8 years in business!
This week, I celebrate 8 years in business! Wow, what a journey it’s been. Here are 8 lessons and highlights:
1. Believe in yourself from day 1
You’ve been brave enough to start this, so believe you CAN do it and succeed.
You know more than you think you do!
Yes, you may have things to learn in business, but there is one thing you shouldn’t worry about: how good you are at your “thing.”
I know that you will have been a brilliant employee once upon a time, you’ve got skills, knowledge, and qualifications, perhaps. So stop doubting that side of things and believe in YOU.
The rest of it, you’ll learn along the way, you’ll make mistakes, kiss a few frogs, drop a few balls - it’s normal.
Stop being scared of “failing” and doing things wrong, because you will, and that’s OK. It’s all part of the journey. Everybody goes through this.
2. It’s not done till it’s done
Until the contract is signed on the dotted line, it’s not final (done). You’re not going to win every proposal, and not every opportunity will work out.
Don’t put your business on hold because that “thing” will make you too busy or put you out of your comfort zone. If they want it, they will wait. It’s OK to be booking people in the future and have a waiting list. Good people are in demand!
Be yourself, have a good sales process, keep in touch, but don’t get stuck on the “when this lands” for the unknown ones. It keeps you small and fuels your head with distractions you can’t control. It can also hit your pocket and mental health far too much.
This has happened to me a lot, and I’m always trying to work through it.
3. Push yourself, and then a little bit more.
Running a business tests you in ways you never knew existed. That can bring on too many feelings/issues. However, try to push yourself to grow personally and professionally as much as possible.
Go to the event
Pitch to speak
Be a guest on a podcast
Try out the crazy idea
Write the book
Turn your phone off
Whatever it is, do it! What’s the worst that is going to happen? Not much, but the best things come out of these moments and experiences.
4. It’s lonely - make friends
You need to surround yourself with people who get it—people who run a business and know what it’s like to lose a client, make a mistake, or have squeaky bum time when the money isn’t coming in.
Find your people and then make sure you keep in touch, talk things through, and ask questions. There are many ways to do this.
Informal chats
A walk and chat
Being part of a membership group
Events
Masterminds / Retreats
And make sure they are the RIGHT people, for you. Find your tribe. You’ll kiss a few frogs along the way. That’s normal too!
Don’t be afraid to leave memberships/groups that don’t connect or resonate, unfollow people, or unsubscribe from the emails. You need to make sure it’s right for you.
Having a supportive partner/family is important too because it’s all blurs and it takes up a lot of your headspace. Don’t hide things from them, but don’t take their advice as absolute if they don’t have experience running their own business.
5. Invest in yourself and your business
Yes, making money, especially in the early days, is hard. You want to do everything yourself or cheaply, but honestly, investing in yourself not only tells you that you and your business are important, it also helps in many other ways:
Results are faster - especially if it’s not your skill set
Results are more professional
You will save so much time (time is money!)
Save headspace - there is enough going on there
You can’t and don’t know it all, and learning or doing it yourself is not always best!
You never know where those connections will take you. People introduce or tag you with others.
You need to save and manage your cash flow, but don’t be scared to invest in professional help to move your business forward.
6. All about the good ones
Figure out the type of people you want to work with and get more of them. No one wants pain in the a** clients. You don’t have to settle or put up with people who you find challenging to work with.
Running a small business is hard, but your clients shouldn’t always be hard work.
7. Trust your gut
I talk about this ALL the time. If you get a weird feeling about something or someone and you can’t see any logical or answers, it’s OK to say “no”. Trust your gut. It never lies.
8. Money is important, but not always the driver
Not everyone is driven by money. Not everyone wants a 6/7 figure business, a fancy car, a huge house, or trips on private planes.
A lot of what we see in sales pages and social media talks about those things, but you might not be striving for them. You might be thinking, but I don’t want that, so am I rubbish at business or not ambitious enough? Nope! That’s not true. It just means that it isn’t your driver.
It’s important to find out what your drivers are and what your goals are.
Maybe you do want to earn a certain amount, but it’s not six or seven figures - great, that’s perfect for you! Maybe you want..
to work less days
go to the gym every day
be around for your kids
make a difference to x number of people
pay off your mortgage
have more holidays
save £x per month
Whatever YOU want is a good goal and something that you can use to help you to manage your own version of success.
Identify your end goal and break down what it looks like in terms of achieving it and the steps you need to take to get there. How will you measure it, and how will you know you’ve achieved it?
For example, one of my goals was to go to Lapland with our daughter to see Santa. It was an expensive “once in a lifetime” trip for us, but this was a clear, achievable, and measurable goal.
Other goals include contributing to a private pension, having a certain amount in my savings within a particular time frame for our future plans, and paying for professional help at home and in business.
These are far easier to connect with than “I will earn £x this year”.
That doesn’t connect for me; I need to FEEL, see, and experience it.
It’s OK to break down goals in this way because all those small goals add up, and best of all, they all contribute to your version of success.
Need help?
If you want any advice on starting or growing your own business, please get in touch or book a business clinic session.