I'm really excited to have Michelle Weger of Venture Creative Collective on the podcast today to talk about a belief that impacts people who struggle with their health.
Michelle’s business specializes in website development and business automation. They create websites, processes and systems that earn business owners more money than they cost. Most businesses take a huge amount of admin time – the average is 13 hours a week, spent on tasks that can and should be automated. Michelle and her team focus on finding areas that business owners are wasting time on and automating them so they can spend that time on better things, which could be higher income-generating tasks or time with family and enjoying life.
This entire podcast season is about beliefs and rules – things we've been taught to believe, but often hold us back. One belief I hear often is that it's hard to think of yourself as a business owner, that's supposed to be working hard and making money, if you also have a chronic health concern, illness or disorder.
Running a successful business despite a health issue
Michelle has narcolepsy, which is a super rare neurological disorder. Anyone who's seen the movie Rat Race or videos of fainting llamas or dogs will recognize this disorder. Michelle’s body will always be significantly more sleepy than anyone else's. It’s the equivalent of an average person having not slept, being awake for 48 hours, and that is how she lives her life every day.
So, logically speaking, one would think that having narcolepsy would make it nearly impossible to hold a job or run a business. And even statistically, that is true. Only one-third of people with narcolepsy will ever be employed, and only 1% will ever make over $100,000 in a single year. Michelle is not any of those norms.
Working outside the box
There are a lot of beliefs that can come in around having a chronic illness. One is, what can a person be able to do if they’re sick? What are they capable of? Sometimes, business owners don't see how to marry together not being able to work constantly with what they can still achieve. It doesn't have to be one or the other all the time. People get stuck in their one lane of “this is how things have to look in order to create success” that they don't look outside the lines for what else could exist.
According to Michelle, the main reason that she has been able to overcome the statistics is the fact that she didn't just look inside the box of what is normal. A great example is the typical business hours. Most businesses either work from 7 am to 4 pm, or maybe it's 9 am to 5 pm. It's certainly not 10:30 am, which is the time Michelle typically starts working.
When Michelle first tried to start a business, she tried to fit into the conventional work hours, and it did not work for her. She could have chosen to continue to struggle, she could have quit, or she could choose to change her business to fit her needs. And surprise, when she did change her business, the business didn't plummet. She didn't lose a ton of clients, and the business has grown significantly.
The more transparent she is about who she is, the more people identify with her story. And by making sure that the business fit what she needed, that ensured she would be able to deliver the best value because she was her best self whenever she was working.
Making your business work for you
I understand making your business work for you. ADHD is something I have been working with, and that means that there are things that if I tried to do the way everybody else does, I wouldn't get it done properly. Business owners need to figure out what their workaround is. If they get stuck in the belief that it can only work one way – you could get stuck permanently.
People often say “own your strengths.” Michelle says, “triple down on your weaknesses.” This means, find the areas that you're the least strong at. In Michelle’s case, it's always going to be the areas that having narcolepsy effects, and for me, that's where ADHD effects things. These are the areas that business owners either need to get magically better at or find a way to work around them.
By finding a workaround, all of a sudden, a business owner will be significantly stronger in that area than the average person is. Instead of feeling less than, they will have a reputation for being significantly stronger than normal in that area because they tripled down on it. Combine that with natural gifts and talents, and you can have a business that is significantly more successful than average.
When it comes to a health condition, don't bother going down conventional paths that are not going to lead to positive outcomes.
Why business owners need systems and automation
Something bad could happen to any business owner at any point. It doesn't just have to be related to chronic illnesses. So, having systems, technology, and plans in place where if you did have to take time off, not only is it important for the longterm success and protection of your business, but it also reduces stress.
If you want to take a day off because, as in Michelle’s case, you’re exhausted, then you need to be able to do that without the potential that the business could be destroyed or that people would be upset.
Whatever the reason, all business owners need to give themselves permission to work less and still have their businesses run smoothly. Michelle has created a program to make it easier for business owners to build better client journeys so they can get more of their ideal clients and deliver better results for those clients. They have done this by creating a prebuilt system of the main go-to automations that every business should have early on.
There are all kinds of ways people can create a thriving business, even if they have a chronic illness or disorder, and even if they have other things pulling them in different directions.
When it comes to your life and your business, do you fall into the belief that you can’t be successful or are you going to allow yourself to have the success you deserve?
Find out more about the automations and programs offered by Michelle at https://venturecreative.com/business-process-marketing-automation/. You can also join her free Facebook Community for entrepreneurs with chronic illnesses, disorders, and disabilities.
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