Ep# 119: Breaking Free from Entrepreneurial Poverty with Racheal Cook
So much of what we teach on this show goes so much deeper than just helping you get a quick win or grow your business.
We’re breaking the chains. We’re creating an opportunity for generational change by building rock solid businesses that stand the test of time and allow you to step into your legacy.
Have you ever heard the term entrepreneurial poverty?
I hadn’t either, until I had business strategist Racheal Cook on the show to talk about this concept and the burnout and defeat that comes with it.
She’s helped thousands of female entrepreneurs design profitable businesses to break out of entrepreneurial poverty.
Today’s episode is going to open your eyes to the reality of what’s riding on your decisions as an entrepreneur and business owner and how it’s so critical to break the chains and to do this right. Enough building businesses that take us farther from our wildest dreams - it’s time to get strategic!
On this episode we chat about:
What is entrepreneurial poverty?
Racheal defines entrepreneurial poverty as the poverty of time, the poverty of energy, and the poverty of money.
Time Poverty: We live in a hustle culture where overworking and burnout is normalized. But for many of us, women especially, that’s not what we want! At some point we all reach a wall where we want the hustling to stop. The danger of this hustle mentality is that many women are working themselves to the bone before they ever see the returns they need to stay in business.
Energy Poverty: The WHO declared burnout as an epidemic last year for the first time. We have the ability to be in constant connection thanks to the little computers we all carry around in our pockets now, and that connection comes at a price.
Money Poverty : 75% of small businesses owned by women are making less than $50,000/year, and the majority of that is actually less than $30,000/year. By the time you account for taxes and expenses, that’s not a livable income.
The risks of playing small
Playing small seems easier, look simpler, and feels safer. But it’s actually not. If you aren’t growing your business income, you aren’t able to invest in your retirement, you aren’t able to have a meaningful savings, and you don’t have a business that’s set up to be an asset.
Your business is an asset
When you start to think about your business as an asset, it’s a game changer. We need to start thinking about how to build a business that is set up to sell and live beyond us.
Identify (and/or set up) your intellectual property: either your offer or your standard operating procedures.
Set up your business so that it can run without you. Your job is to “fire” yourself from every position until all you have to do is show up and be a mentor.
Make sure your business is financially healthy. Business finance is very different from personal finance.
How to start building a cash-positive business
Diversify your income stream with multiple clients; don’t rely on one client to keep your business afloat
Package up your knowledge and intellectual property into a course/program/book you can sell
Train others to do your job for you