It’s love.

That’s the secret. 

Love. 

Okay, okay. Don’t shut me down yet. I know it may sound vague, even cheesy, but it’s true. Let me explain. 

I have the honor of supporting women across various business stages and industries in taking their companies to new heights. Hence, I’ve seen it all. The messy, the glamorous, and everything in-between. Running a small business is not for the faint of heart! With this work, I’ve also had the privilege to observe common patterns and themes amongst these leaders. Noticing what actually works and what really doesn’t. 

What works every time for an entrepreneur and her business? An operation driven and fueled by love. 

The other available option for running a business? Just like everything else not done in love – it’s fear. We often assume fear played out in business is only connected to the concepts of imposter syndrome, “playing small” or adversity to risk. While those experiences are absolutely relevant, they limit the definition and real power of fear. Fear is such a prevalent driver in business that it has become unrecognizable. Even applauded! While they often are innocently recommended, fear tactics in business never actually bring the holistic wealth most truly desire. 

Sure, in their application you may gain a quick buck. But, what about your long-term reputation? Integrity with the calling God has on your life? True contentment, joy and peace so abundant they overflow to those around you? 

It’s time to see a new wave of women leading businesses from a place of wholeness, not complacency. 

Here are three ways to ensure you’re running a business out of love, not from fear: 

#1 You make guided decisions, not forced ones.

When we are in fear, we embody a scarcity mindset.

For many of us, we adopted a scarce worldview at a young age as it is possible we saw our families struggle – whether physically or emotionally. So, out of an instinctual need for “survival” – whether real or perceived – we learned to force our way to get what we want. We believed that we would not be taken care of if we didn’t “make it happen.” 

Sometimes this response is necessary. There is no dismissing that! But, it’s likely you don’t need to be in survival mode in your everyday life any longer. Though many still live and make decisions as if they do. 

It also doesn’t help that the song of our society is something like, “build, grow, faster, better, stronger!” Striving is the water we’re swimming in. It’s the many business magazine cover stories that are upheld as the ideal that try to tell us that doing business with force is the best and only way of doing so.

Hence, you have the option to do business that way. It is the way most do. But, it’s not the way of love. Underneath the service, making forceful decisions is actually out of desperate and painful self-protection. 

What’s the alternative? Making guided decisions. 

Imagine looking at your calendar for the next quarter. You’re planning your marketing campaigns, new offers, next-level goals. In fear, you look at that calendar as your survival plan. So you make forceful decisions to ensure you reach your financial goals or attain that certain amount of recognition. It’s exhausting. 

In love, you would look at your calendar, take a deep breath, and go connect with God before any actual planning went into play. You would honestly admit if you were feeling scared about finances. You would ask to be shown the next steps or be given innovative ideas that you couldn’t create on your own. You would at first receive. Then, you wouldn’t make a move until you knew it was time to do so.

Making guided decisions is the spiritual path, the narrow way. And though you might not see such a strategy flash across your newsfeed as often, it is one that will actually leave you aligned with your true purpose. 

#2 You are clear on your talents and purpose – and even clearer on what is not. 

When you know who you are, you will know what to do. 

Each of us is here for a very specific purpose and uniquely designed to adhere to living out such purposes (Psalm 139:13-16). This means as the creator and leader of your business, it is your responsibility to understand what you bring to the table. 

Are you more the visionary or the integrator? 

Do you confidently know the results you bring for others? 

What tasks drain you and which light you up?

The conversation of “imposter syndrome” is quite popular in female business circles. While the experience is real, I often wonder if the feeling can sometimes be a sign you’re actually in the wrong lane. Say your true essence is one of a creative healer, but you’re trying to build an accounting business. Not that the two can’t go together, but for the sake of an example, of course you would feel like an “imposter.” You would be creating work for yourself that was never meant to be yours in the first place.

Once you know more clearly who you are, you are able to say stronger “no’s.” In fear, you might say “yes” to everything simply because you don’t know your place yet. In love, you can boldly own your brilliance in the arenas of life you’re meant to and say “no” or delegate in areas that you are not. 

#3 You market from service, not manipulation. 

Fear says: “What’s in it for me?” 

Love says: “What’s in it for them?” 

Can’t you just smell when someone is trying to sell you something for their own benefit? Ugh. It’s the worst! But, who can blame them? It is the fear-based rhetoric of “good” business widely accepted by the majority. 

If you find yourself doing this in your marketing, first give yourself grace. We’ve all done it! Second, remind yourself that you can trust to be taken care of by God, so you don’t need to manipulate your way to a sale.

You have been provided for this far! Then, pause, and shift your heart to remembering that you built your business out of the desire to serve others first. Remember true service looks like meeting people where they are at, not manipulating them with an agenda. 

I’ve shifted to look at marketing as simply an expression and an invitation. That’s it. Authentically expressing what you do, who you are, and what you’re offering in creative ways. And inviting people to participate if they feel inclined. 

Strong business can be done with ease and without unnecessary pressure.

This is a new way of doing business for many of us, and these elements are just the beginning. I hope you join the movement of women choosing love in business instead of fear. 

What areas of your business do you need to transform in love? How does it make you feel to let go of fear-based business tactics?