I’m so excited today to be joined by Samantha Ste Marie. Samantha is a productivity strategist and specifically works with service providers to help them find clients with ease and create their perfect work schedule. We all know that the perfect work schedule for someone else may not be the perfect work schedule for us. And in this culture of online business and so much hustle and grind, I think a lot of us are coming up for air, realizing that we don’t actually have as high of capacity as we thought we did.
And instead of trying to push past that, Samantha really challenges it by helping business owners realize that it’s possible to create a schedule that serves your life well, your business well, and also serves your clients well too. You can be getting paid what you want to be paid AND be loving your job and the flexibility that you have.
The conversation that I had with Sam for this episode could have gone on even longer as we are both so fired up about this topic. Sam is very passionate about productivity and helping service providers run their businesses well. Here are some of the things we talked about in this episode:
- Shiny object syndrome and passive income
- How Samantha became passionate in this area
- Shifts in business and motherhood
- Creating your ideal business/schedule (even if you don’t have kids or passive income)
- Accepting your goals as your own
- Evaluating your role and how much flexibility it offers you
- Charging a monthly retainer (phasing out hourly rates)
- Being “on” all the time
- Boundaries within business
- Working with clients that respect your schedule and space
- Getting a handle on your time (first figure out where your time is going)
- The post-in note strategy
- Cut out the waste and start following the money
A few highlights from this episode:
[7:08] – It’s all about the stepping stones and making sure that we have that amazing offer and we are actually finding the clients that not just want to buy it, but actually want to buy from us as people.
[13:21] – I had to build a schedule and build a business that allowed me to do it when I could and then not do it when I felt like I couldn’t.
[14:20] – That kind of business should happen way before you are forced to build a business that way.
[16:31] – Your goals are your goals, no matter how small or how big. There are no small or big goals. There are just goals. End of story.
[23:35] – Your time does not equal money. It’s what you bring to the table. It’s what you provide. And by building it this way, you also get the bonus of that flexibility.
We touched on a lot of things in this episode, but I love the message behind it all and the emphasis on creating a business and schedule that you desire – the flexibility and boundaries that you want and need! If you want to connect with Samantha you can find her on social media at @samanthastmarie or grab her resource of 22 Time Saving Strategies for your Business in 2022.
When I look back on the beginning of my business, it was a sea of excel spreadsheets, paper contracts, and checks by mail. But then I found Dubsado! Dubsado helped me organize my clients in a way that made it easy for me to keep track of them, their projects, and also save me some time. Ever since I started using Dubsado, it has been my right hand software. It was my assistant before I could afford to hire an assistant.
It allows me to send and accept digital contracts, no printing or scanning, just all done online. I can send invoices and receive payments faster. It also integrates with so many other platforms that I use, like Google calendar, so I never miss an appointment.
When people ask me the one business tool I can’t live without, it’s Dubsado! If you are ready to up-level the back end of your business and make your life easier, you can click here and use the code MADDIEPESCHONG to get 20% off your first month or year.
Some of the best conversations happen after the show in my private Facebook group, Take It Personally Podcast. Click here to join in!
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