Financial success and spiritual goals of the Light Worker. Where to find the balance?

Coaches, specialists in alternative psychology and consultants in various Spiritual ractices with pure intentions in their heart, can be described by a term well known in the world of spiritual growth as Light Workers.  When managing a business in these fields Light Workers often face the dilemma of finding the right balance between financial goals of the business and helping people.

Since I’m restarting my practice in US I conducted a research on this topic and came up with a number of ideas I want to share with you.  

It is absolutely right that people who invested their time, efforts, years of education and practice into their work deserve to receive a good money for their services. And we shouldn’t forget about operational costs of managing a business, such as office rent, utilities, and more, which Spiritual Based Businesses have as every other business out there.   

But during my research I encountered various business strategies and practices sometimes recommended by business coaches and mentors which in my opinion cannot be applied to a Spiritual Based Business as they are. Here are the most controversial strategies, which I’m most concerned about:

1. 1. • Don’t burden yourself with lots of clients paying 500$-1000$. Make your fees higher and have the same profit or even more while working with just three or four clients. I would agree with this regarding any other type of business. The goal of a Spiritual Based Business is not only a prosperity of its owner but also a positive impact this business has on people’s life. Coaching and other personal and spiritual growth services should be available to a wide range of customers.
   2. • “Fake it until you make it”. Start your business from renting a fancy office and wearing only high end brands. Show that you are a highly payed specialist. – As I wrote earlier years of work, education and practice should be paid for accordingly.  But being a spiritual person will it be acceptable for you to start your business from this masquerade to attract customers? It may even get you into taking a loan to afford all this fancy office and furniture. Being stressed about these expenses will make you to charge higher fees and be more dependent on your clients then necessary. Again I totally agree that services shouldn’t be underpriced but they shouldn’t be overpriced either. Our goal should be helping people and not financing that high end couch we bought for our office. Be honest with yourself and with people who seek your help.
   3. • Write books to promote your business.  – Writing books on spiritual topics without feeling a need or any inspiration or guidance to do so, without having an intention of doing something good or to share your knowledge and experience with others is in my opinion simply unethical. I won’t go into details on why it is unethical, hypocritical and dishonest since I truly believe that it is so fundamental that no explanation is required.
   4. • Use aggressive marketing strategies as everyone else in the business. It doesn’t matter what you sell: a car, a refrigerator, a cellphone, an accounting course or a spiritual service – bottom line is the only thing that matters. – It’s the most controversial topic since unfortunately this strategy really pays off. Many clients are used to dealing with sales representatives and would even expect you to be pushy or to sell aggressively. Some indecisive clients may be swayed by a more assertive sales person applying various conversation technics and strategies to sell more. Al this is true, but do you really want to work with such customer? It may be that they will be grateful for your help, but it also may be that they will be half present during your sessions which they regret paying for at the first place. It could be that it is not a right time for them and they yet need to experience something before your help will be most effective for them. Won’t those manipulative marketing strategies violate a person’s freedom of choice? How to know for sure?

• I haven’t found a complete answer yet, thus guided by a “don’t harm” principle and a principle of free will I decided to avoid using manipulative and aggressive marketing strategies in my business.

I hope that with G-ds help, high professionalism and good intentions it is possible to succeed without using those strategies. 

PS:  Please be aware, that this and any other articles on “The Person of Spirit” website are my personal opinion and conclusions that are NOT guide to action \ inaction or legal advice of any kind. 

All rights to this publication belong only to the author – Alina Miropolsky.