Is a slow and profitable business even possible? (yes, it is)

A peptalk for you 💌

“To say that Astrid is supportive is an understatement. She helped me work through many things in my mindset and my business. I 10/10 recommend her as a business mentor!” — Bri Dunavan, business mentor and marketing strategist

A while back I spoke to a potential client about her business and her plans. She knew what she wanted—a slower pace, pivoting her business away from the less flexible 1:1 work she’d been doing—and what she didn’t want: marketing that forced her to be someone she isn’t, working in a way that doesn’t honour her introverted self.

And then she asked the question that I hear again and again: “Can a slow business like that even exist? Can a small business like mine even work?”.

Not only do I hear this question again and again from the small business owners, freelancers and creatives I work with, I know it intimately myself. I’ve lived it. And I continue to live it as my life shifts and my desires and needs change.

The answer is actually really short: Yes, it is possible.

Living with chronic fatigue and mental health that needs extra tending to, means that my business needs to be very spacious. I need time for a midday nap and a slow start. I do best when I add daily movement of some form. I do my best work when I have no more then 2 to 3 client calls a week, and when I have lots of time to write and create.

And sometimes these needs feel a lot. Taking the rest and space I need requires intentionality and planning. It can be incredibly frustrating. Sometimes I have days when I am both happy for taking all the space I need, and deeply frustrated for not having enough hours left in the day to do the work I want to do.

Your needs might feel like a lot too.

Maybe you’re also dealing with fatigue, wobbly mental health or fluctuating energy levels.

You might have a full family life and lots of demands on your time and energy.

You might be running or building your business next to a 9-to-5.

You might be living with chronic illness.

You might simply crave a slower and gentler business.

I can promise you: there are so many people like you out there. Like us.

There are so many people like you out there. Like us.

Conventional business advice might tell you that you can only run and build a business when you’re spending as much time and energy on it as possible. When you’re hustling every day. When you’re always on. I certainly thought so.

But out of necessity and desire I discovered otherwise.

It’s not necessarily easy building a business away from the norm. But nonetheless, your business can be easeful. It can be easeful because you’re honouring your own needs and desires, and that feels so good.

And such a business can be profitable too. I do not have a ‘six-figure business’ or whatever the new sexy number is. But I do have a business that makes the money I need it to, and that to me is amazing—and hopefully encouraging to you.

I’d love to support you to build the slow, gentle and profitable business you desire, no matter your circumstances. Feel free to hit reply to this email, or check out how we can work together.

A peptalk

There are no ten-step plans for creating any business, precisely because it needs to fit your life and your unique circumstances.

But here is some advice and encouragement to get you started:

• Start with where you are, whether that’s at zero, or in a business that is already running. You can wish you were at a different point in business, but you aren’t. And that’s okay.

• Build your business around your needs and desires, not the other way around.

• You don’t need to know all the answers, you will figure things out as you get to them.

• Be gentle with yourself. You are allowed to take as long as you need to—even if it’s frustrating and feels unfair. You are the most important part of business.

• Let whatever you’re able to do be enough. There is no rush.

• Seek support: either free in the form of business friends or free business communities, or paid in the form of paid (online) communities, masterminds and working with a small business mentor.

I’d love to hear what resonates with you from this post. How do you feel about building your business around your needs and desires? What works for you and what is keeping you from it? Leave a comment to join the conversation.

Favourites

all the books | I’ve been reading so much lately, also thanks to discovering the collection of my local library. Some recent favourites are The Alternatives (so good!), Time of the Child, The Unseen World (the last one especially recommended for fans of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow) and all of Carys Davies’ novels. (affiliate links)

the garden | What is growing where you are, whether it’s in a garden, a park or in the cracks of the pavement? I love the possibility and hopefulness of spring.

jigsaw puzzles | I decided to treat myself to a new jigsaw puzzle and ended up with three: Cats in the City, Book World and Angela Harding’s cover of The Salt Path.

Thank you for inviting me into your inbox again! I hope this email helped you feel seen and inspired. Have a lovely rest of your week 💌 x