How God Used Financial Struggles to Help Me Start a Business

Speaker A: What does the Bible teach about business?

Speaker B: That's what we'll uncover together on the Business in his Image podcast. This show explores strategies from the Bible that will help you grow your business, strengthen your walk with Jesus, and help

Speaker A: you reach your God given potential as an entrepreneur.

Speaker B: The Bible is filled with practical wisdom to help you live for God while using your gifts. Let's unpack what that means for you and how you can use biblical truths to build a thriving business that honors Christ. Now it's time to dive in.

Speaker A: Have you ever felt like the challenges in your life were getting in the way of you reaching your dreams? Maybe there's things that you've been through that you wish never happened and you wondered, why did God allow this in my life? Well, friend, to be honest, I am, um, with you there. Most of the time, we don't understand why we go through the things we go through until later, until we can look back and see the purpose and how God used our trials, our challenges, and every situation we've endured to actually bring us to an expected end. The Bible says that the plans he has for us are to prosper us and not to harm us, to give us hope and a future. So in the moment when we're going through these challenges, we can't see the end. We can't see the light at the end of the tunnel. We don't understand why. But at the end of it all, we're going to look back and we're going to see that God had a greater purpose through it all. With that in mind, I'm so excited to share an interview clip today from an interview I did on the Inspired Budget podcast. In this interview, I shared a bit of my story and how God used the challenges that my husband and I went through to actually inspire this business and launch me into a copywriting career. While I share my story, it's really not about me. This story is to inspire you all. Any of you, no matter where you are at, uh, in your business journey, whether you're just starting out or you're seasoned in business, the truth is that we are all going to, to go through challenges. And if we can look at those challenges through the lens of faith and see that God has a bigger purpose, then that's going to give us the strength to persevere. So my prayer is that this story will bless you, that it will inspire you. And please share it with anyone you know who needs some inspiration, some motivation, and some encouragement.

Speaker B: Now, um, I'm going to play a

Speaker A: clip if you want to Listen to the full interview. I will leave that link in the show notes. Let's get into the interview.

Speaker C: I want to hear more about how you used your income and increasing your income to help make a bigger dent in your debt process. So tell me a little bit about how you found ways to increase your income.

Speaker B: Yeah, that's a great question. So at the time I was a stay at home mom and I felt like I need to work, I want to help contribute, what can I do? And I started a side hustle. I started writing blog posts, I started just doing any little thing that I could find with the skills that I had. And so that's one thing thing that I'll say is even if it's temporary, whether it turns into a career like it did for me, or it's just something temporary that you do, having some kind of side hustle is a really great starting point to increase your income quickly because you need margin. Your income is a tool that you can use to beat your debt and also build wealth and enjoy your family, enjoy your life. So there's so many awesome, um, things you can use your income for. But a lot of times people, what they may find themselves in a place where they're cutting back as much as they can, but they still don't have margin. And that's when you really need to work on your income. So starting some kind of side hustle, whether it's driving Uber, my husband did that for a while, or can you offer some kind of online services? Right. I did social media, I did blog writing, I did virtual assistant work, I did all sorts of things. And then from there started looking more towards a career path. So think about how can you capitalize on existing skills or interests that you have. People think that they need to go out there and invest in real estate or do all these big lofty things to earn money when you don't necessarily need to do that or you don't necessarily need to go and get, uh, a degree. But look at the skills that you already have and think about jobs, whether it's the company you already work for and growth opportunities there, or maybe looking outside of the company that you work for and seeing what is a path to growth using these skills, where can I grow and develop to get to the next level income wise on that career path. And that's going to be a game changer for you and your family.

Speaker C: I'm curious because it sounds like you immediately jumped in and you had this vision, this idea of, okay, I'm going to write blog Posts. I'm going to do social media. I'm going to be an assistant or help out people, so that way I can do this from home.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Previously, did you have these types of skills? Is that the type of job you had before?

Speaker B: So many years ago, I did some marketing work and I did some freelance marketing work, but I had walked away from that and left that in industry. And then shortly before getting married, I had a job in a completely different field that had nothing to do with what I'm doing now, had nothing to do with writing or marketing or anything like that. And I never thought I would go back into writing or marketing, but that was always in me. And so at times there's things that we've given up on in life because of life, right? Because we're thinking practically. And so a lot of people listening, they may have these gifts in them, these entrepreneurial ideas, all these things that are waiting to be birthed out, but they're living so much in the now and looking so much to their troubles or their hardship that there's no room for that to flourish. And so I was in a position where I had to figure out something. And so I started with what I had. And I encourage other people to do the same. Start with what's already in you. Maybe you're not necessarily on that career path to what you really want to do, but maybe you can start small and make a transition because it is possible.

Speaker C: I love that. And I was just thinking while you were talking about how you found this different way of side hustle, if you will, that way you could say, still be home, be stay at home, mom and work on the side. I almost thought that sometimes, and I don't know, you tell me if you agree with this. I feel like for me personally and other people that I hear from a lot of my inner circle members that are saying, oh, I want to do something, but I don't know, I feel like we're sometimes blind to our own skill set and we assume that everybody is great at, um, creating social media, even because it comes easy to us. Or maybe editing something comes easy to us, or writing comes easy to us, and we assume that it comes easy to everyone. And that's not the case.

Speaker B: That's so true. It took me a while. I'm a copywriter, so nailing down, oh, I'm going to be a copywriter, I didn't start out that way. I did a whole bunch of other stuff. And so whatever you can do to kind of get your creativity flowing and start Getting ideas. And I would also encourage people that it's okay to try different things and it not work out. I tried some different things and then realized that's not what I wanted to do. And that's okay. You don't have to figure out the thing you want to do for the rest of your life, but you're. You can take steps rather than taking leaps and then try things out. And when you see something that feels good and is working, keep going down that path.

Speaker C: Oh, my goodness, you're so right. And I think that we grew up in a world I don't know about you, but where we were told, okay, and this is, I think of my mom. She's going to be retiring next year from a position she has been in for 37 years. The same position, same place. And I think so often we believe that we have to choose what we want to do and we have to stick with it, and that has to be it forever. But I love how you're saying, like, it's okay to fail. It's okay to pivot and evolve and figure these things out. It just allows you to learn more about yourself and what you want and what you want right now, what you want to do right now with making extra income. Side hustle doesn't have to be what you do forever. So I want to hear about your journey, said that you started out writing blogs. I want to hear some of those failures. Can you share some of those failures? Can you share what you've settled on now, what you're doing right now at this moment to help you provide for your family and pay off debt?

Speaker B: Yeah, I'm so. I'm happy to share. So when I started out, I did all the typical things. Googling, how can I work from home, make extra money online, all the things that most of us have done. And so that was a whole journey in itself. Because when you're doing that, you come across all this information and you're trying to filter out what's legit and what's not. And the problem that some people can fall into is thinking everything's a scam. And if you have that mentality, then you're going to close yourself off to resources that can actually help you. So I went through that whole phase. I did. I started out at one point as a call center agent, and I was making like $10 an hour at one point and doing that and working, and I was pregnant and then realized, okay, I need to find something that is giving me more value for my time. I offered blog Services. I was making like 40, $45 for writing one blog post, you know, which compared to where I needed to be at with my income and my finances, it was like nothing. But it was a start, right? So I would say it was a start. And even though it wasn't exactly where I wanted to be, it did help get me on that right path. So I don't regret it. So I did that. I then I was kind of like catch all assistant offering all sorts of creative services, social media and email or VA admin services. Anything that I could provide a value to get paid for it. I tried it. So I remember the first version of my web, my freelance website and all sorts of packages on there of like I'll write your blog post and I'll do your social media. And I was good at it. I did have some skills, but I also had to learn and figure out, okay, if I really want to up level my skills to something really valuable and get in a better position. I've started to feel like niching down was going to be a good idea for me, which was a whole process. But eventually, and this was totally a God thing, I came across a, uh, copywriting and just dove down a rabbit hole with copywriting and just really felt like that's what I was supposed to do. And so I over time put all my eggs in one basket in a sense and just realized like, you know what, this is what I want to do and I'm going to learn everything I can about this skill and get as good as I can. Which was not an overnight thing, but it was a process that led me to where I am now, which is being a full time copywriter, working with a company I love, a brand that I've been following for a while and you know, having had the opportunity and blessing to work with a lot of different entrepreneurs in that space and also bring really great results for my clients with that skill.

Speaker C: Oh my gosh, that's so great. What steps can you help our listeners kind of get started with? To find their version of a side hustle that will be flexible and allow them to increase that margin in their budget.

Speaker B: Oh yeah, I love this topic. Happy to walk through this. Okay, so these are some of the steps that I share. I have a free side hustle launch plan and it's the same steps that I use. And this is not only for online work, but you can use it for online work. Right. So if you want to work from home and make extra cash at home, you can do that if you want to go out there and do something, you can do that too, right? But the first thing you want to do is really think about what are your skills and interests, right? You don't need to be a 10 at everything, but just write down things. Start dreaming, talking to people like you said, Alison, and thinking about what are some of the skills that I already have, even if I'm not a 10, but I really enjoy doing them because that enjoyment is going to compel you to want to get better. So eventually you could become a 9 or a 10 at it. Write those things down. Any experience that you have that is valuable, write that down. And that's going to be a starting point for doing some research and thinking about how can I take this skill and turn it into a service. And the reason I say service is because that is the quickest way to gain extra money in, uh, the entrepreneurial space, right? Is to think about what can I create that I can just start helping people. You only really need one or two clients to start making a significant impact on your income as a service provider. You don't have to do it that way, but that's what I would recommend, just to get started and creating some breathing room and margin for yourself. But just think about, like, how can I package this into something? Or even if it's not but you, it's a product, like maybe you can bake from home and you can create these amazing cakes and it doesn't take you that much time, but you love doing it, whatever it is. Think about how can I package this into an offer that solves a problem for somebody else? So very simple. Make that list, think about how to package it, and then start thinking about what would you charge for it. And it's just, it's very, very simple steps, right? But it's just to get started. You don't need to necessarily launch with a website or start huge, but how can you start with what you have right now, then think about pricing, right? Do some research and figure out, like, how can I price this service or this product? And who would be. Think about who could be interested. If you can find five people in your inner circle, whether it's your neighbors at your church, friends, past colleagues, like whoever. If you can find like five people who are interested and validate that idea, then you know you're onto something and you can think about how to expand that.

Speaker C: Yes. I love how you said you don't have to start out with a website. You don't have to start out in this space where you see Other people already are in the sense of it's very overwhelming when you're thinking about doing that. There's so much you could do. But I love how you're focusing on. Don't think about everything that you could do. Let's think about just the first three things you need to do to get started. Because the list as, I mean, as an entrepreneur, it is never ending. The list just continues to add things onto it. I can always, uh, add things onto my list, but what steps do I need to take right now to see action? And I agree with you wholeheartedly that offering a service is wonderful because then you're able to very quickly exchange your time for money. Whereas other things that we might be doing, such as like starting a blog and waiting for it to be monetized, that takes time to see the results and the money from that. So I love that you're thinking of a service. Oh my gosh, this has been so great. Okay, tell listeners where they can learn more about you and then grab that freebie you mentioned.

Speaker B: Yes, you can, uh, find me on my website, the Virtual Mama. And that's M a M a dot com. And then I have a free download of that plan@thevirtualmama.com Plan P L A N and you'll get all the step by step actions that I took. Something that you can implement literally today. It's very easy to follow and it's going to help you get started to make some extra cash.

Speaker A: I hope this episode blessed you. Remember to please rate and review on Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen so that more people can be blessed by this podcast. Until next time, bye.

Speaker B: Thank you for listening to the business

Speaker A: in his Image podcast with me, your host, Joe Harris. If this show has blessed you, please share it with a friend and subscribe

Speaker B: so that you can be notified when

Speaker A: we release new episodes.

Speaker B: My prayer is that God will help

Speaker A: you soak up every bit of what you've heard today and help you apply it to your business so that you can see results. I'll see you next time and may God bless you.