The Three Stages of a Soulpreneur Business

From Hobby to Legacy

It’s been 16 years of running my own business. I started in 2009, and gratefully reached a six figure annual income by 2011. It’s not like this for most soulpreneur businesses. I’ve been thinking about the reality of how most of them actually develop. Not the fairy tale version where you launch and immediately start making money, but the more realistic journey that unfolds in stages.

Many soulpreneurs are suffering with unrealistic expectations, because they don’t realize which stage they’re actually in.

So here is a framework that could support a more grounded view of your business journey…

Stage 1: Exploration

This is where every authentic soulpreneur begins, yet it’s the stage most people try to skip! That’s why there’s so much unnecessary overwork, discouragement, and burnout.

In Stage 1, you should assume to make no money.

Let that sink in…

The purpose isn’t monetization (yet!) — right now in stage 1, it’s exploration and discovery.

You’re playing with a full heart, discovering what genuinely lights you up, identifying your energy signature, and noticing which of your strengths naturally solve problems for others.

You’re learning what kinds of people you love working and playing with. You’re discovering organic market demand by paying attention to what others naturally ask from you.

During this stage, you’re experimenting wildly:

• Creating OGI (Organic Grounded Insight) content: Share what you’re learning in real time. Document your experiments and insights through casual writings or videos. Don’t expect or try to create polish and perfection; simply explore honestly, and perhaps occasionally try to be useful.

• Understanding Your Energy Signature: Study your unique strengths, values, and authentic essence, and how they align with your purpose and mission.

• Developing Joyful Productivity (JoyPro): Learn to work consistently without forcing yourself. Build muscles of gentle sprints, working lightly, and resting regularly.

• Making experimental offers with zero expectations: Volunteer your services. Invite friends and acquaintances to play with you.

The Tapering Strategy

The Tapering Strategy is a practical approach that works beautifully in Stage 1.

Start with completely free sessions or pilots, then gradually introduce light pricing as your confidence and demand grow. Work with 5, maybe 10 or more different types of clients for free to discover which ones you genuinely enjoy serving and who get extraordinary results from working with you.

For more, read: The Tapering Strategy for figuring out your pricing.

When I started teaching courses online in 2008, I didn’t even know people charged money for that! I was naive, and thankfully so. People kept asking, “Why aren’t you charging for this?” That question — when it comes organically and repeatedly — is your signal that Stage 1 is complete.

Funding Your Stage 1 Journey

This stage requires financial support from elsewhere:

• A spouse or partner (have an honest conversation about timeline and plan)

• Retirement savings or severance package (intentionally allocated runway)

• A job that pays your bills while you build skills and an audience

Seeking external support to start your business is not a weakness; it’s wisdom. Because the moment you add financial pressure to Stage 1, you corrupt the essential goal of play and discovery.

How Long Does Stage 1 Last?

It varies dramatically. Stage 1 could last anywhere from 6 months to over 5 years! It depends on:

• How quickly you implement and iterate

• How fast you find audience fit and product-market fit

You’ll know you’re ready for Stage 2 when:

• People are saying to you: “Why aren’t you charging for this??”

• Marketing becomes easier — people begin sharing your work without being asked

• You notice a mindset shift from “it’s about my interests” to “it’s about my audience’s wants”

The Biggest Pitfall

Thinking you “shouldn’t” be just playing, feeling shame that it isn’t a “real business” yet. Suffering happens due to a mismatch between expectations and reality.

Remember: in Stage 1, you’re not supposed to be making money yet!

Stage 2: Growth

Stage 2 begins when marketing becomes easier — when you’ve begun to find audience fit and product-market fit. The shift is profound: you find that you are moving from simply exploring, to responding to what your audience wants from you.

Your business now has some income. People are paying for your services. You might even have some group programs or courses that you experimented with launching in Stage 1, and that actually brought traction.

But at the beginning of Stage 2, your business is not stable yet, and you’re testing different lines of business to figure out which could become your bread and butter.

Your Core Focus: The Aligned Offer

The purpose here is to reliably serve a small group of core clients and learn from your occasional successes. You’re stabilizing your business by consistently noticing and meeting the market demand.

During this stage, you’re:

• Developing Your Signature Framework: Name the steps of your process. Turn your intuition into a repeatable path.

• Creating client case studies: Show transformation in detail. Document the journey, not just the outcome.

• Mastering two content platforms: For example, YouTube + Instagram. Depth beats dabbling.

• Practicing Authentic Market Discovery: Have ongoing conversations with your best-fit people to understand their current wants, language, and timing.

• Creating Aligned Offers: You’re learning from your market discovery work and making services/programs that your audience are likely going to love.

New Skills for Stage 2

As you transition from Stage 1, add these capabilities:

• The Tapering Strategy evolution: Move from free → low → standard pricing systematically, as explained in The Tapering Strategy blog post.

• Netcaring: This isn’t just networking; it’s nurturing your network with genuine enjoyment!

• Strategic collaborations: Co-create, guest teach, swap audiences with integrity

• Small-budget paid ads: Use strategic budgets to amplify what’s already working

What Success Looks Like Here

You’ll experience surprising spikes of success with creative offers that you can’t yet reliably predict. This is essential learning, not failure.

Stage 2 is still experimental, and expecting the stability of Stage 3 will only lead to frustration.

Success indicators:

• You can reliably meet demand from a small group

• Income exists but varies ($1–5K/month typically)

• You’re building foundational systems: onboarding, delivery, feedback loops

• People are referring you and sharing your work

How Long Does Stage 2 Last?

Again it varies wildly between individuals. It could be a year to over 5 years, depending on:

• Implementation speed

• Dedication to understanding market needs

• How quickly you clarify offers that are aligned with your audience

The key milestone? Having an aligned offer that consistently resonates with your market, generating steady (if not yet fully predictable) income.

Stage 3: Streamlining

Stage 3 is where you enjoy the fruits of a stable system. You have credibility and a track record. You’re operating with predictable, proven systems.

The 80/20 Rule of Stage 3

You’re now operating where:

• 80–90% of energy maintains proven systems (calendar of offers, delivery, client care, marketing)

• 10–20% of energy goes toward gentle experiments (new offers, formats, or tools)

At this stage, I have rhythms and systems that have been running successfully for years. Regular launch schedule — courses, membership programs, one-on-one offerings when needed. I’m just tweaking launches year by year, matching where my market’s going, framing my skills to what people currently want.

Stage 3 Operations

You’re now:

• Running a predictable calendar: Systemized launches that feel like gentle waves, not tsunamis

• Leveraging support wisely: Team members, automation, AI tools — but only where it truly serves

• Eliminating and simplifying: Kill the cute, keep the crucial

• Building feedback loops: The community’s experience informs next iterations

The Unique Challenges of Stage 3

The Ossification Danger: Systems become like bones — solid but potentially brittle as they age. Without exercise and new connecting tissue, they can break. Content can start dying if you do the same thing year after year. Innovation becomes essential not for survival, but for vitality.

Burnout from the Past: Many arrive at Stage 3 exhausted from Stage 2’s intensity. They think this stage means “work harder.” Actually, it’s about enjoying your labor’s fruits, maintaining sustainability, and making gentle tweaks.

After Stabilizing Stage 3

You gain the luxury to return to what truly interests you. With a big enough audience and stable systems, you can follow your curiosity again — and the market will follow. You can loop back to Stage 1 energy, but now with the foundation to support pure exploration.

Self-Assessment: Which Stage Are You In?

Stage 1 indicators:

• No consistent inbound interest yet

• Uncertain which audience or offer resonates best

• People never ask you “Why aren’t you charging for this?”

• You have more time/energy than money

Stage 2 indicators:

• Paying clients exist but income is uneven ($1–5K/month typically)

• A core group is excited about your work

• You’re developing systems and gathering case studies

• Experimenting with platforms, collaborations, small ad tests

Stage 3 indicators:

• Predictable launch/delivery rhythm ($5–10K+/month consistently)

• Can forecast reasonably well

• Most time on proven systems, little on experiments

• Thinking about legacy and sustainability

Working With Mentors: When It Makes Sense

In Stage 1: Try to benefit mostly from free content (see: George Kao Free Videos.) Take occasional courses that support fundamental skills (JoyPro, Energy Signature, OGI content), but please avoid expensive coaching! If you’re eager to move into Stage 2, also study Authentic Market Discovery and Creating Aligned Offers.

In Stage 2: This is where structured learning becomes highly productive. You’re ready to implement specific strategies and see real traction. Take courses as needed (see: George Kao Courses), and consider engaging with small-group or 1–1 coaching to help you systematize your business.

In Stage 3: Deep mentorship becomes especially valuable for streamlining, optimizing, and protecting your energy while building the legacy of your business.

A Note on Money Pressure

If you’re desperate to make money, you’ll try to force sales, which undermines authentic market discovery.

If this is your current situation, pour your energy into first securing a steadier income source (job, part-time gig), so that you can then allow yourself to play your way through Stage 1.

Your authentic self will thank you :) and so will the long-term sustainability of your business.

The Journey Is the Destination

Understanding these stages frees you from a painful mismatch of expectations and reality. Each stage has its own beauty, its own lessons, its own essential purpose. The hobby stage isn’t “pre-business” — it’s the foundation where you earn the right to charge by creating such value that people demand to pay you.

Most people assume they should start making money immediately. They think something’s wrong when marketing isn’t working, when clients aren’t flowing. But they’ve missed the essential foundation of Stage 1 — where your business is called forth by your audience, not forced by your ego.

So I’m curious — which stage are you in?

And are you honoring the opportunities and requirements of that stage, or are you trying to force yourself into the next one before you’re ready?

Recognizing where you are is just as important as knowing where you’re going.

Drop a comment below: Stage 1, 2, or 3? And if you want, add what you’re focusing on next. I’d love to cheer you on.