Elevate Your Business Processes with Akua Konadu ft. HoneyBook’s 2025 Growth Guide

Tara: Welcome to The Modern Editor Podcast, where we talk about all things editing and what it’s like to run an editorial business in today’s world. I’m your host, Tara Whitaker. Let’s get to it. 

Hello, everyone. Welcome to today’s episode. I am super excited to have Akua Konadu on the podcast today, and she is going to talk all about HoneyBook and their 2025 Growth Guide that they just released for freelancers and small business owners.

And Akua is actually the podcast host of the Independent Business Podcast, which is an amazing podcast. If you haven’t listened to it, go listen to it now. But she is also a storytelling strategist, educator, and multipassionate entrepreneur. She’s the founder of not one, but two businesses and knows firsthand what it takes to build something from the ground up.

Akua is also on a mission to inspire and educate business owners to pursue their dreams, overcome obstacles, and build successful independent businesses. So Akua, welcome. We are thrilled to have you.

Akua: Hi, thank you so much for having me. Yes, I love everything. Hi, it’s me, I’m amazing. 

Tara: Here we are. I love that you put multipassionate in there, too, because that resonates with so many of the listeners of this podcast, because we are all, most of us are multipassionate and don’t want to be stuck in a niche, so you’re in a great spot. 

Akua: 1,000 percent. I totally, totally relate. Yes. 

Tara: All right. Should we just get right into it then? 

Akua: Yeah, let’s hop into it. 

Tara: All right. So some of the listeners out there might be going, what is HoneyBook exactly? So for those who don’t know what HoneyBook is, can you give us a quick-and-dirty summary of what HoneyBook is and who it serves?

Akua: Yeah, so HoneyBook is essentially a client relationship management platform, so a CRM, and it’s essentially what you would use to really like send contracts, invoices, just really manage your clients from initially, as soon as they inquire from you, all the way to the end of your service where you’re like sending a like survey, right?

It has everything that you need to be able to run your business smoothly. And really just overall provide a really great upscale client experience. I’ve been using HoneyBook since, I don’t even know, I think maybe 2018, 2019, from when my business was a side hustle into then eventually going full-time.

It’s been with me since the very beginning and it has made my life so much easier as a business owner because, you know, there’s just certain tasks that become repetitive and you don’t necessarily enjoy. And HoneyBook really is kind of like this assistant that I have right with me at all times to be able to keep my business running.

Even when I’m like, offline or doing other things, you know, even when I’m not online, HoneyBook just keeps things running as smoothly as possible. 

Tara: Oh, I love that. And I love that it was able to grow with you from a side hustle to a full-time business. So it has everything. 

Akua: Everything, yeah. Because when I first started, right, like, you just think about, like, everything about your own experience when you first started a business, your business, right?

Like, you’re just trying to figure out what type of contract to send, you know, I just need something to send an invoice. And you know, like sometimes a little bit simple, and HoneyBook already had that. And then as I continued to grow, as I continued to change my offerings and my pricing and stuff like that, it just was with me every step of the way to where it was just really easy for me to grow as a business owner. And that’s what I just love about it. 

Tara: Well, we all know as freelancers and small business owners that anything we can take off our plate and automate that doesn’t affect or negatively affect the customer experience is a plus. Sign me up. 

Akua: 1,000 percent. Yes. And I know like, when we talk about automations and systems and stuff, it’s not sexy, but it’s literally the key of a business owner hitting six figures or not, or you know, being a multi-six-figure business owner or not, you know, it really does make a difference in revenue, if you like the systems that you have in place.

And so I always like to, even for me myself as a business owner, I’m always going back and looking at my systems and consistently refining them, taking feedback that I got from previous clients. And, you know, with what their experience was like and continuing going back in and back to the drawing board, just to make sure that what I’m doing is running smoothly, and HoneyBook really plays a major role in that.

Tara: It’s so funny you say that because for myself, 2024 was the year I focused on my systems and processes because I was doing so many things piecemeal and manually. And when you actually sit down and record how long each thing takes you, because you’re like, Oh, I’ll just do this real quick. Oh, I can do this real quick. All those “real quicks” add up real quick to a whole lot of time. 

Akua: It does. And for me, like I was just recently diagnosed with ADHD and you know, the constant switching, like you’ll be doing something in a task and then you’re like, Oh, I can just do this quick. And for me, I like, even before I was diagnosed, like having HoneyBook, but we just took a lot of those mundane tasks off.

It just leaves more room to like, you know. And I think it’s important for me to be more creative, to really focus on things that I need to focus on in order to propel my business forward. So like now as like, I was recently diagnosed and I was like, Oh wow, that’s been really helpful that I’ve already done some of these things that make managing my ADHD a little bit easier. So yeah. 

Tara: For sure. And, you know, I think it’s a lot, a lot of business owners are similar where, for example, editors, we have to edit, like actually do the editing, but then we have all of the other things on our plates. And so anything that relieves those things to let us focus on the actual editing portion of our business is going to be crucial to save that time and energy and make sure everything runs smoothly.

Akua: 1,000 percent. And decision fatigue is very real. Like I, and that’s one thing I love about HoneyBook so much is that it’s just me having to make certain decisions that are just so mundane. And like, you know what I mean? And it just, it literally, as soon as somebody, uh, inquired me, fills out my contact form, boom, it responds via email right away, right?

And then like, they respond. All I have to do is click and approve. Yes, sir. Like, right, click approve. And then instantly, I’m in there for two seconds. And if I need to be; sometimes, like, it depends on the workflow, I don’t have to be in there at all. Like, so that’s one thing that I just really, really, really love about it is that it just makes, again, my life easier. It reduces the amount of decisions I have to make. It just, again, really does an amazing job for my business. And so, that’s why I’m like, I continue to use it. I love it. 

Tara: Yes. Decision fatigue is so real as a business owner. And I was actually just introduced to another term from my coach: intellectual fatigue, which is kind of related where you’re just constantly thinking about new things or the creative side of the business, which sometimes you don’t have the time to think creatively because you’re so deep in the weeds with all of the systems and processes and, oh, how do I manually send this and do this?

So it sounds like HoneyBook would be a great way to alleviate some of that fatigue overall. 

Akua: Oh yeah, absolutely. 

Tara: Awesome. Okay, so we know about HoneyBook now, all about freelancers helping small business owners. What exactly is this Growth Guide that came out, which I saw it when it first released. I was like, Ooh, this is so cool looking into it. And then when we got matched up, I was like, Ooh, I can’t wait to ask more about the Growth Guide. So tell us what that’s all about. 

Akua: Yeah. One thing I will say that I’ve always loved about HoneyBook is that Honeybook always comes with the receipts. Like everything that Honeybook does is always backed by data.

And anything that we, uh, like anything that Honeybook, you know, serves to our audience, it’s always backed by data. And it really does empower business owners to make very strategic decisions for their business. And so the Growth Guide, essentially, it was inspired because there was a huge need in the market, right?

Like ever since 2020, we’ve just saw a huge growth of people wanting to hop into entrepreneurship. Currently right now over a third of Americans are embracing entrepreneurship. And so again, think about yourself when you first started your business. Like I, the resources that HoneyBook had provided, even for me, I wouldn’t have the business that I have today without resources like this Growth Guide.

And you know, that’s what I love is that HoneyBook continues to show up for independent business owners even beyond, obviously the tool itself, but they just truly care about business owners building a life and a business on their terms. And so this Growth Guide here was, they teamed up with the Harris poll, surveyed 700 business owners, creative business owners, consultants, and essentially they took all of that data and made this Growth Guide. And this just shows what these people are doing to make seven figures and beyond in their business. This is currently what they are doing. 

And so again, it’s really just giving business owners that foundation. Number one, if you’ve been in business for a while, it forces you to think differently and creatively of like, how you can get other streams of income in your business.

And also too, if you are just starting out, it really gives you this foundation of like, okay, like, let’s figure this out of like, what kind of things do I want to experiment with in my business? You know what I mean? I think it just, it’s great how it truly does make, like really does positively impact business owners, no matter where you are at in your journey.

Tara: You just hit, you said, experiment, and something I’ve been talking to a lot of editors lately is about how business is one big experiment and how one thing that works for one editor’s business is not going to work for everyone. Possibly work for yours and experimenting and tweaking and taking that data and see what works.

So I love that you said HoneyBook has receipts because we all want to know where this data is coming from, right? Like it seems like we’ve got some weird data from different places out there and I really like that you are very up front about this is where we got the data. This is how we conducted the research. It’s legit. 

Akua: Oh, 1,000 percent. You don’t ever have to question where things came from. You see things from HoneyBook. Because yes, like that’s even for me, even before I became host of the show, anything that I needed with my business, whether that was, you know, figuring out pricing strategy, like there’s always data in the blogs and stuff like that.

So really just, you know, providing that concrete information again that you need to make strategic decisions in your business. Yes. Yes. 

Tara: So with all of the data and with creating the Growth Guide, was there anything that stood out to you that you were like, Whoa, that’s surprising or shocking or anything that just stood out in any way?

Akua: Oh yeah. I mean, there were several. So number one is diversified revenue streams, right? I loved this. I loved what we found out about that because it says high earners generate about 25 percent of their income from passive sources like memberships, subscriptions, workshops, courses, and digital products.

And my thing is, is that I think if there’s more—I know like, a lot of when we first start out, we have one service, which is great. And that’s usually a service that requires a lot of our time. But as you are looking to scale, you’re not going to be able to, you know, you’re just not going to be able to fulfill everything, right?

And so how you want to serve people. So even for me as a business owner, I have grown business off of one service. I am now four years and I have always had one service. And now I mean, myself, I’m also leaning into digital products. Like, I’m finally coming out with a course now because I still want to be able to make an impact and serve business owners, even if they aren’t able to work with me one on one.

And so I think again, really leaning into diversified revenue streams. There’s more than one way to make a business. Also, speaking is now becoming a diversified revenue stream for me as well. And so there’s so many different ways that you can make money as a business owner, even templates. Like HoneyBook, we now have our template gallery, you know, so there’s, it’s really just taking the time to really lay out your product ladder to see what’s going to work for you. And what is your client? Like, what does your audience also need? And so again, those diversified streams is just really taking that time to, to start laying that out.

And it can really, really make a huge impact in your business. Even like I said, even our affiliate marketing, you know, there’s so many different ways. There’s more than one way to make money in your business. And you can also like, and it doesn’t have to require so much of you. 

Tara: Oh, that was the key right there, because some people, I think, think about, okay, well, I, for example, editors, editing takes a lot of brain power and a lot of time, and you can do things to speed it up to a certain degree, but at the end of the day, like, you can’t do something, you can’t edit a book in an hour, like, that’s just not going to be possible, so how can you still earn more money doing editing, but also how else can you serve your clients with the templates, the workshops, the webinars, courses.

Akua: And even as an editor, of course you’re serving specific people, but then also too, like you can also lean into like other people who also want to be editors. You can teach a workshop, right? You can provide a course as an editor. Are there specific tools that you really love that have made such a huge impact in your business? Talk about that, right?

That’s where you can start leaning into that affiliate marketing memberships. Editing, I’m sure there’s like different skills, things change, right? And so can you do a membership for editors? I mean, there’s so many different ways, exactly. There’s so many different ways that you can truly make this work for you.

And the thing is, like, you already have the skills, so lean into what you already have. That’s the thing. I think sometimes we always think when we’re thinking of diversified revenue streams that we have to start from scratch and you do not. Literally look at the skills that you’re already doing and then use it as your foundation to build some of these other products or services that you want to provide.

Tara: Yes, and that’s where that intellectual fatigue comes in. Don’t reinvent the wheel. No. Start with what you already have and go from there. Yes. If you had told me I was going to have a membership for freelance editors when I started my business thirteen years ago, I would have laughed. Absolutely not. But, like you said, the online space, the world, also small business and online businesses have changed a lot since I started in 2012, and they’re going to continue to change, and it’s really being adaptable? There we go. Adaptable, yep. I’m an editor. Sometimes words are hard. Speaking of that, I have a sticker coming out that says, words are hard.

I’m selling some physical products because diversify income. Yeah, there’s something fun. But yeah, it’ just going to continue to change. So how can we keep up to date and keep going and using the systems and the tools that we have to make that easier on us? 

Akua: 1,000 percent, Absolutely. And so even to another data point that was found in the Growth Guide that I thought was phenomenal, is a strong client loyalty, is that business owners, they generate over half of their revenue from repeat clients, and who only require 26 percent of their time. 

Tara: Ooh. 

Akua: Let me say that one more time. Business owners, they generate over half of their revenue from repeat clients, who only require 26 percent of their time. Yeah, let’s just sit with that.

Tara: I wish I had a mic to drop or something.

Akua: Just sit with that for a second. I think, again, it really goes to show, again, the client experience that you provide is truly the foundation to running a successful business. Only requires 26 percent of their time. So, again, it’s like, what can you automate? What can you delegate? 

Tara: Absolutely. 

Akua: And that’s a huge statistic.

Tara: Sorry. I’m still kind of blown away, even though I’d read it before, but that is incredible and does go to show that it’s relationship building and making sure that experience is top notch.

Akua: Top notch. 1,000 percent. So like, even think about yourself as a business owner of, uh, you with copywriting, like, you know, we have the same podcast producer, Hayley Gaffin, right?

Like I’ve worked with Hayley for, I mean, we’re now going on four years. Yeah, I have worked with, and it’s truly because Hayley offers me such an amazing experience where like even me myself of, I’m like, okay, how can I make my experience better? Right? Like, think about people who you’ve worked with that you’ve hired as a business owner and the experience that they provided for you.

And then it forces you to think, okay, like, how can I improve my client experience? Because Hayley makes me feel like I’m her only client all the time. So with her, you know what I mean? And again, it, and she like, she makes her process amazing and she’s a HoneyBook user as well. And so even for me, I am consistently thinking about how can I automate things or delegate it to again, make everything as easy as possible for my clients.

And so that I can show up as my full self for them as well. Even, and again, like, even if it is a limited amount of time, right? Twenty-six percent of that time. Twenty-six percent of that time, you’re going to get the best of me every single time. And so again, really just taking that time to go back and look at the systems that you have in place so that you can continuously provide an amazing client experience so that these people can keep coming back.

Tara: Yes. Yes. And I know we were talking about it before we were recording with how amazing and how much we love Hayley. And like, how does she make me look so good, even though I gave her some stuff where I’m like, I’m sorry, this sounds terrible. But even you just reminded me too, I have worked with other businesses and their process was so beautiful. And I asked them like, what do you use? How do you make this work? Because it was seamless. And I just, I loved it. 

Akua: Yes. Every time I send, whenever I get a client and, you know, they sign up for my Storytelling Intensive and instantly, um, when they get the proposal, like after we meet, I send them everything and they always ask, Oh my gosh, this is so beautiful. Loved the process. What do you use? And I’m like, HoneyBook, you know what I mean? Like those things make, cause I do, I serve as a small business owner myself. And so they’re like, those make, it makes such a big, big difference. So don’t be afraid if there’s somebody that you have worked with that you loved their whole process, ask them, because that can really help and inspire you to think creatively of how you can improve the systems in your own business.

Tara: Yes. And I think good thing to note too, is that when you’re first starting out, your processes might not be super lengthy or intricate or, you know, require eighty-five steps, like you can start small and that’s okay. As long as it makes sense, it flows, and it makes for a good customer experience. It can be three steps, and that’s okay. It does not have to be complicated. 

Akua: Exactly. And the thing is, you won’t even know if you need other steps until you’re actually doing it. So, you just need to start. That’s the thing. And so it doesn’t have to be complicated. Just start if it’s three steps. And then you’ll realize when you’re working with people within those three steps, like, Oh, I need to add this fourth step in between steps one and two, like this third, like, you know what I mean?

I need to add a step between steps one and two, because I just learned this. That’s the only way that you’re going to be able to really continuously refine your system is the data. You need the data in order to know what’s working and what’s not working, and so lean into those clients like, that’s the only way is that you have to take clients in order to know how to improve your systems.

So my thing is just start. You’re just gonna have to do it. It’s not going to be perfect. It’s not. And you will not learn what you need to improve until you’re actually in it.

Tara: 100 percent you just have to start. Yep. Okay. So in the Growth Guide too, there was this cool tool. Um, let me make sure I say it right. The Revenue Benchmarking Tool. I love a good online calculator. So I was like, Ooh, I got to see what this is about. Can you tell listeners a little bit more about where that came from and how it works and how to use it? 

Akua: Yeah, so it allows marketing service providers to compare their earnings with industry peers based on data from the last year.

So I think, because again, let’s talk about how hard it truly is to price your services, especially when you don’t know what you’re doing. I just remember, oh my gosh, pricing still stresses me out. But now, you know, obviously being like a business owner for, you know, a few years now, like I’m more comfortable with it.

But just think about when you were first trying to do your services and you were like, what the hell do I price this as? Yeah. Right. Or to like now, iif you’ve been a business for a while and you’re like, okay, I want to offer a new service. Or, you know, especially if you’re wanting to pivot a little bit into a new industry or whatever, this benchmark tool is going to really help you, again, make these strategic decisions of how you want to price things.

Because again, it’s going to show you based on your peers in the same industry. So that’s what’s really cool about this revenue calculator. Again, it’s just, it just provides more transparency and enabling business owners to make informed decisions about their pricing strategy, about income diversification. So I encourage people to use it. Honestly, like people need to use that. 

Tara: Yes. And I definitely did. Tthere’s different, like, you can pick the industry you’re in to try and guide the calculator. There isn’t one specifically for editors, but you can try different ones that are pretty close. I think I tried like, business consulting and I think there’s a content creation one in there that’s pretty broad.

But it can give you an idea of what to look for, which I just, I love playing with tools like that and just seeing what the possibilities are and what other people are doing. 

Akua: Yeah, I loved it. It’s great. I think again, it’s just knowledge is power. And so how much can you empower yourself with knowledge so that you can make decisions that you feel confident in for your business?

Tara: Yes, yes. And I know the Growth Guide just came out, at the time of this recording, or in October. I think it came out in September. September, yes. Okay, you might not be able to answer this yet, but has anyone come to you after the Growth Guide was released and, like, told you about how the insights benefited them?

Akua: Oh yeah, people have absolutely come up to me, business owners who have been in the game for a while have been like, Alright, I’ve been on the right track. These are things that I have been doing to see the growth in my, like, they, like, they’re affirming it, you know what I mean? I think sometimes business owners, we always feel like we have to, like, we think the way to success is you have to, it’s like some secret, you know, it’s like some secret, really complicated answer.

And it’s really not, honestly. The answer is usually very simple. And that’s what I loved about the Growth Guide is that it made it very digestible and helps you understand that like, you can do this, anybody can do this. And there were business owners that were like, okay, I’m already starting to think about now, how can I diversify my revenue?

Or, you know, even there was another fact in the Growth Guide as well, effective use of retainer clients. Top earners average $45,000 annually from retainer agreements with some earning significantly more. I built my business heavily based off retainer clients. Heavily. You know what I mean? And so there’s, again, there’s no wrong way to do business.

We actually have an episode coming out on the Independent Business Podcast. We just recorded it yesterday. It’s coming out in November where we talk about the Growth Guide. And I purposely brought two business owners, one who built his business B2B, and one who built their business B2C, and we literally broke down the Growth Guide and you got to hear very different perspectives of how they have been able to leverage a lot of this data, like how, and build multi-six figure-businesses.

And it just shows again that there’s no wrong way to success, right? You have to truly just do what’s best for you. And the Growth Guide provides so many options, great options for you. Yes. Yes. 

Tara: I’m glad you brought that up because I was reading it and saw that the retainer clients was such a huge portion.

And I was like, okay, you know, editors, you know, especially book editors, that’s not really an option. But then I was like, wait a minute. Editors of other content that could absolutely work if they work with a business who needs newsletters and website copy and blog posts and social media, blah, blah, blah.

Akua: Like, yeah, I literally built my business off of retainer clients. Like, if you, like, I feel like if people, if you’re not using retainer clients, you’re leaving money on the table. I’m just going to be quite real about it because I truly—people are very shocked by that. Like I serve both B2B and B2C and a lot of it I would have retainer clients.

So B2B, which was amazing. And that also gave me a nice cushion where I could experiment with other things in B2C and take more risks in my business. You know what I mean? Because I already know that I have this set income coming. I’m in a set contract: three months, six months, some of them even a year.

And the way that I fell into retainer clients is by providing the best client experience. Like truly people were like, how did you find your retainer clients? It was truly all from word of mouth. Hmm. Yes. All, a lot of them were from word of mouth. Like I used to, first I started in a financial investment firm. And then I went to the second investment firm. You know what I mean? Because they were, it was two companies. They were the same thing, but you know, community over competition, they support each other. I worked with this company for a year helping them with storytelling strategy, all of that.

And it originally started off as a three-month contract and they loved the client experience that I provided and they extended it to six months. They were like cool, we would love you for another six months. And so after that, when I reached the point where like, you have everything, you’re good to go, their competitor, who again, community over competition, like, we’ve collaborated with them in the past. They picked me up and I worked with them for six months. And then, you know what I mean? So like, yeah. And then after that, I ended up working with youth football. And that person, that one wasn’t worried about that person found me on LinkedIn.

But then that led me to my next client, which was also from word of mouth. So my point is all that to say is that it is truly like the client experience. Like if you were able to provide that client, like amazing client experience right out the gate, you have no idea where it can lead you. No idea where it can lead you.

No. And so I just want to say like, again, there’s more than one way to do it. And just do, like, just do what works best for you. 

Tara: And you’re right, like, word of mouth and referrals are the absolute best way of finding clients. Oh yeah. I’m like, how did you hear about me? I’m like, oh, who sent you? And when you talk about the client experience, you know, people talk about client experiences when they’re really good or really bad.

Yep. Yeah. So let’s do it really good. Right away. Right away. Right. And then it just. Again, you’re planting the seeds and you never know when they’re going to pop up later on. Exactly. Okay, so you’ve been in business for, you said 2018, 2019? 

Akua: Yeah, like it was a side hustle and I think I went full-time in 2020.

Tara: Okay, so things have changed a lot in the past few years with business. I know you don’t have a crystal ball, but how do you, and HoneyBook, how do you envision small business owners? How is the independent workforce going to look like in the coming years?

Akua: We are going to have more business owners than ever before. 1,000 percent. I think the pandemic really steamrolled that. I think because we just, it really just changed our perspectives in so many different ways. The way that we work, the way, like business owners, people that are starting their own business, they want to pursue their passions, you know, and, you know, it’s just not going to stop anytime soon.

And so HoneyBook is here like, how can we support these people that are leaving the workforce to start their business, pursue their passion? And so we’re going to help provide them the foundation to make sure that they are successful. And so HoneyBook is just not going to slow down with that.

And one thing that I love about HoneyBook is, some of these features have really, truly impacted my business. And even now with like AI, like, you know what I mean? I know the AI is, I know, especially from editors. I know y’all give them the side eye. Yep. Well, yeah, that’s a whole nother deep dive. Yes. A whole other deep dive.

But I use AI heavily to really save time in my business. Like, we now have an AI note taker. You know what I mean? Uh, AI email composer that truly responds. And of course, like, I edit it. You know what I mean? I make those changes. But again, if it’s tasks that you just don’t necessarily enjoy doing, it truly does save time. It can take that off of your plate, but then also to up level the experience, like up level it right like now. An AI note taker that can take notes for you that you can now send to your client to make sure that you guys are on the same page to make sure that that expectations are clear from the very jump. I mean right? That’s that’s an amazing thing and so again, HoneyBook is here to just continuously be here when people are ready to be like, all right, I’m ready to do this, HoneyBook is ready for you.

You know what I mean? But not only that, for business owners that are ready to scale, we’re also ready, like really providing these tools and the platform in general, just to be able to serve independent business owners so that they can create the life and the business that they have always wanted.

Tara: Yeah. I think you nailed it. There’s going to be so many more people leaving the traditional workforce and going on their own. 

Akua: 1,000 percent. It’s not going to take—and if they’re not leaving, they’re still going to have a side hustle. I can guarantee you that. Or a few. Yes.

There was an article. Yeah. And we saw that, we shared it on LinkedIn. I can’t remember who it was, but it was a really great piece on the HoneyBook page and we shared it. And he was talking about how a lot of people working nine to five, we’re going to have multiple streams of income.

And though they’re still working full-time, right? So no matter where you are, HoneyBook is going to be there to help you with that. 

Tara: Love that. I love that support of small business owners. Yeah, it’s 1,000 percent. We need all the help we can get. We really do. I mean, come on. It’s, you know, not everybody chooses that path, which is fine, but if you do, you need all the support and help because it’s not super easy. 

Akua: It’s not, it’s not. And so anything that can make your life easier and where you can focus on the things that bring you joy, you can focus on spending time with the people that you love, you can focus on being an incredible business owner, I’m all for it. Yes.

Tara: Is there anything else about the Growth Guide that I might have missed that you want to make sure we talk about there? I mean, there’s so many good things in there. 

Akua: Yeah, I think if anything, I think maybe one more thing is that, you know, 72 percent of businesses started because they wanted to pursue a passion, their passion.

And along with, followed by obviously the desires for flexibility and career autonomy, but it was mainly because of passion. And so I think that is like, when you are doing your business, when you’re building your business, really checking in with yourself regularly of like, Do I enjoy this? Do I love it?

Because sometimes we can find ourselves on this hamster wheel and we’re just building, building, building, building, and we don’t check in with ourselves. We’re like, okay, I built this, but do I even love it? Do I even enjoy it? You know what I mean? Because I always like to remind people, remember why you started truly, because as you’re growing, it’s so easy to forget that.

And so you were one of that 72 percent that started because you had an idea and you were so passionate about serving others. And so you decided to take the risk and do it. And I think we sometimes forget how brave that is. Especially as we grow more and more in our business, we forget that sometimes.

And I’m like, oh my gosh, Akua, remember when you decided to finally take the leap, and how did that feel? And so like, don’t forget that feeling. I think it keeps you humble. I think it keeps you grounded, so that you can always continue to keep that passion, that fire, that spark in your business.

Tara: Okay, I’m a little surprised that the number is that high, to be honest. 

Akua: Really? Why? 

Tara: Not in editing, not in the editing world. I think 99 percent of people start an editing business because of the passion and our love of the written word and content and books and all of that stuff. Yeah. But maybe, I don’t know, maybe I’m just thinking of it in a broader sense or just thinking about, I don’t know, I don’t know why I think that actually.

Maybe I’m, I don’t know. Maybe I’m just making that up, but what was the other one, though? The 72 percent and then autonomy and freedom, right? The flexibility. Yeah, I thought, like, never mind. That’s what I was trying to say. The flexibility, I thought, was going to be higher. Because I hear that so often that I was shocked that it was only 16 sixteen, but passion was higher and I think that’s yeah, exactly.

Akua: Yeah. You know what I mean? But then I’m like, yeah, you can have flexibility, but do you enjoy what you’re doing within that flexibility? 

Tara: Right, right. Very good point. Very good point. Especially when you’re maybe thinking about all of these different revenue streams and how can I do this?

And then you get to a point where you’re like, Why am I doing this? Am I doing this just for the money? Am I doing this because I like it? Am I doing it because someone else is doing it and I think that I should do it too? Like, checking in with yourself is huge. 

Akua: Yes, because here’s the deal. I’m not a big Zodiac person. Don’t ask me what my rising sun is. I don’t know any of those answers. Because I’m not a big astrology person. But I am a Capricorn, and Capricorn, we love money. Okay, I love money. Yeah, okay, when’s your birthday? 

Tara: The day after Christmas. 

Akua: Mine’s the 28th! Okay, but, so you get it. But yeah, like, I love money. So, you know what I mean?

But I also quickly learned that, yeah, I love money, but I really want to make it in a way that I really enjoy. There it is. Yes. Like, because there’s been times where I’m like, I have made great money. But I hated it. Like specifically the skills because right, like as business owners, especially with us being multipassionate that we have a lot of skills.

So it’s really easy for us to hop in anywhere and do whatever. But do you actually? Absolutely not. Like for me, a lot of people don’t know this. I used to offer social media management. I hate it as a service. I did. And I never enjoyed it. So that’s where I took a break within my business and then relaunched, I think in like, late 2021 as a storytelling strategist and really where I focus heavily more on content strategy.

Right. Because that’s what brought me joy. That’s where I got to see the magic. Right. And so that was something I learned by myself. That’s a huge lesson. It’s a huge lesson. And it was great money. I loved it, but I was like, love the money. I didn’t like what I was doing to make the money. So, you know, I think again, it’s just really checking in with yourself.

Like, do I actually enjoy what I’m building? Do I actually like, and you know, so again, really checking in with yourself, asking yourself these questions because it’ll save you a lot of time and heartache. 

Tara: Oh my gosh. So much heartache. So much heartache. Which is why I think what is also driving a lot of people to start their own business is because in their traditional jobs, or nine to fives, or whatever you want to call them, they’re not passionate about it. It’s not bringing them joy. They don’t like working for someone else, and so they’re finding other things. And sometimes it’s an outlet.

Akua: Exactly. And then it just turns into something unexpectedly, which is just, it’s beautiful. I think that’s amazing. Yes. Yes. 

Tara: More of it, please. Please. Yes. Please. All right. So we’ve talked a lot about the Growth Guide, but where do we actually find the Growth Guide? Oh my gosh. You can download it and check it out.

Akua: Well, we’re gonna  give you the link.

Tara: Oh, fantastic. 

Akua: So just stick it in your shoutouts. Totally. 

Akua: Yeah, so that’s where you can. And y’all please hit me up on Instagram, you know, let me know what your thoughts are on the Growth Guide. I’m always in there sending voice notes. 

Tara: Oh, I love voice notes. 

Akua: Yeah, also, yeah, connect with Honeybook too, let them know what you think as well of the Growth Guide. I have had really great conversations about it already, so I just want to continue that conversation. So, yeah. 

Tara: Yes. All right. Awesome. Is there anything else that we want to chat about with the Growth Guide or HoneyBook? 

Akua: No, this was amazing. I mean, thank you so much for having me on, being able to talk about HoneyBook, a platform that I just love dearly, because it’s just made such a huge impact in my life. And I hope that people listening will download that Growth Guide, you know, to really just create a business that they love. So I’m excited. 

Tara: Yes. And you can tell that you are a HoneyBook aficionado, and I love hearing about people that actually use the product or service, right? 

Akua: Yeah, 1,000 percent. And a lot of people don’t know this either, like, I didn’t start using HoneyBook because of the product. I started using HoneyBook because of how much they had already helped me build my business.

And so then I was kind of like, all right, I’ll sign up for the product. You know what I mean? Like, that’s funny. Yeah. Like they truly, truly, truly care about business owners and their success. And so that’s why now I love the product. But before I did, I didn’t use the product for a while. I just knew of them and I just was utilizing their resources.

It’s that they were providing and helping me truly create that foundation for my business. And then when I was finally like, ready, like, okay, yes, the product was there. It was good to go. So I was instantly able to start off on the right foot with my business. And I’ve been going ever since.

Tara: So you’re saying they had a really good client experience when you weren’t a customer even or a paid customer, I should say. 

Akua: And then yeah, you don’t have to be a HoneyBook user in order to consume a lot of the resources that they provide. You know what I mean? And so that was where I fell into it and then I, and I love it.

And so now it’s like the best of both worlds. I have resources and I get to use this amazing product, right? So it’s a win-win and I love it. So yeah, you can’t beat it. And so every, yes, definitely download, download the Growth Guide. It’s amazing. So. Yeah. Awesome. 

Tara: Well, thank you so much for coming on and chatting. I had so much fun and I learned a lot. 

Akua: Oh, good. Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you so much for having me.

Tara: Yes. All right. Thank you all for listening. Take care.

Thank you so much for tuning in to today’s episode. If you enjoy The Modern Editor podcast, I would be so grateful if you left us a review over on iTunes. And as always, you can head to TaraWhitaker.com to connect with me and stay in touch. We’ll chat again soon.