I recently came across an inspiring article written by Clate Mask, CEO of Infusionsoft (rebranded as Keap in 2019) about the three keys to business success: Passion, Freedom and Impact. These three, he says, must work in harmony with one another and are accomplished together: “Without passion for your business, you can’t have the freedom you desire or the strength to make an impact. Without freedom, you’ll never make an impact, and your passion is wasted.”
As the owner of a strategic marketing agency for over two decades, I resonate with the connection between these critical ingredients, but it wasn’t until I really started living them over the last few years that I came to understand their power behind fueling the business. This shift enabled me to put passion, freedom and impact above all else, and was the pivotal point in our company’s transition to a larger, more well-known marketing agency. No longer was it a hobby business for me – something that made me happy and paid the bills. My business now exists for a larger purpose and fulfills me at a deeper level.
The way I stepped away from the corporate 9-to-5 life was a bit of a fluke. I had been contacted by a former boss to work for him at his new company – a full-time position running sales and marketing. As enticing as it sounded, thankfully I listened to my inner voice which was saying that I wanted something more. I asked for the position in a consultative capacity, working 20 hours per week at the same 6-figure pay as my current position. I was shocked by his “yes” and I started my new adventure as a freelance consultant.
The excitement around building a business of my own was intoxicating. I never imagined that I could be doing what I love, calling the shots, and making money for myself. In those early days, I had the freedom to work from home (an unheard-of concept at the time), pick my kids up from school, take on additional business as I saw fit, and build my business from the ground up.
However, I didn’t feel free at all.
Despite the flexibility of my day-to-day work life, I was married to the business. Long hours during the weekdays, weekends, and time spent working after the kids went to bed were the norm. I was more enslaved to the business than free because of it.
Seven years after I started working as a consultant, the work for my first client went away after they were acquired by a huge competitor. By that time, I had successfully built up a small client base, and had defined my passion for the type of clients I was good at serving and how I enjoyed helping them.
And with increased passion, the business grew – so much so that I realized I could no longer do it as a solopreneur. I needed to figure out how to scale. At that point, I set out to build an exceptional team. That team is what opened the doors to the freedom Clate described.
Here’s what I’ve learned that has made all the difference to my freedom:
- Build a team you can rely on.
- Delegate instead of doing.
- Trust others and let go of control.
As my team will tell you, these are areas I continue to work on and get better at. I have learned that when I lean on my team and work smarter instead of harder, I am able to create a much better work/life balance that makes me feel free. I am able to travel when I want (and not work while I’m on vacation!), workout regularly, enjoy time with my husband, kids, and grandkids, and volunteer for causes I care about—all while serving our clients in a way that impacts their success. When I’m in the freedom-flow, I’m happier, the team is happier, and our clients are best served.
The team opened the door to freedom, and also changed my perspective on passion. Expanding from a solopreneur to a team, I initially felt the passion wane. I now had new “people issues” to deal with – and that was not my passion. Plus, if I wasn’t hands-on involved in everything, how could I be sure it contained the same level of passion I would have put in? How do you transfer your passion into others? I’ve learned that when I model the passion I have, it naturally flows to the team and to our clients. Making an impact is truly at the core of a successful business. Our team rallies around this truth.
Helping our clients achieve purpose and passion for their business is at the heart of what we strive to do every day. We enter each client challenge with an owner’s perspective, asking ourselves, “what would we do if this were our business?” We act as sounding boards for owners who often don’t have seasoned senior team members, and guide them on their own unique path towards living their passion, having more freedom and making an impact through their business. We seek new clients because we keenly desire to make an impact in more business owners’ lives.
When passion, freedom and impact are truly working together, you feel the shift in your day-to-day operations. Your business isn’t running you. You are able to ask “how can I help” more freely. You are able to serve your clients in a way that becomes so seamless that it feels like play, and the results are astounding.
Read Clate’s full article here, and get inspired to build the company you’ve always envisioned. We are here to create and execute a strategic marketing strategy for your business that enables you to enjoy the freedom of building the company of your dreams. How can we help?