Blog Post 27: The 8 things you need to know about becoming an entrepreneur
I have been getting many clients lately that know they want to change careers, and then when we start coaching they realise that what they REALLY want is to start their own business.
This excites me SO much because us Mums really are incredible, and we have SO much to offer.
Unfortunately though, because so many of us are people-pleasers and perfectionists, we hold ourselves back from our true potential and instead try to ‘fit’ ourselves into a box as an employee.
So when my clients decide that what they really want is to start their own business, I’m thrilled, and so I have started helping many with creating their businesses.
A lot of you have asked me how I’ve created a successful business in such a short amount of time, so I wanted to share 8 top tips that have helped me, my clients, and that might help you as well if you are considering starting a business of your own.
Knowing my purpose, my ‘why’
Having a compelling ‘why’, for why I wanted to start a business and who I want my business to serve is the driving force behind my goals.
I find it so incredibly easy to access that ‘why’ when I am coaching my incredible clients, however when I am doing all the other things that an entrepreneur needs to do to grow a thriving business, or when I am having an ‘off’ day, being able to go back to my why gives me the extra push and energy I need to continue going.
2. The ‘how to do it’ formula
The truth is, you won’t know ‘how’ to achieve your goal until you actually achieve it. So often we think (and plan) for it to be a step by step linear path, but it is never that in the end.
I learnt that ‘how to do’ something, anything, is really just a formula - you try something, it usually fails, you try something else, it might fail, then you try something else, and then it works. Then you go onto the next thing. Rinse and repeat.
Having a business is all about experimentation and trying new things.
Some people are afraid of this, and as a trained lawyer I was at first as well. However, when you are not following someone else's roadmap, you need to try new things (and likely fail) and try again.
I don’t really call it failing anymore. I call it ‘learning something that didn’t work.’
It’s so easy to personalise when you try something that didn’t work. Instead of thinking ‘this strategy didn’t work’ people think ‘I don’t work, I’m no good at this.’
That’s why in the back of my head I’m always thinking, “separate the data from the drama.”
In other words, take your ego out of it. It’s not about you!
What didn’t work? Ok, that thing I tried didn’t work. I’ll try something else.
3. You only fail if you quit
As I mentioned above, failing is part of the process. Trying things that may not work. People personalise these ‘fails’ and beat themselves up because they make it mean something terrible about them.
But trying things that may not work is part of the process.
Success really is built on a pile of failures.
The difference between people that succeed and those who quit is that people that succeed have more ‘fails’, and continue moving forward and having even more fails.
People who quit actually fail ahead of time.
Quitting won’t get you to your goals any faster.
4. Self-doubt will always be there
One of the most incredible epiphanies I had this year happened when I was listening to a very successful entrepreneur’s podcast and she was saying that she felt so much self-doubt when she launched one of her very well-known programs this year.
I thought to myself ‘how can she have self-doubt’? She’s the queen in this space, and she’s done this so many times before!
But then I realised that self-doubt will always be there. As you start climbing the ‘success’ ladder in your business or in your career, self-doubt will always come along for the ride.
And I’ve learnt to reframe self-doubt as a good thing.
If self-doubt is present, it means that I’m expanding myself, I’m stepping out of my comfort zone.
If you think about it, self-doubt doesn’t mean anything has gone wrong. It’s just your brain trying to alert you that this is new territory.
But all of life’s brilliance happens when you step into new territory.
I now see self-doubt as a companion along this ride of life.
I love the analogy of me driving a car. Self-doubt is in the backseat of the car. I acknowledge it’s there and continue driving. If I let it take the wheel we would definitely stop, and then I wouldn’t achieve my goals or true potential.
5. Post content - just show up
I really didn’t want to be on socials before I started my business. We had struggled with infertility and I vividly remember that when we were going through fertility treatment before we had our first miracle baby Chloe all I would see on socials were people’s pregnancy announcements and baby photos. I found it so painful that I stopped going on social media.
Fast forward a few years and I knew I wanted to start my own business. I didn’t even have an Instagram account.
I reluctantly signed up to it, scrolled through my feed and really didn’t want to be on there.
But I knew that I needed to start sharing my content on there.
I had so much content to share, to offer and I knew it could help so many people.
So I decided to ‘get over myself’ and just do it. Just start posting.
Everyone starts with 0 followers. And I started with 0 followers.
So I started posting, consistently. I remember the first time I created a reel. I was literally shaking before I pressed ‘play’.
But I did it. I created my first reel. And since then I’ve been posting and creating reels everyday since.
Often I’ll get a couple of likes and shares on my posts, thinking that only a handful of people have seen it.
But then I’ll be at my kids preschool, or at a kids birthday party, or at the shops, or at a playground, and someone will stop me and tell me how much they love what I’ve been posting. How much they love reading my blog each week. How deeply I’ve resonated with them.
I also get DMs from people I’ve never met before, telling me how much they love my content and how much I’m helping them.
Even though I’m not getting hundreds of ‘likes’, I know my content is valuable and is helping so many Mums.
I don’t need the vanity metrics of ‘likes’ on my posts or reels. I have the real data - and that’s from the Mums I’m helping.
And so I show up and post consistently.
6. Coaches need coaching too
Even though I am a certified coach and my mindset has become my greatest asset for creating happiness and success in my business and my life, I still have niggling thoughts and beliefs that I want to work on.
Having my own coach has helped me so much in nipping those thoughts and limiting beliefs in the bud so that I can move forward and achieve my goals and work towards my true potential.
Having a coach doesn’t mean you need to be ‘fixed’. Coaches are for people that are functioning but want to uplevel their lives. They know they have the potential inside them to do something more in their lives, to reach that next level, and so they hire a coach to help them get to that next level, to help them achieve their goals, to reach their full potential.
7. My question of the year
When I’m doing something that is either not my favourite thing to do, I’ve never done it before, or it seems quite complex, the first thing I ask myself is this: ‘How can I make this fun and easy?’
This question is one of my favourite questions to ask myself because it gets me out of overanalysis and perfectionism and my brain loves answering this question.
Often, the answer to this question is the next step forward that is super simple, and it helps me get unstuck.
8. Mindset is everything
I’ve alluded to this throughout this blog post, but mindset really is everything.
The way we see reality is our reality.
It’s not even about having a positive mindset all the time. It’s about knowing how to manage your mindset.
Knowing how my mind works and operates, and how to shift my mindset at any given time to work for me rather than against me has honestly changed my life.
My business has grown exponentially. My relationship with my husband is the best it’s ever been. I’m a better Mum to my kids.
Your mind controls everything, so it is crucial to know how to control it effectively.
The best news is that it is a skill that you can learn.
It is a skill that I learned.
I did NOT have this skill when I was younger. My mindset controlled me, that’s for sure.
This is where having a Certified Coach in your corner is so essential.
Your greatest asset is your mind. Your mind is an appreciating asset, so it is imperative for you to invest in it. For you to learn the skill of managing your mindset.
If you want to know more about mindset and how you can learn to manage your own mindset, please DM me and let me help you.
This is what I help clients with every single day. It is what transformed my career and my life.
Love Loren x
