20. Honouring the needs of small business owners with Lynda James

Small business doesn’t have to satisfy someone else’s needs.  Lynda James is an accountant and money coach who helps empathetic, thoughtful, intuitive and creative business owners to unravel challenging monetary beliefs and patterns & uncomplicate business finances so they can create sustainable and profitable businesses that improve their lives and others.  In this episode we discuss:  - Slowing consumerism by being intentional business owners that designs our business around our goals & health needs.  - Co-dependency on big corporates has not been good on our health. We’ve become consumers rather than simply citizens or community members - over working & undernourished  - The small business world can sometimes orientate itself around simply getting tax done. At times there is no time given to sit back & assess how money can be spent & managed in an intentional way  - Small business is the fabric of how a community exists. Lynda’s travels through Europe have created a remembering of this.  - The more empathic, concerned & kind ways we do business essentially is just an exchange of resources. Money is simply used for convenience.  - In the West, business has been used to potentially maximise profit margin, etc. Exponential growth has become the focus.  - The volume of sales is dependent on the goal, so being clear on our individual goal is really important.  - “Company of 1” by Paul Jarvis is a great book that Lynda recommends.  - Some things are so engrained in our culture that we don’t question them…  - Glorification of busy is common in our modern world… Greece doesn’t glorify busy. Being present offers connection which strengthens a community.  - How do we balance being active & being receptive. Down time to connect is healthy & important.  - What is a sustainable business? By paying attention to our needs we are able to run a more sustainable business. Getting clear on our own individual goal aids this. Choosing accurate pricing honours the whole person… so that the person is more cared for. The transactions that follow encourage conscious spending.  - Pricing enacts discernment & therefore we become more considered in how we purchase or spend. Which slows down the sales cycle, allowing for consideration & reflection. We need more time so that choices are not unconscious.  - Mainstream marketing triggers a crazy amount of fear which sometimes leads to spending.  - Our internal ‘junk’ around money can be used as clues to navigate how we behave around money.  - Hard work = Success (Underlying message from society)  - By connecting to the natural world we find it harder to ignore our health needs. The natural rhythms can’t be ignored.  - When we run our own business we get to CHOOSE – intentional business design, not reactive. INTENTIONAL business design can fit in local economy.  - Being financially well needs to be spoken of more – small business owners can take care of themselves & not fall into the trap of glorifying busyness. Don’t underplay how valuable it is to be yourself in the scheme of running your business.  - Let’s create small business owners that THRIVE!  @lynda_valofinancial  www.valofinancial.com