R.O.I. for Spirit-Led Business Owners
How do you feel about the term R.O.I.? It’s a commonly-used term in business and marketing that stands for “Return on Investment.” If you’re an empathic or spirit-led business owner, it’s possible that this phrase and others like it give you hives. Even if you are very focused and capable of building strong revenue in your business!
Us sensitives tend to be resistant to anything that smells of programming, manipulation, or entirely brain-led (vs. heart-led) strategy. And that's not a bad thing, as long as we aren't rejecting useful tools or ideas out of habit.
In my experience, terms like R.O.I. are just handy shorthand to describe common challenges and solutions that business owners encounter in their day-to-day. They have no more or less power than we give to them.
My Definition of R.O.I.
Personally, I like to think of R.O.I. as my “Ripples of Intent.”
If we think about the phrase, “Return on Investment,” there are so many different ways we can get a return on our investment.
Our investment is returned...
in the most obvious way: by making more money.
in the form of new leads, warm leads, a bigger email list, more connections: in essence, more potential client opportunities.
when we grow our client roster.
in the form of materials that bring us joy to share and express our passions and offerings in a meaningful and persuasive way.
when we have greater opportunities to share our deepest passions and gifts with more people.
when more of our perfect fit, dream clients are arriving at our doorstep to co-create and play with us.
In my mind, these kinds of returns on investment are actually a result of having put out clear Ripples of Intent. The ripples expand outward and roll inward — putting good out into the world and giving us greater opportunities to receive good as a result.
When you are creating strong ripples of intent, you go beyond an investment mindset to see the bigger picture.
In addition to the more traditional potential returns on investment you could achieve above, ripples of clear intention can help you:
create more opportunities for the people around you.
bring in those perfect fit collaborators to help you see blind spots and amplify your strengths.
expand a spirit of goodwill and generosity that goes far beyond your own direct client interactions.
inspire others with original ideas and examples of what’s possible through the illustration of your own successes.
create a movement that offers thoughtful expansion, world healing, and results in drawing more people to you to support your own expansion and opportunity.
Are You Experiencing Challenges as a Result of Not Having Clear Intentions?
Have you ever stopped to really think about whether or not you are really getting what you want from your business? Have you truly asked yourself why it is you are creating a brand and website, and whether or not your intentions are clear enough for that brand and the resulting materials to get you the results you want? You have to know the results you wanted before you can decide if your branding work is successful in the first place.
If you’ve ever made an investment and were dissatisfied with the return, before you judged the service you received, you might want to ask yourself if the focus of your intention was clear enough to get the return you wanted.
If you’ve ever set out to achieve an obvious next step for your business and felt like the result was lackluster, is it because you settled for an intention that was less than you deserved? Maybe you were ready for more than you gave yourself credit for? For example: did you maybe convince yourself that you had no choice but to accept the limitations of a certain market you had become used to working with when there was an obvious and exciting market ready for you to step into?
Your Ripples of Intent are what bring the Return on your Investment. And like success, you have to clearly define both your intention and the return you are looking to receive from your efforts. Otherwise you will always be at the mercy of other people’s ideas about what it is you need.
Being a Successful Visionary Requires You to Be Intentional
If you have ever caught yourself investing in system after system, program after program, and felt like you were getting nowhere (as opposed to feeling upgraded, expanded, inspired), then you may have been outsourcing your most important job — setting intention, setting the vision — out to someone else.
Let me say that again in a different way:
Your most important job in your business is to be the visionary — the one who sets clear and bold intentions.
If you are in any way sidestepping that and leaving it up to someone else, you are never going to see a significant return on your business, for any of your goals — financial or otherwise.
Be Intentional to Get What You Desire
The universe responds to clarity. And while clarity doesn’t always come in a flashing download — sometimes it takes time and exploration — even taking small action and putting down what you do know about what you want to paper can be very powerful.
So, what intentions will you set so you can see the ripples you desire?
What kinds of clients are you dreaming of working with?
Who would you most love to support with your gifts?
What gifts and curiosities are begging for exploration in your work?
What financial goals would you love to attain, and how are you going to clarify those against where you stand now, so you can move forward in a measurable way?
How will you celebrate your successes?
Who would you love to co-create with on your own business?
What kind of life are you creating for yourself with the help of your business?
What do sustainability, success, and happiness look like for you?
What is it you really hope to get out of running your business? What is your non-negotiable need?
If you answer these questions and give yourself grounded spaciousness in answering them — in other words, if you let yourself both dream bigger and settle into what is reasonably attainable as a next stage of expansion — then I guarantee you will begin to see your Ripples of Intent work magic and begin to bring you what you desire in terms of perfect collaborators and clients, who will then help you grow your revenues and the lifestyle you are seeking.