Working on your own is hard and being the boss and taking all the decisions alone is harder still. Find your tribe. Join industry groups, find networking events, use social media to connect with peers. Ask questions, connect with the Let’s be real, running your own business is no piece of cake. While many people dream of handing in their notice to be their own boss – imagining days full of choice where it’s possible to set your own hours and have no one to report to – the reality is often very different.
It turns out that no, you actually can’t take holidays when you want to. If you do jet off, don’t expect a blissful two weeks with no emails or phone calls either with your out of office firmly in place. You can’t set your own hours as you’ll be working more than ever (if you do it right). If you don’t work, you don’t get paid so sick days and paid leave are also a thing of the past.
One of the hardest adjustments though for entrepreneurs who do take the leap and go it alone is all of the lessons that you have to learn along the way. Nothing you learnt at school really prepares you for running a business (and with so many of us doing just that these days, that’s really an article in itself for another day) – you don’t learn people management skills, or small business accounting.
You probably didn’t learn how to put a lead generation campaign together at AS or A-Level, nor did you attend classes on how to go about procurement or the ins and outs of hiring people. I’m almost sure you didn’t learn about how lonely the start-up life can be early on either, or mechanisms to cope with stress.
I’d love to see these life skills added to the curriculum – after all, small businesses account for 99% of all businesses in the UK so wouldn’t it be useful to learn some of the stuff that well, will be useful? But for now, I wanted to share the lessons I have learned running multiple successful businesses. I don’t say successful lightly so please don’t get me wrong, there are no shortcuts to creating a thriving business or building a successful personal brand and it didn’t happen overnight.
What I want to do is share the benefit of my experience and what I learned as the right way after doing it wrong, so you can shortcut straight to the best way to go about it. Think of me as your mentor and guide. These are the things that I realised that have helped me run my own businesses and which I think it’s vital that all entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners know to start from a place of success rather than set up for failure.
1. Don’t underestimate the power of delegation
When your name is above the door, you suddenly feel very responsible for things. It’s easy to fall into the mindset of believing that since you have shed the blood, sweat and tears to build the business, that you’re the best person for every job. You know your product, service and brand inside out so it stands to reason that no one can do it quite as good as you, right? Don’t fall into this trap. If you hire the right people, or select the right freelancers to offer temporary support, trusting them to do the job based on your instruction and direction and focusing on the bigger picture will serve you much better.
If you’re the boss, you’re the most expensive person in the business. If you find yourself working on the £10 jobs and ignoring the £100 and £1000 jobs because you refuse to delegate, you’ll find yourself sinking very quickly.
2. Don’t jump ship too early
Entrepreneurs are always looking for the next opportunity and developing new ideas but if you constantly jump from one thing to the next, you’ll leave a trail of half done, half functioning ideas in your wake and not have one thing done really well. Focus in on one thing, go through the whole development process, build the business, get to the stage where you can employ a team and train them well, THEN you can move on to the next project. If your attention and effort is constantly stretched between several different things because you can’t focus on just one project, remind yourself to have patience and finish one thing before you start your next hustle.
3. Realise it can be a lonely road
If you’re used to being in an office or working as part of a team, it can be lonely to suddenly be at the helm. Even if you have a partner or family at home, they may not be as interested and embedded in your business or industry as you are.
right people, meet others in your industry and be a resource yourself. Other local business owners can be a source of great inspiration, a mutual sounding board and have lots of their own experiences to share.
4. Be Resilient
You must be resilient to run a business. When times are tough, you will have to dig deep to survive and that means you’ll have to have faith in yourself and trust in your own abilities.
If you’ve enjoyed good times, a sudden downturn in the economy or the loss of a key contract can feel like the end of the world when it hits unexpectedly. Those who are successful in business carry on. They don’t give up, they identify the problem, devise a solution and make necessary changes. Being emotionally resilient and taking measures to be emotionally intelligent is vital.
5. Personal development is important
When you work in a large corporation, you’ll very often find that opportunities for personal development just land on your desk as you’re signed up to do a course or volunteered to take a seminar or attend a keynote speech. As an entrepreneur, nobody is forcing you to continue to develop but it’s still an important part of your career. Be proactive about seeking out ways to broaden your knowledge, learn from others and find things that get you fired up about your business.
6. Know when to take a break
As I mentioned at the start, taking a break as an entrepreneur or business owner often feels next to impossible. You quickly realise that military planning is needed to leave your business for just a few days and even lying by the pool, it can feel impossible to switch off.
A strong work ethic is an admirable thing and an essential trait for entrepreneurs and start-up owners but, balance should never be underestimated. As the old saying goes, you can’t pour from an empty cup. One of the most difficult lessons I’ve learnt as an entrepreneur is to recognise the signs of feeling burnt out before it’s too late. Find something fun to do and take time out to do it. Don’t feel guilty that you leave your desk at 6.00pm a couple of times a week to go to the gym or that you have a family ritual on Sundays which takes you away from work. I have learnt that that time away energises and refuels me, and I’m sure it will be the case for you too.
7. Do what you love
The Sunday Scaries should not be a thing. We spend so much of our life working, why do something that you don’t enjoy? As you embark on your journey of being an entrepreneur and setting up your own business, remember this: do what you love and you’ll never look at Monday the same again.
Want more advice? Book a FREE 15 minute discovery call with me or download my e-book on the Importance of Building a Personal Brand.
