Review: Books for starting a spiritual business

There are surprisingly few books on starting a spiritual business, considering how many spiritual practitioners there are and how many books on entrepreneurship there are.

However, writing a book takes so much effort that it actually should be no surprise that we finally have enough practitioners to have some of them dedicating their energy to publishing books around this time.

If you are also searching for well-organized advice and edits, this book list might help you decide which book to start with.

Where I am now, and the reason I’m reading spiritual business books, is this:

I’m pretty certain that a spiritual business is my calling, but I need help deciding which practice to build and narrowing down this big desire into tangible service offerings and day-to-day activities.

For this, these are the books common on the market that I’ve read (or plan to). They are all very different. Continue reading to see my reviews.

Books reviewed in this post:

1. Online Business for Spiritual Visionaries (2021)
2. The Magick of Bending Time in Your Sacred Business: (2021)
3. Your Stand Is Your Brand (2020)
4. Leap of Faith: How To Build Your Spiritual Business (2016)
5. Six Easy Secrets to Psychic Success (2015)
6. Starting a Spiritual Business (2014)

1. Online Business for Spiritual Visionaries (2021)

I really like this book because it urges you to see your calling, career, and life as complementary rather than competing. However, it keeps things at a pretty high level.

What stands out to me:

• It simplifies “business” into a healthy, holistic mindset for those of us who have aversion to sales and marketing. It also breaks down business operations into 2 cycles, which is very useful.
• The author’s writing style is calm and clear, void of hyperbole that is so rampant in business and spiritual worlds.
• The product design tools are very generic (for example, the payment services to utilize). I’m somewhat aware of tech and entrepreneurial terms, so I learned little. The benefit is that the examples are up-to-date for 2022.

Breakdown:

• 20%: abundance and lifestyle mindset
• 50%: business functions and cycles
• 30%: product design and technology

Author’s background: Jeff Carreira is an author and teacher of meditation and mystical philosophy. He has a long history of creating online programs. He’s based in the U.S. with his business partner Sophie Peirce in Australia.

Does it help position your practice? It doesn’t help with positioning or narrowing down your brand or services; it’s not the topic of this book.

Does it teach strategies when working with limited time and resource? No, and this is where I was a bit disappointed. While the book is selective and succinct, it shares many methods with potential but not a good strategy for prioritizing or evaluating what suits your needs.

Does it offer guidance unique to spiritual businesses? Not at the operations level, but its teaching of the business model could help spiritual practitioners avoid burnout.

Does it offer wisdom and mentorship? Yes. I think the pep talk portion of this book will serve readers for a long time.

Just keep in mind:
The business practices shared are not specific to spiritual businesses, but rather to online businesses (which is the book’s premise).

Quotes I love:

• “The focus of my business is not to grow as big as possible — rather, it is to be as efficient as possible[…] I’m not in business to build a bigger business.”
• “If you want abundance, you have to be abundant now.” “If you can’t live in abundance in the life you’re living now, you won’t be able to find abundance in any other life. Abundance is not about accumulation. It is an attitude we adopt about life and it doesn’t require anything else.”
• “That means being in abundance while doing all the work it will take to build your business[…] You have to be thrilled to be in a position to build a business that can support the life of your dreams. You don’t build a business to find abundance; you find abundance in building a business.”

What I learned:

• The reason to start a spiritual business is not so I can earn income this way. It is so I can do what I need to do yet live a life in this material world.

2. The Magick of Bending Time in Your Sacred Business: (2021)

I haven’t read this one yet! Subscribe and you’ll know when I add a review.

3. Your Stand Is Your Brand (2020)

This is an entrepreneurship book, not one specific to spiritual practices at all. The philosophy of “what not to do” is very important, but I find the writing style too sales-pitchy and full of humblebrag for me.

What stands out to me:

• The whole book explains why standing behind your philosophy is the key to both operational and material business success as well as a sense of fulfillment
• The book addresses the hardship of running a business (as opposed to some books that focus on ease and positivity)
• I think this book is more suitable for those seeking to grow a business and having permanent staff

Breakdown:

• 40% methodology
• 50% methodology breakdown
• 10% “letting go to arise”

Author’s background: Based in the U.S., Patrick Gentempo is a serial entrepreneur, early on as a chiropractor, later after a health crisis as a inspirational speaker and many more.
Does it help position your practice? The entire book teaches the methodology to do just that — to identify who you are, which drives what you do. The process taken in full might be a bit grandiose for small, sole-proprietor spiritual practitioners, but it will be helpful.
Does it teach strategies when working with limited time and resource? This is not the focus of this book.
Does it offer guidance unique to spiritual businesses? No, but the book’s premise aligns with what spiritual practitioners believe — that your calling and your truth must align with your business.
Does it offer wisdom and mentorship? I think you’ll need to be interested in growing companies. However, find his talks on Youtube to get a sense for yourself.

Quote I love:

“Getting to the next level of your life and career is less about what you need to do, and more about what you need to let go of.” (The “Creative Destruction” chapter)

What I learned: From a practical standpoint (and not just spiritually or mentally), you must align business activities with the most essential philosophy of your brand/business to make it functional and sustainable. To do that, we must regularly reexamine if there are things to let go of in order to stay newly aligned.

4. Leap of Faith: How To Build Your Spiritual Business (2016)

I haven’t read this one yet! Subscribe and you’ll know when I add a review.

5. Six Easy Secrets to Psychic Success (2015)

At only fifty pages in letter size print, some info in the book seems like common sense, but others are frank and succinct best practices in the psychic and intuitive area — expect no filler content.

What stands out to me:

• The author covers the principles of how intuitive and psychic abilities work, and where psychic insights come from. It has the spirit of a mystic school text book — good reminders, if not ground-breaking.
• The book encourages developing psychic abilities by using them.
• The author is upfront that these “secrets” are obvious but important principles to live by.

Breakdown:

• 30% mindset and attitude
• 20% mystical arts foundations
• 30% reading practices
• 20% business tools

Author’s background: Dr. Dan Bartlett is a reader of multiple modalities and an Advanced Certified Akashic Records Practitioner in the U.S.
Does it help position your practice? No, this book assumes you have your area of practice.
Does it teach strategies when working with limited time and resource? This book encourage being scrappy and start doing without all the business strings attached. However, it’s not the focus and the book doesn’t offer practical steps on this.
Does it offer guidance unique to spiritual businesses? Definitely; it is all about readings — card reading, palm reading, numerology, etc. The marketing section is outdated (since the book is published in 2015), but the concepts are specific to this industry.
Does it offer wisdom and mentorship? Very much so, although in small doses. I think some people will enjoy this book as a companion from the stages of dreaming up what your business may be to the early period of conducting business.

Just keep in mind:

• However good the good parts are, it’s still 50 pages or so.
• The kindness of the author comes through, but I cannot stand the writing style (as the author himself acknowledged. ;)) It’s full of ellipses and reads like a voice dictation script. So, it might be more effective as a Youtube video.

What I learned:

• I gained faith and confidence that I’m on the right path, I’m more connected to source then I think, and I have all the simple spiritual tools to take the leap.

6. Starting a Spiritual Business (2014)

This is a collection of “inspiration, case studies, and advice” from practitioners in mostly UK. The content is mostly personal journey, some with practical perspectives. I think the book is useful if you plan to go back for inspirations every now and then, or refer to the list of organizations in the back (which is very UK focused.)

The areas of practice are categorized by: reiki, angelic healing, crystal healing, psychic and mediumship, aromatherapy, hypnotherapy, massage, and “alternatives”.

What stands out to me:

• This book gives you what is hard to get in real life — a circle of practitioners sharing their personal experiences up close and personal (it’s more organized than social media groups)
• The format makes it easy to notice themes and difference between different areas of spiritual practice. Some suggest the most relevant secondary skills to acquire
• You’ll need to dig through each person’s storytelling to find any gold nuggets that apply to you

Breakdown:

• 10% general business considerations of each practice
• 75% case studies of 7 practice areas
• 15% practical and financial advice

Author’s background: Charlotte Anne Edwards is a body, mind, spirit writer in the UK. The book covers resources mostly in UK, and some in Australia and some the U.S.
Does it help position your practice? The book absolutely gives you things to think about as you read through practical requirements (such as space setup, complementary skills and continuing education over time, covering your tax and legal bases)
Does it teach strategies when working with limited time and resource? The book doesn’t teach; rather it gives stories and information, so they are more anecdotes than teachings or methodology.
Does it offer guidance unique to spiritual businesses? Absolutely. I don’t see other books aim at being this comprehensive but also detailed, so you’ll feel like you’re spending time with your tribe, receiving real-world information. The practical advice section opens topics on accounting, taxes, office space, codes. and associations and schools.
Does it offer wisdom and mentorship? There are wisdom and companionship, but again, they are a collection of anecdotes and each person may say different things.

Just keep in mind:

• There’s no gurus or best practices here, but rather common people, some more established than others, who have come before you.
• I feel the editing is somewhat lacking, and there’s no real summary or cohesive narrative.
• The topics addressed are quite useful, but they are generic, opening up the topic instead of providing steps or solutions.

What I learned:

• A less well-known benefit of joining reputable associations is insurance coverage
• Most people are in this business for the long run, learning to serve others and themselves, not to make quick money, so be patient and persistent — it’s not just me who need to go through a long process.

As I mentioned in the post, there are some books I haven’t gotten to and some I may later add to the list. If you’ve found other helpful structured content on your journey, do share!

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