Advice for New Entrepreneurs: Just Starting Your Business

Business Tips and Tools

Oct 14

Written By brandmerry

BY MICHELLE KNIGHT

Starting your business can feel both exciting and overwhelming. You're embarking on something new after all and putting all of your eggs in one basket. On today's blog, I'm offering some perspective and frankly a pep talk for new entrepreneurs every…

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If you’re just starting your business...this is for you!

If we were in a room together, what would I want to tell you about starting your business?
Crafting the idea of your business?
Putting all of the pieces in place?
Launching it out into the world?
And scaling it to consistent revenue?

To answer these questions I have to bring myself back to what it was like in the beginning (2016).

And in doing so, I’ve got to be honest. The thing that I really, really, really wish someone would have said to me and I wish I would have seen more language around online, is that building a business is going to be so challenging.

This is going to challenge you in ways that you've never imagined before.

If you were like me back in 2016, little, little naive Michelle, starting a business, you’re seeing all of this marketing coming at you about what is possible, and you're feeling really excited about it and so lit up about it!

But you’re noticing the messaging says, “just think about it and it happens” and “do this and you'll make $10,000” or “after you do this, suddenly you are set up for life.”

But, the reality is it’s not just going to magically happen for you and it’s not going to be a breeze.

Now, that’s not to say that this has to be hard.
It's not to say that you've got to work every single day for multiple hours a day and that's the only way you're going to grow your business.
It's not saying that at all.

What I'm saying is that it's going to challenge you.

BUSINESS GROWTH

If we know anything about growth, if we've learned anything about elevating our lives and our experiences, it's that without challenge, there is no change.

It's crazy to think that we can start these businesses, step into the CEO role, the small business owner, make decisions on how we're going to make money, typically be the one-person show for a very long time, carry the weight of that on our shoulders and not think that we are not going to be challenged.

You're going to be challenged.

And here's the amazing part, because of that challenge and because of the way that you take on those challenges, you are going to grow faster than you ever fucking imagined. Ever.

It's almost a disservice to say that entrepreneurship is a fast track in personal development.

It's something I say all the time, but what we should really say is entrepreneurship is a fast track in evolution.

That we start to evolve as human beings and step into the best version of ourselves faster than if we weren't becoming entrepreneurs.

If I was just going through my day-to-day prior to starting my business, there's no way I'd be at the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual level that I am today if I hadn't started my business.

I'm so thankful for that, and I know that you're going to look back and you're also going to be so thankful for that.

But it doesn't mean that it's not going to be kind of difficult.
You're going to have to deal with some shit.

MINDSET FOR NEW ENTREPRENEURS

This growth is one of the reasons that within the last two years, I recognized that in order to support entrepreneurs and small business owners in really starting their business, I had to address the mindset.

I knew that in order to support entrepreneurs to grow their business, that we had to have that element of support as well, which is why inside of Roadmap to Freedom and Brandmerry Academy we have this level of support.

Because one of the things that is not chatted about when it comes to strategy is that the thought process of coming up with these strategies, the energy, and efficiency that's needed to implement these strategies, the mental resilience that is needed to stick with a strategy when you don't see results right away, that's going to bring up a lot of mindset work that’s needed.

You really need to be ready to take that on and to move through that. It's going to make you a better business owner and entrepreneur.

And that's one of the reasons that in every program that I create, we have that mindset component.

Because I can give you the strategies all day, I can tell you to show up and do this, I can tell you what to talk about, but there's so much of a belief in your ability to do it that is required.

When you're faced with these challenges, how are you going to take them on?
How are you going to say, "I'm up for it. Let's do it. Let's get this party started?"

It's not always going to be easy to get to a place where you're like, "Yes, I'm ready."

There might be some tears.
There might be some journaling.
There's going to be a whole lot of thoughts that say, “What did I get myself into?" especially in that first year.

But again, without challenge, there can be no change.

And it's worth it, but you’ve got to expect it, or it's going to knock you on our ass, and then flip you over, and then you’ll be face down in the mud.

And you’re going to be like, "Well, I didn't see that coming, because everyone told me that this was just rainbows and butterflies and unicorns. I could just step into this role as the same person that I was before."

This journey is going to require a different level from you.

And here's the beautiful thing. You're 100% capable of it because every entrepreneur and small business owner before you has done the same thing.

Every single one has gone into the idea of running a small business or starting a business as one person and has evolved and changed over time and where they are today is a different person.

The way that I love to think about it is that they didn't change who they were. They evolved.

I truly believe the amount that I've evolved in the past five years probably would have taken me 20 years if I hadn't started my business.

It's not that you are completely different.

It's that you are faced with these challenges and you're overcoming these challenges, and you're moving through these challenges, and you're making decisions about your mental and emotional and spiritual, and physical health to support you in running your business and being an entrepreneur that you're just evolving faster.

You’ll face inside challenges:

Am I cut out for this?
Is this really going to work?
Do I have the stamina to handle this?
Am I worthy of the outcome that I desire?

There are going to be outside challenges as well.

People confused that you now need time to grow a business.
People confused that you've decided to take a leap of faith and leave your nine to five.
People, including family, trying to navigate this new normal alongside you and supporting you, but also being like, "Hey, this is new for me too."

You're worthy of those conversations.
You're worthy of asking for boundaries.
You're worthy of investing in your dreams.

WORTHINESS AND BEING A NEW ENTREPRENEUR

The conversations you will have with others will be challenging.

You're going to have to sit down and straight-up say, "This is what's happening. This is what I'm doing. I would love your support. You don't have to get it, but please support me.”

I still don't expect my husband to understand every single nuance of this business.

He's been pretty involved since day one and supportive every single step of the way, but I don't expect him to know all of the ins and outs and inner workings.

So unless you're married to an entrepreneur or you're running the business with them, I feel like that's an expectation that we just cannot have.

But the support element is only going to happen if you're saying, "I need the support from you," because they don't know what's happening either.

When you're starting out, you don't even know what's happening.
You don't even know what's going on, but you're maybe two or three steps ahead of the people that you're asking for support from.
You've got to be open to having those conversations with them.

And that can be challenging, but 100% worth it, 100% possible, and you're 100% worthy of asking for what you want.

This whole idea of worthiness is something that we added to Roadmap to Freedom as a starting point of the program. This was an area where we knew that we just needed to put those pieces in place right away for our clients.

Every time we run Roadmap to Freedom, there are always questions around asking for time, setting boundaries, figuring out what you really want, and why you’re really doing this.

It always comes back to our inner belief that we're not ultimately worthy to have those things that we desire.

We're not worthy to take the time, or we're not worthy to set these boundaries, or whatever it might be for you.

I felt all of them. All of them and I know a lot of entrepreneurs who have, which is why we put together a foundational mini-course for members of Roadmap to Freedom.

As soon as they join, they get to go through this mini-course called Worthy.

But I wanted to share with you some small little pieces of that, to get you started

IDENTIFYING YOUR DESIRES
WHAT DO YOU WANT?

I love to ask this question of my clients, and we have an entire video about it inside of Roadmap to Freedom, and that is...What do you want?

I made a joke one time on a live stream when I was talking about desires, and I was like, "You very rarely sit down at a happy hour with your girlfriends where they look you in the eye and they say, “What do you want out of life? What do you want? What do you really want to do?” Very rarely, unless your friend happens to be a life coach or something.

So, we have to ask ourselves this question. We are the ones that have to sit down and say, "Hey, self, what do we want? What do we really, really want out of this life?"

You only get one life, just so we're on the same page here.

What do you want?

If you haven't asked yourself that question, or it's been a while, I encourage you to do so. And, remember there's no right or wrong answer here. It's not one thing. It's not 10 things. It could be 17 pages. It doesn't matter. But when you start to think about what you want, you want to start to then identify what that will ultimately give you.

WHAT WILL THAT GIVE YOU?

If you want a business that allows you to travel the world, speaking for myself over here, you want to take it a step deeper and say, "Well, what will that give me?"

I mean, that will give me experiences that most people only dream about.

That will give me time with my family.

That will give me the joy and the feeling that I'm giving my son these experiences before he's even 10 years old.

So, you not only want to identify what you want but also what that will ultimately give you.

And then further than that, if you haven't already done it, how will it make you feel?

HOW WILL IT MAKE YOU FEEL?

We've got to have that deep feeling attached to those desires. You've heard me talk about it a few times on this podcast where I say, when it comes to marketing, when it comes to data, we need to remove the feelings.

But when it comes to branding and especially when it comes to starting our businesses, nothing is going to motivate you more than a feeling.

Nothing is going to say, "Oh, hell yes! I'm in it. Okay, that sucked, but we're getting back up again."

Nothing will do that more than holding on to the feeling of the outcome.

So again,

What do you really want out of life?
What will it ultimately give you?
How will that make you feel when you achieve it?

One of the practices that I learned very early on was thinking of outcomes. I'll share an entire experience with you. This is the best way to give you an example.

VISUALIZATION EXERCISE AND FEELING INTO THE OUTCOME

When I was first starting, I knew that I wanted to launch group programs and courses and things like that.

But I also knew from what I had learned, and just focus in general, that if I lasered in and focused on one core offer, filled that, got really, really good at that, then I would have the capacity and I would have the funds to launch the other pieces.

It's one of the reasons why I encourage my clients to focus on one thing, one offer in the beginning.

I set out with a goal to sign 10 one-on-one clients from January 2017 through March 2017.

And as I was thinking about my goal, I started to imagine what I would do to celebrate that.

I wanted to do something really fun. I decided that I was going to go to New York and see Waitress on Broadway.

I'm a big Broadway fan. It was actually my major for years. Sara Bareilles, who's one of my favorite performers, was the writer and she was going to be in the lead role. I was like, that's what I'm going to do.

My mentor at the time said, "But how is that going to make you feel? I know what you're going to do, but how are you going to feel at that moment?" I started to visualize it every single morning.

I imagined myself leaving the musical. I knew exactly what I was wearing. I could see my black maxi dress. I could see that my hair was down because I hardly wear it up unless I'm working. I saw my entire outfit down the flats I was wearing.

I saw myself walking through the streets of New York just buzzing after this performance. I heard myself singing songs from the show, as I was walking to my hotel. I was just full of so much joy and energy.

I held onto that image and feeling for so long.

Notice I wasn't holding onto exactly what I was doing. I was holding onto the feeling that was happening in the celebration.

I ended up signing 10 clients by the end of March 2017.

I happened to be part of a mastermind at the time, and it was announced that our retreat was in New York City in May. And at the time of the retreat, Sara Bareilles was playing the lead role in Waitress on Broadway!

I went to the show and I wore my black maxi dress, and I reenacted that exact same thing.

Nothing is going to drive you in your business more than the feeling.

When you achieve those milestones, when you sell your first offer, when you fill your first program when you get your first thousand subscribers, how is that going to feel?

Connect with that and know that you are 100% worthy of that and you're 100% capable of having that.

OVERWHELM AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

We’ve talked a lot about your belief along this journey, let’s talk about the strategy!

In the beginning, I found myself getting overwhelmed with all the things because I was trying to do too much at one time.

I had like six different intensives and my one-on-one. You could do three months. You could do six months. You could do this. You could do that. It just got too much.

And I noticed that my messaging and my marketing suffered. I was marketing seven different things at the same time.

I started to realize that one of the keys to running a business is to start small, to laser in, to focus. As I've mentioned, I made the choice to do that with my one-on-one.

I didn't have a lot of funds to start and it didn't require a lot of funds for me to do it.
I got to show up.
I got to serve without a lot of overhead.

It served me well in my business and many of my clients have done the same. Just focus on the one piece and start small and be open to evolution.

Not only are you, the person and brand, going to evolve, but your business strategies will as well. As you become really good at something, you're going to add in something else, and then it's like a snowball over and over and over again.

You're going to pick up momentum.

In the episode that I talked about last week on niching down, we talked about this whole idea that you start small and that you pick up momentum. It can be really easy to look at other entrepreneurs who are doing 500 things and say, "Hey, I want to do 500 things," but it’s important to note they might be further along in their journey, they might have a team that makes it possible.

When you're starting your business, it's a really great strategy to start small, to niche down, and then let it unfold and evolve as it goes.

This is one of the reasons that I love hosting the niching down challenge every year.

It’s an important shift to have to your mindset that if you start small, you can actually grow quicker.

Whereas if you start too big, too wide, it's going to be messy. It's going to be confusing, and it's going to stunt your growth.

Start small and be open to evolution. That's just a big mindset piece that I think so many entrepreneurs need to embrace. You'll get there.

BE RESILIENT IN BUSINESS

You'll get to the finish line, but you've got to take those small steps. You've got to be open to the small steps. They build off of each other. They build that momentum. You also have to be open and committed to doing the work that's going to get you there.

You're not going to snap your fingers and suddenly it's happening. There's the mindset work like we've talked about. That's a piece of the puzzle, but then there's the actual work which makes up the largest part!

The building of the landing pages, the creation of the freebie, the recording of the videos, the showing up on the platforms, the writing of the blog, the doing the things.

I've said this on multiple videos and multiple podcasts that I think one of the things that supported me in the beginning, and I look back and I can see it now even though at the time I had no idea, was my commitment to doing the work.

I was so fucking committed.
There was no other option for me.
I had removed the other option from the scenario.
I knew that this was what I wanted.

I had checked in with myself. It wasn't easy. I didn't always believe that it was going to happen.
I went back and forth, up and down, emotional roller coaster, but I was always committed to doing the work.

If what I had planned to do didn't work out the way that I had planned for it to, I was ready to get back into it and try something new.

I talked about this in a recent podcast episode where I talked about the secret sauce to success. There's no template. There's no checklist. There's nothing that I can give you that will make it all work out magically.

But what I can tell you is that if you do the work, you'll get results.

You've got to commit to doing the work and you've got to commit early on.

That's why those pieces on time management and putting boundaries in place and having dedicated time to work on your business are so important. Even if it's like me that first year where it was Sunday mornings and late at night and lunch breaks, it doesn't matter.

Everybody has to find their own pocket of time!

Some people are going to have more time and capacity to work on their business, which isn't necessarily always better because we will fill the time with fluff.

I talk about this in my recent Youtube video on productivity.

I actually found that because I had such little time, I was super strategic with what I was going to be doing and I was getting it done because I didn't try and fill it with a bunch of other stuff.

I joked with my husband when we stopped traveling in the trailer last year (2020) and started splitting our time in an apartment and traveling, that it's almost harder right now because I have eight hours every day uninterrupted because he's home and he cares for our son.

And since I’ve got all this time, it's almost harder because I'm like, well, I've got eight hours. I can just do this and do this.

I was more efficient when I only had two hours a day than when I have eight hours a day.

If you find that you're in it, you're committed to the work, don't think that your small schedule or your limited schedule is keeping you from growth. It might actually be the best asset for you.

FOCUS AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Bringing it full circle, one of the challenges I think has been disregarding all of the noise.

Disregarding the new platform, disregarding this new magical way to sell, disregarding this new thing.

If I'm focused on something, I already have a plan of action in place, as those things start coming at me, it’s like I’m in a bubble and they're just bouncing off of me.

Every once in a while, a little piece will get in and I'm like, I'm going to put that on my ClickUp board and save it for later.

But right now I am focused. I am like a horse in a race with my blinders on. And you've got to do that.

You absolutely have to put your blinders on.

The information is not going to stop coming at you. It's your job to say, "Not today. Not today."

Get off social media. Lock your phone and do what you set out to do.
Make that commitment to yourself.

The information is not going to stop coming at us. We cannot stop the information from coming at us.

We can choose how we react to the information.

It is one of the reasons that I have been head over heels about Roadmap to Freedom for years because the idea is that you're getting piece by piece by piece by piece, focus by focus by focus by focus, and each piece builds on the other in a very strategic way.

CONCLUSION

It's about the commitment and the focus to doing the work, putting the blinders on, letting the other crap bounce off of you.

You can come back to it later. You can't do it all. You cannot do it all. The information won't stop coming at you. You have to choose how you respond to that information.

For anyone here that has these big, crazy, beautiful, bold, challenging goals, I just want you to know that I get it. I totally get it. I was the exact same way and people thought I was nuts. I know so many people who thought I would go back to my job.

I didn't know what I was doing back then, but I was committed to figuring it out, and I knew what I was working towards.

As I write this I just imagine you're sitting on the couch and we’re chatting over wine. I'm fighting back tears.. Because when I sit and think about that new mom who was going through this postpartum fog and depression and had these ideas and these goals and these visions for what could happen for her new family, I mean, I'm living it today.

Some people might look at my story and be like, "Oh, but it took like five years."

Yeah, it took five years to completely transform our existence in our lives. I'm cool with that.

Some people wait for 20, 30, never happened years. I will gladly take five.

If you're sitting there and you write your goals down and you daydream and you lay in bed at night and you're like, "Oh man, could this be? Could this happen,"

I truly believe that it can. I want you to know that if you feel like nobody else believes in you, I fucking believe in you.

I do.