4 Lessons Every #Girlboss Should Think About Before Starting Their Business
Last week, I attended a networking event. The goal of the event was to help millennial women entrepreneurs, experienced small business owners and bloggers get the answers to their business challenges. Many of the women were running successful blogs or selling coaching services and I had the opportunity to learn a lot from them.
Here are the 4 biggest takeaways:
FOCUS
It's very easy to get distracted from your goals by "shiny object syndrome" (aka. that moment you see someone making a ton of cash-money doing something you could totally do with your eyes closed... so you want to abandon your current goal and try your hand at it?).
About two years ago, I dove deep into ‘Entrepreneur On Fire’ where John Lee Dumas coined the acronym for FOCUS as
Follow One Course Until Success
This tiny phrase became my entrepreneurial mantra. It reminded me to focus on what I really wanted and if I wanted to become successful I would have to stick with it (no matter how many #epicfail moments I had) because each failure leads to lessons learned.
FOCUS... Unless it's time to PIVOT.
Sometimes, the path you're going down isn't a particularly lucrative one. There are times when what you have to offer is not what the market wants. In these moments, it may be best to pivot (aka. change gears and follow that shiny object!).
You cannot force people to want your product... but you can create a product people already want. So.. how do you know what people want? (drumroll, please!)
Get to know your audience.
How do you really know what people want? You have to take some time to get to know them. Go to the events that they frequent. Ask them out for drinks. Can't get out that much? Don't have the budget? Hang out in the Facebook groups and online forums they use. Talk to your target audience in any form you can until you know them inside and out.
This will help you visualize them and their specific needs as you're creating.
Align your personal mission with your company mission.
After doing anything for a long time, it's very easy to fall into a cycle of habit. You get used to blogging, you get comfortable with what you're selling, you make sure you create blog post images for social media sharing and share, SHARE, SHARE! #SocialMediaStruggle
Maybe you started your small business or blog to create something you were passionate about and over time your beautiful creation has turned into a collection of to-do lists that you complete just because and it no longer gives you life.
Take a week off... (I know it's hard for us to really take a week off, but it's totally worth it, I promise.) In that week, think about what makes you happy and what impact you want to make on the world. Then, think about why you want to make that impact. Finally, ask yourself what you can change about the way you're currently running your business so that it aligns with your personal mission. (Pro Tip: You know you've hit the nail on the head when you're excited about your business again and "shiny objects" are no longer enticing! #winning)
That's it! Starting (and growing) a business only gets easier when you get started, so go out there and build your empire!
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