In today's podcast episode, I'm going to be answering the question:
“Is it really easier for extroverts to succeed at online business?”
This is a common reason people give for not growing their business as fast as other people or for struggling with some parts of online business and marketing.
I want to address this because I think it's a really important one to unpack, and I hope you'll find this really helpful. Let's jump in!
This topic arises as a common reason why some people say they can't grow their business faster, and is also given as a reason for wanting slower growth or for not reaching goals as a business owner.
Many people I speak with say things like, “Well, that's all well and good for you Tash, you're an extrovert, you're a skilled speaker, but I'm an introvert so I can't do what you do.”
In other cases, they may say they can't do the specific things that are needed in order to be a successful entrepreneur online. As a result, they believe they just need to expect slower growth because of being an introvert. So I think it's a really important conversation for us to have.
Yes, I am an extrovert and I'm wayyyy over in the extrovert side of being an extrovert. But I also know many of the things I do in my business are more suited to introverts than extroverts.
It's not that extroverts have different or better skills.
Instead it's about understanding what extraversion and introversion really mean, and whether it truly impacts your ability to grow an online business!
It's actually about energy. It's not about skills.
It’s not about speaking skills. It's not about social skills. It's not about being an exhibitionist or being on stage. I know a lot of exhibitionists that are also introverts.
Introversion versus extraversion is about your energy.
As an extrovert, I get energy from being around others, and I recharge by being around others. I get depleted when I'm on my own too long or spend too much time solo. When I don't have other people around me, I can feel quite low on energy.
That's why I often say when I take a week off from my business, whether it be after conference or after a big launch, sometimes it feels like it's a punishment rather than a reward, because I actually do get depleted if I spend too much time solo without other people.
If we look at extraversion versus introversion based on energy, then extroverts want to be surrounded by people. That's what actually energises us. But Introverts are energised by alone time and are depleted by time surrounded by lots of other people.
So that let's get clear on what introversion is, because a lot of people say they're an introvert, and therefore they can't be a public speaker. And those are actually two very different issues. By lumping them all in together, you're creating labels and boxes and pigeon holes for yourself that aren't helpful.
A lot of the things I do online, like recording this podcast, are solo activities. I'm here on my own. I'm speaking into a little yellow light on my laptop.
For me, I actually need to visualise other people listening to this podcast when I'm putting together my structure for it, and I need to visualise people listening to my podcast before I record it, so that I'm nice and high energy.
I can't record too many of these things at once! If I were to spend a whole week just recording podcast episodes, it would feel really depleting to me.
When it comes to creating a business, you're in the driver's seat, and the internet is built by introverts, for introverts. So you actually get to choose how you show up, and you can create a business that feeds and energises you.
It helps to balance some of that required “extrovert” time with other people, so that you are consistently recharging yourself effectively.
You get to create a business model and business structure that works for you. What better way to create the perfect work environment for yourself as an introvert than to create an online business?
Some of my most amazing mentors and successful women in business I know are total introverts - that's what drew them to having an online business.
They are able to control how much time they spend online and how much time they spend in the presence of other people. They get to set up their workday in a structure that really works for them and energises them.
I actually find that for a lot of extroverts, online business is a little trickier. Sometimes extroverts may find themselves hiring more team members than they need, or joining more online courses, or running more masterminds than what is truly beneficial.
They may also spend more time with their clients and struggle to keep good boundaries, because they're actually getting an aspect of their extraversion satisfied from that time with their clients.
There can be a belief that we need to be a certain way in order to be successful. We may think we cannot be as successful because of this aspect, and often that belief comes from childhood programming.
Introversion may not work well in a very busy classroom when you don't get a lot of solo time to recharge. Introversion can be seen as social awkwardness or shyness in early years, and then it's become a “label” and you carry that along with you through life. That label stays with you, and it becomes a programmed belief.
A lot of the introverts I work with have actually been told they're “socially awkward” from a very young age.
When we look at the journey that got them to that conclusion, and how have they reinforced that belief through their behavior, we uncover that it's actually a belief rather than an ingrained trait they cannot change.
So if there's something coming up for you about running a business, and thinking you can't be successful because you can't do Facebook Lives or doing the same things as other online business owners – it’s definitely worth spending some time paying attention to where this belief comes from.
What was the earliest memory you have of someone saying this about you or to you?
Is this something you want to keep telling yourself is true for you?
Or is this something you might want to change?
I had a beautiful client I worked with a couple of years ago. We were talking about this whole shyness and social awkwardness concept. When we talked about introversion and her journey as a child and what was said to her, she'd basically set up her whole life to fit someone who's really socially awkward.
But she actually wanted to go to more events. She wanted to get out and make more friends. She wanted to be more active on social media. But she had this belief that she was "socially awkward," that people didn't like talking to her, and that she was a bad conversationalist.
So we had a conversation about whether she wanted to keep that belief, or if not, what it would take for her to let go of it.
Fast forward to six months later and she was facilitating group masterminds, belonging to an amazing group mastermind, and had surrounded herself with six really amazing business BFFs.
She made her own little miniature ladyposse wolf pack and she started going to local trivia nights. Everything had started to change after she unhooked this belief of being both "socially awkward" and an "introvert."
She'd actually unlinked “socially awkward” from “introvert,” so they no longer went hand in hand for her.
We created business processes and a marketing strategy that worked for her as an introvert, such as doing more pre-recorded versus live stuff. She focused more on time working on things behind the scenes, and having one to one coaching and debriefings.
Building lots of space into her day was really important for her. So we did that for her business.
Then we started shifting this belief that being socially awkward was something she was going to be for the rest of her life. It was a really beautiful shift to see.
So ask yourself: Is this a belief I want to hold on to? Is this something that's serving me or not?
As I said, many of the successful women entrepreneurs I know are total introverts, and they've built successful businesses based on that.
Their business model is set up to work with the fact that they're an introvert. So keep an eye out for it, and if you're following people and are curious about it, ask them if they identify as an extrovert or an introvert. For a lot of people, you'll be very surprised at the answer.
No one is surprised when I say I'm an extrovert, but there are a lot of people I see online and might assume they're extroverts, but when you ask them, they're actually total introverts.
They take control. They're in the driver's seat, and they've built a business around making sure they replenish their energy, making sure they give themselves lots of space and alone time, and making sure they're supported in the way that works for them.
So If you want to build your business your way, I want to write you a beautiful permission slip right now.
If you're an introvert and you've been believing you can't be as successful in online business as other people purely because you’re not a raging extrovert, I want you to just stop and ask yourself these questions.
If you've been listening along to this, and thinking you’re ready to “fast track” your business, get it off the ground, and build a business model around your strengths, I have a great free resource for you!
It's called Fast-Track Your Start-Up.
It's all about building your business, and getting money in the door quickly by building a business to your innate strengths.
I’d love for you to go and check that out, and I'll pop a link over with the show notes to today's episode tashcorbin.com/210 because this is episode number 210.
Until next time, I cannot WAIT to see you SHINE.
Hello, amazing entrepreneur. It's Tash Corbin here and welcome to another episode of the Heart Centred Business Podcast. This is episode number 209, which means all the relevant links and show notes can be found at tashcorbin.com/209.
In today's episode, we're going to answer the question ‘Can launching ruin your business?’ And the answer is actually yes.
But here's how to tell whether it's going to ruin your business specifically. Let's jump on in!
It can be so alluring to leap into selling group programs, courses, memberships, and doing big launches…
We hear things like “stop trading dollars for hours,” and there's so much messaging out there that tells us the only way to scale your business is to do big launches, sell group programs, use high ticket sales amounts, or invest tens of thousands of dollars in Facebook ads to get really high numbers of people joining your programs.
The sad truth is that while it can be really fun and exciting - and launching is one of my favorite things to do - for many businesses, it can also be very derailing.
For some people it has actually marked the end of their business.
One failed launch has put them at the point where they need to go back and get a job or find other means of supporting themselves financially, because the launch wasn't successful enough to sustain their business.
We want to make sure that your business is ready for launching, to ensure that it's not going to ruin your business. And I know I'm using very specific and direct language here. But I have seen way too many women go from having a “sort of” sustainable business income to completely decimating themselves financially, all by leaping into launches way too soon.
I want you to make sure you are feeling very confident that launching is going to be the right decision for your business, and that your business will be able to survive the launch process as well.
Here are four key things I think you need in order to be ready to launch and if you don't have them specifically, some backups you might be able to have instead.
One example I have is from a person who wasn't a client of mine, but I knew her in the online space. She was making 3 to $4,000 a month by selling her VIP services. And she really wanted to launch a $2,000 group program course, similar to what the “big names” are doing out there.
She had hired a launch specialist for four and a half thousand dollars, and they had come up with a launch budget of $15,000. So they were going to spend $15,000 on Facebook ads management as well as the setup of the online course and all of the copywriting and editing for professional videos - a proper big launch.
Sadly, only three months later, that beautiful friend of mine had a $20,000 credit card debt and no income in her business. She no longer had any VIP clients because she had spent so long selling her group program. After investing all of that money and time, even with a launch specialist working with her, she only made four sales of her program, which was $8,000 - not enough to recoop even the slightest part of her costs.
She then had to go back to working in her regular job while supporting those four clients through a group program that was designed to have 50 to 100 clients in it.
So you really want to make sure that your business will still be financially viable, even if that first launch doesn't go to plan. I always recommend that you don't invest more than you can afford - I really don't recommend going into debt for launching.
I know some people have done it with great success. But for me, having seen as many or more failures than I've seen successes with it, you need to make sure that you have confidence your launch is actually going to work. And you want to make sure the anticipated success is not just because you've got the best minds working on it, but because you know you have an audience who are ready, willing and able to invest in the outcome you're offering.
Unfortunately, a lot of people try outsourcing to industry experts to skip some of the steps it takes to grow your business and grow your audience. And while it may work for some people, it is a big risk to take.
One of the things I do when working with people on launching is setting some income targets from other income sources.
So for example, I am working with a VIP client at the moment, and our first phase of working together is to get her to 10K months with VIP clients - just getting three to four VIP clients a month in the door, so she knows she's got a good solid income to support herself financially, and put some money away for future launches in her business.
Even when she launches her group program, which is going to be coming in the next couple of months, she’ll be able to continue to bring in and make money through her VIP clients.
That way, even if the launch doesn’t succeed, her business will still be sustaining itself and sustaining her. She'll be able to learn from whatever happens in that launch, whether it's successful or not. But she won't be putting herself into the risk of financial ruin by jumping in and spending money that she doesn't have, or spending tomorrow's money, which I see a lot of people doing.
For most people I work with, especially on their first few launches, we don't invest significantly in Facebook ads - there's not a huge financial investment in that launch process. We use fully organic strategies, like organic list growth and audience building strategies, and we have a nice long runway to do that.
When it comes to the actual launch process, they only need to sell two or three spaces for it to be a profitable launch. That's an even better way of doing the launch process. I won't go into that in detail, but I would suggest that you make sure your business will still be financially viable, even if the launch doesn't result in the sales you were expecting.
Many people see jumping into group programs as so sexy because they are getting more money with less time spent actually delivering that product or service.
When they compare selling a 10-hour package for $2,000 and earning $200 an hour for delivery, versus selling a 10-module group program with 10 live group calls for $1,000 and 10 spots, they're getting paid more per hour in the group program, so it feels like a really sexy proposition for them.
But in order to sell group programs, it takes more time in both the launching and sales processes to get people in the door in the first place.
Where it might take one to two hours of marketing activities and maybe a 15 minute VIP chat to get someone signed up as a VIP client with you, to launch a group program and run those really big scalable launches, you need to put tens if not hundreds of hours into the pre-launch and launch activities.
When you really add it all up, a lot of people mistakenly think that delivering group programs is going to be a better financial return on investment on their time, and it actually ends up being the opposite.
You want to make sure you've got capacity to be involved in the launch process, putting together the creation of the program and the launch materials, and facilitating that launch.
We know that the more present and connected you are during a launch, the higher the conversion rates, so if you only have an hour a week to spare, and you think you can launch a group program in an hour a week, you're going to be sadly mistaken.
That launch is not going to perform as well as you think and you may very well burn yourself out. It’s also possible that by the time the program actually starts, you're so burnt out you can't deliver for the people who have purchased.
So really check in with yourself and be honest about what your capacity is to create and deliver the program, and to launch and market it, because people underestimate the time and energy that goes into launches.
This is especially true with the first few because you're writing all of your emails from scratch. You're writing a sales page from scratch. You don't know what questions people are going to have. You're delivering your webinars and dealing with questions on the fly, and will probably have to do more Facebook Lives to answer questions. You will have to do live updates to your sales page to answer questions you didn't even think to include on the sales page.
All of those things take time and energy! And if you don't have capacity to do that, or capacity for you and your team to do that together, then unfortunately, it means your launch probably isn't going to be as successful as you thought it would be.
This is where I see a lot of people struggle when they're first starting a business and they jump straight into launching courses and products.
They are in “trial and error” for years and years before they ever get to profitability. It is so much easier to prove that people are willing to pay for your thing by getting it out in front of people as quickly and effectively as possible.
Having proof of concept that people are willing to pay for this outcome, and that people see the value proposition in what you're selling, is much sexier than winging it on the fly. It’s much better than trying to work out whether people actually do see that value proposition whilst knee deep in your launch, after you've already spent $10,000 on Facebook ads.
Find ways that you can organically get that proof of concept and that value proposition sorted before you jump into launching.
While this is not absolutely mandatory because you can buy an audience using Facebook ads and other advertising methodologies to get in front of more audiences, you convert far better with an existing warmer audience than with cold audiences hearing about you for the first time during your launch.
It’s in your best interest to make sure you are growing your audience as much as possible before you go into that launch process. You want to create an increasingly larger warm audience - people who are more likely to buy than those cold leads brought in during the launch process.
So there you have it, those are my four tips on how to tell if your business is ready for launch, and whether launching might ruin your business.
I have a beautiful freebie for you as well.
If you are thinking, “okay, I've got a few of those pieces in place,” or maybe you've got all of them – then perhaps it's time to create and launch that online course.
I have a free in-depth training that helps you map out your plan, and have a really great launch plan. That's an extra bonus tip for you: A great launch plan can be the difference between a launch that rocks your business and a launch that ruins your business.
In Create and Launch Your Online Course, we don't just go through the course creation process. We also go through launch planning, launch preparation, and executing your launch as well. You’ll get it all mapped out in front of you at once.
You can go and find the link to Create and Launch Your Online Course over with the show notes for today's episode at tashcorbin.com/209
Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of the Heart Centered Business Podcast. As always, the conversation continues over in our beautiful community. Come on over to Heart-Centred Soul Driven Entrepreneurs Facebook Community and jump on in using the #podcastaha. Let me know you've been listening to episode number 209, and let's keep the conversation going. Do you have any follow up questions? Do you have any light bulbs that just pinged for you about whether you are ready to create and launch online courses?
Until next time, I cannot WAIT to see you SHINE.
Hello, amazing entrepreneur, it's Tash Corbin here and welcome to another episode of the Heart-Centred Business podcast. This is episode number 208 which means you can find all the relevant links and show notes over at tashcorbin.com/208.
In this episode, we are going to deal with the icky topic of what to do when someone says, "give me back my money!" When you get refund requests from customers or people wanting to drop out of your coaching packages - How do you handle it? What do you do? Have you completely failed?
No you haven't. We're going to deal with all of this in today's episode, so let's dive straight on in.
Ugh, I can already feel your discomfort right now.
It is so “ick” - that feeling, even just the fear of having it happen. Someone's asking for a refund or wanting to drop out of working with you, or they don't feel like they got value and are telling you it was horrible. And they demand they get their money back.
Oh my goodness, it is so icky.
Now for all of you tappers out there, feel free to do some EFT as you're following along to this if any of those feelings are coming up for you!
I totally understand as an entrepreneur and business owner, especially for those of us who have personal brands where we put our heart and soul into our business - having someone say something wasn't good enough or they don’t want that anymore – It can feel like they're saying you as a person are not good enough, or that you as a person have failed.
There's a lot of emotion tied up in someone not wanting to work with you anymore, or them wanting their money back. So I want us to take an objective step back for a moment.
I've got three things you can do when it happens.
But first let’s take that objective step back, and think about our own experiences. Not only as the seller, but also as a buyer, because we can have both good and bad experiences with refunds and people dropping out as both the seller and as the buyer, and I have plenty of examples of these.
I was working with a VIP mentor once and after a couple of sessions together, I started to feel like we weren't a great match. One of the key reasons was that the business and marketing strategies that they were trying to get me to use didn't really feel like they were aligned with my values. And I also felt like I got very overloaded in the first couple of weeks and then kind of left high and dry for a little while.
So I reached out to that person and expressed how I was feeling, with the intention of us having a conversation and working out how we could continue working together, but in a way that was better suited to my needs.
I instantly received back an email that basically blamed me and told me that it was all my mindset that was the problem, and gave me a list of all the reasons why the provider was doing the right thing, and suggesting that it was me as the client who was doing all the wrong things.
Wow, this left such a bad taste in my mouth!
I truly didn't know how I was going to continue working with that person, after the way they had reacted to my initial inquiries about maybe adjusting the way that we work together.
It became a really interesting experience for me as a buyer, to experience the backlash while not even asking for a refund, but just looking to pivot the way that we were working together.
I've also had times where I tried to get a refund from a course or program because what was on the inside did not match what was advertised, and I had to jump through a bunch of hoops to access that refund - it felt really gross.
In one course I did, the promotional webinars and sales page showed a “30-day, no questions asked, money back guarantee.”
I had felt very safe in buying that because I knew that I could jump in, give it a go, see what it was like, and decide whether it was actually the right fit for me.
But “silly me,” I didn't read the “terms and conditions” when I purchased that course. I will never make that mistake again. Nowadays, I always read the Terms and Conditions very specifically when I buy courses!
So I jumped into that program, but sent an email just five days after joining and said, ‘Actually, I would like to access the 30-day, no questions, Money Back Guarantee.’ I did this because after watching the first two modules, I could see it wasn’t in alignment with the way I wanted to grow and market my business.
Some of the strategies being taught felt pushy and aggressive to me. And I didn't want to engage in that way. The strategies weren't what I was expecting. I didn't feel like what was promised in the promotion matched the quality of the program on the inside. In particular, there had been the promise of lots of connection, but when I got inside the program, the calls weren't run as Q&A calls, they were run as teaching calls, so you couldn't even ask questions. It was just not the way I like to learn. But I didn't say all of that in my email - I just said it didn't feel like a good fit.
So when I sent through my refund request, I got a canned response that said, “this is a digital product and there are no refunds.”
I emailed back and said, “well, actually on the webinar, there was a promise of a 30-day, no questions asked, money back guarantee. So I'd like to access that refund, please.”
I then got another email back saying that I needed to read the terms and conditions of the course, and there was a link to a PDF.
And in the terms and conditions, it said you get access to a 30-day refund so long as you do the work. And “doing the work” involved completing at least five modules, and investing at least $500 in Facebook ads using the strategies that were taught.
So what they required for me to get the refund was to actually take a screenshot of my Facebook ads account to show that I had spent $500 on Facebook ads. But I had never run Facebook ads up until that point, and didn't have the evidence to provide to get that refund!
Now, through a lot of back and forth emails, I eventually was able to get a 50% refund on the program. But I would never recommend that program to anyone, nor will I ever follow that person again, and it has left a really bad taste in my mouth. So as a buyer, I know what it's like to ask for a refund and then be forced to jump through hoops or be told that it's my fault.
Another example that's not with an online business was when I bought one of those NutriBullet things. On the box it said it was dishwasher safe on the top shelf.
At the time, I was getting into smoothies, so I totally fell in love with it. One day I popped the two cups into the top shelf of the dishwasher as instructed, but when the dishwasher was finished, both of my cups had melted and completely deformed.
I got in contact with the company and checked the instruction manual, checked on the box, checked everywhere that said it's completely dishwasher safe as long as it's on the top shelf and that is exactly what I did.
When I called the customer service line, I had to speak to three different people and all three of those people accused me of putting it in the wrong spot in the dishwasher. I had to tell them, “I can assure you, it was definitely on the top shelf, and it has melted.”
Then they tried to get me to give them my dishwasher model and all sorts of things. They just kept saying it was my fault, and acting like I’d done something wrong.
They made me wait for the regional manager to give me a call, and she said, “well actually it's not guaranteed dishwasher safe. If you read the instructions, it says it's better to hand-wash but you can put them on the top shelf of the dishwasher.” And I told her that I had put it on the top shelf of the dishwasher.
It can become this crazy space when I'm asking for refunds of being like a dog with a bone – feeling like it would have been easier for me to just purchase a completely new machine with all the new cups for $125, but it's the principle of the thing, right?
I've done consumer law as part of my degree, and I’m into a lot of psychology and Consumer Affairs sorts of things, so I'm very clear on my rights.
And I just imagine all of the other people who aren't clear on their rights, who just take it as they're told, and accept it as fine. They just take the blame and walk away. So I feel like my little win is a win for everyone.
Because I know what it feels like to be a buyer, when I am acting as a seller I want to make sure that I provide a really amazing experience for people, even when they are asking for a refund.
I find that the energetic and emotional feelings I have about refunds are way more manageable than many other people who may be still feeling scared about them.
As a seller, I've had good and bad experiences in giving refunds.
When I have been deeply invested in that person staying or their person's business results, or I've crossed a boundary into the real trouble of needing them to be successful because I've attached it to my identity or my value, then that's when I have tricky experiences with refund requests.
But when I have that clear boundary that this person's business, or them staying or not staying with me, actually doesn't reflect upon who I am as a person. It doesn’t impact my value, or my worth as a human being, and that boundary really helps me to experience refunds in a positive way.
So here are my three tips for when people ask for their money back or inquire about dropping work with you as a client.
We each have so many horror stories! And people are more willing to share the horror stories than the positive stories.
If I have a refund experience that is really positive, I am conscious of sharing the great experience and continuing to support that person because they've kept it classy.
Unfortunately a lot of people don't consider this. But if you don't stay classy in that experience, it is going to be bad. We want to make sure we always keep it classy, and treat that person the way you would like to be treated if you were requesting a refund.
Remember, we've all been through those horrible situations, so don't be someone who perpetuates those horrible situations for others.
Please take note that even the passive aggressive post on Facebook is not classy. It has happened to me where I requested a refund from someone, and they were totally classy about it to my face, no questions asked, and gave me my money back. But then they went on their Facebook page the next day, and complained about what a terrible client I was.
They would talk about how this is why we weren't meant to work together, and basically celebrated my refund request and us not working together anymore. They've had a passive aggressive message that it was my fault something went wrong, and that it was because I wasn't their ideal client, and that their life is so much better because I've disappeared from it.
That is so not classy! I know that you're not actually calling someone out by name, but when I see other service providers sharing any of that passive aggressive, gross stuff on their Facebook page, it says way more about the person posting it than it does about the person who's left and asked for a refund.
So just check in with yourself. Sometimes we want to go out there and celebrate in a safe space for ourselves, or convince ourselves that it's totally okay and it doesn't mean anything about us. But you need to be really mindful of the audience you choose for sharing that kind of post.
Instead, I suggest getting yourself a lady posse wolf pack of just a few people that provide you with a safe space to go and have that debrief without necessarily downloading on your entire audience.
There have been people I've gone to work with, and then seen these passive aggressive style posts, whether in courses we've done together, or in free Facebook groups, or on their Facebook page or Instagram. And that has turned me off working with them! Because I can’t help but think about who is that poor person that’s being referred to? What did they do, and what if I end up being that person if I opt to work with this service provider?
So please be sure that that you keep it classy!
If someone has signed up to work with you for a six month package, and after a month they decide it isn’t the right fit or they aren’t getting the outcomes, that's actually really good information for you.
If they aren't the ideal client, and they don't see themselves getting great results from staying with you for six months, wouldn't you rather them articulate that early? Rather than just staying with you, going through the motions, and then after six months becoming someone who hasn’t had great results or the best experience?
You don't want to force someone to stay working with you if they don't feel like it’s a great fit or like they're getting great value.
My goal for everyone who joins one of my programs, like TakeOff or the Heart-Centred Business Academy, or who works with me one on one, is that when they end that time together, if it's not a 100%, heck yes “loved it,” then I want to know as soon as possible. I want to know what it is they don't love, and if there's a good reason why it's not a fit for them. I would much rather give them a refund and clear that space for someone else that will be the right fit.
You also want to make sure you’re not creating really weird standards for yourself. One of the positives about refund requests is that there are industry norms. There is a normal refund rate of between 3 and 5% of people who buy online courses. There's a normal dropout rate between 3 and 5% of people who sign up for your VIP work.
If you are trying to keep a zero percent refund rate, then chances are you're going to fail at that.
For a lot of people, the positive of getting a refund request is that it's actually still well below industry average. So it's totally brilliant to celebrate that someone has opted out. Someone who isn't the right fit and isn't going to get great value from it.
Another positive that comes from getting a refund request is that it's a rite of passage. When you get that first refund request, I want you to celebrate it because baby, you made it! Every business has refund requests - every business - and you cannot have a multi-million dollar online business without some refund requests.
Instead of avoiding them, if we aim to stay around or below industry averages, and we celebrate those refund requests as the people for whom it's not the right fit dropping out, then suddenly refunds just feel like a normal part of business - a totally positive part of business.
When you get a refund request, there's often an opportunity in that refund request for review.
Do you have good refund systems in place?
When people request a refund for my programs, I don't actually know about it anymore. My customer service team takes care of that for me. They refund the person, and the person can tell us why, or they don't have to tell us why. The only time I know about refunds is if we have a big spike in them and it’s something we need to actually deal with. As long as it stays under our normal average of under 2%, I don't even need to know about it.
My system makes it easy for that person to get their refund, and the system makes it easy for me to not get bogged down in worrying about the refunds. And the system also means those refund requests are recorded and reported appropriately so I can pay attention to the refund rate to see if there's a spike or anything I need to be worried about. But if there's nothing I need to be worried about, I'm not worried about it.
Refund requests also present a chance for you to review your policies. For a lot of people, the reason why refunds feel really awkward is they don't actually have a clear and concise refund policy in place - it's a bit of a gray area. Then you're left with needing to make a decision about whether that person is entitled to a refund or not, without having clear guidelines and policies that will give you a straightforward answer.
If you haven’t got refund policies in place, you don't have terms and conditions in place. You don't necessarily have clear guidelines on what to do if someone is looking for a refund or if something's not the right fit for them.
That refund request is your opportunity to review those policies, get them in place, and think about various scenarios that might happen.
When it comes to working with VIP clients, the completely risk averse approach would be to have people sign a contract. And in that contract, you would have very clear terms and conditions about refunds, about dropping out, about failed payments on payment plans, etc, and it’s completely written to the letter.
The opposite end of the spectrum would be to not even talk about it. We don't want to be at that end of the spectrum. Usually somewhere between the middle and the very risk adverse space is ideal when it comes to a refund policy for people working with you as a VIP.
I really want to focus down on this one because I have heard some horror stories. I've also heard of people using the contract as a way of basically separating themselves from needing to deliver good services to their customers.
I had a client who had previously been working with someone else. She had been working on a six month VIP package with this person at a negotiated price, and paying on a monthly basis. After three months of working together, she realised she was not getting the level of support she expected to get in that package. She was not getting enough detail in the execution of the strategy she was learning. Therefore she was finding she wasn't getting any results from the process, and was feeling more and more overwhelmed, being told she needed to hire more and more and more team members, which was never discussed when they first started working together.
So she reached out to me for some advice on how to approach this. It wasn't through the lens of wanting a refund or wanting to drop out at first, but just wanting to really clarify the deliverables, and how much more money she would need to invest to get the results. Truth be told, she had invested her last bit of money in working with this person, thinking that if she invested in this coaching, she should be able to put those strategies in place and get return on investment.
She didn't realise - and there had been no initial conversation - that there would be another 10 to $15,000 worth of hiring needed in order to scale the business and get the intended results.
And so I helped her draft up a little email indicating maybe she wasn't quite exceeding the expectations, and requesting a conversation about where to go from here. The provider wrote back and said, “If at any time you don't think it's the right fit, you can just stop working with me. However, as per the contract, you need to complete your payment plan.”
Instantly after sending that email, the client was essentially told, “well, I don't really want to work with you either. But you still have to keep paying me.” This service provider was using that contract as a means of saying, the law is the law, you still have to pay me.
Ultimately, that is not how I want to show up as a provider online. It would be interesting for you to reflect on how you want to show up as a provider online?
Yes, your rights as the seller need to be protected. But you also have an obligation as the provider to deliver on what you promise and to be upfront at the start of the process about what it's going to look like and what people can expect.
I'm not saying you shouldn't have contracts, or you that should. But I do think no matter what it is that you are selling, no matter how you deliver those products or services, no matter how risk averse or risk friendly you are, you want to make sure at the start of any engagement that you're really clear on what your rights and responsibilities are, what your buyers’ rights and responsibilities are, and what you're going to do.
If either party feels like it's not a great fit anymore, then you don't need to necessarily have a detailed contract that covers those things off. I personally cover that off in a very informal confirmation email. For some industries, you do need to have it in writing, such as handling someone's finances or if you're doing something in health, sometimes you do need to actually have a contract.
But for me, I actually have an informal confirmation email that talks about those core things. It very clearly says that we are two grown adults, and if at any point in this arrangement either of us feels it's not a fit anymore, we're going to talk about it and see if we can adjust what is being delivered to make sure it fits both parties needs. If the person decides they don't want to do it anymore, here's how the refund or payment would be renegotiated or adjusted to reflect the level of service that had already been provided. And also, here's what to do if you're not happy with that. It's a simple way of just being really clear.
Developing this approach came through a specific experience with a refund request where I realised I hadn't made that 100% clear. The person had been a little bit unhappy with the level of stretch I was giving - they wanted to be stretched and pushed further – but I was still working on the basics with their business because their foundations needed some work.
So the person wasn't happy they weren't doing the more advanced style strategies. But for two months - four sessions - they hadn't said anything because they didn't know how to raise it. And so it ended up escalating for them behind the scenes and kind of blowing up because they hadn’t been happy for three months, and it all came out at once.
I took a day. I read the email several times and then I recognised that I hadn't been upfront about what to do if someone didn't feel like it was meeting their needs. So that person got a partial refund, and we stopped working together. I sent them to a friend of mine who I thought would be able to help them with more advanced stuff, and it actually ended up working out really well.
As a result of that experience, I included an extra part in my confirmation email when we first start working together on what to do in that situation.
It’s important that you look at this through the lens of “it's all a practice,” and sometimes you don't know what people are going to want or how they'll want you to deal with things, or what boundaries people are going to be pushing, until those boundaries are pushed.
All you can do is set yourself up with some systems and basic policies, or get advice from a legal representative to set yourself up in a way that feels good for you.
Know that you might have to make some adjustments on the way - you don't need to get it perfect from the very start.
Now, the final opportunity that I want to talk about from a refund request is the learning opportunity.
It might be that your sales processes aren't clearly articulating how your services are delivered, or your sales processes are promising things that aren't clearly delivered in your services. It might be that your marketing is attracting people who aren't the right fit because of the way you talk about something or the audience you're advertising to.
There are many reasons why it might not be working.
Refund requests are great opportunities to look at where there might be a disconnect. Don't be afraid of asking people, after reassuring them of their refund, to share why it's not a fit to what they expected.
I only ever ask that question after I've given the refund. We just ask for any feedback that may have been able to prevent this issue. And that is a really beautiful learning opportunity as well. It helps me to get clearer with my offers, and ensures I am getting clear on who my ideal clients are. Then when I'm putting my courses together, it speaks to the level of information and detail people need to make an empowered decision, without making assumptions about what's included.
So just to recap - Stay classy, look for those positives, and look at all the amazing opportunities the refund request will give you.
Now, I also just want to say in closing this podcast episode, that refund requests are all part of scaling your business. The larger your business becomes, the more clients you have, the more likely you are to get some of those refund requests.
So please, please, please, if I can leave you with one thing, it's the understanding that a refund request is not a reflection of your value as a human being!
A refund request does not mean that you are a failure at business.
A refund request is simply a part of your business scaling. And it's a sign that you are on your way to bigger and better things.
Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of the Heart Centered Business Podcast. If you’ve got any questions or lightbulb moments as a result of this episode, come on into the Heart-Centred Soul Driven Entrepreneurs Facebook Community, use the #podcastaha and let me know that you've been listening to episode number 208. And let me know any “aha” moments, light bulbs or questions you might have in relation to refunds.
Until next time, I cannot WAIT to see you SHINE.
Hello brilliant entrepreneur. It's Tash Corbin here and welcome to another episode of the Heart Centred Business podcast.
This is episode number 207 which means all the relevant links and show notes are available for you over at tashcorbin.com/207. In today's episode, I'm going to help you answer the question ‘Are you even ready to start your business?’
Whether you've just been thinking about it, are maybe on the fence, are dabbling with a few things here and there, or are trying to get your ducks in a row to get started, this is going to be an extra valuable lesson just for you. Let's dive on in!
To be honest, there is a lot of information, opinion and frankly, a lot of misinformation out there about what you actually need in order to start a business.
I've heard all sorts of things – like needing specific qualifications, needing to have six months’ worth of savings in the bank, needing to build up an audience of at least a few thousand people first, needing to have a website, needing to work with a business coach, and all sorts of things that you need to do, be, or have in order to be ready to start an online business.
But the truth is that there are eleventy billion different paths to having a business and getting your business off the ground. Many of those things I just mentioned that you're “supposed” to have in order to start a business, I did not have myself.
Yes, I had university level qualifications in business, but I didn't even know that much about Facebook.
I did not have six months of savings in the bank.
I had zero audience.
I didn't have a website.
And whilst I did work with a one on one coach for a one day VIP intensive, at the end of that intensive I still didn't know what to do in my business, nor did I have a step by step set of instructions to tell how to go out and get clients.
I want us to take away these restrictions and rules about what you need in order to “be ready” to have a business and get that business off the ground. I want to dive into what it is that you do need, and what that would look like for a bunch of different pathways.
We are all unique, and all of our business ideas are very unique. Therefore, we have different requirements about what it's going to take to start a business.
As a very basic example, it takes a lot less cash to start a service-based business than to start a product-based business in most cases, because in a product-based business, you need to have some form of stock unless you're doing drop-shipping. So even when the traditional model of that business requires a bunch of money to start up, there are so many cool ways that you can overcome that cash shortage when you're first starting out.
I've got four things that I think tell you that you are ready to at least get started with an online business. Sure, you might not make your first million dollars with only these four things, but you are certainly able to start bringing in clients and making money.
If you've got some idea of what it is that you want to do, you don't need to be 100% clear. When I first started my business, I knew I wanted to do some form of service-based business and some form of coaching.
I thought I was going to be doing career coaching for women in the corporate world. But after working with just three people, I realised I left the corporate world for a reason - I did not want to be doing that anymore. I totally pivoted!
You don't have to have a concrete idea and 100% clarity about what it is that you're doing. All you need is to have some idea of what it is that you want to do, the type of business model that you might be interested in exploring, and then just get out there and get started.
If I had waited until I had an audience, a website, and a bunch of money before I started actually working with paying clients, I would have been so deeply invested into that process that it would have been much harder for me to pivot.
I am so grateful I just jumped in and got started. I realised this wasn't the type of work I wanted to be doing, and because I wasn't knee-deep in things I'd already created for it, it was so easy for me to pivot and start working in a different space.
So you don't need to have everything mapped out. You don't need to have absolute clarity on exactly what you're going to be selling, how you're going to be selling it, or exactly what your niche is. You just need to have some kind of idea.
A lot of people think that to be ready to start a business, you need to know exactly what you need to do. They believe that you need to have the perfect marketing plan, and the best of the business coaches.
But honestly, even with all of those things, you're still going to make mistakes. I know a lot of people who had all their ducks in a row, the best marketing training, the best strategy ideas, but because they were so focused on getting it perfect and not making any mistakes along the way, they weren’t able to get their business off the ground.
By being consistently focused on not making mistakes, and not doing anything wrong, they never actually took any risks, and they never really explored what's possible or got that big leap forward.
Instead of needing to have the perfect plan mapped out in front of you, all you need is to be willing to make mistakes and give things a go. Try something!
Be willing to make those mistakes quite publicly as well. That is something that was a big mindset shift for me when I first started my business. I was so focused on just jumping into the world and having a business and not letting people see me try and start a business, I just wanted to go from zero to business.
It meant that when I was showing up online, I wasn't showing up 100% authentically. It meant that I didn't do things until I felt like I had it 100% figured out. Because of that, I did have a bit of a delay in getting things out there when I first started my business.
It was a few months into my business journey that I realised I needed to just get out there and be willing to make some public mistakes, and publicly have people see me try things and maybe not get as much success as I wanted to.
I had to do that to learn from those things and pivot as I moved forward. So a willingness to make mistakes and potentially make them publicly is definitely more valuable than having the perfect step by step plan mapped out in front of you.
It’s totally possible to start a business with 10 hours, then no time for a few weeks, and then a couple of hours and then no time. Different business models are more aligned to be able to do that.
Preferably, if you can at least commit four hours a week, every week, that is going to be much, much more effective than 20 hours this week, and no hours for the following three weeks, and then 30 hours a week after that, and then nothing for three months.
Look at what can you commit as a minimum, but consistently, and make a commitment to allocating that time to growing your business.
I jumped straight into my business and started full time from day one. I was very fortunate and lucky to be able to do that. But I know that, especially for online businesses, many people just getting started are doing it on the side of a day job, or when they're looking after their kids at home, or they have other commitments. I think it is totally possible for most people to commit a solid five hours a week or four hours a week, every week for the next three months.
If you protect those hours, really nurture and put boundaries around those hours, and consistently show up in that time, you're going to be far more successful than trying to convince yourself to do 10 or 20 hours a week while also working 40 hours a week.
Trying to do five hours every night after dinner seven days a week, and then not actually follow through with it - that is the opposite of what works. Rather than trying to convince yourself that you can definitely work till 2 am every night for the next three months, instead just commit a small amount of hours, but be very consistent with those hours and protect them fiercely.
When you try to plan too far ahead, it can backfire. If you’re thinking, “I’ll do this for the first three months, and then this for the next six months, and then a year later I'm going to launch this course,” then honestly, you're planning for a future that has a 1% chance of actually being your reality.
You just don't know how your business journey is going to unfold.
A lot of people in startup ask me if I can help them develop their first year's business plan. And I will say to them, “let's set goals for your first year of business, but let’s only do detailed planning for the first three months.” Because honestly, what happens in those first three months is going to dictate where to go for the next three months and then beyond.
There isn’t a lot of predictability in startup.
We have more predictability the longer we’re in business and the more consistently we are in business. Over time, we can begin to predict what is going to be happening, and what the results of that are going to be, and what our budget can be for those things.
But when you're first starting out, there's so much unknown. Rather than trying to map out all of the plans for the entire first year, (some people want five-year plans during startup!), instead set some clear goals for yourself for those periods of time.
Don't feel like you need to have every move planned out in detail. Just focus on what your next steps are in the short term.
For example, when I'm working with people in startup, the first stage is getting really clear on what you bring to the table and what you want out of your business. Setting those early goals.
Then it's about defining a very specific niche. For so many people I work with, when we get into niching, they tell me they wish they’d had someone help them with this on Day 1 of their business. If you haven't got your niche sorted for starting your business, that's your next step.
So if you've got some idea of what you're doing, you're willing to make some mistakes, you can commit a few hours a week, and have gotten your niche sorted, you may be ready!
Maybe you are ready right now to start playing with that niche, get clear on what it might be, and start connecting to people who are in that space.
If this has fired you up, and you’re thinking, “what am I waiting for, I just need to get out there and start this business,” then I have a super-duper treat for you.
I have a free training called Fast-Track Your Start-Up.
Not only does it help you with the niching part, but also those first important steps in your business. There’s no fluff! Only the stuff you need to do to start making sales and bring money in, because once you're bringing money in, you are in business.
And once you decide you are in business, you are in business. Don't let anyone else label your business a hobby. Don't let anyone else minimise your business by calling it a "side hustle," or "trading time for money," or any of those labels people use to diminish what you are achieving.
You are the CEO of a business when you decide that you are, so if you would like to jump on the fast track to growing your business and get those sales in the door as quickly and easily as possible, head on over to the show notes at tashcorbin.com /207 and grab your Fast-Track Your Start-Up training.
You can jump in and get started - the training takes just over an hour to complete. You can even watch it on double time if you want to complete it more quickly. In no time you'll have a very clear map of what your first steps are to getting money in the door, which is what tells you you've got a viable business!
Thank you so much for joining me for this episode of the Heart-Centred Business podcast. As always, I’d love for us to continue the conversation so come on over to the Heart-Centred Soul Driven Entrepreneurs Facebook community, and use the #podcastaha. Let me know that you've been listening to episode number 207. And I'd love to know if you've got any questions, lightbulb moments or “aha’s” as a result of listening to this podcast episode.
Until next time, I cannot WAIT to see you SHINE.