Today we dive into how the decision to travel the world for a year grew my business. And it might not be what you think.
I’m returning to the states with a much more successful biz than when I left, plus I got to travel the world for a year.
For the back story, I’m sure you’ve heard a million times now, I have only been self employed since we left to travel the world on May 22 2018. So 2019 is actually the first year I’ve been completely self-employed. But before we left, Nate was working, and I was coaching competitive cheer and training in person clients.
Now, the goal was always to work towards and end up being completely online with my biz. But that was a SLOW process up until we made the decision to leave the country.
Don’t get me wrong. I never wanted a fast track to success. I always wanted slow, sustainable growth. Yes, of course I wanted success and to feel free in my biz but I never wanted nor did I have the expectation that that was going to just happen over night.
But my point is that I totally would have continued drawing out that process and not making the jump to being fully self employed had we not made a sink or swim type of life choice. I’d heard of this approach from other entrepreneurs. Take the jump and then make it work. And to be honest. Most of the time it does. Because these scenarios are truly sink or swim. They also tend to be super stressful. Which I was avoiding.
How can I grow online and decrease my load at work? That’s what I did. And I don’t regret that at all.
We’d planned to have me be the provider while we traveled. That was motivating, awesome and terrifying all at the same time.
This is the point where we go deep into the first seven months of travel + business decisions. It’s quite the story and I certainly hope it feels raw, and inspires you with your biz.
Leaving meant I was self employed. Great. Now I’ve got to make it work and I really needed to make more than I was at the time.
And to be honest, I quickly realized I had A LOT of extra time on my hands when there was nothing to do besides work on my biz.
Traveling the world gave me an excuse and reason to stop coaching cheer and training people in person. It would have been MUCH harder to just cut those things off. I’d been invested in cheer for 10 years, and in person for seven. So, in all honesty, the whole “we’re living somewhere else” deal made it easier for me to deliver to my humans.
If you’re wanting to make the leap to online or work for yourself, I fully understand the fear and emotional hesitation there. It’s not an easy thing to do, and I didn’t want to brush over that decision like it is.
I read The Big Leap while we were in Santiago, Chile. That made me ask A LOT of questions and honestly put me in kind of an uncomfortable funk.
I quickly realized that I needed to change some things in my business and wanted to reach more people + streamline built by Annie even more. I looked for areas of my biz that I could deliver value in less time while making more. Thaaaatttt is what led to the tiered creation that is the current Built By Annie today.
In Santiago I designed the webpage and outlined the new programs for BBA. I did all the ground work.
No significant growth in biz because nothing changed yet. But I had the space to grow which is the point.
Lot’s happens in between Santiago and Rio De Janeiro, and I finally launch the new (current) BBA in Brazil. You’ll have to listen for the rest.
Just know that we (the Millers) were not sinking fam. We were swimming.
I now had a new found confidence and belief in myself and my abilities to make things happen when I needed to. And I was building the foundation of a biz that could REALLY sustain us now + grow in the future.
And that’s what it did. I got more clear on who I was talking to + wanted to attract because I wasn’t in the mindset that I needed to take every client that came along. And this WAS my mindset back home because I was just trying to grow my online side at any cost. But we all know that’s not how we grow sustainable and profitable businesses. Not in the long run anyhow. And it’s definitely not how we grow joyful ones.
So, when we left to travel the world, I offered 1:1, 6 week transformations, 20 day challenges, and one built by Annie tier. And making enough to support us in South America…
By Jan 1 2018 (7 months later, I’d 3x my revenue, started a podcast, got rid of 6 week transformations, and 20 day challenges, capped on 1:1 clients, relaunched Built By Annie with three tiers and a new specified concept for my niche, and was in the planning stages of FitsPRO Foundations).
All while traveling the world.
You don’t need to travel the world or move out of state to 3x your biz. You’ve got to Sink or swim my friend and that can’t happen if you’re on dry land.
Tune in to hear more about how I REALLY made the growth happen and how you can do it too, whether you’re traveling the world or not.
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