How can you describe 2023? 

Did you feel you created the impact you wanted? Or did you chase the dreams of others. Did you chase an aligned vision of success? 

Whatever the answer. It doesn’t matter. Because we learn, we grow, we evolve. 

This week’s episode of The Essential Shift podcast is all about sharing the pivotal lessons learned in 2023 and exploring how they can be instrumental for setting your business up for sustainable growth in 2024. 

This year has been a journey of discovery, adaptation, and strategic thinking, revealing essential insights that are crucial for every entrepreneur.

If you LOVED the episode, make sure you share this on your Instagram stories and tag me @essential.shift! 

✨ START NOW, GET OUR GUIDE, HERE✨

KEY EPISODE TAKEAWAYS 

• The 5 lessons learnt from 2023 

• How these lessons can help you in 2024 

• What you need to grow in 2024

SHOW RESOURCES 

• DOWNLOAD our FREE copy of “The 6 Foundations you need to grow” Guide - HERE 

• JOIN us in building YOUR abundant vision for 2024 - HERE

• JOIN us for The Business Birthing Retreat in March 2024 - HERE

• JOIN us within The Circle for our Quarterly Planning in 2024 - HERE

• GET your copy of LIGHT IT - HERE

• FOLLOW me on INSTAGRAM - HERE

• Find out more about how to WORK WITH ME - HERE

If you like this episode, don't forget to share it to your Instagram stories and tag me @essential.shift.  

Bless it be. 

With love, Laetitia! 

PODCAST TRANSCRIPTION

Laetitia Andrac  0:21  
Welcome to a special episode of the essential shift podcasts, where I will delve into the pivotal lessons learned in 2023. As a business owner as an impact driven business owner, but also the lessons I have seen my clients learning and we'll narrow it down to five of those so that you can digest them, write it down. So take a pen and a journal. And let me know also on my Instagram DM essential, don't shift which lessons you learned which one resonate with you from this podcast. And if you have any ha ha moments, please share it with me. And I would love to ask you again. If you can to follow subscribe and share this episode with your friends. You can also write a review on Apple podcasts that would help new people finding in 2024 So as we do those lessons learned for 2023 I truly believe that as we reflect and as we learn from the year before, we are actually setting the ground, setting our business up for sustainable growth in 2024. And this year, has really been a journey of discovery adaptations strategic thinking, and revealing essential insights for me as an entrepreneur and for many other entrepreneur, because it is every time the context the economical context is different or societal context is different and this year has been unique in many ways like every year, every month, every day. So the first lessons that I will dive into would be burnout is real. The second one would be power of visibility in business growth. The third one will be around the power of strategy. The fourth one will be around the return of hybrid ways of working in person connections and online. And the fifth one of course will be around embracing AI. This lessons are not just reflections of the past year. They are really guiding become for the future and as we step into 2024 I really want those insights to empower you to navigate the complexity of being an entrepreneur, being a business owner stepping into the business world in a different way in 2024 Because I want sustainable growth for you. As you may have heard me told you a few times, my key values impact community sustainability. So may this podcast help you embrace all of this in 2024 So let's dive in. The first lesson is burnout is real. As a lighted, how to trust your intuition and build a thriving business. My book in case you haven't heard me yet mentioning it was released on September the 21st for the spring equinox in Australia. And as I was writing my book in 2023, my research and interactions now with readers. I've confirmed and reinforced a critical understanding burnout is a tangible, rising issue among small business owners. If you've burnt out in the past, I've been on the verge of burning out in 2023 Or I've already burned out a few times know that you're not alone. And that has been proven by my empirical research as I was writing this book, but since releasing it many readers reached out being like oh my gosh, I resonate so much and I needed to read that book. So as many of you embarked on their entrepreneurial journey, you resonate deeply with the themes explored in light it the reality of burnout in our demographic as business owner is evident when you look at the data 48% of small business owners in at the end of 2022. So it's a data we had access in 2023 reported experiencing burnout, but a lot during the year of 2022 alone this is a reflection of the intense pressures and challenging in Iran to as a sacred CEO is the CEO of your business managing your business. This data comes from Capital One survey, if you want to go back and look for the source Furthermore, the work patterns of Intrapreneurs country contribute to the burnout practices crisis sorry, on average, we found that Not we but the research found that 52 Like entrepreneurs are working 52 more hours per week. Then salaried employees 52 more hours per week. So whoever started their business to work class for pleasure, freedom, just have a hard look back on the previous year on 2023 which is something I help you do as part of the first day of the Polynesian boot camp the reflection part where we look at how many hours we worked last year. And as is honest look, because this overworking trend is a key factor in the burnout experience by 58% of Intrapreneurs. And the only way for you to measure that is to spend time looking at what you've done, but also as you reflect and as you go through the abernant vision bootcamp and the first day of reflection, design, a planning and a strategy that will help you the next year to not burn out. And another key data which appeared as I was doing the research for writing my book and as I was interacting with many of you will burn out is around holiday. As you know I take holiday every year twice a year around Christmas and around June July and go to France June July for about six to eight weeks. And I take about three weeks off during Christmas but I realized that many intrapreneur don't do that. Because according to the data, only about 33% of Intrapreneurs take proper vacations and we know how holiday space time to recharge is crucial to alleviate burnout. So if you haven't planned any holiday, you can also schedule a few hours a day where you take time off or retreats, which I sheduled for myself for retreat in 2023. Plus I facilitated all retreats in 2023. We have our next business bursting retreat in March 2024. So if you haven't scheduled any holiday, you may want to join us on that retreat. But really shattering time off is essential so the first inside the first lesson of 2023. Burnout is real. And it was beautiful to witness that you know why? Because I think when we know that it is real. We know that we need to tackle that. And this fueled me even more with passion for 2024 around this topic, which is one of the reason why I wrote liked it. So if you've experienced burnout in 2023 just know you were not the only one but how might you make sure that in 2024 it is not happening again. What are you going to put as strategies as boundaries as ways of working as planning to make sure it's not happening? So listen to the power of visibility in business growth. In this years journey of essential shift I have embraced the power of visibility. I have published a book which now is making my brand being more visible than ever I have stepped into becoming a speaker even more officially before it was more word of mouth and people reaching out to ask me to go on their retreat and facilitate some workshops or to go and speak to their audience to their mastermind clients to their group in a firm and things like that. All of that I've invested in 2003 But I've also invested in learning about PR, I've invested in learning about marketing campaign. And I've also.

This efforts around visibility and focusing on visibility and increasing the visibility of the brand essential shift and how this ties up with business growth. And there is no shortcut. It's consistent. It's daily, day daily showing up being visible, reaching out making things happen. So it is about amplifying your impact and reaching more people by being intentional on how you're visible with your products, your services your software, whatever you're selling. And data underscores the value of such initiatives that I've taken last year. So for you to go back to data because I know some of you are all about the data. A Forbes study highlights that business actively engaging in PR and marketing can experience up to a 300% in brand visibility, leading to higher customer engagement and sales. And there is another study from Nielsen which is about the fact that business that have received a ward CEO 37% increase in sales compared to non award winners. And that's where in January within the circle membership, I will teach the member How to Apply for some awards for 2024 through my own empirical experience of last year going and applying for many awards and seeing which one are legit which one are a bit of a scam which one are, you know, really valuable, so that I can share my own humble experience and personal experience and also I have helped some of my clients last year apply for some awards and some of them were finalists to some awards. So it's like not calling myself an expert in that but really helping through my own experience about this. And my friends confirmed these findings of fact of investing in visibility from the bug to PR to marketing campaign to awards, not only as increased our brand visibility, but it's also impacted our clients positively. Because as we grow everyone grows in our community. And this is where those strategy have shown an increased improvement in everyone's visibility. So investing in learning about all of those skills. I've been critical and I see this being even more critical in 2024. We'll talk about the trend in the first episode when I'm back in January from my break, but I see in the noise in you know all of the things that are happening around us in in social media and all that once you built a very strong authority visible brand. Everything is coming together. And in the flow accelerator, which is my accelerated program to teach you everything around the foundation for a business to grow which start on the fifth of February, we start laying those foundations for you to grow your business in a sustainable way and visibility is one of the elements, the brand, but it's not the only one. Remember, it's not the only one. So the third lesson I have learned in 2023 and I've witnessed happening around me is strategy is everything it needs to be mastered. Because we strategy, you can steer the ship through economic tides, with intention and foresight. In this year's journey of 2023 the power of strategy and intention in business has never been more evident. We've seen macro economic recession. We've seen inflation soaring. We've seen the interest rate going higher and higher. So expenditure of customer if you're a b2c business or other business if you're a b2b business being impacted. And basically if you've planned this, if you've looked at your cash flow in advance and plan your strategy accordingly to that you have a sustainable growth so can go through the ebbs and flow. And this lesson is about the transformative power of a well crafted strategy. It's so key. And actually a Harvard Business Review study reveals that businesses with clearly defined strategy can increase their profitability by up to 60%. So anyone was telling me I'm high don't invest in strategy, Tisha, I don't need strategy. I'm laughing because without strategy, you don't know where you're going. The strategy provides you the roadmap. It enables your business to make informed decision. You can allocate the resources effectively, and you can anticipate market changes. So especially during economic downturn like you may have found during 2023 a sound strategy become your lifeline in for instance, business like mine, like I did that plan cash flow management so to have a cash flow management way and strategic activity in advance, are better equipped in economic fluctuation. And that's what I did. I started planning for six months Cash Flow Reserve. As soon as I saw the economic downturn happening since then, I reviewed my investment. I reviewed my resources allocation, I reviewed my offering I take a hard look on everything that I was doing and streamlined everything. And actually bang and company which is a competitor of monitor Deloitte, who I used to work for reports that companies with strong strategic planning are three and a half times more likely to achieve above average performance. If you're listening to this podcast, I know you're an impact driven entrepreneur and you want to be performing above average, right? So let's focus in 2024 on strategy. And as I said, my own experience running essential shift but also looking at all of my clients who have helped in 2023 showed me that planning ahead for cash flow. I just think business activities strategy allowed all of us to stay ahead of the curve. No business were closed. Thanks to that, because many businesses were closed in 2023. I shared this data a little while ago on another podcast interview here and it is horrendous. So the lesson is here. And in the abernant vision boot camp, I help you on day two to connect with your vision and your strategy. And then plan accordingly. So if you're like I don't know where to start, just get the Evergreen version of the urban envision boot camp and do the work. Strategy is key. Okay,

lesson number four, the return of a breed and in person connections. So in 2023 I started doing quarterly planning in person and online for all the members within the circle. And it's been received so well, because what happened is after a prolonged period of permanently online interaction due to the COVID 19 pandemic, everyone was online and everyone was happy to be online and so on. But actually, we really noticed a return of impersonal and hybrid experiences in 2023 from my retreats, which got sold out from my quantity planning, which every time attract between 30 to 40, a woman in one room and online as well for those who are not able to come and join us because our interstates and not in Sydney they're interstate someone's I'm traveling to a state to be honest. Shout out to Sandra we traveled from Adelaide last time Zoe from the middle of nowhere in New South Wales. But for those who are in the US and also state I know it can be hard to come in person but being online so I really so and not as the enthusiasts come around in person, or hybrid experience, a bit less for the online world. And actually, research supports what I've seen in my business and in my clients business around the return of impersonal hybrid. Experience. According to a report from McKinsey. 90% of organizations are moving to a hybrid work model, balancing remote and in person operation. And this model is not just a response to the post pandemic but it's also a reflection of the preference of people. People now love to have the flexibility of being at home and watching online content and attending online circle like we do within the circle. But also the crave was the intimacy and the connection that you make on face to face interactions. And that's where within all of my offering, we are now really weaving together in person and online. And I encourage you to consider that. Whether you're a product based business which is going to doing more markets or tradeshow or whether you are a software business organizing a launch of a new feature and I've been in person drinks and connection for that like we we had a client's doing this this year when they launch their app like we organized a big event in person so thinking about those things are quite key or like how I organized an online book launch for lighted and to in person book launch one in Melbourne when Sydney which all of them sold out. And actually I had way more people showing up in person after signing up in the in person one rather than the online one. So just food for thought I really loved it in person and expect even more intervention French for will do the full capacity planning. And we'll also do retreats and all that but I'm thinking of other things as well. So my experiences and the data that I've just shown you shared with you support that and highlight vital Listen, we are just post pandemic and the value of in person and interaction and deeper connection cannot be overstated. There is really a balanced approach to find. So by the way, if you join the circle membership you'll get access to the for in person quarterly planning at no extra costs and get a discount to attend my March 2020 for in person business bursting retreat in very close to Sydney. We only have four spots left as I record this so join us if you want connection and deep work and rest and rejuvenation. Okay lessons five, embracing a on this lesson is about the synergy of technology and intuition in business. I actually recorded a podcast which is episode 72 If you want to go back and listen which is called AI intuition. How are they connected in business intuition, AI and intuition was in May 2023, episode 72 And I delved into the fascinating integration of artificial intelligence AI in the realm of small business. And in this episode, I said how when I was a general manager for AI data commercialization and all that machine learning for Telstra, I know it's been around for years decades, a long time but with Chad GPT we realize that generative AI tool have become increasingly popular and Zehra adoption is set to grow exponentially in 2024. So if you haven't delve into it, I encourage you to use a break to delve a bit into it because the integration of AI in business operation is no longer a futuristic concept. It's actually the current reality with tangible benefits. A rep or report by Accenture. I quote a lot of consulting for the report. Why is that because I used to write report for Deloitte monitor Capgemini Consulting, and I know we are sourcing the data very well for those reports. That's why I chose those sources. So according to a report by Accenture businesses, utilities are utilizing AI can increase productivity by up to 14%. What does it want to increase productivity? What does I want to save time on the things that are not adding value so then you can focus on the things that are really important and that's why that's why I wrote in my book way before the surge of charge GPT is that when AI is here and very proponents you tend to have more space to trust your intuition to go with your vision to go with your own way because it's actually making space and the rise of the tool lecture GPT offer an intuitive user friendly interface, so it makes API accessible to any entrepreneur regardless of your technical experience. You can develop a bot in a few minutes and I'm actually developing a bot for those within the circle membership so you will have access to an incredible bot for all the questions you tend to ask me all the time about astrology and as next year within the circle membership we're going to learn more about astrology and how astrology and intuition are connected together and with the moon of course, because we always gather around the moon cycle and I teach them about astrology. They want to have to ask me always a question. Now I'm creating a bot by myself, and I'm not a coder. Just Yes, I know about AI but just because I facilitated and directed lots of teams where data scientists data engineer really those beautiful sores that I was managing when I was in Telstra, but I have never done it. And yes, I led a big AI machine learning project in Taos phase that I incubated from scratch, which is called tasks, relocation insights. But I am not a coder and if I can do it, you can do it too. So I really see AI being a way to reveal it to us and that revolutes shown us how small business operate, making them more agile, competitive and letting go of the task that don't need to be done by them but can be delegated to AI. So I really want you to invest some time during the break to get familiar with different things. I related and expect more content around AI in 2024 from me. So what do you think about this lesson learned? Do you relate to those? Do you have any you'd like to add I started with 23 and that was like 23 will be too long on a podcast. I really want to delve in a few of them. So that's why I limited to five and I will come back after my break. So during my break, you will have rewind episode from 2023 and when I'm back early 2024 I will record a podcast around the five trends that I see in 2024. In the meantime, I want to invite you to get your ducks in a row to not burn out to other key strategy to make space to embrace AI. And to think about it in person and hybrid model for 2024 by going through my abundant vision boot camp. The link is in the show notes and you can do it in your own time and I am telling you it's gonna help you transform the way you do business. Those who did the 2023 up on envision boot camp and came back as a 2025 on envision boot camp. When they did their reflections were like oh my gosh, I ticked all the boxes. Those who didn't do the 2023 and came for the 2024 They were like I wrote goals. We were just crazy. I am so ashamed of myself. I had no strategy in place to apply those things and to see if it was achievable or even realistic or some things that I really wanted. So I cannot stretch it enough with those five lessons, that they have an envision bootcamp is here to help you while I'm away, to reflect, connect with your own vision, your own strategy, and plan accordingly. Your 2024 Without further ado, I leave you to this lessons for you to digest integrate, feel free to share with me your haha via Instagram.

And please leave a review share this podcast with a friend. I'll be eternally grateful for you to take that time as I've spent all year serving you with amazing guests. And really big research and valuable podcast episode. So I'm just asking you a little help here. Leaving a review or just ratings a podcast will means a word to me or sharing it with anyone who needs to hear those five lessons. Thank you so much and enjoy the festive season. I can't wait to see you when I'm back. Until next episode blessed day