In this video and blog post, I share with you three do’s when you are starting out in business.
These are three of the most important things to do when starting out as an entrepreneur.
And no matter where you’re at in the entrepreneurial journey, these are great fundamental reminders.
(The video has 3 Do’s and 3 Don’ts. I’ve separated them on the blog post.
You can find the 3 Don’ts here)
Here are the 3 Do’s:
1. Do be visible, and share your journey
Being visible is important. A lot of people want to hide away until they get everything perfect. And THEN put themselves out there in the public eye.
So what I’m encouraging you to do is share the journey with people while you’re in transition, while you progress.
Tell people what you’re up to.
So, for example, you say “Hey, friends, this is what I’m doing, Who wants to join me?”
Basically, what you’re saying to your tribe is…
Join me as I make epic fails… as I take lots of imperfect action… as I give it a crack… as I learn and as I grow.
Join me as I have some failures, and some successes.
Who wants to come on the journey with me?
A lot of people are scared to say that.
But I’ve found that it is powerful when you say to people, honestly, “Hey, I’m starting out, come with me on the journey, come and share the highs and lows with me”…
…instead of hiding away for a year.
And then trying to make out like you’re really big overnight.
This is really common because none of us want to start small.
We can’t fear small beginnings.
We often want to start out and say I’ve been in business this many years, or I’ve got this many clients, or I’ve done this many speaking gigs.
I recommend that you’ve been visible straightaway.
Don’t wait until you have loads of clients to start posting testimonials.
Don’t wait until you’ve got it all sorted.
Don’t wait until you’ve got a beautiful website and a perfect logo.
Don’t wait for that.
Get out there and start sharing your message.
Because you actually DO know enough about your topic.
You know enough about what you’re going to be helping people with. You have a lot to share with someone right now.
You can get out your phone right now and share some of your wisdom, some of your knowledge – NOW!
People love it when you get vulnerable, when you’re real.
So don’t wait until everything’s all perfect.
Be visible and share your journey.
2. Do spend lots of time with other entrepreneurs
There’s an entrepreneurial mentality. And then there’s a 9-5 mentality. There is some crossover, but they are two different mentalities.
If you spend too much time with people who don’t understand the entrepreneurial world, you can start to doubt yourself.
I know because this happened to me.
And it’s happened to a lot of my friends.
I was speaking to a client on the phone today. And she told me that she’s done some market research on her friends. And they feel that actually, there’s a bit too much out there that she’s doing.
So she’s starting to want to pull back and want to go on visible again and not put herself out there.
What I recommended to her is, yes – we’ve got to listen to people. But we’ve also got to remember that people who haven’t started their own business have a different mentality.
If you want to be a successful entrepreneur and make your dreams happen. If you want a sustainable business, and not just ‘dip your toe in the water’… if you want to void going back to your 9-5 job…
…if you want to be in this for the long term, you’ve got to have an entrepreneurial mindset.
It doesn’t come from merely reading. I love books, I listen to books every day.
But you’ve also got to spend time with people who have the mindset you want because it starts to rub off.
If you don’t have a group of entrepreneurs that you spend time with, you need this.
I don’t mean just having coffee. I mean people who can grow you, support you, encourage you, and celebrate your wins with you.
People who you can bounce ideas off.
And also be honest with you.
Iron sharpens iron. When you have the right people around you, you sharpen each other.
You both bring your strengths and weaknesses, and you help each other grow.
You do masterminds and brainstorming sessions with each other.
You need people who contribute ideas to each other, a group where you share your wins and your failures… we all need that.
Business can be quite lonely, doing it on your own. And it’s something that I wish that I had grasped earlier.
When I started off, I spent so much time on my own. And then when I did catch up with my friends on the weekend, a lot of them were nine to fivers.
And they would always say to me things like “You’re always working”.
And they wanted to go out at 6pm.
For me, my workday doesn’t finish at 6pm. It finishes when the work is done.
It’s a completely different mentality.
So we need to spend time with other entrepreneurs.
If you don’t have them in your friendship groups, you can find them through meetup groups, Facebook groups or networking.
There are lots of options out there for you.
3. Make the commitment to keep going, no matter what
If we want to make it in business, we need to commit to keep going, no matter how hard it gets, no matter how we feel.
We can’t rely on how we feel if we want to last in business. Because our feelings are up and down.
You’re not always going to feel like jumping on and doing a Facebook Live…
Writing a blog…
Emailing people…
Running a webinar…
Following up sales calls…
But you just need to make that decision that no matter what, I’m taking action. It’s not about my feelings. Especially if you’re an emotional person.
You can’t let your feelings dictate your day. Your emotions are signals. They’re not be all and end all.
You’ve got to make a commitment and show up because it is actually the higher part of you who wants it.
The part of your brain responsible for executive functioning, the prefrontal cortex, makes the decisions for your future.
It’s responsible for the reasoning, the planning, the visioning. That’s not made by your emotions, it’s actually made by a very smart part of your brain.
Your feelings often come from your hindbrain, which just wants you to be warm and safe and comfortable.
So of course, that part of your brain is going to think “It’s easier to stay home today”
It thinks “I don’t want to go to that networking event or it’s cold”
or “I don’t want to go to that seminar today”
or “I’d rather watch Netflix than an educational webinar”
We’ve always got that temptation.
But if you’ve got the commitment, which actually comes from your why, it will keep you going.
The only reason I work so hard in business is that I have such a big ‘why’. I’ve got such a big vision to build a very big and impactful business.
To make a big difference in a lot of people’s lives, to reach a lot of people, to train and support and help a lot of people.
It’s all about what I want to do for people, and the lifestyle that I want to live as well.
And that’s what makes you committed.
So no matter what, I know that I won’t give up on my business.
I’ll do it till I die as long as I’ve got a passion for it.
The passion comes because it feels like it’s part of my purpose and my calling. It’s bigger than me.
You are going to have highs and lows, doubts and fears, you’re going to have the temptation to go back and look for a job. That’s normal. It’s all part of the journey.
So you need to spend that time with other entrepreneurs to get through those tough times.
And make sure that you have a ‘why’ that’s bigger than you commit to it, no matter how you feel.
So here’s a recap of the three don’ts when starting out in business:
1. Do be visible, and share your journey
2. Do spend lots of time with other entrepreneurs
3. Make the commitment to keep going, no matter what
So as to not overwhelm you, I have put the 3 Don’ts in a separate blog post here.
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