Five Things I Have Learnt About Running My Own Business
It is hard for me to believe - but as May 2022 commenced, I realised that I have now been in business for myself for 5 years! It is amazing how quickly that time has gone by.
There have been lot’s of ups and downs, and many challenges our team has faced - but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I have absolutely loved running my own business, particularly by being able to do the thing I enjoy most, which is working directly with my clients to help them achieve their dreams.
A client recently asked me what I had learnt about running my own business, so I thought I would share my five things for five years - and, hopefully, I’ll have another ten more things to share in ten years!
Plan, plan and plan and then start.
I think being in business for yourself is like writing a book for many people. They dream about it, and they aspire to it, and yet they never put pen to paper.
When I look back, I was the same – and then a series of events pushed me this way. I simply did not like the new work environment where I was working and the options became:
Seek employment elsewhere OR
Start my own business
I decided to go with starting my own business.
Best decision I have ever made.
What would I do again in that initial phase?
I would do more planning. I simply did not plan enough.
I knew what to do, but having a robust business plan and a well thought out business process would have made the first couple of years so much easier. At times it felt like we were going over some of the same territory several times.
So again – plan, plan and plan.
Today, planning still occurs regularly. What has changed is that now I am learning to share that planning with the team to get their input to adjust for changes in the economy, and to build a better stronger business.
The 9 -5 mindset does not apply to business owners
Once of my favourite quotes was always:
I have known many people who work hard and who have not been a financial success – but I have never met a successful person who does not work hard.
I know that there are a lot of articles about work smarter not harder, and there is definitely times when that applies. However, when you start a business, you initially have to do everything - and that means hard work, and more hard work.
You simply cannot outsource all your tasks at this time, as you do not have the money to do so. So, if you have to do the payroll at 8:00 pm, it means doing the payroll at 8:00 pm
I am not saying you have to work hard forever – you can start to outsource some tasks as you get some size and scale – but at the start it is simply a hard slog. Do not expect it to be anything else.
This “doing everything” does also has a huge benefit in that you know each and every role in the business. You gain a greater understanding of your profit drivers and what helps you make money, and you have some idea of how long each process/task will take. These are great attributes that will help you as your business grows (and let’s face it – we all start businesses to see them grow.)
Listen more
A mentor once said to me that we have two ears and one mouth – and that is the proportion in which they should be used.
I have not mastered this yet – but it does help remind me to listen more.
Listen to the team. You will still have to make the difficult decisions – but they have concerns, and you need to understand them and work through them to keep good team members
Listen to the clients. Your working relationship with clients will be much improved if you can walk a mile in their shoes.
Make sure you enjoy what you do
I love my job – and so for me in most times it does not feel like work.
There is no one who cannot say that it is easy to get to work every day on time, do all your work and then go home. It does not matter who you are, at times it can be a bloody hard slog.
What I have found is that if you can still say every morning that you enjoy work, then it is less like hard work.
For me, I love working with my clients to make sure that they achieve their financial goals in life.
That is in itself rewarding for me. This means every day is interesting and rewarding to me, and so the number of better days still outweighs the less enjoyable days.
Be genuine, keep a sense of humour and give value
Perhaps the most important lesson of all is to be utterly genuine, to see the funny side of all events and be totally valuable to the client.
Even though I dislike sharing my shortcomings or mistakes, I’ve learned that in business it’s so much more meaningful to admit when you’re wrong. Be genuine, see the funny side of things, and try to offer value to any client you meet.
The team and I say that no relationship is one-sided, and you must reveal your values and core self to clients to ensure that they can understand you and your approach. They want to deal with a person – not a robot. Our approach is to at least point a client in the right direction, if nothing else.