Women can make way more money than they believe they can, and Julie Gordon White is the woman who drills this idea into the heads of women entrepreneurs until it becomes a big, fat million-dollar reality.
After years of working in the corporate and small-business consulting world, Julie decided to take her knowledge and open a boutique mergers and acquisitions firm. After successfully running her business and growing it to $5 million, she knew that the next thing for her was to teach other women how to do the same. Now, as CEO and Founder of The WELL for Women Entrepreneurs, Julie works with business owners who desire to scale their service businesses to $1 million, and then sell them for $1 million.
“Women do not start businesses with the intention of selling them and only 5% or less ever go beyond 150,000 dollars in revenue,” she explains. “I started my business to Inspire and teach women what to do, step-by-step, to ensure big growth and a successful exit from their business down the road.”
Julie Gordon White (center, front row) poses with clients from The WELL for Women Entrepreneurs
Top two challenges new entrepreneurs must face
Starting a new business is really scary—that’s a fact, and anyone who says different has no idea what they’re talking about. So embrace the fear, says Julie, and turn it into motivation to succeed. As a business coach, Julie is privy to the innermost thoughts, hopes, fears, and dreams of women business owners. She says that, by far, the two biggest challenges her clients tell her that they face are believing in themselves and what to charge for their services.
1. Believe in your abilities, embrace the inevitable fear
“Women who start businesses want to know: Can I grow? Do I have what it takes to succeed?! Should I get more degrees and certificates!?!” explains Julie. She says winning at business is less about answering a million questions up front, and more about establishing a strong mindset from the start, believing that you can and will create your own income while not killing yourself in the process. Overwhelmed? Julie says you ought to congratulate yourself: “It’s a great sign because it is real evidence that you are growing and expanding.” Manage the overwhelm, she says, by taking a step back and prioritizing the next steps you need to take to keep moving the needle forward.
2. Charge what you’re worth
Whatever you’re currently charging for your service business (coaching, massage therapy, counseling, or other non-product based businesses), triple it, says Julie. Your clients will not only show up and do the work because they’re paying a significant price, but you’ll be earning what you truly deserve. Charging too little for services is, unfortunately, a largely female epidemic, she says, “every woman who enters my program is way undercharging,” Julie laments. And they’ll often be pricing their services in a piece-meal manner that diminishes their profits, and takes up valuable time to calculate, invoice, and track. “I help women do the math behind their business strategy,” Julie says. “Exactly how many clients do you need to have in order to reach a million? That’s some really eye-opening math for most of my clients!”
Five mindset shifts toward a million
At The Well for Women Entrepreneurs, Julie offers online coaching programs for her clients who want to scale up their businesses. A lot of business growth relies on planning a solid strategy, for sure, but Julie says, “We spend just as much time on mindset as we do on business strategy.” It’s so important that Julie has defined five key mindsets for her clients.
1. The FOCUS Shift
You have to focus on one high-impact and transformational offer because customizing services is a losing proposition for both you and your clients. Essentially, she says, do one thing really well, and not a hundred things in a mediocre fashion just to offer more things. “I’m not about stress. I’m about grace and ease,” says Julie. “Women are stressed enough in our lives and work. I have three kids and a husband of 28 years, that’s enough all by itself!” She laughs. “We don’t need to make our lives more complicated.”
2. The LEVERAGE Shift
Relying solely on content marketing to generate leads for new clients is a big mistake, says Julie. It takes too long to get traction, and one-off tactics like big product launches and podcasting will significantly slow down your growth. Instead, you must have a branded and predictable lead-generation system that speaks directly to your ideal client. For example: a small advertising campaign on the right platform where the spend increases over time is the best and fastest way to scale.
3. The EXPANSION Shift
The good news is that because of the internet you can do way more for way less, but the bad news is that you’re doing way, way, way too much yourself. You need a few key people doing a few key things—like a superstar bookkeeper and a virtual assistant—who can grow with you.
4. The SCALING Shift
Julie says always start your new operation by “documenting your business processes so they can be replicated as you grow, which then enables you to eventually delegate those processes to others so you can spend your time working ON your business and not IN it.”Having a documented process of how your company operates is worth seven figures all by itself. It’s the only way to scale a business BIG.”
5. The RESILIENCE Shift
The number one barrier between you and a million-dollar business is the way you think. Most women entrepreneurs struggle with disempowering thoughts that prevent them from growing the seven figure business and income they are capable of having. Don’t go it alone—get a proven mentor to help you save time, money, and freedom-blocking frustration, says Julie.
Bottom line: it’s all about the freedom
Julie says that when you hit obstacles, just remember that you’re in charge and remind yourself why you’re doing this: money and freedom. “You are working on your own clock to make your own schedule and to make the money that you want to make,” she reiterates. “Every woman needs to know how to make her own money because money gives you choices and choices give you freedom.”
