6. Starting a Spiritual Business: A Step-by-Step Guide

Hi, I’m Natalie Ottosen and you’re listening to The Mindset School podcast, episode number six.

Welcome to The Mindset School podcast, a show for spiritual entrepreneurs who are ready to stop feeling stuck, reconnect to their soul’s purpose, and create a deeply fulfilling life and business. I’m Natalie Ottosen, transformational life coach, and reconnection healing foundational practitioner, and I can help you scale and grow a six-figure business from a place of inner authority, wisdom, knowledge, and truth.

If you are a spiritual entrepreneur and you are looking to take that first step towards your dream of running your own business, this is the show for you. Ready to step into your power and move forward with clarity and purpose? Let’s go.

Hello beautiful soul family. Welcome back to The Mindset School podcast. I want to build on what I talked about last week, which was how to align your business with your values. If you haven’t listened to that episode yet, you might want to listen to that first and then come back here. So just a little recap.

Values are a guidance system for us in helping us make decisions that are in alignment with who we are and where we want to go. It helps us to find the life and business we want to create. Creating feelings of fulfillment, purpose, and direction so that you can build that spiritual business or become that spiritual entrepreneur you’ve always wanted to become. I want you to think about this. What might be stopping you from starting? You can probably find all the reasons why you shouldn't start your business, or these might be some of the reasons you’re struggling to get started.

You might be lacking some confidence. You might be feeling unsure of yourself or your abilities to succeed, but confidence is always built by practice. And spoiler alert, you can never succeed if you never start. You might be having fear of failure. Fear of failure can be a significant obstacle for some women, especially if they have limited resources and can't afford to take risks. You might have time constraints. You might have limited time to devote to a new business especially if you possibly have young children to care for or other responsibilities.

You lack the business skills. So starting a business requires a range of skills including marketing and financial management and networking. You may feel like you don't have these skills and it might be overwhelming just thinking about the idea of acquiring them. When I started I had no idea what to do with any of these. You might have some financial concerns. So starting a business often requires an investment, either time or money or both especially if you are already managing some financial demands on your family, this could be a concern for you.

You have limited social networks. You believe you lack the social network necessary to build a client base or to get the word out about your new business. When I started my real estate business I was pretty new here to Kansas City and I absolutely did not really know anybody. I had no center of influence and so I had to build that center of influence. But what will it cost you if you don't answer that call that’s burning inside of you? You miss opportunities.

So starting a spiritual business, it can provide so many opportunities for personal and professional growth as well as opportunities to make a positive impact in the lives of others and yourself. How many people need what you have to offer? I know so many women who didn't pursue these opportunities and later regretted it. I know because I was one of them. Lack of fulfillment, many of you may be feeling unfulfilled or stuck in your current situation especially if you’re not pursuing your passions and interests.

Starting a spiritual business can provide a sense of purpose and fulfillment that may be missing in your life. No one knows what your passions are except for you. And just as you may be having financial concerns you can also create financial security. Starting a spiritual business can provide an additional source of income and financial security especially as you may be thinking about retirement or facing other financial challenges. You also can create a sense of accomplishment.

Starting and running a successful business can provide a sense of accomplishment and pride that can be deeply satisfying and fulfilling, which really starts to build that confidence within you. Your legacy, what are you leaving behind? Maybe this doesn't matter to you, maybe it does. Starting a spiritual business can also provide an opportunity to leave a positive legacy to impact the lives of others and to make a lasting difference in the world. This podcast that I’m creating, it will forever be part of my legacy as well as the books that I decide to write, my current clients lives that I’m impacting.

What legacy, if any, do you want to leave behind? So I wanted to give you a checklist on what it would look like for you to start your own spiritual business and how you can become your own spiritual entrepreneur.

So number one and I believe that this is the most important step in the entire process of building a business is understanding your why. Why do you want to do this spiritual business? In the beginning, for me, I didn't necessarily know what it was for me, but I did know that I always had a longing and desire to help other people on a deeper level. It took some time for me personally to figure it out and what it looked like for me. But I did all of the things all at the same time. And as I started to let go what didn’t work for me, this process really helped me develop the skills and abilities that helped me define my own path.

And as I listened and built my intuition, which I will talk about in the next podcast, I started moving in the direction that literally set my, well, not literally, it set my soul on fire. So narrowing it down and doing what I love with all of my heart. My why is to help and show you that you can become your own hero just like I did. And I really dive deep into this in the first episode. So if you haven't listened to that yet, I encourage you to check that out as well.

So here are a few questions to help you find your why. What are you good at and/or passionate about? If you set the money aside, why do you want to turn that passion into a business? Who is your ideal client and how can you serve them? And why or how is what you offer different than somebody else? Those are really great questions to journal on or brainstorm on. I encourage you to grab a piece of paper or grab a journal and literally just write down what comes to you.

Okay, number two, determine your niche. What is it that you want to do? Do you love meditation? Do you love yoga? Do you love spiritual counseling? Do you love energy healing? What is the area that you want to go into? Now, as coaches, most people start out as a general life coach unless you go into a specific program. So niching down as a life coach is a little bit different than finding the niche, the area that you want to move towards in your spiritual business.

So, again it could be spiritual counseling where you’re offering guidance and support to individuals who are seeking help with personal or spiritual or emotional issues. You could become a meditation teacher offering classes or workshops on meditation techniques, teaching people how to meditate or providing resources. Maybe you love astrology like I do, providing astrological readings or consultations for individuals seeking guidance and insight into their lives.

Maybe you’re an intuitive coach helping clients tap into their own intuition and inner wisdom and make better decisions to help create a more fulfilling life. Maybe it's a nutrition coach where you’re helping individuals develop healthy eating habits and being more mindful about the food choices that they're making to help support their overall health and wellbeing. Or maybe you’re a breathwork practitioner where you offer classes and workshops or individual sessions that help clients focus on conscious breathing techniques to help promote relaxation and reduce stress and improve overall health and wellbeing.

So these are just a few examples of the different niches that you could look at and choose within the spiritual business industry. Each niche offers unique opportunities for growth and service to others. So helping yourself to find that for you is so important so that you can start moving forward in the checklist. So number one is all about finding out what your why is and then two is defining your niche. And you actually may have multiple that resonate with you. So ask yourself, if I could choose one to start with, what would it be?

For me, I actually started with three. I started with coaching, reiki, and astrology. So I kind of did those all at the same time and I've loved how that’s ended up unfolding in my own business. And then I’ve added different classes and certifications and mindfulness practices and things like that along my journey that I all incorporate with all my clients.

So number three, create a mission statement for your business. So again, once you understand your why and your niche, you can start putting your mission statement together. And allow this to be fluid because this is going to change over time. Again, so as you pick an area that you want to build your business around, it might change, and it might ebb, and it might flow. So just allowing that to be fluid for you. My mission is to help women become their own hero by finding their purpose and creating independence and financial freedom and ultimately creating a six figure business.

So also understanding your values really helps with this process as well because you can start pulling those key words into this mission statement. In fact I encourage you to grab a piece of paper and write down five to 10 core values and start building your own mission statement.

Number four, choose a name for your business and then register it. So when I developed Soul Sister Coaching, again, that was kind of a fluid process as well because I had different names in mind and as I checked them out to see if they were available, some of them were, some of them were not. And then I knew for myself that I wanted to help women specifically by adding the spiritual aspect to it. So I had several names that I was playing around with. I checked to see what was available and put them into GoDaddy and then eventually ended up settling on Soul Sister Coaching.

And I actually even have another domain that is Sisters of Soul, I think. So just play around with that and then get yourself registered so that you can create a website.

So number five is obtain the necessary licenses or permits and insurance that you need, check with your state, check what requirements are. If you’re a healing practitioner, some states require you to have specific certifications in order to touch people. If you’re not touching people, that’s a whole different subject. So just obtain the necessary if you’re coaching people you may want to get liability insurance. So check with your individual state that you live in and see what kind of licenses or permits or insurance that you need.

Number six is develop a business plan that outlines your goals, services and pricing. You guys, it's so important to set goals. If you don't know where you're going, how are you ever going to get there? So it's so important to create a plan, define what you're going to offer and don't overcomplicate this process. Start simple and start small. If you’re coaching, just offer one-on-one coaching. If you're an energy healer, offer energy healing sessions. So figure out what you're going to charge and then make sure you’re actually charging it.

I see this a lot with spiritual entrepreneurs. So often they think that they need another certification, training, or practice before they start charging. And I'll talk about that more on another podcast in the future, but make sure that you’re actually charging. As my mentor says, there is drama and there is math. If you want to make $1,000 a month at $100 an hour you need 2.5 clients a week. If you want to make more money you need to either increase your price or you need to increase the amount of clients that you’re seeing.

When determining your pricing and creating packages or services, feel free to check out other people in your area, what they're doing, how much they're charging. But then I want you to go back to yourself. I want you to use your own intuition and guidance system and see what feels right for you. After you do that I encourage you to double it.

Number seven, set up a website and social media presence. Please don't overthink this. As you are getting started, there are so many great sites to help you start with something simple. Please know a website is not required to make money. I know so many professionals that have made multi six figures without a website or social media presence. When it comes to social media, pick one or two platforms to get started with and just start posting regularly.

I will talk more about that in an upcoming episode as well because building a social media platform there is a nuance to it, so I will give some more information. But to get you started, just create it, and start to show up like you, show up authentically.

Number eight, develop a marketing strategy to attract clients. Again please don't overthink this one. As I started my multi six figure businesses I did so by going to networking events. Actually, let’s be honest I went to every single event that I possibly could go to. So I went to everything and anything I could. But also it was calling people and it was connecting with people. So you don't have to build this big marketing strategy, however you can and that's probably going to take money. And you have to decide if you want to spend money or time in the beginning.

But again I built my multi six figure businesses by just going to networking events, calling people, and connecting with people and showing up. So I got really far out of my comfort zone, so far out of my comfort zone I didn't even recognize who I was. So with all that being said, when it comes to scaling your business, that's when you really want to hone in that marketing piece and that's when that becomes more important. But to get started you just want to figure out how you’re going to start connecting with people.

Number nine, develop a network of spiritual practitioners or professionals. There are all sorts of ways to do this. You can do it through social media. You can do it through local events. You can do it through networking events. So, interesting story, I went to a networking event here in Kansas City, it's called NAWBO. And I’ve gone to a couple of these meetings so far. And I’ve actually met with a few people as well. And obviously I’m a spiritual business coach and not everyone really kind of knows what that means or what that really looks like.

So after I met with somebody and she was like, “Well, what does that mean?” And we talked about, but then I kind of thought about it and I was like, “Well, maybe this networking event, maybe these aren’t really my people. Well, the last one that I went to, I went with a friend of mine. And we got in a group of women, and we all started talking about astrology and feng shui and energy healing and all of the things. And so I just want to remind you that if you think that you might not be in the right place, just have the courage to show up who you are because you never know who might resonate with you.

So get creative on all the different ways that you can be and connect with like-minded individuals and you can even join Soul Sister Society where I am creating this community, that is my plan, that’s my goal. I am creating a community of like-minded women that want to come together, who want to build their businesses, who really want to move forward in collaboration, along the same lines of developing their network. So continue to learn and grow in your field as well so that you can continue to offer the best services and practices to your clients.

It also allows you to kind of reinvent yourself and your business and again keep learning, growing, and expanding.

Number 10 is hire a coach or mentor. Work with somebody who's been through what you want to go through, somebody who's walked through the process, somebody who's built their business, someone who has been where you are. It is so helpful to have somebody guide you through the process. You 100% can figure it out on your own. Having a coach or mentor just helps you figure it out faster. And it helps you take those steps that you can either say, “Yeah, this works for me,” or, “No, it doesn’t.” I wish I'd had all of this advice when I was starting my own business.

I ended up spending a lot of time and energy on things that didn't really matter, like building multiple websites and social media platforms. Now, I do generate a lot of business off of my social media platform. That’s where a lot of my clients come from, but that has taken me six years to do that. And there are ways to do that faster. And again, I’ll share that down the road. But I became super hyper focused on marketing instead of just mapping out my business plan, going out and making offers and building my confidence and growing my business.

Okay, so to recap. Number one, figure out your why, why do you want to build this business? Number two, determine your niche. Is it a meditation teacher? Is it a life coach? Is it a healing practitioner? Number three, create a mission statement for your business. So how are you going to help people? Number four, choose a name and get it registered. Number five, obtain the necessary licenses or permits or insurance that you need. And that actually could probably come a little bit later, but even still, it’s something you probably want to start looking into.

Number six is develop a business plan that outlines your goals, services, and pricing. Number seven, set up a website and social media presence. Number eight, develop a marketing strategy to attract clients. Number nine, develop a network of other spiritual or professional practitioners. And number 10, hire a coach or mentor. So remember that starting a spiritual business is a unique journey and it's important to stay aligned with your values and missions while also staying grounded and practical.

Also it's important to recognize that starting a business is an undertaking and it’s normal to have concerns and doubts. However, with the right support and resources you can successfully start and run your own spiritual business. I hope this list was helpful. I’ll create a link where you can download it to help you start your own journey. If you have any questions, please always feel free to reach out to me @soulsistercoaching on Instagram. I am absolutely loving hearing from all of you.

I have had so many people reach out to me about the podcast, just about how they’re feeling, about podcast ideas. I am absolutely loving all of your messages. So continue to reach out to me, if you have any questions about starting a new spiritual business, reach out to me there as well. I will chat with you about any and all of it. I will see you next week, all my love.

To celebrate the launch of the show I’m going to be giving away my favorite books, journals, planners, energy healing sessions, binaural meditation packs, coaching packages and so much more. I’m going to be giving away 100 prizes for 100 reviews to the lucky listeners who follow, rate, and review the show. It doesn't have to be a five-star review although I sure hope you love the show. I want your honest feedback so I can create an amazing show that provides tons of value.

If you’ve entered the podcast giveaway already, make sure that you left a review on Apple Podcasts so that you’re eligible to win. Visit soulsistercoaching.com/podcastlaunch to learn more about the contest and how to enter.

Thank you for joining me for this week's episode of The Mindset School. Ready to dive deeper into finding your purpose and create a deeply fulfilling life? Visit soulsistercoaching.com for more guidance and resources. See you next week.