The Abundance Advantage

At a recent small business conference hosted by the Port of Portland, I sat down for the lunch keynote expecting, well, a chance to eat. But within minutes, I forgot all about my food. Katherine Lam, cofounder of Bambuza Vietnamese Kitchen (if you've flown out of any west coast airport over the past few years, you've seen the name), took the stage and told a story that stopped me mid-bite. She shared her journey from childhood in Vietnam to running her husband’s family restaurant here in the U.S. For years, the business trudged along. Then she made one big change: her mindset.

She took on a mindset of abundance. Instead of worrying about competitors, she opened conversations with them. They started sharing tips, learning from each other, and even cheering one another on. Her analogy stuck with me: instead of fighting for a mere slice of the pie, why not just bake a bigger pie? That mindset shift became the foundation of her franchise success.

Subject Matter Experts

Katherine’s story got me thinking: abundance isn’t just about how you relate to competitors. It’s also about how you show up for your customers and your community. One of the most powerful ways you can practice abundance is by sharing what you know, by confidently being a subject matter expert.

In my mentoring role, I encourage entrepreneurs and new business owners to lean into this. To share knowledge freely. Write the blog posts, write the articles. Answer the questions you hear every week. Don’t shy away from sharing something you think might be “competitive information.”

In reality, that fear is almost always overblown. The secrets you're worried about giving away? Your competitors either already know them or aren't your real competition anyway. And there's likely plenty of work in your niche – you just need to figure out how to connect with the right people at the right time.

Another roadblock I see (and know well myself) is imposter syndrome. Clients worry their expertise isn't valuable because someone else out there knows more. But you do not need to be the world's leading authority to help someone. You just need to know more than the person you're helping. Most people reading your content will absolutely benefit from what you know, even if it feels basic to you.

The Abundance Advantage

That voice in your head encouraging you to hold back your expertise is just perceived scarcity talking. Abundance says the opposite: “Share it, and you’ll become the person people trust.”

When you lead with abundance:

• You organically start addressing some of the best practices for not just SEO, but more importantly these days, GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) - read more about that in another blog post.

• You stop seeing other businesses as threats.

• You start seeing them as collaborators, allies, even friends.

• You stop worrying about running out of opportunities.

• And you start creating more opportunities, for yourself and everyone around you.

The Take-Away

Abundance isn’t just a mindset shift, it's a business strategy. And once get a taste, you’ll never go back to crumbs.

If this resonates, get in touch. We can turn your expertise into content that works – from positioning strategy to blog creation to social media tactics that bring in your ideal clients.