Guest post by licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitator Ane Axford

When I think about first starting my business and look at my clients who are starting their creative businesses, the area that I see most misunderstood and causing the most stress is about growth.

The best advice I can give to a new business owner is to GROW ORGANICALLY.

When you first consider starting a business you probably think about the benefits of a full-grown business.

In the same way, when a gardener first plants a seed, it may be for the result of the full-grown plant.

But, gardeners seem to understand that this is a process. Gardeners don’t feel like they are playing catch-up with other full-grown gardens as soon as they plant a seed. They don’t feel bad about themselves for not being where others are. They aren’t trying to rush the growth. They know that there is a lot of small work that is about details and special care.

When you own a small business, you are really nurturing relationships. Yet, it can be easy to think about all the things you don’t have (more clients, money, websites, and systems) rather than the relationships you do have. Those things you don’t have will come as they are needed as you keep taking consistent small steps where you are. You will realize that they are needed only as they become necessary, and that is the point at which it will be clear what you need to do and how to do it. You don’t have to force it. Those things are the containers for your relationships. As the relationships with your clients grow, they shape the need for new containers.

If I could go back to my self when she was starting a business, I would gently whisper in her ear: “Go at your natural pace. There is no competition for you. There is only desire for you and what you offer by being you. So really nourish this little business where you are. Give yourself and your clients, all 3 of them, exactly what you need right now. Let go of thinking about all the clients you should have, all the big numbers. Get specific about what you actually need right now. What numbers are enough? Do what is easiest and most kind right now to receive enough and give enough. No more, no less. Grow organically.”

Instead of urging your self to grow faster than you can, consider these questions to nourish you and your business where you are right now:

1. What need do I have that I am not meeting right now because I am “waiting” until my business is bigger?

2. What is the EXPERIENCE I want to have right now? How can I have that with the resources available to me now?

3. If I wasn’t worried about doing it all “right”, what would I really like to do with or for my clients (potential clients) right now? Easiest route to do it? (Hint: you may not even need a sales page, or anything fancy.)

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Ane Axford is a licensed psychotherapist, clinical hypnotist, and highly sensitive CEO of sensitive + thriving, Inc. She utilizes holistic lifestyle services to serve those who have the genetic trait of high sensitivity in thriving wherever they may be, from struggling to leading with sensitivity. Ane is of our licensed Right-Brain Business Plan® Facilitators.