How to Identify the Right Business Support to Help You Thrive

As a local founder, your path to sustainable growth begins with identifying your business-generating superpower.

*Please note: If you came here via our Brand Archetype Quiz, you may notice the wording in this article is slightly different from what you expected. I wrote this series on owner archetypes before deciding it would be more accurate to focus our messaging on the overall brand, which includes the habits and systems that support sales and marketing, distribution, operations, finance, and leadership of a business.

The tips and tools included in these articles remain the same, though our promotional messaging may have shifted: Your work in the world is unique and deserves a personalized approach. I hope the discovery of your brand archetype gives clarity and direction to your path and empowers your impact.

Have you ever used a popular business tool or strategy only to discover it wasn’t a good fit for your company?

In my experience, it definitely isn’t you. It’s them.

(If “them” is business support that claims to be the Holy Grail of solutions for success.)

What works for one local business owner doesn’t necessarily work for all, because not all owners are the same.

For sustainable success, founders need tools that make sense for how they naturally generate leads and sales.

Some of the Local Rockstars we’ve worked with, each with their own way of generating business.

Have you ever been given advice that sucks the joy out of being a founder and makes you question if anyone understands what you’re trying to do?

• If you thrive on close connections with your audience, have you felt pressured to build a team to handle communications?
• If you have an established business, have you been encouraged to learn an entirely new way of marketing to keep up with current trends?
• If you are filled with new ideas for expansion, have you felt trapped into focusing on one project while those other opportunities passed you by?

Understanding how you innately generate business helps you pinpoint the right support for you and confidently put aside the rest.

It also helps you thrive as a leader.

I believe that every local business owner has the potential to become a Local Rockstar — the default for their industry in their community.

This perspective has influenced how I mentally categorized the different types of founders I’ve worked with over the years. And it has helped me to guide these leaders toward the right tools for their businesses.

Generally speaking, local founders tend to fall into one of these five owner archetypes:

• The Jukebox Hero. She has been successful in the past, and she looking for ways to leverage her strengths to continue to reach today’s customers.
• The Indie Artist. She is a visionary beloved by her fans but who, for whatever reason, is still looking for a way to expand and thrive as a true founder.
• The Fully-Booked Cover Band. She has the growth part of the business covered but needs tools to give her room to breathe and sustainably support that growth well into the future.
• The Crossover Sensation. She is a natural idea generator who needs strategies that will help her develop her ideas to their fullest potential but still allow her room to play.
• The Solo Act. She’s got it covered, no matter what “it” is, but she is searching for a way to create space for the lifestyle she wants without giving up her autonomy as a founder.

Each type of local founder has innate strengths and challenges.

And each has what it takes to be highly successful.

When you can identify your business-generation superpower, you can more easily determine what you need to thrive.

A local business founder who has learned to embrace her innate business-generating style.

I’ve spent over a decade working with local founders who have invested countless hours and resources into finding a path toward sustainable growth, ease, and fun for their businesses.

But the solutions have never looked the same from one client to another.

Why?

Because not all business owners generate business in the same way. This means the solutions that work for one won’t necessarily work for another.

Over the next few weeks, I will explore each of these archetypes in more depth. I’ll share what each brings to the table that makes them stand out and where each type needs specific support.

Do you identify with any of the owner archetypes described above?

In what ways do you see yourself standing out as a business owner?

In what specific areas do you feel like you need the most support?

*If you’re interested in learning which archetype you are, you can find the quiz here.

*Click here to learn more about how knowing your owner archetype can help you grow your business with sustainability and joy.

Remember, while business support can be pretty generic, founders are anything but.

With the right tools to support your personal style, you can reach Local Rockstar status with sustainability and joy.