Welcome to this episode of uncomplicating business. I am so happy to be with you today. If you don't know me, my name is Sara Torpey. I am the creator of uncomplicating business, the uncomplicating Business Lab. 

This podcast selling for weirdos all kinds of fun things. And I work with clients one on one and in the lab right now. So one of the things that happens to me quite a bit is in working with clients, both in the lab and one on one, is I get these tiny little bits of like really important ideas, and I end up collecting them on my desk, and then they just sit there, and I like, hang on to them, like their secrets in my pocket. So today, after sort of a week and a half of collecting these and not knowing what to do with them, what I'd like to do on this episode is give you seven of my favorites. 

They are tiny, little ideas that might make a big difference. My guess is, out of these seven ideas, at least one of them is really important for you, and that is why I'm sharing them today. So your job in this episode is to listen to all seven and decide what's for you. You don't have to do everything. You don't have to think everything. But what's the one takeaway that would be really useful for you today? I know which one is mine, so I'll tell you that at the end. Here we go. Number one, this comes out of a conversation with a client yesterday who is finding that as she is onboarding clients, they're not reading all the directions, and that is because, when we looked at her onboarding stuff, she's burying the lead. All of the directions are at the end. And as a teacher, it is my tendency and hers to give all the context, first give all the information and then give the directions. But actually, for having people follow directions, that's the opposite of how it should work. It should be directions and then context, and then all of the information. So for her, we're going to flip flop the process and not bury the lead.

 As I was thinking about this yesterday, I then also had somebody tell me that I do that all the time in my marketing, like I tell you the story, I tell you why it matters, and then I give you the directions for what I want you to buy or take a look at or try or join, versus the reverse. And so one of the things I am thinking about after that conversation with the client and the conversation I had with friend, had with friend yesterday is, where am I burying the lead? And that is a question for you today. 

Where are you burying the lead? And what does that look like? What would happen if you pulled the directions to the front and then told the story? Number two, this is a tricky one. You help people best with things that are also your own struggle. What comes to mind for me as a client I was talking to about this week with us, who works with families who don't want their who are uncomfortable sort of challenging their kids, and all of sudden, she discovered that she was feeling uncomfortable challenging the parents, and she was like, Oh no, I'm doing exactly what they do. I have a dear friend who is a money coach, and she's amazing, and she does all sorts of wonderful things with people, and she has her own issues with money that she gets trapped in her head about and assumes that that she can't help people with it. And none of that is true. 

The things that are the most work for you are the places that you are most able to help. Because you get it, you have authentic and true and real understanding of the struggle and the solutions that cannot be cannot be replaced. It is magic when you give that to someone else, because they have not had your experiences, and they need the wisdom you have gained from your struggle, and that is why you are the perfect person to help them. Number three, this is in relation to number two.

 Change comes from discomfort. You and I both know this, like we are uncomfortable, therefore we change. But if you are not willing to be uncomfortable, or you are not willing to create discomfort in others, you'll create less change. That means, if you're working with people on one on one, you have to be willing to be uncomfortable and have them be uncomfortable. It means that if you are marketing, you have to be willing to say things that make you uncomfortable and make them uncomfortable. And this is how we create growth. We create bias. In like, I am willing to say, Hey, I think it's really important that if you join the lab, you stay for a year, and I'm in the process of repositioning it, it's done to be a year long container.

 Because all of a sudden I realized allowing people to be month to month was really just me avoiding the uncomfortable truth that, like, it's a year, it's a program that is really going to serve people yet best as a year where they're not deciding and re deciding. So like, that was the thing I had to decide. What is the thing you're avoiding saying because it's uncomfortable or you're afraid that you will make someone else uncomfortable? Number four, it is not, not now, not ever your job to be everything to everyone. And it is certainly not the job of your business to be everything to everyone. This is also something that comes out in your marketing, if you're trying to write and share and show up such that everyone can come something's wrong. Your job is to talk to your fans. It's to talk to the people who are like, Oh my God, everything She Does Is Magic. 

You don't have to bring everyone on the boat. In fact, your boat doesn't have room for everyone. This is not teaching. This is not corporate work where you have to get buy in from everyone, where everyone has to learn the content. This is business where the only people that have to buy are the people who want it. And your job is not to talk in talk people who are not interested into it. Your job is to talk to people who are like, whoo, that would be great. And focus on them. The other people will handle themselves. They'll either go away or they'll come closer. And that's a good thing, if they opt into the boat, because they're like, holy cow, those fans are really cool. I want to be one of those fans. Great. And if they're like, geez, Louise, I can't get away from this fast enough. Also great, but your job is not to talk people into it who don't get it. Your job is to just talk to people do. Focus on your fans. They exist. Let them be. Be here for them. Number five, this comes from a client I was talking to on Monday. 

A list is great. I love a list. I love a list for me. I love a list for you, but it is doing more harm than good if you are not on a day to day basis, prioritizing a very short sub list of those things truly, if you can't pick on a given day what the top three priorities are, the list is hurting you more than it's helping, because it's simply saying to you, like, you have a million things to do and you get overwhelmed and you don't know which things to pick. For me, one of the ways I fight through this is I pick the day before, like I look at my nice, long list of stuff, and on, you know, today's Thursday, Thursday afternoon, I will pick the three things for Friday, because I can't do all 52 things, but I can't I do the day before. Know what's important. 

And honestly, Friday morning, I'll be like, God, I don't know what to do. And they'll look at the list and be like, oh, there are my things, and I trust that yesterday, Sara made good choices for you. You know, the client I was talking to Monday, she was like, I have a list, and I find that I sit down and I just sort of wander around because the length of her list is overwhelming, and so she ends up doing part of this and part of that, and part of this and part of the other thing. Friend, you don't have to pick the right priorities. You just have to pick some, pick one thing, or two things or three things that are the things like a client I talked to yesterday, the thing right now for her, actually, two of them is posting a job listing. I don't care if anything else happens after that, but they need to start the hiring process to get them out of the hole they're in both of them. And so that's got to happen first. So their job the next day was to do that. And with both cases, I said to them, Okay, where is that spot in your calendar tomorrow? Because that matters equally as much so for you, if you find yourself wandering around, you're like, I have 50 things to do, but I'm not doing any of them. 

Pause. It's like, okay, what are the three things on this list of 50 things that actually matter right now that I can touch do those number six this I don't like any more than you do. It can't all be busy season. That is not the nature of business or seasons. So what's going to happen is you will have very busy seasons and you will have quieter seasons. Sometimes lots of clients will be inbound. Sometimes it will be quieter. Your job as a business owner is not to freak out. In either case, it is really hard when things are crazy. 

You're like, Oh, my God, too many people. We freak out when a client or two leaves and it feels really quiet, we freak out that's not your role. Your role is to be like, Okay, I know what to do. I know that this is a seasonality thing. Imagine that you'd been in business 10 years and seen all the things right. In a lot of cases, we still freak out 10 years in like but the thing is, is, as a business owner, there is ebb and flow in life. There is ebb and flow. We have to be okay with that. And if we lose our minds every time there's an ebb or a flow, we are making so much more work for ourselves than we need to stay the course study on consistency, simplicity over time, win the whole race, right? We cannot. It's like the stock market. You can't put things in and take things out. Every time the thing makes a jump, you just put the money in and hope it's there in 30 years.

 This is how it works. This is the same if you're in this business for 30 years, an ebb and flow. This month isn't going to matter, okay? It's not going to be the end of the world. Stay the course in the last one. This is the one that is mine right now. Today was built 90 days ago. 90 days from now, is built today. This is really useful for me right now, because at the end of 2025 I had a lot of family things going on, and so I've had a couple of moments in the last week or two where I'm like, Man, things are more quiet than I'd like, in particular ways, even though I have new people inbound, I have people coming into the lab, it's all really good. It's great. Nothing's wrong, which is me staying the course. And when I look back 90 days ago, I was not, almost not working at all, because I was really focused on my family and my dad and my mom passing away and all of these other things. And I was really just trying to keep my life together, let alone my business. And so if I look backwards 90 days, it's like, oh, okay, I understand what's happening today and where that came from.

 And my job today is to look towards June and be like, All right, 90 days from now, what do I want it to feel like? What are the things I can put into place today that 90 days from now, will will be growing flowers, right? Let me germinate some seeds. So for you pause, let yourself be like, okay, 90 days ago, it was holiday chaos. And if today is wonky, maybe 90 days ago was wonky too. My job today is to look for 90 days and be like, alright, what are the seeds I can plant that will flower in June, one thing at a time, right? There is no need, my friends. This is, I think, the message through all of this, actually, is now that I look at all seven things is simple, consistency, practices are the thing right. Don't bury the lead. Trust that you're in the right place. 

Be willing to be uncomfortable. Talk to your fans. Know your priorities. Be okay with ups and downs, and focus forward. You have this. If you are like, Oh God, simple consistency, yes. And what the hell? How do I do this without making myself crazy? This is what we build in the lab. This is what we do together for a year. And what happens when you come into the lab is you get me in your corner, like I am with you in it, holding your hand, talking to you about it every week. You can come to as many events or as few of them as you want, but also I'll be like, 

Hi. How are you doing and what's happening? How are you building this consistency? What are you doing day after day? How are you implementing? How are you staying accountable? How are you in community with people, practicing, implementing, being accountable, right? This is what the lab is for. So come in, as of the time of this podcast, the lab is $2,000 for the year, or $200 a month. 

That is going to change on April 1, at which point is going to $2,500 a year, or $250 for the month. So if you are going to join the lab, it would be good if you did it before April 1, if you know it's something you're going to do anyways, come in, start your year, because the sooner you start. A, the sooner you start, and the sooner things change. But B, why not pay less while you can? So come in, join me. Let's do this together, and remember that you're doing it right. You're consistent. 

You are showing up. Roll with the ebbs and the flows. Don't bury the lead. Go be direct, and we're all in this together. I'll see you in the lab, and I will see you on the next episode of the podcast. In two weeks with a super fabulous guest, we're going to talk sales. I'll see you soon. Bye.