I am on year 27 of my business. I have coached, mentored and consulted to over two hundred businesses. I have run workshops and classes for freelancers and entrepreneurs. I am watching someone in my life start her business and see the struggles.
It is a hamster wheel feeling being an entrepreneur or new business owner of even a freelancer. You have to be the worker and every department from HR to sales to marketing to payroll. It is an never ending list of tasks to get done: marketing, sales, the actual work, cleaning up, learning new software, sales taxes, LLC and so much more.
Yes you can pay people to help but in the beginning you usually don’t have the extra cash.
It is okay to step off the wheel, catch your breath and then jump back on.
One thing most business owners get wrong is Marketing. They try a few things, nothing happens immediately and they stop. Marketing is Everything. It is the entire Customer Experience. It is also a process. Who are your customers? It is never EVERYONE!
Who will benefit the most from using your services? That is your Target.
What benefit do they get by coming to your business (over going else where)?
Do you have an offer? Think of the old infomercials. Act right now and get a Whatever the Offer is. It creates urgency. It is why stores have weekly ads.
How are you getting the word out?
Social media is a tactic, not a strategy. Where do you best customers hang out? On which platform is your demographic? You can post on Instagram all day, but if your customers are on Facebook, you are basically wasting your time. or you need to find an Offer that is Irresistible to that audience.
You may not know where your target hangs out, so ask or experiment. An experiment is not a week. An experiment is 90 days. Nothing happens fast.
How are you taking payment?
How are you scheduling appointments?
How are you collecting customer data?
How are you managing your business?
How are you managing your money? Find a local bank and talk to the local banker! Develop a relationship with your banker early, before you need a loan!
Do you have any advisors – people who have experience that you can talk to for honest feedback?
Do you have a mentor or a coach?
There is probably a subreddit for your business. Find it and learn from it.
In marketing, start with local first. Yelp, Nextdoor, Google local are your first steps.
You are going to be overwhelmed. You are going to wonder what you are doing wrong. You are going to want to quit because this shit is HARD! Remember WHY you did it. Remember that it is hard and you got through another day.
Your calendar is your friend. Schedule time for task. Marketing, networking, what-have-you.
Sleep is important too. From 1999-2002, I probably worked 80+ hours per week, usually 7 days, lots of late nights, to get my business going. Reading books, blogging, social, presentations, emails, phone calls, corporate stuff, QBO, etc. That was crazy. Sleep is just as important. So is family.
Balance is really not a thing, but a see-saw is. Sometime you are up; sometimes you are down.
There is a lot of stress in owning a business. Financial being the biggest one. Can I pay the bills?! It likely won’t happen immediately, but if you have a plan and you work the plan and tweak the plan, you can find success.
Define what success means to you. Not everyone is looking to be a trillionaire. Not everyone wants to become the person they would have to be to be a billionaire. It is a learning process. You have to gain a lot of skills with all the hats you have to wear.
Help is available. SCORE.org is great. Coworking spaces and startup resources in your area. Ask your Chamber of Commerce or your EDC or a local college!