Little Me Big Business: How to Grow Your Small Business, Increase Your Profits and Go Global (in Your Pajamas)

By Nadia Finer

Little Me, Big Business presents the secret of scaling a solo business the smart way, so business owners can go global from their sofa. It’s for solo business owners who want to make more money, but don’t have any more hours in the day—lone rangers who don’t want just a hobby business, but the real deal. Little Me, Big Business is the ultimate how-to on scaling a business so that it has massive impact while staying small and stress free. Business coach Nadia Finer reveals how business owners can work from home, in the time they have available, while reaching more people and making more money. Rather than working more, business owners learn to work smarter, adapt their audience, find new revenue streams, tweak their business model, and get clever with pricing, sales, and marketing. With Nadia’s help, anyone can follow the five simple steps to create a Little Big Business that fits into their life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Jun 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9781683508526

Book preview

Kick Fear In The Face

Iremember the first time I realised there was something a bit odd about my voice. I was fifteen, in a French lesson and we’d just got these fancy new tape machines. (I’m really ageing myself now!) You spoke into the headset and recorded your voice onto the tape so you could listen back to yourself and check your pronunciation. I loved French, despite my appalling British accent. So I happily recorded myself and then pressed play.

All I could hear was this little kid talking. Who the heck was that?

It took me a moment to realise that it was me. What the?! I sounded like I was five years old. How on earth had I not known this before? How had nobody ever mentioned this? I excused myself and hid in the loo.

I was devastated. I was a freak. From that day on I vowed to keep this little voice of mine under wraps. Since then, I’ve avoided letting people hear me speak. It’s held me back professionally, as I hated phoning people I didn’t know, leaving answer machine messages, making videos, being interviewed and public speaking. Under no circumstances would I put myself out there, exposed to potential public ridicule. If I could have communicated solely through the medium of mime, I would have done.

When my friend Emily and I set off on a mission to write a book featuring interviews with the country’s most inspiring women (from Everest climbers and rock photographers, to computer scientists and famous authors) to find out how they turned their dreams of success into reality, something had to change.

It was all very well this big plan of ours, but I was scared of phoning people I didn’t know. I mean, who on earth would take me seriously when I sound like I need parental supervision to use the phone. How the hell was I going to ring people up and arrange interviews with inspirational icons? We had a publisher waiting for our book and I couldn’t bring myself to make the flipping phone calls.

I had a choice. No calls meant no interviews. No interviews meant no book. No book meant no deal!

In the end I just had to get on with it. And you know what? A funny thing happened. My success rate was through the roof. Whether people were so taken by the sheer brilliance of our book idea, they felt sorry for me, or thought I was doing a school project, who knows, but it seemed to work!

After a decade of hiding my voice away I realised that if only I could just push myself past the fear, great things could really happen. I haven’t looked back.

It’s a constant battle though. I set myself these awesome goals, and pretty much instantly, The Fear sets in. It’s like a disease, and it spreads. And you may well recognise The Fear in yourself, but the worst thing is that you may not even realise you have it.

You’re in the zone growing your business and single-handedly preparing for world domination. But it’s there, lurking… ready to screw with your plans.

Maybe you’re so busy flipping from one thing to another that you simply can’t focus on the big important things you know will benefit your business. Think it’s because you just don’t have time? Yeah, right. You’re procrastinating, because of The Fear.

So you’ve suddenly found yourself struck down by the lurgy when you’re about to do something important, like launch a new product or give a big presentation. Chances are your sneaky subconscious has got to work putting a lid on it, in a desperate attempt to keep your greatness in an airtight Tupperware container. Why? The Fear.

Are you obsessed with making everything perfect before it sees the light of day? Stop kidding yourself that you’re striving for perfection. You’re avoiding taking action, dude. Because of The Fear.

Telling yourself you’re keeping your prices low because you’re ‘attracting clients’, ‘building a portfolio’ or ‘gaining experience’ before you charge properly? No - you’re letting your insecurities trash your business, because… you guessed it, The Fear.

You see, it all comes down to The Fear, in the end.

You may be desperate to take off and float towards huge success and unimaginable riches, but no matter what you do, you’re not getting anywhere, because you’re dragging a bunch of old mindset junk behind you. Every time you surge forwards, The Fear kicks in. It keeps you safe and small, so you don’t have to worry.

You don’t need these doubts, fears or insecurities, but for some reason you can’t let them go.

But what if you did jettison the trash and tell your fears to do one? What if you could set yourself free, so that you can stop dragging yourself down and really start to rock your business?

A Tale of Two Grandmas

I’m lucky enough to still have two grandmas. They’re both just over 90 years old. They both survived the Second World War. Both of them are wonderful in their own way, but they’re very different people.

Lily and Sylvie are fiercely independent women, particularly now that they have lost their husbands. Lily still insists on catering for the whole family when we visit; refusing any offer of help or gifts. And Sylvie can often be found up a ladder painting the outside of her house (not a particularly good idea, IMHO, but that’s a story for another day).

It struck me recently that both my grandmas have a very different approach to life.

Lily is one hundred percent focused on making sure we, her family, are all kept safe and sound. She’s not too keen on us taking risks, it worries her.

Hey grandma, I’m off to university! And I’m going to spend a year living abroad!

What do you want to do that for?

Hey grandma, I’m starting a business.

Oh!… What do you want to go and do that for?!

Hey grandma, I’ve decided to write a book.

What do you want to do that for?

You get the idea.

I do know Grandma Lily is only trying to keep me out of harm’s way. She doesn’t want me to take a risk unless she can be sure there’s going to be a positive outcome.

Grandma Sylvie on the other hand is rather more intrepid. (Remember the ladder?) Her signature look is a Burberry trench and a Liberty’s head-scarf knotted in her hair. (I swear, she’s actually the original hipster.) Never a woman of great means, Grandma Sylvie has a history of blagging her way into the most glamorous high society