I fell into running a business when I became a holistic therapist. I really wasn’t interested in business itself. I just wanted to do my therapies and help people feel better.
I was naive. An idealist, for sure, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I loved what I did and I thought that was enough. But it’s not and it rarely ever is.
If you’re thinking of starting a business, think twice
Over the years I’ve met lots of other lovely therapists, artists and small business owners. All pursuing the dream of running their own lives by doing what they do best. But sadly, too many of them are struggling to make a profit from their passion. And, critically, some of them will risk and lose a lot more than their pride.
Luckily, I got wise quick. I stopped thinking about doing the therapies and started thinking about what it would take to make a therapy business work. I realized I couldn’t work much harder, so I had to work smarter. And part of that meant getting over my aversion to the b-word; finding a way to do business that rocked with my values and felt true to myself.
Someone wrote a book about me
Ah, that’s not quite true. But someone wrote a book about people like me, and they called us Innerpreneurs. Unlike entrepreneurs, who typically have a vision of creating something outside themselves (like a new product or a new way of offering a service to consumers), Innerpreneurs are motivated by their inner feelings, by their own personal quest for self-expression and satisfaction.
Simple, right? Maybe it’s just that entrepreneurs got a bad image in the ’80s. They were all about the money, money, money. At whatever cost. And that just doesn’t sit right with most Innerpreneurs. We’re driven by warmer, fuzzier motives, like changing the world for the better and being 100% authentic in how we live our lives.
But that doesn’t mean we’re soft in the middle. Innerpreneurs are willing to take risks and challenge norms. We’re open to new ideas. We challenge assumptions and seek new pathways, seeing life’s unpredictable journey as a colourful adventure. And that can take real courage.
Innerpreneurs recognize themselves as the CEOs of their own lives and the chief managers of their own “brand”. And, as such, they want to make sure that they are realizing their full potential, achieving measurable successes, and constantly evolving and improving with the times.
(Karma Queens, Geek Gods & Innerpreneurs by Ron Rentel, 2007)
Now I’m proud to be an Innerpreneur because it helps me understand how I can make my own business work. Now I know that I don’t have to compromise my ideals to get ahead in business. It’s no longer an either/or choice. And I’ve realized that business can be really cool when it’s done with ethics, integrity and values that really rock.
I’ll leave you with one of my favourites to think about:
There’s no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love. There’s only a scarcity of resolve to make it happen.
(Wayne Dyer)
