How to Create Scalable Income So You Can Move Abroad

Speaker A: Hi, I'm Vanessa. Welcome back to the Solana Global Living Podcast, where we talk about real stories, real estate, and the realities of life abroad. Today's episode is a little bit different. We're not talking about a location, we're not talking about real estate. We're talking about something that a lot of people struggle with, that prevents them from making the move abroad and building this life that they dream about in another country. And that is, how on earth am I going to make a living when the job that I have won't let me work remotely? This is a situation, a conflict that is really dear to my heart. Back in the 2000s, I ran a recruiting firm. I had a brick and mortar office in Beverly Hills, and I matched a, uh, real estate admin with real estate agents. And my world was Los Angeles. The, uh, the crisis hit, my business tanked. I married an Italian. We decided we wanted to move to Italy. And suddenly I was forced to figure out, how do I take this business and move it online? And it was a challenge. This was back when not everybody had a camera on their computer. And I wanted to start inter candidates remotely. But that challenge turned into my greatest opportunity. And I went from only placing candidates in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles to being able to recruit candidates and work with clients all across the US And I have never looked back. I've run a remote business ever since, and I'm really passionate about helping other people build a business that supports the life that they want to lead. And when I connected with our guest today, Arnitha, I felt a kindred spirit. Arnitha figured out how to build a business that took her corporate skillset and translated into portable income that allows her to work from anywhere. She now lives in Valencia, and now she helps other people do the same. We're going to talk about those people in the middle. Too old to move abroad on a student visa, but still too young to retire. And, um, we're going to talk about how to take the skills that you already have and translate that into an offer into a product that allows you to work from anywhere. So, without further ado, let's dig into our conversation.

Speaker B: Arnitha.

Speaker A: Ah, thank you so much for meeting with me today. If I didn't do what I do now, I would probably be doing some something similar to what you do. So I can't wait to dig into the weeds and talk about how to help people package their skillset so that they can live anywhere. You like to say that you help the people in the middle. What does that mean?

Speaker B: To you, the people in the middle. And I usually kind of put myself in there because that's where I was when I started. The people in the middle are, I would say, between 35 and 55. They have more than 10 years of work experience. They, you know, might be a young family, or at least the kids may be in middle school by now, what have you, but they're not retirees yet. And when they're looking at digital nomads, you living abroad, you know, all the stuff that attracts us, they don't see themselves. It's either. And it's one extreme or the other. It's either the, the young or the retiree. But what about everybody in the middle that needs to figure it out? And that's where I found myself.

Speaker A: So tell me your story. How did you go from working a regular corporate job to the location freedom that you have today?

Speaker B: Yeah, it wasn't linear. It wasn't like I made a decision and it just, you know, all went smooth. It. So let me just say that I'm not, I'm not one of those people that makes believe that everything is easy. And it just, you know, automatically happened because I wished it so, but I knew I wanted it. So the goal never changed. So even when things didn't work out, I could always. It was easy for me to get back on track because the goal never changed.

Speaker A: What was the first thing that you tried when, uh, you started to work toward location independence and what worked and what didn't?

Speaker B: The first thing I tried was the TOEFL certification. I thought, you know, I, I thought, okay, let me take something that I can make money with living abroad, and you start doing all the research and the teaching English as to foreign language to foreign learners comes up constantly. I had a teaching license in New York. I had a master's degree to hold nine yards. So I said, oh, I'll go get that and that's what I'll do. And I ended up with two contracts. So I had a choice. I had a choice. One was Spain, one was China, and I was going to go do a teaching contract and live abroad. And I didn't sign either one. I was like, wait a minute, all you're doing is getting another job. That's not freedom. That's not freedom. That's not. That's not what I'm trying to do here. And if I wanted the freedom, I was going to have to do it on my own terms. And so my first year abroad, where I planned, like, just a whole year to go, and I Planned to make my first investment, my first real estate investment at the same time that I was going to go abroad. I, like, had all that figured, you know, that's what I'm going to do too. I, um, I took my special education experience working in sped. I was a New York City teaching fellow for, for a few years. And so I like, okay, that's probably the easiest thing to do. I used some connections. I got a couple of clients from New York as a SPED consultant. So I said, okay, got consistent income for the next year with that, I can be anywhere and do that. And I, uh, built, you know, just put together this portfolio that I was going to travel with so that I could have every, you know, paperwork readily available and just see, like, where this takes me. And I planned out an itinerary. I went with a company called airtrek that does around the world traveling travel plans. And I, I did a ticket with Airtrex. And by the way, that's a good tip for anybody who wants to do extensive travel without high cost. Their rates are great. So I, I bought the ticket and I made out an itinerary for a year. And, um, and that was my first year abroad. And that was the year I bought my first international property too. Which, by the way, I don't want to say that. I don't want that to come across like that's easy and that you have to have a lot of money. I'm a working woman, okay. With. I don't have millions, I don't have a trust fund. Okay. But I bought off market, which makes it the cheapest. Right. I did my research beforehand. I connected with the realtor and so forth. Before I left, I already knew my price point and I, I, um, was not going to budge. And when you buy like that, it's in Spain, I know at least you can spread your payments out because the property is not going to be done for a couple years. And so, uh, you don't. I did not do a mortgage. I. It was like putting a, uh, build on layaway. You have a payment plan. And once I knew I was going to do that and I made that commitment, it makes you look at your finances differently and so you're not being as wasteful. You know, you're being very intentional with even the $10 that you spend because that $10 can go into the pot. That's going to go towards buying something, buying that property.

Speaker A: Uh-huh.

Speaker B: The property was not going to be finished for a couple of years, so I had like a two year Payment plan. Covid happened that extended the payment plan. You good for me. And then by the time it was finished, it was paid for, and I knew I didn't want to. I didn't buy it to go live in right away. I bought it so that I could develop passive income. I bought it so that I could rent it. And so I did that very modestly. My first deposit was $10,000. Like, you know, you can do it. It's, um, a. It's such a mindset when you want to make these big changes. It's such a mindset of honing in on what you want and then just very meticulously and methodically making those steps and making those moves and to becoming either that person, having that lifestyle or what have you. But that was what my first year and first experience was like. And once I got over the first year, I could see further down the road more clearly. But then Covid happened too, right?

Speaker A: So you got twisty road. And at what point did you realize that you could take your skill set from your corporate life and your education and, and monetize it into an offer that you could sell? And then how did you start translating that into helping other people do the same?

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Um, it was a lot of pitfalls because working in corporate, you have a different mindset. We are so tied to our job titles. We looked. When we're looking at our value, we are looking at what the company paid for. We're looking at their job description, we're looking at how they evaluate core skills. And so when you try to translate that into entrepreneurship, it's like you have to decouple yourself from it. It's, it's, it's, it's really. And my first quote, unquote location independent real online offer was an Ryl Abroad coaching program. It's challenging. You have to, you have to shift how a company looks at your value and shifted to an entrepreneurial mindset. So, so you have to think more outcome and results as an entrepreneur. Whereas in corporate, you're only part of a solution. Whatever you're delivering in your role is just one of many parts to a bigger picture. So I don't think getting people to kind of shift from looking at themselves with how the company looks at them and taking their skills and decoupling it from that corporate mindset and thinking, oh, well, you know what? Here's something I do well. Like, I, I'm great at identifying, uh, risk and figuring out how to mitigate risk. Okay, that one thing, that one thing can pay you can, can, you can build a whole business off of that one thing because that's important, that's important to businesses. Right. But I think when you're working in corporate, that becomes hidden that you're doing that because you're in a department with 50 other people, you know, and you don't realize what you're bringing to the table. You're probably only using a tenth of it anyway in that company, you know?

Speaker A: Absolutely well. And then you what finally clicked for you where things really started to run. Like how, what was the mindset shift or what was the aha moment for you where you were able to take your unique skill set and turn it into what you do today that allows you to work remotely?

Speaker B: Mhm. Fear.

Speaker A: Fear. Tell me more about that. That's interesting.

Speaker B: Fear. Because Covid hit. Covid hit. And Covid kind of derailed a lot of things for all of us. Right? Covid hit. I went back to the States a few months before the travel industry and everything shut down. And I thought I was going to be there for like a couple of months and then come back to Spain and I got stuck in California, like literally stuck. We couldn't go anywhere and it was horrible. And I had to kind of go back to the drawing board on a lot of things because, uh, now I had to sign a lease, I had to stay there and the whole thing. And at some point fear started kicking in and I started thinking, oh my God, what if I gotta go get a job?

Speaker A: I gotta go get a job. It's a good fear.

Speaker B: What if I have to, what if I have to go back into corporate America? What if I have to kind of go back to living this life that I'm, um, moving away from, been, you know, trying to move away from fear. Fear is healthy. Fear is healthy when you put it in perspective. Because that fear made me go, hell no. You're going to stick to your goals and you're going to figure it out and you're going to look at all, all the things you've done, all the experience you have, everything. And you're going to first of all acknowledge your value and acknowledge that there are more people in the middle like me than not. Okay. Yeah. And figure out how, how you're going to make this happen. It was, it was that fear. And like I said, I had to really. I think that's when I really realized that. Wait a second, you know who you're talking to? You know, the people in the middle, you know, every, every roadblock, they're running Into, Yeah, I'm not my own customer, you know.

Speaker A: So you created or you rely on the authority graph. This is sort of the first step in your process. So what is the authority graph?

Speaker B: That is a system that has really evolved. And so it starts with, it starts with that sort of decoupling or uh, that decoding of what you have, what you bring to the table, all of your experience, professional experience, your life experience, your education. Let's look at that and decode it to see what, what matches up to the marketplace. Can you extract from that? Because usually, you know, you start out kind of broad with okay, you know, because like I said, people look at themselves through the eyes of an employer. So they come with this, you know, whole list of this is, you know, my high value. But we end up with like two or three things that are key and that translate into an entrepreneurial space.

Speaker A: Mhm. That's the key so much. And so I've spent 20 years as a recruiter helping people move forward in their careers. Right before I started doing what I do now and what I love to see, there's this point in your life where all of the random things you've experienced can come together to make you a unique and valuable asset, your life experience. So I mean, let's use me as an example. I spent 10 years moving from place to place, country to country. Seemed chaotic and unnecessary fun. But like, what's the point of all this? Then it all comes together to, oh, I have this life experience that I can then bring to the table and help people. I can take my recruiting experience and bring that to helping people match with the right agent. Like, you gotta step back and look at the whole picture. Right. Not just the resume skillset checklist. Because you as a whole person have value that you uh, that other people don't have. Nobody has the same life experience and skillset and qualities and traits that you have. And that's what you get to package.

Speaker B: Exactly.

Speaker A: I love that you help people go through this. And we're not just looking at. Well, on my corporate resume I can do spreadsheets and math, whatever. Right. So sorry, I interrupted you, but I thought that was.

Speaker B: No, that's, that's exactly right. Because like, like when you look at the process of it all and you look at career coaches, you know, kind of do this, but they do it under the framework of uh, transitioning career to career. Yeah, I don't do it career to career. I don't help people go get their next job or transition to, you know, I, my end Result is always focused on location independence. It's building. Is building that next phase of your life in a way where you have more financial control because your income is not dependent on a job. It is dependent on what you bring to the table, what you're putting out, um, into the marketplace. So you have control over the income. And that income, that whole system is you. You can live anywhere and do it. I mean, technology says we can, right? Everything about life says, like, why do I have to live in this particular city to earn a living?

Speaker A: Well, so take me through how you work with somebody when they're in this first extract phase. So what are some of the questions they need to ask or any of the exercises they need to do to start identifying the skill set that they can port into their own business?

Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. It's. It's a whole series. It's a whole, like, exercise that they have to go through. Part of it, if, honestly, it starts out pretty familiar to seasoned people, right? Answering those, those common questions about, you know, what, what would you say is the, the one or two things that you do at work that's most valuable to your employer? Do you understand who their target market is and, and how you're.

Speaker A: You.

Speaker B: You know, you fit into, into their system, into their ecosystem? So, uh, it starts out like that, and I invite people to a call with me, and right now the call is with me. Uh, it's not turned over to anyone else. It's really trying to keep this in 60 minutes, but it's really averaging around 90 minutes. And that is because I don't. I want to get past the surface. I want to get past the surface of who you are, what experience you have, and more importantly, what goals where. Where. Where. Where you want to go with your life. It's important to know that, um, you don't walk away at the end of that call with the master blueprint. I then take all of that information and I put it through my systems and I sit with it and I think about. Because we do it like, we do it now, we're talking and I see the person. I don't. It's not impersonal. It's very personal, you know, and. But I build out a full report for them. And when I say a full report, Vanessa, I don't mean like a page or two. And sometimes I think, I hope this is not too much. I hope it's not too daunting. But our life is so important in what we're trying to do right, as humans. And so it's really a full report, like over 30 pages of what I extracted on who you are and where you are in life and with your experience, and where I think your monetizable skill sets are and where I think your potential clients are, and suggestions for. For how you can start putting the foundation in place to start, you know, making some income, aside from your employer.

Speaker A: Uh-huh.

Speaker B: Because that builds confidence that you can do this. Uh, you know, do it while you're still working and start making the. Taking this to put the foundation in place so that you can have the income and by the time you are ready, whether it's a year from that point, 18 months, two years from that point, but have all the steps, all the things in place to then go live where you want to live and know that you're solid enough to do it, you know. So, yeah, it's, uh. I've had the feedback that I've gotten is that it's a much more intensive process than they thought, because we do go a little deep, you know, but that it's made them think about things that rather than staying on the surface with the answers or whatever, it's made them really, really delve into what do they really want? Because that's what it comes down to. Right?

Speaker A: Right. Well, and this is the other thing. You know, people will say things like, oh, gosh, you know, I'd love to run a restaurant or own an Airbnb. And there are things that sound like a good idea, they sound like they'd be fun, but they're. The structure of the job doesn't match the lifestyle you want to lead. And so sometimes, just because you're a really good cook and you like hosting people doesn't mean you really want to run an Airbnb or bed and breakfast, where you have to be there cleaning other people's bathrooms every day. Right. So there's a lot of reality check. And sometimes the thing that you're really good at and the thing that can make you the most money isn't the sexiest, um, thing.

Speaker B: It's not the same.

Speaker A: Usually it's not.

Speaker B: It's not.

Speaker A: And so you have to decide what's really important to you. Are you trying to make money and work from anywhere? Are you trying to have, like, a cool, sexy job that keeps walking the place? No. Wrong answer. You just need to be really honest about. Really honest exactly what you really want.

Speaker B: The big aha I think that I get from people is when they realize that what they think they want to do is really just Creating another job for them. It turns out that they would be creating another job for themselves. Boom.

Speaker A: I love this because this is the trap people get into. They start exchanging time for money and they just create another job for themselves that limits what they actually can build. If you are the only person who can provide the service that you provide and your time is tied directly to how much money you make, then there is a ceiling on how much money you can make. And that's not a business. That's a job.

Speaker B: That's a job. That's a job. And you said you wanted to move to Italy and you wanted this kind of life. You're never going to live it because you're going to be stuck at your computer with this job you just created.

Speaker A: Yeah, that is a very common trap.

Speaker B: That's, that's the biggest trap. And it's, it's, uh, a haul to get, to get them to like, sometimes see that. It's like, um, oh, you have to, you. You have to. To really change your, your perspective. And I think that's why, at least for me too, sometimes when I was even. Because, you know, the problem with being able to do a lot of things is that sometimes you do a lot of things, you know, So I understand. And sometimes I spot it so quick because I understand it. I'm like, oh, I get it. That makes you feel productive and you feel like you're doing something and you're moving and this is the path when it's not going to get you to where you said you wanted to go. And I had to, even for myself, start realizing that, like Darnitha, you could very well do that. But does that match up with the end result that you're looking for? No. So nix it.

Speaker A: Yeah. So my, my rule for myself in my businesses is always if it's, if it's, uh, an hour in exchange for money, it has to be a really high amount. Like an amount that I'm. I'm happy to show up for that amount of money. I'll do that. A certain amount or it's going to translate into more money that I'm not having to physically do myself or something that I have to do now because I need to build the system and the skill base. But it's to going against something that I can systematize and then hand off to somebody else. So it's not exactly, uh, it's not an exchange of I'm going to continue long term. This is where I am right now. And then it's going to be handed Over. So Those are the three things it is never, uh, I will work 20 hours a week for X amount per hour. No, that's not a business, that's a job. And I don't want a job. So.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: And, and then also I think the other trap is, and we should talk about this is niching down. It's. When you have. It's very hard to narrow down to where you really need to be so that people can really understand who you offer value to and what solution you can solve for them. Because it's very. People want to be the solution for all the people. Right. So talk about how do you help people narrow down and, and really get specific about their niche.

Speaker B: Yeah. Um, kind of like starting from the end and working backwards, keeping them focused on what they said they wanted, that, that life. Because that's going to help you shave off all of the busy work.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: And I'm very, I get to use my, my, my love for technology in what I do. And fortunately, we're in a time where technology is moving so fast and is making so much possible that you can really project out and forecast how to shave off two more hours of work easily. AI is just making us, uh, making it so easy for us to build workflows and not have to be at the desk. And so for me that's, that's great. But I can also show my clients how you don't have to work for 35 hours a week in order to provide this service to your clients. You can work 15 hours a week, 10 hours a week, and, uh, you know, build, and I can build out workflows where it takes all the tediousness, um, off of their plate. Off of their plate. And they can, you know, hone in and do what they're supposed to do. So I get to use that tech side of my brain, which I love. It forces me to keep up with everything. I love it. It's like my happy space, you know, and, and I can provide, you know, those systems. And it doesn't even take me as long as what it would, would have taken seven years ago.

Speaker A: Right. Because I'm sure you have systems that, you know, you like to use. You probably have templates that you just copy, paste and modify. You're not starting from scratch. So you've created leverage for yourself and all the things that you do, you know what CRMs to use, you know what workflows to use, you know, how to integrate AI and what the connections are. And so you can do those things so much faster. You can get somebody from idea to offer so much faster than someone who's trying to learn all of those pieces and Troubleshoot and Test CRMs like you just, you help them go from okay, clarity around the idea and the offer, building the systems to allow them to execute and then their job is to go out and make it happen.

Speaker B: You do it now. Now my end to end is 30 days. Is 30 days with a client.

Speaker A: You can build a business in 30 days. That's incredible.

Speaker B: Which is unbelievable. And you know, it's so different from what it was like I said like just five years ago, it's. And so we, that, that is accelerated 100 times over now. Where you, if you just look at the skills that are available to everybody, the, the platforms that you're using, the platforms that I use, all the platforms that are out there. And I know that can be overwhelming to people, especially people who are not techie, that can be overwhelming. And that's also where I come into play, where you don't have to test out all of these different systems and whatever is the shiny object that somebody is marketing to you. You don't have to test all of this out. Basically I've done the testing or I know the systems or whatever. You know, I can easily build out something for different niches and different types of office, um, offers that work for my client and that's simple for them to manage. When I do a turnover, they're like, oh my God, I thought this was going to be, you know, massive. And I'm like, no, I meet you where you are. You know, I'm, um, I'm not going to turn over a system that is just going to be so overwhelming to you. You can't run your own business, you know, and everything is easy and everything is scalable and it's uh, your online business is going to go where you want it to go. You know, you want to stay right here and stay comfortably in this niche. Perfect, perfect. But if you're the person that wants to scale it up, we're going to make it that way as well. But it's the technology that's at our fingertips that gives me the tools to be able to deliver that to someone. And taking someone from back to like your first question, uh, from the corporate person, taking them from that mindset and that perspective of working in a large corporation to being able to take a tenth of what they do and convince them that, believe it or not, that can pay you more than that salary. You can build out a system that will pay you more and you'll do less. You can focus on this one thing and this one type of client and you can build something from that that's going to be more lucrative and is going to give you the lifestyle that you want. It's, it's showing them that that's what's possible today.

Speaker A: Right, well, let's talk about step two of this process. Validate. So you have this idea, you know, you, you think you can build it, but then how do you test the market and how do you know whether you have that you've hit on the right idea.

Speaker B: That, that heavily depends on what sector they're in, you know, when it comes to the testing part. But the best case scenario is testing while you're still employed because there's no pressure, creativity is, can run rampant because you're not under any pressure. Right. And picking one or two offers that we can put out and that we can test, we can run that, that sort of ab market testing. And my goal is to get them their first, like 1 to 3, depending on the sector and what their offer is. But let's just say for the sake of conversation, to get that first one to three clients that, that you know, those deposits coming in where they can go, oh my gosh, I'm making the sales. If it's a digital product, like, oh, I see the sales coming into the stripe account, it's working, something's working here. Or if it's, you know, client service based, getting that first, you know, one to three clients. But testing, usually I like to test two different, two different offers at the same time. And if it's, if it's, um, service, I like to test in the service space and in the digital product space at the same time because it is two different deliverables and it can show it proves, especially to the person coming from corporate, it proves to them that this digital space is massive. And you don't have to sell to everybody. You're not trying to sell a bottle of water to everyone. You're trying to sell that to that specific person, that specific market. And once you can get in front of them, you don't have to sell to a million people. Yeah, you don't, you don't. You can just kind of get into your space and show up, you know, with, with something that they want, with something that speaks directly to them. And that's, that's the prove, that's the proving ground that to, to show them that they have something, that they can put something out that's monetizable. And I like to show it in both spaces at the same time so that they can see it and experience it for themselves. We have a lot of skepticism, you know, and a lot of people saying, you know, oh, it's just so easy. Oh, I made a million dollars off of this 110 page ebook. And you and I know, like, okay, yeah, let's go down.

Speaker A: Yeah, exactly. So how do you help them package that? So you've tested it, you see that there is a demand for what they're offering and then how do you do you finish that and bring it into a package that they can carry forward and create a business around that's putting

Speaker B: together their, their foundation, putting together the lead engine, putting together their, their magnet or whatever it is that they're going to use to attract people, putting their email sequencing together so that, you know, all of this is sort of running in an automation for them. Because I find that that's, that's kind of like a uh, hang up point where people hear that, they hear it and it sounds simple, but then when they go to do it, it's like they kind of get stuck and that turns into something that they're working on for six months, for a year, they're still trying to get that together, you know, and when they work with me, they don't have to worry about that because I have a team that just builds that out. And so no, you focus on what you're delivering, you focus on what you're supposed to focus on. And all the tech part, the systems part, we build out for you, you know, so that, that's taken off of your plate. And when we deliver, we go through a uh, session where we then show them how to then manage it on their own. Because I am not trying to run everyone's business.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: I turn it over and then they manage it. But they kind of go through platform help.

Speaker A: Yeah, I mean you're kind of spoiled for choice and none of them are perfect and at some point you just have to say good is good enough and I'm going to make this one work and I'm, I'm just going to get on with it. But let's, let's switch and talk about pricing. So this is the other hurdle, right? How should people be thinking about how they would value and price what they offer?

Speaker B: That's so subjective. That is so subjective. And people usually are not comfortable with what they should charge. They have a hard time with that. I think the best rule of thumb is be practical and let the numbers guide you. So when you're trying to figure out what's the sweet spot, not to go too low, not to start too low for what it's going to take for you to deliver to your client. And it's okay if you want to start a little lower and then have a point in which you're going to scale up, but make it where it's palatable to the marketplace. It doesn't look like you started out offering something for $50 and now it's $5,000. But I think, I think the biggest challenge in that is finding the sweet spot for what your client is paying. And it has. There's a lot to do with what problem you're solving too, you know, because if I'm solving a problem that is costing the client that I go, that I'm going after, if it's costing them thousands and thousands of dollars, it'll be easier for them to pay me a good sum of money up front and continue to save. You know, in their, in their business, um, a lot of times I have to rely on the person that I'm working with because they know what they're trying to offer. They know their people, they know who they're going to be talking to, and they have to look at, well, they're paying X agency or X vendor this amount, you know, and we have to just find that sweet spot. And it's not the same for everybody, you know, and in what I'm doing, I don't just work with a particular market. I don't just work with healthcare. I don't just work with educators. So it could be very different. And everyone doesn't want to leave their job to do the same thing. It has to match up to what are you trying to build, what's your offer, who you're talking, who are you trying to sell to? Are you selling to a business? Are you selling to individuals? It's very customized.

Speaker A: People forgetting that they're going to have to pay taxes on the money that they earn. And if you're not living in the state, like, like US taxes are darn cheap. But if you're not living in the US you're paying Spain taxes. You need to factor in the fact that almost 50% of your money at some point is going to taxes. So you need to build that into your pricing. And also, being the cheapest offer does not make you more competitive. It means you get the people who

Speaker B: just offer me to work harder.

Speaker A: But I think, like, the people who are willing to pay more for service are easier clients.

Speaker B: You Know, when I. When I said initially, let the numbers guide you, that's sort of what I meant in that. In that sometimes you have to kind of like take yourself out of equation and let numbers help you make the business decision. Because that's. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. My gosh. That's happened to me too. When I first started with the first Ryl abroad coaching program, I priced it at a price that I saw other coaches using. That's what I did. And number one, everybody paid my price in full. No one opted for a payment plan. And I was like, I thought everyone was going to go for the payment plan. They just, they're paying. And I was like, wow. I. But that, that just told me that was, that was research.

Speaker A: Mm.

Speaker B: Mm.

Speaker A: Uh-huh.

Speaker B: Number two, I did not factor in that. The key difference in my program was everyone was really promoting these huge group programs and I was doing individual or very small group, no more than six. Uh-huh. That's another thing that I didn't take into account. Number three, I didn't take into account that I wasn't delivering in the United States for the entire new year. I was also living abroad part of the time and I had to factor in taxes. I just had to factor in all those other things that if I was just sitting in New York or wherever, I wouldn't have to factor in. And I realized I did not come up with an offer that made good business sense. And so that's what I mean when I say, you know, sometimes you got to let the numbers guide you as a business person so that you know what it is you should be. And how many hours are you putting in, you know, to. To it as well. What? Because. Because when I would do my ROI, I might as well have had a $10 an hour job.

Speaker A: Sometimes it is so valuable to take your year. And the way we always did it in real estate is you figure you're going to work 40 weeks a year, 40 hours a week, figure out, um, what you want to make, what you're taking home at the end of the year, divide it by that number you get, figure out your hour, what is your hourly rate, what is my non negotiable. The least amount of money I will make on an hourly basis, then you need to know how many is going to take you and then you round up and that is the bare minimum that you expect. Yeah. And really you shouldn't do it on 40 hour week. You should really do it on a 30 hour week because you're going to have Admin work and other things. Or maybe you do it on a 20 hour week, you know, maybe that's even better. But you have to know what your hourly rate is. And also that really helps you when it comes to leverage, which is where I, you know, this is the world I live in is leverage. How do you leverage yourself out if you don't know what you earn and somebody says, Well, I charge 30 an hour to do this work for you. You think, ooh, 30 an hour, I don't know. But if your hourly rate is 150 an hour and you're spending five hours a week during doing 30 hour a week, 38 hour work, then you're, you're losing money because you should be doing 150 hour work. You know, so you have to put it in real perspective. You know, the numbers have to be solid, get down, get onto a spreadsheet, understand what you actually are earning, what it actually costs you to deliver your service and including your time.

Speaker B: Including your time.

Speaker A: And then you can make real, you know, real decisions about what, what you need to do to, you know, how to price, who to hire, what to leverage out, what to keep, what subscriptions to pay for and all the rest of it.

Speaker B: Yeah, but that's that at that point. Yeah, the numbers has to, has to guide you. This is not, this is not how you feel. This is not about how you feel. This is not about what you like at this stage. It's, it's looking at the data.

Speaker A: So you will be able to present your offer and your price to your client with a lot more confidence when you know why you're charging that amount and if somebody hems and ha's about it, then you can be much more confident about. Then we're not a good fit to work together. Because I don't work for free.

Speaker B: Exactly.

Speaker A: And if I do this for 50% of what you know, then I'm not actually making any money. So I'm okay with not working with you. But if you don't know what you're actually making, you know, working with everybody, then you work with everybody and then you end up not making any money. Right. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can do is pass on a client who isn't a good fit.

Speaker B: Absolutely.

Speaker A: And that is a hard lesson to learn.

Speaker B: It's a, it's a, it's a good lesson to learn and, and you have to be okay with it. Like I'm, um, I'm, when I really got to that point, especially when it comes to location independence. Right. I value, and I, I, I love my me time and I value, you know, myself and what I do so much that I am perfectly okay if someone is not the perfect client for me. You know, I would, I would say that in the beginning it doesn't feel good because you just want to say yes to everybody. But you can get over that quickly. You really can. And I, and I think what helps you to get over it quickly is understanding, understanding what you do, what you're trying to do. And it's more important to work with the right clients.

Speaker A: So if you follow the process right, if you're very clear about what your value proposition is, if you validated it, if you've packaged it correctly so you're very clear about this is what I offer and this is who I work with, then that gap closes and it becomes much easier and, uh, it starts to flow. And those people typically know other people like them who have the similar problems. And that's when it really gets fun. Right. Your business comes from repeat and referral clients as well.

Speaker B: Yep.

Speaker A: Arnitha, thank you so much. This was such an insightful conversation. So can you, as we wrap up, can you just explain how people can work with you and where they can find more information about what you do?

Speaker B: Absolutely. R y l abroad.com rylabroad.com you can go to, to, to that's, that's like a blog page, but it has all the, you know, the contact information and what have you. And I would love for them to subscribe to my YouTube channel too, which I am turning my attention to, to grow. Because going back to what we said, looking at data, I started putting out videos on YouTube without a real focus on growing a YouTube channel at all. And I have clients come through YouTube, you know, and so join YouTube. It's yLabroad. That is a great way to stay connected with me and go to rylabroad.com perfect.

Speaker A: Thank you so much. It was so great getting to chat with you about all of this.

Speaker B: Same here.

Speaker A: I hope this conversation inspired you to look differently at the skills that you have and the life experience that you bring to the table and that you find a way to funnel that into a business that you can run from anywhere. We'll be back with more real estate and location focused content in our next episode. Until then, keep traveling, keep exploring, keep living the life you dream about. And when you're ready to rent or buy, reach out to me. I'd love to help you find your place in Spain or Portugal.