I wasn’t the person who took a leap of faith with nothing to fall back on. I enjoyed my lifestyle too much.
My first client was a sales team in NYC that I helped get systems in place for them to grow the sales team efficiently. This is where if found out that I can actually have a sustainable business consulting small businesses on systems and procedure implementation.
While I worked with this client I found a business coach that was making multi-six figures doing what I wanted to do… or at least what I thought I wanted to do. I hired this coach for the next two years to help me develop a plan to get my business to the multi-six figure mark too. She was extremely skilled at her craft of coaching but I wasn’t a traditional coach. My business was different.
When you hire someone you hire them because you want to learn from them and avoid the mistakes that they’ve made. So you do everything they say.
The end result was that I was building a business that didn’t support what I truly wanted. My business grew faster than I even realized. Soon I found myself in the middle of something that wasn’t all at what I set out to do.
I had a full team of 7 people.
I had a full roster of clients.
I had an income.
I had high expenses.
But nothing I did was set on repeat.
According to Bloomberg, 8 out of 10 entrepreneurs who start businesses fail within the first 18 months. A whopping 80% crash and burn. I’m pretty sure for many of them, it’s because they reach the point I found myself at.
5 Steps to Designing a Business That Won’t Kill You
Know your numbers
If you want to build a business, knowing your numbers is key. Even if you’re “scared” of numbers or you have a love/hate relationship with money.
I wasn’t carefully looking at my revenue versus expenses. The irony of this is that I work with my clients on this exact issue, but I wasn’t doing it myself. And I sure as heck wasn’t using the money tracker my coach gave me.
A revenue tracker is a tool that allows you to forecast your income and look at your expenses so there are no surprises.
Not carefully tracking my revenue was one of the many mistakes I made being a new entrepreneur.
Now I have a better handle on what goes in and what comes out of my business. This allows me to manage cash flow and make decisions based on what’s actually going on, not just a hunch or a blind leap of faith.
Create systems so you can sleep
Yes, I am a systems geek so this comes easy for me. But this was also my downfall in 2014.
Love broke my business. You can read all about that drama here.
It’s time to stop wondering what your team is doing or having to look over their shoulder every day. You need to empower your team so they know what they have to do and you can trust that it gets done correctly.
There’s nothing worse than having a business that simply becomes a way for you to pay your team, meaning you’re not actually making any money.
And if you’re a solo show, you may think you don’t need systems. But nothing could be further than the truth because the day will come when you need help, so you want to plan ahead. Having documented systems will allow you to hire the right person for the job.
Hire smart so you’re not alone
When you hire you want people that will grow with you.
There’s nothing worse than having to repeat the hiring cycle every few months. You’ll never get traction and grow your business.
You want people who truly get the purpose of your business and what you stand for. You want them to be proud to service your clients on your behalf.
You also want people who are experts in their field.
Hiring smart looks means you have a clear job description and clear expectations. You should give your potential candidates a test, check references, and conduct a behavioral interview.
Giving them a test isn’t like going back to school, but more like testing their skills so you know that they can deliver on what they say they can deliver on.
Listen to your clients
Another huge mistake I made being a new entrepreneur was thinking I knew everything that my clients needed. In two years I created 5 programs and I thought my clients were just going to rush to buy.
I was wrong. So wrong.
Take the time to know your market by surveying your clients, asking for feedback, or even just connecting with your clients. You’ll gain a ton of knowledge about your clients by looking at where they are coming from on your site. If you don’t have Google Analytics on your site yet, today is the day to get it set up so you can do a little detective work about your customers.
When you take the time to listen to your clients you start to create things that they actually want. Listening in this way will save you so much time, energy, and money.
Do what you love
This is so important to every business owner because it’s easy to forget why you’re doing your business. You start to work so hard that you’re on the verge of burning out and your why is long forgotten. (I’ve been there and it isn’t a pretty place to be.) Always go back to your why. This will keep you connected to what you love to do and make it rewarding.
As entrepreneurs, we’re fortunate to have the freedom to do what we want and what we love every single day. There’s always going to be those days where you’re pulling your hair out and trying to figure out what the point of all of this is. Or maybe having a fantasy about getting a J-O-B.
This is a good time to reward yourself and take some time away. The name of the game is self-care and that may be getting your hair done or taking the afternoon off for an epic nap. Sometimes that’s exactly what you need to get connected back to your why and have the drive to keep going.
The goal of having your own business is to do what you enjoy and do it in a way that lets you live your life. That’s why you need to take the time and care to design your business step-by-step and not let it design you. The last thing you want is to wake up two years from now and wonder who’s business you’re running.