James Wilkinson and India Henderson are a husband-wife duo who are the co-founders of their side hustle, Blank Space Coach. Lots of people have side hustles, but India & James’ side hustle has a twist: their business is intended to help other people establish and grow their own side hustles.
They started this business after India had successfully grown her own home daycare business, and has also had a creative side business for a while. James, India says, is the “numbers guy,” because he has an MBA and also has worked in the financial services industry. They joined The Savvy Entrepreneur recently to share the story of Blank Space Coach.
Blank Space offers online courses for a modest fee, and also coaching and consulting services. They describe coaching as a 50/50 partnership, where Blank Space provides guidance, but the client does most of the leg work. The consulting offering is envisioned as 90/10, where Blank Space provides guidance but also does most of the work.
The two of them are likeable and play off each other in the interview. It’s clear they are still experimenting with their offerings and their marketing, because consulting and coaching are notoriously difficult to get started in and keep viable over the long term. But it’s also clear they are having a lot of fun in the process, and that the process of building this business is helping them learn more about each other.
The interview has lots of ideas and thoughts for setting up a new consulting business, especially one that is a side hustle, and one that features a husband-wife duo.
Read on for a transcript of our interview! Or go here if you’d prefer to listen to the on-demand podcast version of the show!
Doris Nagel 0:40
Good morning, folks. Welcome to the savvy Entrepreneur Show. If you’re an entrepreneur or small businessperson, or you’re thinking about becoming one, listen up because this show is for you!
I’m Doris Nagel, your host for the next hour.
The Savvy Entrepreneur Show has two goals. First, to share information and resources. As an entrepreneur, I have made some incredibly dumb mistakes. And I’ve seen lots of them from past clients or just talking with other entrepreneurs and friends. So if I can help just one of you miss some of the potholes that I’ve seen or fallen into myself, then I’ve been successful.
The second goal of the show is to inspire. For me, being an entrepreneur was confusing, sometimes lonely. You have no idea sometimes if you’re on the right track or not, or where to turn for good advice.
To help with both goals, I have guests on the show every week who are willing to share their stories and their advice.
Joining me this week are two guests — a husband and wife duo, India Henderson and James Wilkinson. They are the founders of Blank Space, which provides services for entrepreneurs, just like those of you listening out there.
India and James, thanks so much for being with me today. Welcome to The Savvy Entrepreneur Show!
India Henderson
Thanks for having us.
James Wilkinson
Yes, we’re excited to be on your show!
Doris Nagel
I’m delighted you both could join. Let’s just start at the natural place, which is what is Blank Space? What does it do? And who’s it designed to help?
James Wilkinson 2:04
Blank Space is a business coaching and consulting company, first and foremost. We do also offer professional development coaching as well, including career counseling, resume building, networking, all sorts of things like that. But we are focused on how can we help entrepreneurs, so new startups and smaller businesses grow into, you know, the businesses that the owners want them to become? So it’s a, we found that there’s a lot of consulting, a lot of coaching for the individual as it relates to life coaching, and things like that, as well as the larger businesses as it relates to how do you create, automate, how do you improve processes, things like that,
But there’s no one out there I’ve seen that’s really out here in the market for the everyday business owner who is looking to start their business, and is maybe moonlighting, having a day job, and then having a family. They’re trying to build their business in the off hours and working really hard to just try to get something off the ground.
So we found an opportunity, because we’ve been through that experience multiple times. And we want to help those everyday individuals out to be able to really accomplish their vision for their business, and really, like, accomplish their dreams achieve their dreams.
Doris Nagel
You know, James, you segued perfectly into my next question. You mentioned you’ve been through this multiple times. So talk a little bit, both of you, about your backgrounds, and who you are and how you came to the idea of starting this business.
Indian Henderson 4:03
I’ll start by just talking about myself. I actually went to school for secondary education to become a teacher. I was high school teacher for about four years, until my son was without childcare, and I decided to just kind of stay home and spend some time with him. Throughout that time, I realized that going back to teaching was not for me at the moment.
While I really enjoyed teaching, I really enjoyed my students. There’s a lot more it’s a mixed bag and I’m sure any educators who out there listening would know that it’s not as easy as just go out.
Doris Nagel 4:38
My mom was a lifetime teacher and she ended up retiring early because she just had enough of things that we don’t need to get into it. But there were politics and the parents that are not really doing their part. And you can go on and on, right?
India Henderson 5:00
Absolutely. There’s so many layers to that. [For me,] it was the children I loved, the students. I loved working with them. However, there was just a lot of extra stuff. So I decided that I didn’t want to go back to teaching.
In the meantime, I thought about what else I could do, and I started doing some nannying and other different things that I could do with my son in tow. And that kind of just whetted my appetite for how there are different ways that I can make money that don’t require me to go to a 9 to 5 job, that don’t require me to basically be away from my child all day, every day and take all of my attention and energy.
Eventually, after I had our second child, our daughter, Alyssa, who is now seven, I started working at a daycare, but then realized, “Okay, this isn’t for me, either. I don’t really like this either.”
And I decided I could probably make more money doing this by myself at home. So I started off taking 1,2,3 kids, and just having a fun day with them, which I loved. I love spending time with children.
Eventually, before I knew it, I had outgrown the space of our home. Because I had a full load of children during the day. And then I had children coming after school. So it was chaos, to say the least, here in the evenings.
But I did that for quite a few years. And I really loved it. It outgrew our house, and I was making good money doing that. And it was great. But then I started wondering what my next move as my children was went to school.
And I decided, okay, I still want to do something on my own. I [still] don’t want to go back to the nine to five life. And so, James and I decided to start Blank Space so we can help encourage other people in their entrepreneurship journey.
I also have a second business that I run on my own is more of a creative business.
For us, Blank Space is the best of two worlds in a lot of ways. James is our finance guy. He’s the strategic thinker, [whereas] I’m very much the creative person and the problem-solver. I’m a solutioner, is what I call myself. I like to find ways to fix common problems that entrepreneurs have.
James Wilkinson 7:00
I’ve been in the corporate world for 15 years now. And so I’ve seen a lot of great things. I worked with a large bank, and then most recently, I’ve been working as a treasury manager for a real estate company.
So been in around cash and finances, and I have a finance and entrepreneurship degree.
But one of the fun things I did was I started my own music group back in 2008 or so. We started our own record label. It didn’t blow up into anything huge, but that was my first foray into business.
But doing that, as well as helping India to launch her daycare and her creative business, which is called India’s Create Space, by the way, I just saw opportunities.
I saw India working really hard, staying up late, working long hours to try and just get her businesses off the ground. Seeing that firsthand, I realized that I’ve been blessed with a lot of different skills as a relates to my degree. I also have my MBA, so I have just a host of skills as it relates to business & business development.
And I saw as I was working with India, and as I’ve worked on my own ventures, that there’s a lot of people out there just like me, and just like her. They’re people who don’t want to stay in the rat race of corporate life.
There’s nothing wrong with that, if that’s what you want.
But I just think a lot of people are not pursuing what they’re passionate about. They feel stuck, having to run this race in a corporate world trying to, you know, build their career only to ultimately, you know, end up feeling like man, I have a lot of regret, because I didn’t pursue that thing that I was passionate about. I didn’t develop that product, you know, that I wanted to.
I don’t want people to end up like that. I want to be able to help people in the moment they’re in to take step by step, build their dream, build, you know, whatever it is that they have an interest in. whatever they feel passionate about. And I think that’s where my feeling of success comes in just seeing people do that.
Doris Nagel 10:00
How did you decide to start the business together? Talk about that process, and what the considerations were that went into that. Because whenever you go into business with a spouse, or a family member, or good friend, it can bring you closer, but it can also cause friction. Talk about that process for the two of you.
James Wilkinson 10:30
I was the one with the original vision for starting the company. I was just forging ahead, putting ideas to paper, creating the strategy for it. And as I kept talking about it, India started taking a real interest in it.
I’ll let her speak to it. But as she was going through her daycare work, I think she started to realize what I was talking about, which is that it’s really hard to do it on your own.
And so she started taking quite an interest in it, and we decided it would be a good idea to go at it as a partnership. So we started going down that path.
And it is interesting, because I do think that Indie and I were really good at working on our own. And it’s been a little bit of a learning opportunity every day, realizing how we can work better together and become a better team.
And so in certain ways, some of that’s been natural, but there’s other ways where you could see our Independence kind of come through. And, you know, we have to work through that.
I’ll be the first to admit that as collaborative as I think myself to be, I know that sometimes I do have a tendency to kind of run the race on my own. And it’s important to delegate, and it’s important to partner and truly collaborate.
So I’ve been learning a lot about how to do that for Blank Space, but also for marriage.
Doris Nagel
It can be a challenge. And it’s certainly something people who are thinking about doing this should do some soul searching and engage in a lot of open communication.
Because let’s face it, if you have an entrepreneurial streak in you, you’ve probably got some pretty common traits, right? You’re independent, you are stubborn about certain things, you’re passionate.
I think being aware of those personality traits is important, not just for husband and wife or family members, or friends, but really, anytime you go into business with someone. It’s important to be aware of those common personality traits for entrepreneurs, because people may not realize that about themselves.
I think the timing of your business is certainly very good. I’ve been reading a lot about the Great Resignation, and certainly, the number of people who are interested in starting their own business is at an all-time high.
Talk about the timing of this and what you see, in terms of the great resignation and people wanting to start businesses, do you think that it’s that permanent? Are there statistics you’ve seen that convinced you it was great timing for your business?
India Henderson 12:30
Well, I haven’t done any statistical work. I told you, James is the numbers guy.
But personally speaking, around my circle of friends and people who I encounter on a daily basis, we definitely see that more and more people are trying to throw their hat into entrepreneurship.
I don’t think when we had the idea [for Blank Space] that we were necessarily thinking about that at the time. But sometimes things just kind of happen that way.
I think a lot of people are just ready to are realizing that the nine to five job is often very constraining. Even though you think, “Oh, I can just turn it off at five o’clock and get about my day,” we’re realizing now more and more that just doesn’t happen.
Just like when I was teaching, people would say, “It’s great that you have the summer off, and you have spring break.” And I’d be like, “Look, I work through the summer and spring break, too. And when I come home at 2:30, after work, I come home and I work more.”
Doris Nagel
My mom would always be grading papers, and doing lesson plans and other things.
India Henderson 14:00
Right, and student activities – all kinds of things.
So I think more and more people are seeing that they’re putting all of this effort and time into to building somebody else’s business and making other people millionaires — creating a legacy for all these other people. And at the end of the day, there’s very little to show for it.
You get your salary, maybe you get a raise, but that’s it. And you start all over the next day after. So I think more and more people are starting to see their ideas and their passions are marketable, and that people can make they can make their own money and build their own legacy and be more in charge of their own lives.
Doris Nagel 15:00
I think there’s also the stability piece. In the past, there was more of a sense that your nine to five job brought you more stability and a more reliable paycheck.
But I think people are increasingly realizing this is just not the case. Things happen out of the blue — political events, pandemics, facilities close. I know companies today have to change really quickly, but sometimes they are not very good at it. And as a result, a lot of employees are dumped, and I think they feel disposable. And if you feel disposable, or you feel like you might be, that doesn’t give you much of a sense of stability.
India Henderson 16:00
I actually have a friend who worked for a company, and she worked long, long, crazy hours. She hardly ever saw her children; we very rarely saw her for Thanksgiving or other events. And then she relocated for a job that she worked really, really hard for. She was there for a month, and then they laid her off for a very small mistake.
And here she spent five years of her lift putting in all this time and effort into this company, and it was just so easy for them to just let her go.
Doris Nagel 16:20
And sometimes you don’t even know the reasons why they let you go.
So, why not drive your own bus, at least? At least you’re in control of it. You might be successful, you might not, but at least you’re driving the bus.
Are you focused on a certain type of client a certain demographic? Who are who are your target clients?
James Wilkinson 16:50
That’s a great question. And as somebody with an MBA and a business degree, you would think that I would have like a specific target market answer for that.
But the reality is, one of the benefits of Blank Space not being our day job is that you get to learn – you get to develop your target market and your demographic as you go.
And although it’s little bit of an outside the box answer, I would say our target market right now is word of mouth. People who have worked with us and are telling their friends and telling their neighbors telling their family, “James in India at Blank Space helped me out tremendously.” And so that’s how we’ve been getting clients to date.
As we consider how we grow, target market research is at the top of the list for me. But I can tell you from a demographic standpoint, we’re in our 30s. And I think a lot of our friends are at the same point we’re at. They’ve been working the corporate job in the corporate world for the past 15 years or so, since they got their undergrad, and now they want to develop products, they want to provide services [themselves].
So those are the people that we’re primarily focusing our efforts on. They are people with families, because honestly with little kids, they don’t have the time. They are not only working every day, doing their corporate that is probably taking up as much time as possible from you, but your kids are into sports and other activities. And as you get to this age range in your mid to late 30s, your parents are getting older. And then you layer on the pandemic, rights.
There’s all sorts of things happening, and I think people are rethinking priorities at this stage of their life.
The other part of our story and demographic is that I’m white, India’s black. So we have a mixed family. And because of that, we really care about empowering people in urban environments, who quite honestly don’t have the access that they need to basic services, health care, groceries — things like that.
And so I think empowering people to become their own business owners is a great way to help people grow and develop and get themselves in a place where they can serve their communities.
We are actually right now actively seeking partnerships with inner city community development organizations, because I just believe there’s a lot of opportunity there, and I know India does as well.
Doris Nagel 20:00
Well, as you know, I’m very passionate about trying to focus on underrepresented entrepreneurs.
I appalled by the small amount of venture capital and other institutional money that goes to women owned businesses, to businesses owned by immigrants, people of color, even to vets. It’s shockingly low, and I believe that we really need as a society to help it change that, because it’s just not reflective of where we are as a society demographically these days.
I’ll get off my soapbox now, but I’m totally in sync with your passion there.
So what kinds of things specifically do you help entrepreneurs with?
James Wilkinson 20:45
We’ll take it from the ground up. So we help with basic startup needs, like getting your LLC or sole proprietorship started, obtaining an FEIN number, establishing basing basic accounting software and budgeting, forecasting, modeling. We help with website design, social media builds, you know, all of it, because there’s so many things that a business owner needs to think about.
What we’re trying to do is solve that entire riddle. It’s kind of like a puzzle, a 1000-piece puzzle. You pour all the pieces out, and then try to put it together. I always find the corners first and then the edges, and then you start filling in the inside based on the buildings or whatever else you can connect.
So [what we do is] really all-encompassing. And then, as it relates to existing businesses, it’s all about your plans for growth. Because you may be doing this just because it’s something you’re interested in, but you’re cool with working your corporate job and this is just a nice little hobby, and that’s absolutely fine, but probably there’s not much room for us to help there.
But if you’re somebody who really wants to grow their business and just doesn’t know how, or maybe they know but just don’t have the time, then we’re focused on how we can help you with your business plan, financial plan, marketing strategies, how do you acquire and retain customers, obtaining grants and investments into the business.
So, like I said, all encompassing, and the exciting thing about what we do is that every single client that we work with gets a customized plan.
We also do sell courses — we have courses on our website that we sell. “Six Steps to Start Your Business” is one of them. And it’s well-priced — not very pricey for the average person. And that’s just a consistent revenue stream for us.
But what we really enjoy, what we love to do, is to sit down, understand and assess where you’re at in your journey, and then put together a customized personalized plan that meets your needs for how you get to that next step in your journey. And then the next step, and then carrying on from there.
Doris Nagel 24:00
So, you must draw on other people for different areas of expertise. I think one of the things that becomes clear when you’re an entrepreneur is that there is so much to learn and do. Even if you are a marketing whiz, or you’re savvy with money management, you may not know anything about how to build a website or how to get good tax advice.
How do you approach that?
India Henderson 24:30
Well, first, I would say, we are working on building our network. We do have some people who we work with for different things. We have people who do technology and logo design and things like that, and we call on their expertise when we don’t have it.
But we’re also not afraid to say we don’t know, if we don’t know. We’ll either figure it out, or we’ll ask around. But we are working on building our network so that we can incorporate more people.
Doris Nagel 24:45
You alluded to online courses, but also coaching. And I know James, when we talked before the show, you even talked about a kind of a “done for you” option. So talk about the different sort of models you’re looking at or are using.
James Wilkinson 25:00
So, we have three basic sources of revenue as relates to our business.
First is the courses. We put together courses for the people who may not become a client of ours for coaching or consulting — somebody who’s hands on, and would rather just pay $99, for this six-step course and download it. And we’ve created it in such a way that basically you get each session one day or two days after the next so it’s very automated, and it allows you to be able to just grow through the process on your own. So that would be for the ultra-hands-on individual. That’s probably somebody like me, to be honest with you, because that’s kind of how I am: just tell me where to go, where to find it, and I’ll go do it myself, because I enjoy that.
Our second [revenue] stream is the coaching. We view coaching as a 50/50 partnership between us and the client. We put together a unique plan, you agree to it as a client, and then we move forward with either a three-month, six-month or 12-month plan where we actually meet up once a week, either virtually or in person. And we coach you on the next steps for your business as it sits within the plan that we’ve established and agreed upon. And so that’s still a hands-on kind of approach for the client, but a little bit more hands off for Blank Space.
Then the third one is a relatively newer stream that we’ve implemented. And that’s what we call consulting. Consulting we view as a 90/10 partnership, in that Blank Space will handle 90% of the work, and you’ll handle 10%. And your 10% really consists of you being available, able to provide us with information when we need it. It might be just having you sign the final paperwork, or us creating a plan for you and you agreeing to it. But then we’ll build your five-year forecast or business plan, your marketing strategy, whatever it is, then we’ll go and do it. And you’re just in a sense, you know, along for the ride. We’re driving the bus in that in that scenario, and you’re just providing us with some direction.
So those are the three basic models of what we offer.
Doris Nagel 27:30
I’ve heard someone else describe the last one is a “done for you” service. I don’t know if that’s quite accurate in this case, but it’s really for people who have phenomenal idea, but they just don’t have time to do the heavy lifting. So that’s kind of what your third model sounds like. Would you say that’s accurate?
James Wilkinson 28:00
I think so. The only caveat that I’d add is that what’s awesome about our consulting option is that you also you get some of the coaching too. As you’ve heard India’s an educator by trade, right? And then just my experience, and my desires to empower people, I love mentoring, I love coaching – I coach my kids sports — I want to be able to tell you a little bit about what we’re doing every step of the way. Because I think that could help you five years from now, right? When we’re not involved anymore. And maybe you’re starting that second venture, you can look back at some of the coaching and guidance that we’ve provided. So I think “done for you” is pretty accurate. But with a little bit of an asterisk there that you still get some of the coaching as well.
Doris Nagel 31:44
Through the process of my working with SCORE, an offshoot of the Small Business Administration, and also in terms of consulting myself, I found there was often a gap between what the first-time entrepreneur is expecting and what they actually need to do.
I’m not talking about people who have been through the journey before and are second or third timers with this. I’m talking about people who are like you described earlier — people who are just fed up with the nine to five, they see it as dead end. I’m talking really about people who know they don’t want to do that anymore, and they think they want to start their own business.
But I think there’s often a gap for these first-time entrepreneurs. Would you agree with that?
India Henderson 29:30
Absolutely. I mean, I can tell you firsthand that sometimes I have a list of 30 things that I need to do. And me being who I am, I feel like, “Oh, I’ve got to accomplish all 30 of these things today, in the next hour. Because that’s what makes me feel good at the end of the day.
So sometimes it’s hard to identify those things that I need to get done. These are the most important things that I need to get done. And some of these things can hold off until later.
And that’s a part of what we do for Blank Space, as well as just help people navigate what are the things that just need to be knocked out right away.
One of the things that I try to focus on is three things. I give myself three things a day that I need to do. And I count on for sure on doing one of them. And then I move the other two over to the next day if I don’t, because it’s definitely overwhelming.
And so, I think that through coaching, what we do is work with the person and say, “Hey, these are the things that we think are most important for you to knock out right away. And these are the things that can kind of hold off.”
Through consulting, what we’re able to do is say, “Okay, here’s your 30 things to-do list. We’ll take 20 of those things, and we’ll do them for you. That way you can focus on other 10 things that you need to do.”
Doris Nagel 30:30
That’s an interesting observation. One thing that that I’ve seen, and I’m sure you’ve seen it too, is people who really want to do something different but can’t get past the noodling phase.
They’re either noodling and can’t get past the planning phase, or they’re bouncing from one thing to the next. Maybe I want to start a daycare, or maybe I want to own a restaurant, maybe I want to bake cookies and sell them.
How do you deal with clients who are like that?
India Henderson 31:07
Well, I will be very honest, and saying that I am people.
I’m somebody who thinks that I can do anything. And I have a million different great ideas. And I’ve acquired the skills over time to be able to understand what the things are that I should do and what things are just good ideas that I should write down or just let rest.
We really like to push people in Blank Space to follow your passion. Because any, anybody can do a business because they feel like it’s going to make them a lot of money.
I could make a lot of money selling gum, but I’m going to get burned out on selling gum after a little while, because I’m not passionate about gum.
So we like to suggest that people like think about where your passions lie and pursue those passions. Because if you think outside of the box, almost anything that you’re passionate about, you can start a business that you can make money from.
One of the first things that we have on our website is a series we call “Find your why.” You need to focus on why you’re doing the business — not just making money because you’ll get tired of that very quickly and lose interest. And then if you don’t make the money that you thought you were going to make things just say forget it, and you move on.
But if you have a “why” that’s bigger than just money, then that helps provide clarity and focus and can help you drive you to continue on even when things get hard.
Doris Nagel 33:00
You know, I’ve heard the same from lots of my guests.
Interestingly, though, I recently had a franchise consultant on the show, and it was interesting that he was counseling people that you don’t really need to be passionate about the franchise you choose — it just needs to fit your business needs. I’m not really sure I agree with him…
Do you guys dabble in franchise consulting at all? Or if people might be a good fit for that? How are you handling that?
James Wilkinson 33:30
No, we haven’t yet.
I am interested in franchising myself, and it is something that we’ve talked about, but again, you know, talking about a lot of different things — noodling and brainstorming.
I think it’s something that’s definitely of interest. I think franchising, if you have the resources or can obtain the resources to get your startup costs funded, it can be really exciting, because it gives you a foray into you know, starting your own business at a certain kind of floor — a higher floor than just starting out on your own and just scrapping away.
Doris Nagel 39:24
Right. The best ones give you a blueprint of how to do it, which is kind of teaching you how to build a business.
India Henderson
if I can interject, I would say that like with the franchising and things like that, I feel that it’s different depending on what your mindset is. So, yes, you can run a business on something that you’re not passionate about.
I can run a business selling gum — I absolutely could do that.
But part of my passion is entrepreneurship. And so those little challenges that come along the way I am I find joy in like fixing little problems. But if you’re somebody who’s just like, I just want to start a business. I just want to love what I’m doing, then they’re a good fit for us.
Doris Nagel 35:00
I want somebody to give me a roadmap and show me exactly how to do it.
But I think one of the biggest challenges, according to the franchise consultant, is that many people think they want to follow a blueprint. But the biggest reason people aren’t successful with franchises is that there comes a point where they think they can do it differently or do it better.
I’ll give you a story that’s kind of funny. One of my SCORE mentees was a woman who wanted to start a restaurant with her daughter. And they were talking about a couple of restaurant chains that they really liked and were thinking they wanted to buy a franchise for one of those.
But, even just brainstorming about it, it became clear that what they really wanted to do is create some cool dishes that are different than what the franchise was offering – you know, show them how to make it even better.
So that’s where I think helping people with soul searching is good – exploring what their objectives are, what’s realistic. I mean, most of these franchises are really not interested in your cool new dishes. Maybe there’s a process to submit new ideas, but you can’t just whip up new things & try them out
So I think it’s important for people to really be honest with themselves about what they want, and the freedom that they want, because when you go down that path with a franchise, you give up a lot of that freedom.
You get lots of other things, but you give us things. So if your real desire is to create new dishes that people rave about, you know, a franchise restaurant might not be the right choice for you.
And I think that’s true in the larger sense for lots of businesses, right?
India Henderson 36:30
Yeah. Well, I think, you know, that comes back to the concept of find your why. And so it’s one of those things that’s easily missed. People decide they’re going to start this business, and they never examine their mission, they never examine their vision, and they get burnt out, because they get a few months into it, and it becomes too hard.
There’s so much to do, and those things are boring and not fun, like going and getting your FEIN number.
Doris Nagel
Putting together a business plan is not easy for a lot of people. It requires putting pencil to paper. And you need to make a lot of assumptions, like price, and volume of customers, and investments. And a lot of people melt down trying to do that.
India Henderson
Right! And they don’t want to do the research. And ultimately, what you might find is that this isn’t always the answer.
So it’s not as easy as what I’m about to say. But you might find that this, this isn’t really what I’m passionate about or interested in. And so I think it’s important, and it depends on the person. So we don’t do this with everybody.
But it’s important to take a step back and ask, “Why am I doing this? Why am I interested in it?” If you are interested in it only for the money, then you should just shut it down.
Because the reality is, by the time you get to a point where you’re making really good money, you’re going to be burnt out.
So do something that you enjoy, do something that interests you.
I’ve had this conversation with my son, who is 11 He has a ton of great ideas. Um, you know, but and he probably gets incredibly frustrated with me when I asked him this question. We’re at that stage now where if he’s not getting that with me, I’m probably not doing something right.
But he’ll come in and say, “Hey, I have this idea.” I’m like,” Cool. Tell me about it,” and he goes on about it. And then we ask him, “What’s the value?” And he’s like, “Huh?” “Well, what value are you adding to people’s lives?”
People care about value. They won’t say that, right – they say price, or quantity, or quality, and all those other things, but what they’re really communicating to you is value.
You need to find something that adds value to people’s lives, and you can sell it. And if you combine that with your passion and interest, now you’re providing a value that no one else can. When you find that niche, you find that one differentiator that identifies your value proposition, that’s what you focus on.
So, I think when you mix your “why” with the value that you can add to people’s lives, that’s a really powerful combination.
Doris Nagel 39:30
It definitely is.
Talk about your pricing and marketing strategies.
How did you settle on the pricing you did? And what’s been successful and what hasn’t been so successful?
James Wilkinson 39:45
I’ll talk a little bit about our pricing as it relates to the three different streams we talked about. So you know, three different products we offer. We’ve priced courses online to be something that is very affordable.
So I believe right now our “Six Things to Start Your Business” course is priced at $100. And we may even have a discount on it right now. That [course] walks you through the entire business startup process. So it’s basically standardized coaching, if you will, with worksheets for you to complete, homework for every session. And it’s a video guide that just completely walks you through things such as deciding whether you should start an LLC or a sole proprietorship, how to go about getting your FEIN number, looking for financial software, how to build a forecast for revenues and expenses, and how to promote and market your product. So that’s our first tier in terms of pricing.
Our middle tier is the coaching. And we price that usually in a coaching package. Like I said earlier, we do three months, six months, and 12-month coaching packages, and those are priced at a rate that’s based on that package that we’re offering.
And that’s going to depend on what are we coaching you through. If it’s a shorter three-month timeframe, you’ll pay a higher per hour rate versus a six month or an extended 12-month plan.
Our highest rate is the consulting package, because we’re taking on 90% of the work, like we mentioned. So we bill at a billable rate per hour on those.
And we do also can give you a price if there’s something specific you need. So for example, say somebody just needed help with starting their business from scratch, getting their LLC set up, or setting up an S Corp, getting their FEIN number, getting their bank account open, and setting up their initial accounting software, I would price it out as a package as opposed to billable hour, because that’s something that we can knock out three hours.
The idea with the billable rate is to keep it very flexible for people on a month-by-month basis. So a three, six or 12-month plan every month looks a little bit different. So maybe we knock out 20 hours of work for you in the first month. And then the next month, you’re just doing some things that don’t require as much service from us, that allows you the flexibility to take a step back, so you may not pay us very much for that second month. But then we’re back doing a lot in the third month.
So it’s a very flexible billing strategy. And the reason for doing that is because particularly at the startup stage, you’re still trying to sell people on why they need your service, right?
Doris Nagel 43:00
Right — you may need to pivot and do something a little differently. Change your offering, repackage it, or do something different.
India Henderson 43:15
Exactly. And priorities shift. One of the most exciting things that could happen is that we work with a consulting client for, say, two or three months, and their product takes off all of a sudden, out of nowhere. We were working on the growth plan, and then they do an interview just like this, and then everybody’s buying their product & it’s the next big thing.
Now, that’s a totally radical shift. And so we’re going to shift our focus, and hopefully, we continue to work with somebody like that, right? So there will be some success stories like that.
Or on the flip side of it, maybe something bad happens — somebody gets sick in the family, they get COVID, or they’re affected by a job loss. Now, we, we want it to be flexible, so that, hey, look, you’re not just paying us because you agreed to, we’re going to take a pause with you because what you’re going through is challenging. And so, we want to allow you the time to you know, kind of clarify what your next steps are, you know, so priority shift and we want to be flexible to people’s needs?
Doris Nagel 44:45
I’m sure one of the challenges is that it’s great to be flexible for the clients, and I’m sure they appreciate it. But I would think that makes your own revenue projections more challenging.
James Wilkinson 45:00
It does. So I think is where my financing background is helpful, to build in sensitivity and margins for error or for change.
One of the things I always encourage clients to think through is: What happens if this doesn’t sell? You plan to sell 1000 of these widgets in three months, but 500 is more realistic.
So then, we have two different scenarios that we work with. One that’s maybe the more realistic and then the one that’s aspirational.
And we kind of do the same thing with our business. There’s certain targets that we have in mind. But I also am sensitive to see what’s realistic here. And let’s leave an open door for what we can aspire to.
Doris Nagel
And if you’re like a lot of service consultants, you may have crickets chirping for a while, and then all of a sudden, you’re hit with a tsunami, and you are wondering how in the world you’re going to get all that done in a short time period. So the lumpiness is, I think for service businesses of all sorts, a common challenge.
Talk about how you funded this. Are you bootstrapped? Have you pitched your business and found outside funding or turned to friends and family?
India Henderson
We’re personally funding everything right now. You know, James, he still works his nine to five job. And so we’re doing this pretty much on our own at this point.
James Wilkinson
Part of the rationale for doing that is because as a startup service business, it’s very challenging to raise any kind of funding and financing for a service business.
Doris Nagel
By the way, that’s a really important point, for those of you out there who are thinking about starting a service business.
James Wilkinson
Yes. As a service business, you are the product, but at the same time, you know, as you being the product, you’re trying to build templates, I think that you can utilize for the next client, and then the next client, you know, so but, you know, one of the things that we are in discussions of implementing now is more of a tangible product, you know, so what would it look like to provide, you know, we have the videos, the, the courses that you can buy, you know, that you could buy, which is digital in nature, but what would it look like to actually have, like the ultimate, you know, startup guide for a business, something that’s a tangible physical product that you can buy, you know, as a physical book for, you know, the old schoolers, like me, or you could get, you know, digitally where you have workbooks, and you can complete it either, you know, online, or you can complete it in an Excel workbook or PDF, whatever it may be. So, you know, in the reason, one of the reasons for that is because I think it provides us with an opportunity to actually seek some financing. And so as, as low as, you know, interest rates are right now, it doesn’t mean that banks are lending. So, you know, it’s difficult to get, you know, any real bank loan, of course, you can go that route, but I think, you know, one of our interest and I know, other people are interested in is the crowdfunding concept, you know, grants, um, you know, real like seed financing, you know, angel investors, things like that. So, you know, along that route, I have, you know, we have a network of people, but we’re continuing to expand our network to include people who are you know, who invest in other’s businesses and ultimately for us, we haven’t talked about this at all but one of our interests is to you know, invest in other people’s businesses so that’s an arm that we hope to develop for blank space soon kind of like a blank space you know, angel investing arm, you know, wow.
Doris Nagel 49:30
You are genius at segueing into my next question! If the business is successful and keep growing the way that you envision, what will Blank Space look like in three years?
James Wilkinson 50:00
I think we can speak about it in a couple of different levels. The goal is ultimately for India and I to be full time entrepreneurs. As one of the founders of Blank Spaces here with my wife is to ultimately be able to wake up every day and spend my time coaching and consulting with people and helping them to start and grow their businesses.
On a personal level, that’s super important to me, because it also ties into what my kids see. I want my kids to do things differently.
For me, I’m super grateful that my parents encouraged me to go to college, and that I got my MBA, but today, the world is different. You can earn millions of dollars by making videos on YouTube.
I want to encourage my kids to figure out what it is that they’re passionate about now. And I think by them seeing us doing this and getting to a point where we’re doing it full time, it provides a dose of reality, you know, of what’s possible as it relates to the business.
I would love to see us have additional coaches and consultants on board in different avenues. So we talked a little bit about the network and how we have people who specialize in tax, we know people who specialize in digital marketing and logo design and graphic design, I would love to be able to hire a full team of people who specialize in those different areas and put that all under the Blank Space umbrella.
So that’s a little bit of how I look at it. You know, three years may be too soon for that. But if we look at 3-5 years, I think we’ll definitely be down that path.
Doris Nagel
How can people reach you if they’re interested in learning more about Blank Space? Or maybe to brainstorm with you to see if they’re a good fit for what you offer?
India Henderson
Our website is blankspacecoach.com. And on that website, we have information about us, our consultation and coaching methods, you can purchase the courses. One of the things that’s really cool is that we offer what we call an initial discussion/assessment.
It’s free, you don’t pay for it. We sit down, and we try to target like 20 minutes, although to be honest, it always goes beyond because as you can tell, I’m a talker. And I love you asking questions and hearing about people’s stories.
It’s just a free, informal way for us to get to know you and your interests, your passion, brainstorm a little bit with you. And then honestly, identify whether or not Blank Space is a good fit. I think it’s important, not only for you, as a client, to determine are we a good fit, but we try to determine that for you too.
Because maybe it’s just us getting together for 20 to 30 minutes spurs something but you’re not ready yet to make a move, we don’t want you to pay for a service that doesn’t ultimately provide you with value at this point. So, feel free to go to our website, check it out and schedule that assessment. We love meeting with people, learning about their passions and interests and, and trying to determine if we’re a good fit for providing value to what they need.
Doris Nagel
India and James, thanks so much for joining me this week on The Savvy Entrepreneur show. It was a delight to have you and to listen to the story of your business.
James & India
Thank you for your time. We’re grateful for you.
Doris Nagel
Thanks again to my guests this week, India Henderson and James Wilkinson, the founders and owners of Blank Space, a coaching and consulting service and training service for entrepreneurs just like all of you listening out there. So check out their website, go take a look and see what they have to offer.
And thanks to all you listeners. You’re the reason I do this.
You can find more helpful information and resources for businesses on my website, my consulting website, globalocityservices.com. And I’ve now created a new radio show-focused website called thesavvyentrepreneur.org. You’ll find there a library of blogs and tools and podcasts and other free resources for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
My door is always open — I welcome comments, questions, suggestions, or just to shoot the breeze. Email me at dnagel@thesavvyentrepreneur.org. You’ll always get a response back from me.
Now be sure to join me again next Saturday at 11am Central noon Eastern.
But until then, I’m Doris Nagel, wishing you happy entrepreneuring!
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