going to get you there.

And I just believe in the power of small business. I mean, I've been an entrepreneur for over 25 years. I left a really good corporate career for this. But I believe in the power of it. I believe that local businesses are the hearts of our community. And most of us started a business because we wanted freedom. We wanted flexibility. And what happens is we end up hustling. We end up burning out. And we end up not getting the cash we crave. So I am here to help you earn more, stress less. Would love to work with you. I invite you into the program.

So hop into the show notes below to learn more. And if you're unsure if this is a good fit for you or not, let's have a conversation. I look forward to it. So thank you so much for listening. If you know a small business owner that's in their first five years and they want to level up, they're excited to scale, and they would like to pay themselves consistently every month, would you please do me a favor and share this episode with them? Thank you so much. I appreciate you. And thank you for listening to Main Street Success Stories.