6 Things I Wish Someone Told Me About Business

If you are a business owner or an entrepreneur even if you’ve only been in business for less than a week I’m sure you’ve already heard people say things like “the customer is always right, under promise and over deliver, give it 110%, practice the 80/20 rule” and so much more, right? Well, there is much more to business than these cliches and today I’m sharing the 6 things I wish someone told me before I started my business. Are you ready? Let’s go!

Generating money is based on value

From the moment we are born to the day we decide we want to start a business we are groomed to think and behave like an employee. All throughout our life, we are taught that if we work harder we will “earn” more or get promoted faster, but this is not how business works.

Your client doesn’t care if you put 12 hours into working on things like a sales page, lead magnets, creating your product, and so on. What they are looking for is something (a product or service) that solves their immediate problem(s). They want to work with someone they know, like, and trust. They want to know that you are able to help them get from point A (where they are stuck now) to point B (their goal/dream life).

Doing more work, creating more products, and investing more time into your business does not guarantee a bigger paycheque. Providing value to your market, showing up for your clients and going the extra mile is what will lead to more profit. Focusing on your key performance indicators (KPI’s) and completing your primary money-generating tasks or projects is what will increase your sales. So, it’s not about the amount of work or effort you put into your business but instead, it’s about putting your time and energy into things that directly affect your clients and generate revenue for you.

Anything is possible for you in business

As a business owner, the success or failure of your business is 100% up to you. Wayne Huizenga an American businessman and entrepreneur said: “some people dream of success, while other people get up every morning and make it happen.”

Nothing and no one is stopping you from creating the level of success that you dream of in your business. Having a lack of knowledge, skills, and resources are all things that you can find a solution to. In business, anything is possible as long as you keep an open mind and chose to be resourceful.

Related Post: Become Your Own Hero

If your business is thriving it’s because of you and if your business is not where you want it to be it’s because of you. This is good news! It allows you to stop being a victim of circumstances and take charge of your business to turn it into exactly what you dreamed it would be.

One thing I want you to keep in mind as you read this is that YOU ARE NOT YOUR BUSINESS! The results you get in your business do not determine the quality of WHO you are. Your business is an extension of what you do and has no relevance to your identity. Got it? Good!

There is no magic formula to succeed in business. You are the magic formula. You are the source that will take your business from one level to the next. You are the commander and chief whose passion and vision will light the way through all of the noise.

“Pray like it all depends on God, then after you are done, go work like it all depends on you.” – Martin Luther

You got this!

I’ll be honest, this is something I am still learning. Although I’m usually pretty light-hearted and playful when it comes to business I take myself very seriously and I used to have a fear of public failure.

Almost everything you do in your business is public. Although your audience doesn’t know the exact results or impact of your launch it can sometimes feel like if you didn’t hit your goal you failed and everybody knows. This is so not true, but I used to feel this way.

Business is really about having fun, learning new things, and experimenting. Failure or not hitting your goals is apart of the journey. Yes! You will make plenty of mistakes, drop the ball, and feel like you’re starting all over again, but the truth is you’re starting from a higher vantage point because your previous experience taught you some valuable lessons that you needed to learn. The next time you set out to hit the same goal you will do things better and therefore get better results! Yes, it is that simple! Failing doesn’t mean stop, it means try it again another way.

In the book Failing Forward by John Maxwell, he does an amazing job at helping us to realize that failure is a good thing and it’s apart of growing so in business choose to fail fast, fail quickly, and fail forward.

It’s not, and this is GREAT! I mean, why would you want your businenss to be your baby anyway? Baby’s require constant attention. If you think about your business as you’re baby you’ll spend every waking hour keeping up with your business. You’ll wake up early and stay up late. This doesn’t sound like the fun business that you quit your 9-5 to create, does it?

When you think about your business as your baby you’ll want to have your hands in everything, you will be overworked and underpaid, and you’ll try to manage everything without actually taking charge of your business and leading your team to the next victory. However, when you think of your business as a machine or an independent source outside of you that can maintain itself you allow it to have the freedom it needs to grow.

In order for your business to be independent so that you can have more freedom in your life, it needs structure which includes systems, processes, and an established team. There are other dynamics that you can include but these are the basics to get your business off to the right start.

There are only 2 major things you need to focus on in your business.

1. Creating an audience.
2. Solving their problem.

Business is simple. You don’t need to know every business strategy to be successful. All you need is to the right audience and then serve them well. You don’t need the fancy plug-ins, business cards, logos, or even a WEBSITE! All you need is to attract the right audience and solve their problem.

Show them that you have the solution to their biggest frustration(s). Help them to overcome their obstacles. Make them feel confident in themselves so that they take action to change their lives and help them to see that you are or have the solution to their problem. When you do this they will gladly pay you whatever your rate is, trust me!

It’s not about how fast you attain your business goals, it’s about the journey! I know you hear a lot of stories about people who go from $0 to $120,000 in their first year of business or people who had no one on their email list and grew it to over 1,000 people. All of these stories are absolutely amazing and it’s inspiring to hear them, however, if this is not your experience in business you should not feel discouraged or think that entrepreneurship is not for you.

The truth is, your journey is unique to you. The lessons you learn and the progress you make is 100% up to you. We’ve been program our whole life to think like employees and so when it comes to creating our dream business, attracting the right audience, and creating an irresistible offer that solves their problem we don’t always know what we’re doing and therefore might find it challenging to create consistent income. This is okay and it’s apart of the journey!

One of my business mentors spent 4 years struggling to generate income in his business and now 12 years later he is a multi-millionaire! If he had quite in his 3 years of struggling he would have never gotten to this level of success and he wouldn’t be who he is today.

Don’t give up on your business and don’t give up on yourself. All 6 of these things are things that I struggled with in my business and have overcome and I’m challenging you to do the same.

Your business is not your baby so give it the structure it needs to be successful. You are the secret sauce in your business so stop trying to build your business from a place of overwhelm and stress. Enjoy your journey and know that success is waiting for you to evolve into who you need to be! Don’t forget to subscribe, until next time, it’s your girl