It’s always a privilege to host fellow entrepreneurs as guests on the blog and share their expertise. When they have been long-time business buddies too, that’s an extra bonus.

Linda Davies-Carr’s drive, determination and passion are impressive. As The Master Fixer, she’s helped plenty of businesses to achieve their goals.

Thanks to Linda for this great article, with actionable activities you can do, right now, to work ON your business.

Over to Linda…

How to Discover Your Expertise

Just remember, every expert started exactly where you are now – with a desire to get paid for doing what they love and are good at doing. Be careful though, entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart!

If you truly don’t have a passion to run a business, then you should choose a different path.

Before you start going wild trying to think of clever ideas that might sell, ask yourself the age-old question; “What’s in your hand?” In other words, what do you already possess that you can use to become successful?

Time to take a quick inventory! Grab a notebook and pen and jot down your answers to these questions.

1) What subject do you have a more than average amount of knowledge on?

2) What have you spent time learning to do expertly that you can now easily teach or write about?

3) What can you do that will solve people’s problems or enhance their lives?

4) What are you really passionate about?

If you are honest with yourself then these answers should reveal your area(s) of expertise.

Keep in mind that your expertise should be something you’ve worked long and hard to develop and ideally it is something that you enjoy doing or offering for the benefit of others. You won’t believe how many clients I have that realise they have been giving away their expertise freely without even realising it!

If you have a proven track record of results, then chances are you are an expert to a group of people who would be willing to pay you well if you monetise and market your expertise the right way.

How to Monetise Your Expertise

This is the tricky bit. Monetising your expertise will require a significant amount of time and a huge amount of market research, you need to know the ins and outs of your biz to be able to price yourself appropriately. Also, are you ready emotionally to monetise your business?

Lots of people talk about making more money – few execute what is needed!

In order to correctly price your expertise, you should consider the following:

1. Demand – Is there a gap in the marketplace for it? Or is what you want to offer currently over saturating the market? You may have a hobby that you love, but will people drop hard cash for it?

2. Uniqueness – How specialised is what you want to offer? What is YOUR point of differentiation?

3. Quality – Is what you will offer superior to most products or services in your chosen industry?

4. Target audience – Are you serving only the affluent? Or are you appealing to recent university graduates? Have you really nailed your ideal client? Value is perceived differently depending on who you are selling to. If your desire is to sell to everyone you end up appealing to no one!

   Also, prices may also need adjusting based on location – what sells like hot cakes in London may not go down well in the country.

5. Competitors – What are current companies charging for similar products or services? What is their USP? You need to do your competitor research and know your worth, and what someone will be willing to pay for it!

6. Depth – What’s your track record? Can others achieve accelerated results by applying your expertise? If you can easily solve a complex problem for your clients, you should get paid well for it.

7. Scale – How can you scale your business? Is it scalable? Being a “busy” solopreneur can be hard, daunting and exhausting. Can you delegate, what can you outsource? I’d urge you to do what you do best and outsource the rest – even when you feel you can’t afford it. I’d probably say you can’t afford not to!

Once you’ve discovered your area of expertise and have determined your pricing structure, you will have laid down the basic foundation to start earning.

The two greatest joys of being an expert are that you get to improve lives while getting paid to do what you love.

The next phase is learning to scale, let’s cover that next time!

Remember the world is waiting for what you have to offer!

If you’re ready, book your Free Strategy Session with me now. Alternatively, head over to my Facebook Group now where I share my free, expert advice with a bunch of like-minded business women!

Hugs,

Linda’s Story

A Bit About Me:

I have thirty years of experience in running businesses. I have led and informally coached thousands of people from Sainsbury’s to Barclays and so many in between. I am professionally qualified as a coach, hold an Executive MBA, have trained to Master Belt in Six Sigma process improvement and hold masses of other business qualifications and an arm of Brownie badges to boot!

The funny thing is, I never made a conscious decision to become an entrepreneur I am today. I was always a corporate girl and I felt very comfortable in a corporate environment; I knew where I was, I knew my position, I knew the hierarchy and I liked the regular income. But as I got older and my children grew up, I, just like many others, yearned for greater flexibility and an insatiable itch to do something just for me,  something that wasn’t going to benefit a big company, something that was going to benefit myself, my family and the people around me. So, I wouldn’t say I was a natural entrepreneur, I just fell into it and got good at it.

I’ve always coached all my friends that have a business, I traded my business advice for lunch or dinners! It’s in my nature to help, I’ve always been a fixer – hence the name.

I’ve always helped the people close to me and people at work to be better, to have more, to achieve more and to be happier.

About 3 years ago a friend said, “you should do this for real”.

To say I was a bit hesitant is a huge understatement, I didn’t really want to because I knew a ton of coaches who didn’t do or achieve what I wanted to deliver. They were getting results that I didn’t think were tangible or good enough. So that’s why I launched the business as The Master Fixer.

When I first set up, I kind of fell into it. I was an accidental entrepreneur! I foolishly set a goal and I thought, “if I can get 10 clients in the first 12 months that would be really cool” I thought it would be a way of me contributing to the family fund and it would make me feel successful.

Fast forward 2 years, we have double digit growth!

We get phenomenal results, we have over 100 fabulous 5* reviews.

Business is growing and thriving; I started The Master Fixer with absolutely no investment from the modest confines of my kitchen table and somehow it has evolved from there! If I can do it anyone can!

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