Diary of a Business Accelerator - PS: The Intuitive Business Plan
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honours the servant and has forgotten the gift.” (Albert Einstein)
Background
Despite being an experienced business mentor, I became frustrated at my inability to write a plan for my own business. I’m not held back by a lack of know how - I’ve helped lots of business owners with their plans and in my latter Army days I specialised in plans so I’m comfortable with the concept and skills of planning. I attended a business accelerator in London in 2016 to try and resolve this once and for all, however this only increased my frustration.
I allowed this feeling to soak for a while (I’m an experienced coach after all!) then took myself off to figure out what was going on. What came up was that my business comes from my heart and soul so why was I trying to plan it with my head? I realised that I was listening to others’ voices telling me that I must have a business plan written in the conventional way. I decided to let go of this sense of obligation to conform. To cut a long story short, 2 hours later I looked up and found I’d written a brochure for a package of workshops I wanted to run. This was an empowering experience and I found it almost effortless to follow through to create those workshops and take them to market. I then realised that if I could develop my business by letting go of the need to follow conventional wisdom, I might be able to plan my business the same way. That’s when I created the Intuitive Business Plan, and subsequently the Intuitive Marketing Plan.
The Intuitive Business Plan
The Intuitive Business Plan is a hybrid of coaching and
mentoring approaches. Part 1 seeks to
elicit from business owners who they truly are and what they truly want in
their life and business. By blending
exploratory coaching exercises with business knowledge, the business owner
arrives at the end of the process with a deep and rich understanding of who
they are, where they are going and how they are going to get there. The Intuitive Business Plan enables business
owners to tap into a deeper sense of themselves that allows them to be more of
themselves and use their natural strengths, talents and preferences to develop
their business. This removes
self-imposed constraints and allows business owners to use their creativity and
intuition to create a unique path for their business journey.
Part 2 of the Intuitive Business Plan helps business owners to identify their natural wealth creation strategy. It also provides them with a simple method for how to have a great relationship with their business.
The Intuitive Marketing Plan
Part 3 in the intuitive series is the Intuitive Marketing Plan. This builds on parts 1 and 2 of the Intuitive Business Plan to help business owners identify their natural marketing strengths and style.
My Experience to Date
It’s early days for the Intuitive Business and Marketing Plans. I’ve used them to support an on-line hair extensions business, an interior designer, an aromatherapist, a life coach and a former Army officer in transition as well as with my own business. The feedback has been very positive, for example:
“In the past year, I approached mentoring with an open mind and heart, knowing that once I did, I would clarify my path and fulfil my need to further identify who I am, what drives me, my purpose and how I achieve it. Ross Nichols was absolutely superb at being able to help me understand and respond to my fears whilst embracing my skills and capabilities. Undeniably the most wonderful mentoring outcome is firmly knowing that I am enough, I am amazing, and I am a creative, resilient and progressive entrepreneur & individual! Thank you Ross Nichols.” (Noelle Balfour, Interior Stylist and Designer)
My experience thus far suggests that this approach works best with business owners who have high empathy and creativity, and of course those who are more intuitive. These traits are more likely to be found among business owners in the helping professions, such as coaches, counsellors and therapists, and in the creative professions such as designers and artists. That said, these qualities can be found in any sector.
Opportunities
The Intuitive Business Plan works well in a 1 to 1 coaching and mentoring relationship. It could also work well in a group coaching and mentoring setting. It’s not a ‘quick fix’: I’ve found it works well over 6-10 sessions. It can be delivered in person or via Skype and it could also be run as a series of webinars.
If you would like to know more about the Intuitive Business Plan and the Intuitive Marketing Plan, please get in touch.