Using Tarot for Business Planning
I’m a huge fan of business planning. Growing and developing my business is one of my key drivers. This Tarot Business Planning spread and exercise are very useful for me.
Running a tarot business can be challenging but one of the lessons that I have learned is that you have to take it seriously and treat it like a business. It’s very common for tarot readers to think of their business as a hobby or side gig. There really is nothing wrong with this, however, if you want your business to grow then you have to put in the hard graft and channel your inner King of Pentacles!
Where To Start
It can be overwhelming when you first start your business as there is so much to think about. One of the issues we face as tarot readers is that we are ‘soul-preneurs’ and getting down with legal, finances and research can seem a million miles from the heart-led work that we love to do.
The great news is that you can use tarot to help you plan and grow your business. Now, don’t get me wrong, you are still going to have to pay your taxes and sort your legals (I’m afraid no amount of tarot spreads can dodge that bullet).
If you are just starting out you may want to check out my post about how I grew my tarot business in the first 6 months.
S.W.O.T
I’m from a corporate background so business planning is something that I have done for a number of years. Adding a tarot twist is something that I love to do, so I have incorporated tarot with the SWOT exercise.
If you are not familiar with SWOT it’s an acronym for:
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
The frequency that you do this exercise is up to you and it really depends on how quickly things are moving for you. I would recommend at least every 6 months but see how you go.
The S.W.O.T Grid
You can draw up a grid as follows. Alternatively, I’ve included a free download template along with the tarot spread. Just fill in your details here and you will get this instantly…
Download your FREE S.W.O.T template and tarot spread by entering your details here. FREE S.W.O.T Download
My suggestion is that you fill it out without pulling any tarot cards, to begin with. It’s good to then see if the cards align with what you have written. If not, you can always pull some clarifying cards but there is nothing wrong with going back and updating what you have written. This document doesn’t have to be set in stone as there are many moving pieces in business. Feel free to change things, tick things off etc. as you go.
I’ll break down each section and give you suggestions that you can use to help with your tarot business planning.
Strengths
Have a think about what you are really good at. It’s a very competitive market out there and it’s important that you find your niche. Don’t panic. If you are just starting out you may not have figured out what your niche is yet, but it’s very important to know your strengths.
Are you great with people?
Maybe you are an astrology or numerology whizz kid.
Do you love working face to face or over Skype rather than online/email?
What is it that you love about tarot? Changing people’s behaviour? Helping others reach their potential? Working with new tarot readers and helping them understand tarot?
Maybe you are a tarot spread expert and you love creating new spreads.
Perhaps you have been through something traumatic in your own life and you feel that you can guide others through, whilst making it easier for them, such as grief, divorce, abuse etc.
One of the things that I love is mixing tarot with business so I’m guiding my business in the direction of helping aspiring tarot readers get their online business up and running.
Really dig deep, get specific about what your strengths are and just write what comes to you.
Weaknesses
Don’t we all hate this question? It has to be one of the most cliched interview questions but it’s important that you start to explore what your weaknesses are so you can address them.
You really should focus on the weaknesses of your business but as many of us are working on our own, our personal weaknesses are also very important.
Perhaps technology is holding you back.
Maybe you have a lack of funds to spend on advertising.
Is your lack of marketing knowledge stopping you from starting?
Maybe you have a problem charging money for your service.
One of my big weaknesses is time management. I have a full-time job as well as running my tarot business, which means that I have to get super focused to get anything done.
Do you know enough? Maybe you have to study a bit further or different areas of tarot.
If you have a think about what is holding you back, you will usually find that there is a weakness attached to it.
Opportunities
This is my favourite bit!
I always have a long list of opportunities but interestingly this can be a bit of a weakness as well as I tend to want to do everything at once!
This is where you write down where you want to take the business and what opportunities are available to you.
Think of this more as external opportunities, which is different to the strengths as there are more internal.
Have a look at trends in the industry.
Think about where there are gaps in the market.
Even look at your weaknesses and figure out how you can turn them into opportunities.
Perhaps you can ‘own’ a certain social media channel. Maybe you are going to become the ‘go-to’ for your niche. You might be looking to get some media coverage from a specific publication or get featured on a podcast.
A lot of this ties in with goal setting. You can read my guide to goal setting here.
Again, you want to get specific.
Threats
Usually, we would look at external threats but it’s also good to think about internal (which could be similar to weaknesses)
Who are your competitors?
Are you in a very crowded market?
Do you have the support you need to move forward?
Is your business scale-able? By that I mean, does the business solely rely on you to move forward? What would you do if you experienced rapid growth and didn’t have the time to do all of your readings?
Who else is doing what you are doing and what do you need to do to be better?
Introducing Tarot
When you have completed the form it’s a good idea to draw some cards to get a bit of guidance.
I would suggest laying out the cards as follows:
Please feel free to insert your own questions. This is just a bit of a guide to the questions that you could ask. You may look at your own strengths and weaknesses and want answers to specific questions.
Good luck with your tarot business planning! Let’s make some magic and bring lots of tarot goodness to the world.
FREE S.W.O.T Download
Download your FREE S.W.O.T template and tarot spread by entering your details here.
Comments
David, can u help me from where do you get website pics that are copyrights free. I have learned from your previous blog about canva and it has helped me a lottt. But what about blog and website pics that are inspiring and cannot be created on canva. Can u help or guide me on that as well.
Hi Aryan. Canva has a lot of images you can use royalty free but you can also try pixabay. I used to use a lot of theirs but mainly use Canva now.