70. Finding Your Perfect Specialization: A New Approach for Service Providers

In this episode of Soulpreneur Scaling Stories, I dive deep into one of the biggest challenges that keeps service providers stuck in overwhelm and income plateaus: creating a business that truly supports your desired lifestyle instead of one that drains your energy and joy.

If you’ve ever found yourself working extra hours, taking on clients who don’t respect your boundaries, or feeling resentful about the work you’re doing, this episode is your permission slip to build a business model that actually aligns with the life you want to live.

I share my personal journey from burnout to building a peaceful, profitable business, and break down the three key phases of transformation that can help you double your profits while working half the time.

Key Points Covered:

✨ Why most service providers end up creating a business that feels like a prison instead of freedom

 ✨ The critical relationship between your unique magic and sustainable business growth

✨ How to design a strategic offer suite that attracts high-value clients who respect your boundaries

✨ The exact framework for transitioning from chaotic service delivery to a streamlined, scalable business model

✨ Why alignment with your natural strengths creates effortless marketing and sales

If you’re tired of feeling like your business is running you instead of the other way around, this episode will show you how to reclaim your time, increase your income, and find joy in your work again.

👉🏼 Use code ALIGN for a special discount off of the Core Offer Alignment Intensive only for my Soulpreneur Scaling Stories family

💫 Ready to create your own effortless offer flow? Grab my free Aligned Offer Suite Roadmap at dancingleafsolutions.com/resources

💌 DM me “EXPANSION” on Instagram @soulfulbizcoachandrea to learn more about my 3-month 1:1 coaching program

Thank you for being a part of the Soulpreneur Scaling Stories community!

FREE RESOURCES
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(⬆️ Peaceful Profit Vault, Burnout to Balance Free Masterclass & The Aligned Offer Suite Roadmap)

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🎧 Podcast produced and edited with love by @FerAssists 🩵

Transcript

[00:00:00] Andrea Elibero: Andrea here, your host and passionate business coach and scaling strategist for Soulful Service Providers and Coaches. Welcome to another episode of Soulpreneur Scaling Stories. Have you ever wanted to look behind the curtain of your fellow entrepreneur's business to see what actually went into scaling it?

[00:00:22] Well, you are in for a treat because that's exactly what we are doing here. In each episode, we will be uncovering the truth the lessons and the stories behind what it truly takes for solepreneurs to scale their businesses intentionally. I'm hoping that their stories will help you to unlock the true potential of your business so you can create your own soulful, abundant, and aligned laptop lifestyle through intentional Scaling.

[00:00:46] So whether you're just starting out on your scaling journey or you're a seasoned entrepreneur seeking inspiration, this episode has something incredible in store for you. Are you ready to rise, grow, and create a business that fully supports your dream life? Well, let's [00:01:00] dive in. Before we begin, make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an empowering episode filled with real stories and soulful insights.

[00:01:10] Hello, hello. Welcome to Solpreneur Scaling Stories. I am really excited this week to share all about clarity and specialization, and I have an exciting announcement for the end, so stick around. So, okay, so let's dive in. Now, this is something that I see so many talented online service providers get stuck in, so this like, Endless loop of uncertainty.

[00:01:36] So we're going to get you certain today. So I'm going to talk about the counter intuitive reason why so many virtual assistants, online business managers, and other service pros are struggling to choose a specialization. We're going to go over a completely different and new approach to finding this clarity that has absolutely nothing to do with market research, or or crunching numbers or any of that.[00:02:00] 

[00:02:00] And then I'm going to talk about the simple shift that transforms confusion into confidence when it comes to your direction. And this is all about following your own intuition.

[00:02:14] Guidance. It is not about following formulas or analyzing market trends. It's about breaking free from your analysis paralysis that I know you have been swimming around in and moving forward with unshakable confidence in your direction.

[00:02:28] So when I talk to you guys I see and this has happened to me as well back in the day that you know Scenes like it is 11pm, you're up, you're scrolling on your laptop through other VA's websites, other OBM's websites, trying to see, oh, what are they doing? What are they specializing in? What are their clients asking for?

[00:02:50] You're looking through social media to see your notes app has all these random ideas, but nothing sounds like quite right for you. You have like 47 browser tabs open, you've [00:03:00] watched all these YouTube videos, you've googled, and it's gotten you nowhere. You feel less clear than when you started, right? So does this feel familiar to you?

[00:03:08] That isn't you, like you know you want to specialize, but you feel overwhelmed with all the possibilities. You've spent hours researching all these different directions, but I don't know, it just doesn't feel right, you can't really commit, you're scared to choose one thing, what if it's the wrong thing?

[00:03:23] Every time you think you've found your direction, you discover some other option, and you're like, I don't know, I don't know what to choose. You have spreadsheets, you're comparing different specializations, you really can't decide, you worry. That you pick the wrong thing. You worry that when you choose something better will appear.

[00:03:39] You know, you see other service pros who are confidently choosing their path, it seems, and you're stuck. You've been stuck. And the most painful part to all of this is that deep down, you know that this indecision is holding you back from the business growth that you actually want. I know, but don't worry, we're going to solve it all right now.

[00:03:57] So here is what's actually [00:04:00] happening. What happens is, is that there is this like traditional advice about choosing a specialization that sounds really logical, right? Okay, research what's trending now, analyze market demand, study successful competitors, look for gaps in the market, follow the money.

[00:04:15] That's a big one that I see a lot, follow the money. And that seems really smart, right? That's like the smart way to build a business. And more research should equal more clarity. But, but what they don't tell you is that this logical external approach is why you are stuck. And it doesn't work. I'm going to share a story with you and tell you why it doesn't work.

[00:04:38] So I had a client who was exactly where maybe you are right now.

[00:04:42] She was smart, capable, and really stuck in trying to choose her direction. She was an admin VA and really wanted to specialize. So she's like, okay, like, let me do research. Let me pick the right thing. So she was looking at, like, created spreadsheets, analyzing all these different specializations.

[00:04:58] She followed all these other [00:05:00] successful VAs in different niches. She joined free trainings to try to help, but she made pros and cons lists. She was doing everything right, right? She, according to conventional wisdom, but the more she dove, went down this road, the more paralyzed and uncertain she felt. Why?

[00:05:20] Because she was looking for clarity in all the wrong places. That's a song, right? Looking for love in all the wrong places. I won't sing to you. Don't worry. That would be torture, but This is true. So you do not need more information. That's not the issue. The information is making things worse because you're looking outside of yourself and every new option that you find creates more doubt.

[00:05:45] Every success story of somebody else makes you question yourself. Every external research road that you go down drowns out your own internal wisdom. And you're the logical analysis paralysis. That you have all this [00:06:00] analysis you're doing it paralyzes your natural intuition and I will tell you A story that this was me.

[00:06:05] So back in 2019 You know, I was admin va doing all the things and I literally googled how do you grow your va business and the only you can do this now because I'm going to change this but The only thing that comes up is to have an agency and to scale and to hire subcontractors So I thought that that's what I had to do You Even though I was like, yeah, okay, I'm enjoying my work.

[00:06:29] Like, it's cool. Okay. My business, people still want to work with me. I can't handle any more clients. All right. Let me hire some people to help. So that's what I did. And guess what? I didn't do it for very long. Not because I wasn't successful. No, I was making the money, but because I didn't enjoy it. I didn't make that choice from an empowered place.

[00:06:47] I just did it because that's what needed to be done, quote unquote. And then from there, it wasn't for me, and I did other things. The OBM, now the coaching, which is the most empowered choice that I've made, and I will tell you [00:07:00] why, you will understand why. When we go through this. So what happens when you go down a path that is not meant for you.

[00:07:06] And this is what happened to me. It's fun at first, right? You have the challenge of building this, but then you get bored. You lose your passion and the money becomes just money. It's completely unsustainable because you're not. Excited about it? So why are you even doing that? You might as well be in a 9 to 5 instead of being this business owner with a business that you don't love.

[00:07:28] So you are not stuck because you need more research. You are stuck because the traditional advice about choosing a direction completely misses the most important factor in finding your clarity. So let's get into what to do instead. Here's what changes everything. Finding your perfect direction is not about analyzing external factors.

[00:07:50] Here's the key. It is about understanding you. It's about understanding your personal unique magic, which is what you're amazing at. It's your natural talents [00:08:00] and what you love doing that serve your clients that serve premium clients and aligning that with how you truly want to live your dream life vision.

[00:08:09] This is it. Simple, right? I will explain further. So let me share first an example that shows exactly how this works. So I had a client who came with to me Completely stuck in OBM, having monthly retainer clients, doing regular OBM things, but she really wanted to specialize. And she was like, Oh, maybe I want to do launch support.

[00:08:31] And why did she want to do that? When we dug in a bit, she was like, well, I have, I know how, and it seems easy to sell there's demand and it makes sense. Right. Yeah, of course everybody launches. Right. So on paper, it made perfect sense. Launches are popular. It's obvious demand. And she had the skills. But.

[00:08:51] When we dug a little bit deeper into herself and to how she envisions her life into what she's amazing at, her unique magic, [00:09:00] something really interesting came out. So the launch support, although it's a very viable business model, it conflicted completely with the lifestyle that she wanted to create. And it was something that she wasn't super passionate about.

[00:09:15] She could do it, but she wasn't like that interested in it. So she would have been locked into this lifestyle and into this daily, this day to day routine, doing something that didn't light her up at best, and that drained her at worst, and didn't support the life that she wanted to create. And here's the really cool thing that happened is that through our working together, she discovered that she had this amazing talent for team building and a passion for that.

[00:09:45] So this is something that came out because we were talking, we were going through, I was doing my thing and I could see that she got really, she really lit up when talking about this. And she hadn't even considered that this is actually a [00:10:00] business model. People do their very successful hat and It's really viable.

[00:10:06] It's something that she could do. So the really cool thing was that, or actually the really interesting thing, and this happens a lot, was that this team building, this hiring, all of that, it came so naturally to her that she didn't recognize that she was special at it. She didn't recognize that not everybody is amazing at building a cohesive, harmonious team.

[00:10:29] She assumed that everybody found this easy. And that's not the case at all, right? And this, by the way, is super common. When you find something easy that you're good at that seems effortless, you, a lot of times, you dismiss it because you're like, oh, everybody can do it. But this is not true. That is your unique magic.

[00:10:46] And so we often dismiss our most valuable gifts because they feel effortless to us, even though it's this effortlessness that makes them what they are. So without having this outside perspective that I gave her, she would have missed this completely. [00:11:00] So she really needed somebody to help her see what was right in front of her.

[00:11:03] That she lit up when talking about teens. That she has this natural gift for spotting talent, for understanding who would work well with somebody else. And she could effortlessly create harmony in a diverse group.

[00:11:15] So she started, she chose this as her specialization, right? Team building, hiring support.

[00:11:20] And she was so excited about it that it was contagious. And she naturally, because of this excitement, because she was so passionate, she naturally attracted these premium, perfect fit clients. Her business now supports her dream life. It became completely confident in the direction that she was going because she loved it so much.

[00:11:40] And that's what you're not going to get when you follow this traditional advice of doing market research and seeing what your clients want. You're not going to get that, that's why it fails.

[00:11:49] And this traditional advice about choosing a specialization fails also because it's hard to see your own gifts clearly.

[00:11:56] What comes naturally to you often feels too easy. to be [00:12:00] valuable to you. A lot of times you get distracted by what seems profitable, like in this case, instead of what is aligned. And side note, aligned will always be profitable. And I can get into this more at another time. This is a hill I will die on like forever.

[00:12:17] You want to chat about this? Let's chat, because I guarantee you this is true. And a lot of times you need help uncovering your unique magic, right? Like it's there, but you don't realize it. You don't know. There's a lot of things from externally that are distracting you. So the most successful service providers don't choose their direction based solely on market research.

[00:12:38] The ones that are sustainable, the ones that last a long time, the ones that are in love with their business and are obsessed with it, they build their businesses around their natural strengths. Even the ones they take for granted. They build their businesses around work that energizes rather than drains them, on skills that feel effortless to them, but are so valuable to their clients, to other people.

[00:12:58] And they build their businesses [00:13:00] around a lifestyle that supports their bigger vision for themselves. And the difference when you do this is that the They then stop looking for external validation and they start trusting themselves. They trust their internal wisdom and with the right support to find their gifts and see them clearly and create something from that.

[00:13:22] So, This picking your specialization is not just about picking something profitable. It's just not about picking something that everybody wants. It's about creating a business that lights you up every single day while supporting the life you actually want to live. That's what's so important. And if I'm going to continue my little story of my business growth, so VA, agency, OVM with retainer clients.

[00:13:47] This was my zone of excellence, I am fabulous OBM, I can do it, I have the skills. It is not the thing that I am the most passionate about in the world. What is this? This thing right here, helping [00:14:00] people to build businesses that they love. And I come from a psychology background. I was in grad school for seven years and a PhD program for clinical psychology.

[00:14:08] I am very passionate about all of this. I have gone through the burnout, gone through all of the things because my business was not in alignment. Now, I can work on my coaching business and it is so fun. All right, like I am so passionate about everything that i'm doing that this is what I'm meant to do And I wouldn't have gotten to this place if I didn't trust myself if I didn't go through these exact exercises that i'm talking about here the Finding my unique magic and figuring out my dream life vision and getting into alignment with all of that I wouldn't be where I am without doing those things So, can you see how approaching your direction, your specialization this way, would make the decision feel natural instead of forced?

[00:14:51] How it would help you finally move forward with confidence, and how it would really transform your business into something that energized you? And helps you create [00:15:00] a ton of profit helps you live this amazing beautiful passionate life So I really hope that this resonates with you because I have my super exciting announcement That I have been waiting to share with you guys And afterwards I have a couple of bonus questions That I have been asked that I want to include so stick around for those.

[00:15:20] So here is my announcement. I And I'm excited to announce the Court Offer Alignment Intensive. It is a hyper focused two week experience that helps you uncover exactly this, your perfect, perfect specialization and doing it without spreadsheets, without the market research or the endless analysis. So this is perfect for you if you are tired of second guessing every business decision, if you want clarity that comes from alignment and not analysis, if you are ready to create a business that energizes you that you're so obsessed with, and you want to build something that supports your dream life.

[00:15:51] So, Together, in this intimate, intensive experience, you're going to discover your unique magic, your natural strengths, define your perfect specialization [00:16:00] direction, create an aligned core offer. And we will do this with direct support from me to move you from confusion to clarity with confidence. So we have, I have a portal with all of these exercises with digging deep and.

[00:16:15] Very clearly guided and through all of this, the dream life vision, the core values, unique magic, your personality insights, like really amazing things like that. And then we do a 90 minute intensive where we're going to dig in and I'm going to help you to uncover just like I did with that client I was telling you about.

[00:16:30] your specialization that's super aligned with you. And as a bonus, you get two weeks of slack support so we can work through anything that comes up. You have questions, you know, like anything at all, I am there for you for those two weeks. And because you were listening to this from my beautiful audience here, I have a special promo code.

[00:16:49] The link, the promo code, everything is in the description. So I'm super excited for this offer. Okay. So now Let's dive into these three Q and A's. So the first one I got [00:17:00] was, what if I choose a specialization and then change my mind later?

[00:17:05] This is really common. It's a really common concern. And what I will say is that this is actually one of the benefits of choosing a direction based on your unique magic and dream life vision, rather than the traditional way of doing market research.

[00:17:17] Because when you choose a path aligned with who you are and how you want to live, you're much less likely to want to change direction. But even if you do, now, You have, and yet you're evolving over time. Now you know the process, right? You have the clarity, you have the confidence that you gained from doing this to make future transitions so much smoother.

[00:17:38] You have the skill for a lifetime because you're building that here. You have the foundation of self trust rather than external validation. Question number two is I am worried about turning away clients if I specialize. How do I know I will still make enough money? People get stuck on this one, right?

[00:17:55] Because I think specialization means, oh, I'm not reaching so many people. I'm really limiting my pool, limiting my [00:18:00] income. But here's what's really fascinating. When you choose a specialization that's aligned with your unique magic, you become way more attractive to your aligned premium clients who are going to pay you more because now you have this amazing offer.

[00:18:14] And Then, and also because you are confidently focused on solving their specific problem. Plus, when you are energized by your work and you're super passionate about it and you show up more powerfully, you are attracting better opportunities naturally with less effort. So everything just really evolves from there.

[00:18:33] And then finally, how do I know if I'm choosing the right specialization versus just picking something that seems profitable?

[00:18:40] As you can probably figure out my answer is why traditional research based approaches fail. The right quote unquote specialization is not about what's trending and it's not about what seems profitable.

[00:18:52] It's about what aligns with you, with your gifts, with your lifestyle. In the Core Offer Alignment Intensive, we use this unique [00:19:00] combination of guided exercises and direct feedback and kind of really digging in to help you see your gifts clearly, especially the ones that you don't even see, that you're taking for granted, to ensure that your choice Supports the life that you want to create.

[00:19:14] When all of that aligns, profitability flows naturally because you are offering something valuable from a place of authentic expertise. And that's why this is so magical. So thank you for letting me share all of this. I really hope you took something from this today. And if you have any questions, you see all of my socials linked down there, please reach out.

[00:19:33] I'm super happy to answer anything and to connect with you guys further. And with that, I will leave you for today and I will see you on the next one.

[00:19:48] Thank you so much for joining us today. I really hope you found inspiration and insights from today's episode. [00:20:00] You know, scaling your business intentionally and from the inside out is a transformational process, but I'm here to support you every step of the way. Head on over to dancingleafsolutions. com slash resources for free tools to help you do just that.

[00:20:14] And thank you again for being a part of the Soulpreneur Scaling Stories community. Your presence and dedication to growth inspire me every day.