How to Build Your Business in Just 20 Hours a Week with Katie Fleming

You’re Listening to theAntiFragile Entrepreneurship™ podcast, Episode #37!  

My guest today is going to give you a refreshingly simple strategy for growing a business online working less than 20 hours a week. Today’s episode will especially resonate with you if you’re a mompreneur who’s experiencing the never-ending juggle of trying to balance work and family. But whether you’re a parent or not, when you finish listening to this episode, you’ll have the blueprint to double your client base, cross the 6 figure mark in annual income, make a bigger impact in the worlds of your clients AND your family.

Katie Fleming, our guest today, focuses on helping mompreneurs build 6 figure businesses from home. But you don’t have to be a mompreneur to get value out of this episode and walk away with her 4-step framework to grow a business online successfully, working as much or as little as you choose. 

In fact, most of Katie’s clients are masters at balancing work and family because Katie is gifted when it comes to taking complex business strategy and making it simple and repeatable, so you can lather, rinse, and repeat it all the way to 6 figures and beyond without working 24/7 or taking time away from your family along the way. 

If you’re a mompreneur who has struggled to grow a business online while balancing work and family, you're going to love what you hear inside this episode. Even if you’re not a parent, but you have a desire in your heart to grow a business online in a way that works for your lifestyle and not the other way around, today’s episode is for you too. Let’s roll the tape.

Courtney Elmer 0:12  

Katie, welcome to the show! I'm so excited to talk with you today about how to grow a business online as a mompreneur, and balance work and family.

Katie Fleming 2:32  

I'm so excited to talk with your audience as well!

Courtney Elmer 2:36  

So why don't we start off by telling our listeners about why you chose to work with mompreneurs specifically, helping them learn how to balance work and family while growing a business online.

Katie Fleming 3:07  

Yes, my journey and who I help today comes out of my own story of growing a business online while trying to balance work and family. When my first daughter was born, I'd built my business to a point where it was bringing in a good full time income that allowed me the flexibility to be home. But I was working all the time, and wasn't taking good care of myself, my family, or my clients. I knew how to grow a business online, but figuring out how to balance work and family while doing it was a different story. I reached a point where I wanted to throw in the towel and quit. My husband said, "Babe, you could take a break or do whatever you want to do. But I know you, and two months from now, you're going to come up with some new business idea, some new way to change the world. So why not just figure out a way to pivot into a business where balancing work and family is built in?" This started me out on the journey to realizing that you can grow a business online in so many different ways, but not every way is going to serve the ideal mompreneur life I want to live. I realized that there is a business model that you can create to balance work and family, take care of yourself AND your clients in the best way possible. And today, the Ambitious Mom methodology I coach my clients through helps them discover what an ideal balance of work and family looks like for them. I help ambitious mompreneurs scale to six figures while working about 20 hours a week, making balancing work and family a breeze.

Courtney Elmer 4:54  

I love the simple fact that you reverse engineered the process by helping your mompreneur clients start out by asking "What does the ideal balance of work and family look like, for me?" I see so many mompreneurs start growing a business online because they have this big dream and want to bring it to life. So tell us more about how you help mompreneurs learn to balance work and family, and pursue their calling alongside their role as a mother.

Katie Fleming 6:48  

Yes! The reason from the get-go I wanted to serve mompreneurs was because there are so many voices in the marketplace saying "hustle, hustle, hustle!" But they're these 30-40 year old males that don't have kids, and who haven't had to figure out how to balance work and family. So they're teaching how to grow a business online from that purview and it didn't resonate. So I created this out of realizing that we don't have to do what the other gurus have said, there's a way to balance work and family and naturally find a flow in our life between the two. I realized there needed to be a female voice, who was teaching other mompreneurs how to grow a business online, and who was also committed to showing them how to balance work and family.

Courtney Elmer 7:33  

Great point. There are SO many voices out there promoting that "hustle till you drop" mentality and preaching "hard work and effort is just what it takes to be successful." A lot of mompreneurs make the mistake of buying into this, then struggle to know how to balance work and family because the messages of "work hard and hustle" and "balance work and family" conflict. I love that you've created this method for mompreneurs so they can successfully grow a business online so they can have it all, without having to do it all. Can you share more about your Method?

Katie Fleming 8:18  

For sure. It starts with identifying what you want to build first. It's one thing to want to grow a business online as a mompreneur, it's another thing to know what you want that business to look like and why. How many hours do you want to work a week? What kind of income are you reaching for? What does your ideal balance of work and family look like? From that point, we're able to create strong messaging around what you do and who you help. This way, you're making sure that your offer is properly articulated to the right people. From there, we go into offer structure and leveraging the time you do have. If you only have 20 hours a week to work, I teach you how to identify what is the highest level of transformation that you can help somebody achieve, and then, how to package it in a way that allows you to bring in the highest level of income. It's very strategic. From there, we talk about how to create a simple marketing plan that will bring you the biggest results so that you're not overworking, and can maintain that balance between work and family. If you're just starting to grow a business online, you don't need to have a podcast, or be on YouTube, or blog 2.7 times a week, or any of these other complicated things like messenger bots and funnels. Those things are wonderful in time, but it's about figuring out what's the simplest way for you to get people into your world and connect with them first. The final component is sales. When you are selling a high ticket transformation offer, there's going to be a lot of mind games that come up, you're going to have to work through a lot of that. But it's also a skill that you can learn. So that's the fourth component and all of that spells, MOMS: Messaging, Offer, Marketing, Sales.

Courtney Elmer 10:13  

Who knew growing a business online while balancing work and family could be so simple? Hearing you describe this with such clarity is refreshing. I think those mompreneurs listening might even feel relieved hearing they don't have to worry about messenger bots and funnels and YouTube and be everywhere at all times because it gets overwhelming so quickly. It's powerful when you focus on simply building a solid foundation. Once that's in place, you can grow in any direction you choose and it becomes so much easier to balance work and family in the process. I'd love to hear how your own journey of growing a business online evolved. You reached that breaking point, made this pivot, and started developing this method... What were some of the challenges you faced along the way?

Katie Fleming 11:20  

I got caught up in the whole complicated online marketing world, which delayed me from growing a business online as quickly as I could have. It also made it a struggle to balance work and family because I was working all the time. I was selling a lot of low ticket offers, like a $27 course that I spent months creating. A mistake a lot of mompreneurs make when they first get into this online world, is that they start doing what I call crazy math. Like, "ooh, a $27 course, I just have to sell 1000 of these a month!" But if you have a small following and email list, it doesn't make sense for where you're at. Low ticket also means low transformation and low level of commitment from people. So it wasn't until I flipped the funnel and stopped selling low ticket items, and started asking myself questions like, "how can I serve somebody at the highest level? How can I give them exactly what they're looking for? How can I solve that biggest problem?" that it became much easier to grow a business online and balance work and family because I didn't have to work so much to make such a little bit of money. I realized, when someone is invested in their transformation because they want those big problems solved, I'm able to help them facilitate better results. And, they show up in a stronger way for themselves. It creates a beautiful client relationship.

Courtney Elmer 12:53  

Yes, "The transformation begins with the transaction." I love your perspective on leaning into these higher ticket offers especially for mompreneurs. Energetically, it is so much better for you and the client when you're focused on a higher level of transformation for them, and it makes it easier to balance work and family when you're not having to work so hard for the money you're making.

Katie Fleming 14:10  

The other benefit to flipping the funnel like this is that you're no longer trying to grow a business online from a scarcity mindset, thinking "what should be free content vs. paid content?" Because if somebody's paying you for your highest level of transformation, they're showing up in the room with you at a live event or they're on a weekly coaching call. You get to show up unapologetically and share all your good stuff in your free group because the information is not the key. It's the implementation. It's the support that your work provides, not necessarily the information itself.

Courtney Elmer 14:46  

Yes. That is one of the most powerful secrets to grow a business online: give away the what and the why but keep the "how" behind a paywall. You can teach them what you know, and why it's important, and then if they want that transformation, they know they need to step up and work with you. What are some of the challenges mompreneurs tend to struggle with when it comes to balancing work and family? And how does your method help these mompreneurs find a better balance of work and family specifically?

Katie Fleming 15:21  

A lot of the problems mompreneurs experience center around the way they're marketing their business. They're trying to grow a business online doing too many things so nothing is working. At the end of the day, they're not actually bringing in the leads, or they're not actually closing the sales that need to happen. So it's figuring out how to hone their specific way to bring in clients. And then identifying their specific sales process to take that lead through to a sale.

Courtney Elmer 15:46  

So by flipping this script and focusing on the higher ticket offers, it helps the mompreneurs you work with to hone their focus. And by honing their focus, it simplifies their strategy for growing a business online. And when they're clear on how to grow a business online, they're able to stay focused on the right activity that moves the needle, and it becomes easier to balance work and family because they feel less overwhelmed.

Katie Fleming 16;05

Yes. There's only three voices that matter in your business: Yourself number one, i.e., what God's got for you, and what you feel is right for you and what you feel is important in order to balance work and family. The second is the voice of your mentor. And I mean it when I say mentor because I think there needs to be one, not plural. Otherwise, you have all these different voices coming at your head saying, Oh, do it this way, do it that way. And it's just confusing! The third most important voice that you need to listen to is your ideal clients. Because when you're growing a business online, they're going to be the ones who tell you what they need, and how you can best support them. And you as the expert, you're going to know what's best. So anytime I find myself stuck in my business, it's usually because I'm letting a voice in that isn't one of those three.

Courtney Elmer 18:07  

That's such a tangible takeaway. There are SO many people telling you what you should do and what you need to be doing. So you put that pressure on yourself thinking you should or need to be doing X, Y, or Z, and that throws the balance of work and family out of whack. But growing a business online as a mompreneur can be as simple as tuning into your own voice, tuning into the voice of your client, and also the voice of your mentor. I want to chat more about this thing we call "your calling" or "your purpose." A lot of mompreneurs are looking for this, or feel they've lost it when they became a mom. They want to grow a business online that allows them to help more people and fulfill their calling AND they want to find a better balance of work and family. I want to hear your take on how you help mompreneurs fulfill their calling or callings and find that balance of work and family.

Katie Fleming 19:51  

I think that so often we let our search for our calling keep us from taking action. Don't let your search for your calling keep you from actually taking action today to grow your business online and show up and serve the people right in front of you. I hold on loosely to the fact that this is how I've been called to serve today, and it could change in the future. Today this is what balancing work and family looks like for me, tomorrow it might look different. When you simply show up in excellence every day, and take action, take that next step in front of you, you're going to be served so much better in the long haul.

Courtney Elmer 20:45  

Yes, one of the questions I personally ask myself is, "What is my calling at this moment?" Because it changes, and it's made up of a lot of little things along the way. It's very dynamic, and it can shift and change and grow and you can be called to more than one thing at once. So let me ask you, speaking of growing a business online while balancing work and family, what's next on your horizon?

Katie Fleming 21:32  

This is so real and raw, because right now I am in the middle of still dissecting what it looks like. The heartbeat of what this next season looks like is creating a community for ambitious mompreneurs who are starting at six figures or scaling to seven figures, and fostering a community that supports each other and serves each other in balancing work and family and creates meaningful collaboration. That's where my heart is right now.

Courtney Elmer 22:22  

I remember feeling so isolated for the longest time in my business. It can be tough running a business from your laptop trying to balance work and family, especially if you are raising young kids at home and the most activity you have in a week is to go to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's and back to your house. When growing a business online, it is so important to have that community and to find women you can link arms with in an authentic way like you're describing, truly knowing that someone has your back. So, my last question for you then is: What is your definition of success?

Katie Fleming 23:35  

Success is living to the fullest and showing up in the way that I want to show up. So for me, that is balancing work and family, and not sacrificing them for the pursuit of success or money. I think it is important that we do things that are meaningful as mompreneurs. Success for me is showing up fully in my calling, both inside my home and outside of my home.

Courtney Elmer 24:09  

It brings us full circle. Finding success as a mompreneur, growing a business online while balancing work and family. Awesome. Where can our listeners find you and connect with you?

Katie Fleming 24:16  

Come hang out with me on Instagram! It's my favorite place to be @KatieFleming. And also on the Ambitious Motherhood podcast, Courtney has been on and it was a great episode! I think we talk there about ways to balance work and family too.

Courtney Elmer 24:37  

Yes, that was such a fun episode! The mompreneur community you've built there is powerful. You're out there helping so many mompreneurs succeed in growing a business online, and giving them that flexibility and freedom in finding the balance of work and family, which is such a beautiful thing. Thanks Katie, thanks for being on the show. 

Katie Fleming 24:48

Thanks so much for having me.