10 things I have learnt from having my own business.
There are some hard truths to deciding to run and build a business. Within that though is the pleasure of personal fulfilment and committing to your own dream for your life. That is where the journey is.
The motivation to build a business needs to be greater than the daily effort.
Because it’s going to get hard and you’ll doubt yourself multiple times. There will be days when as much as you love it you want a break (which is totally ok) but then you might have to push through some of the discomfort and awkwardness of showing up, of being visible, of putting in the hard work. You need to wake up with the intention of how you want to be in your business (and life ) each day and this momentum carries you through and builds on itself.
If there comes a day when, actually, you aren’t motivated enough to do it or the vision has changed then be open and honest with yourself to make the change. Don’t keep hammering yourself …you’ll start to resent it which is worse. Life is all about change so if your motivation is dwindling look into that and ask why? Maybe the dream has changed.
You can decide the type of business you want to have - is it a Business (with a BIG B) or a business (with a small b).
There are many who do not want to be a Big Boss Bitch or high flying corporate or super entrepreneur. They want a business that serves their needs and that supports the life they want. It can be calm, nourishing, more feminine - intuitive and creative. It can be a nice mix of the masculine and the feminine with strategy and focus as well as the intuitive and soft/gentle/slow marketing qualities.
It doesn’t have to be what we are told a business should look like. Yes, there are duties and responsibilities of you as a business owner such as the legal and financial tasks and yes it needs to actually be viable and work within the economy, market, industry that you are in but it doesn’t need to have that suited patriarchal look and feel to it. Not at all.
You can decide what the success metrics are.
Again, don’t look to others or a preconceived idea of what a successful business is. It’s not just the revenue. Here are some other ideas I have had from clients:
slow mornings
the ability to focus on children/caregiving without guilt or stress
not having to ask for time off for sickness of yourself or your kids
time flexibility
days off to focus on art, creative, garden projects
travel/holiday/adventure experience
new or updates to house/car
not having to worry about money
being able to buy the higher quality/ethical/organic items like food or clothing
able to just relax in your own time
focus on what you want to do and how you want to do it without no micro-managing from a manager/boss/Alpha female
having the space to breathe and relax into life rather than rushing
time for daily body movement at a time that works for you
healing your central nervous system from years of stress, anxiety, overwhelm
learning how to listen to and trust your intuition
and so much more
You cannot know until you start doing.
You cannot plan or prepare everything in your business before hand. You have to go through the experience in order to learn and then refine. For example, I have a couple of clients who are developing foundational templates and documents and a customer flow journey as part of their plan. But what is happening is that they feel it needs to be perfect before they start selling. This is partly mindset and partly confidence that it all works before they start. But actually they won’t know if “it” works until they put a client through the process. Sometimes, it’s better to start selling, have your templates 70% done and then refine, tweak and test as you go.
There will be so many distractions.
You will come across many distractions either from doing the washing, creating a logo (yes, it’s a distraction), to someone else selling something shiny that is guaranteed to fix your problem (e.g. followers, sales, passive income), to life admin, to staff issues, to small things that don’t need to become big issues but do, did I say the washing (especially if you work from home). Be aware of the distractions you feel good interacting with e.g. scrolling and note how you can move away from them. Set time limits, time block, have a CEO day, get help with the housework (or pick a time). Get efficient and clever with how you use your time. We are in the age of distraction because it is in the best interests of (cough capitalism) others to keep you distracted. Either from what you are actually truly feeling and want in your life to selling you something you don’t actually need.
Be brave and remove the distractions.
You will have a deeper, more richer experience if you do the work.
This is not about the end goal. This is about going deep in learning about yourself, your activations and mindset and how to create long-lasting tools that will support you. No cheats, hacks or quick fixes. You have to go deep in order for it to stick. And then you will have a way better outcome than if you didn’t. For example, if you take the time to work out what your thoughts are about a certain issue (e.g. being visible online) and then you practiced a daily mantra/ritual/routine that developed new thoughts every single day your ability to show up online with confidence in yourself will be much, much stronger and ingrained than if you were adhoc or did it once a month. You have to break the cycles, deepen your new narratives and practice daily.
Being in business is just a journey of self-discovery.
It’s not about the money. That’s the bonus. The deeper work is developing yourself and understanding who you are, what you need, how to work with your brain, how to achieve what you want, being more resilient and able to make decisions with confidence and understanding YOU.
You start to learn things you didn’t know (or weren’t willing to be honest about) to yourself. You start to really define how you want to live this “one, wild and precious life”. Stop wasting your time. Start living in a way that feels good, helps you and your family (and community) to thrive.
As a client just finishing her 4 months with me said “I know exactly what I need to do know. I know how to do it.”
Bingo!
Do not try and do it alone
It takes a village and a support team do have a business especially if you are also caregiving. I know many clients do as much as they can themselves to save money but sometimes that is detrimental to your energy and capacity. When you can outsource the social media, marketing, accounting and legals. Get referrals for people that can do it faster because it’s their specialty. And get support for your mindset as well. 90% of the time this is the bottleneck. [Oh and having a strategy to focus on!]
It’s okay to play, experiment and rest.
If you have a strategy and plan in place then it’s okay to play, to experiment with business tactics and to have rest days. Let it be fun, interesting and joyful. Remove the serious ( I am totally one to be more serious than is needed!) and have fun. You business won’t crumble if you have a day off. In fact it will actually be beneficial.
Being in business is about curating a life and your business is the conduit for that.
The money, the purpose, the passion, the impact, the freedom - whatever it is your business (how ever you decide to design it) can be a conduit for the life you really want to lead.
Want to live a slow living in a cabin in the woods? How would you fund that?
Want to live by the beach and lead soul sister circles every week? How would you fund that?
Want to support others in their lives to heal, grow, shift, change, love? How would you fund that?
And so on.
Let me know in the comments what you life dream is and how your business has supported that. OR, let me know 1 thing you have learnt about being in business for yourself.
xOlivia
P.S Want to get more business posts that support you? Head over to my Substack - My Heart-Led Life with a new Business Building section where all future business related writings will be kept.