Yin Yang and Prosper

By Lorrie Webb Grillo

In these pages I offer my journey of becoming a feng shui consultant as a guide to helping you create your own thriving practice. I open my office, my computer folders, and my marketing and web-based applications. I share how I got started, how I keep going, and what I actually do in a feng shui consultation.  And I use the wisdom, balance, and structure of the feng shui Bagua to cover all aspects of creating and running a feng shui business: from naming it and creating a brand to marketing and reaching perfect clients to finding balance and prosperity.

My hope is that this book will help you get started on your own journey and be a friendly voice when you are stalled or feeling a bit lost. It includes exercises and questions to help you stay on track. By sharing the path I took to build my practice, I hope to illuminate yours, so you can spend less time stumbling and more time moving forward.

Come along.  Together we can Yin Yang and Prosper!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thriving Spaces Feng Shui
• Release date: Oct 25, 2020
• ISBN: 9781735728711

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

The Center

The Center: Your Stable Base

Imagine we are having coffee and I ask you why you are starting your business. What would you tell me? Your answer would be your mission statement! (Well, maybe with a little editing.) Once you can articulate why you’re doing what you’re doing, you can begin to create some goals for your business. In this chapter, you will learn about my mission, some of my early goals, how my entrepreneurial gurus helped me name my business and articulate my services, and how I organize my computer and my office. All of these activities helped me build a stable base upon which to grow my business.

Start with a Sincere Mission

I wrote my mission in 2008 on a small piece of paper, in pencil, and still have it taped to the back of my office door.

To help my clients reach their goals by using the positive energy, practical philosophy, and powerful tools of feng shui with confidence, clarity, and optimism.

In order to fulfill this mission, I had to have some clients!

Your Mission Leads to Setting Some Goals

My first goals were small and humble. After my certification in December 2008, I just wanted to get out in the world and start offering consultations. So, my first business goal was to be hired in my new professional capacity. To be hired, I had to have a name, some business cards, and some systems in place (like how to get paid).

What’s in a Name? Everything.

One of the most enjoyable parts of starting your entrepreneurial life is naming your business! And I encourage you to get help when you do—I certainly needed it. I thought I could come up with a name that would be universally accepted and loved. I was the solopreneur³, setting off alone to create my feng shui consulting business.

The first time I heard the word solopreneur, I thought it sounded so cool and described exactly what I was: a solo entrepreneur. A one-woman band.

Except that I’m not a solopreneur. And, I would venture to say, neither are you. I couldn’t have built my business without all the people who’ve helped me over the years: my friends, my colleagues, my graphic designer, my website designer, my son/webmaster, my husband/accountant/tax guy, my teachers, my clients, and my entrepreneurial gurus, who you’ll meet in a minute. The list goes on.

It’s the ego that feeds the idea of the solopreneur. It’s the ego that feeds the idea that we can and should go it alone. And if we don’t, somehow we feel we are less than. When I remember that I need help, but even more important—when I remember to ask for help—my life gets so much easier, and my business reaps the benefits.

I started asking for help a month after I finished the first part of my certification program in June 2008. In July, I created a group I called my entrepreneurial gurus, composed of my son, Milo (a budding graphic artist and web designer), and four friends who had all allowed me to feng shui their homes and/or offices as part of my certification program. I asked them to meet with me to discuss my new business idea and sent them a survey with some key questions about how I should run my new business. I reserved a room at the local library for our meeting to create a more businesslike atmosphere than I could achieve around my kitchen table. My survey asked:

What does feng shui mean to you?

Is feng shui for everyone?

What do you think a consultation looks like?

What should my website have on it/in it?

How much should I charge?

What do you think my name should be? What names do you like?

(Here I gave them a list of words that I liked for them to play around with.)

Who is my perfect customer?

How will they find me?

What should my gift to clients be?

Their insight was invaluable, and I took all their advice, which I’ve paraphrased here from my notes:

People need to know that it’s not expensive to do and that it doesn’t take a lot of time.

People need to know the benefits, i.e., What’s in it for me?

You’ll need to have some information before the appointment so you can hit the ground running when you get there. (This comment led me to create the questionnaire on my website.)

You’ll need testimonials and a photo on your website; people will want to meet you there.

Give your clients different approaches to implementing your feng shui recommendations: low or no-cost, medium, and high-budget options.

Regardless of the cost, all recommendations should be listed by priority—what is most important for realizing/experiencing change