We are more poised than ever for individuals to bring their gifts to the world in the form of small business. The expansive network of the internet has brought the possibility of entrepreneurship, from small scale to large scale, straight into the homes of anyone. If you have a dream, you can build it. With the creation of a la carte services and support tech, even the lay person can build websites, create stores, market through multiple mediums, and expand operations to areas that were previously unrealistic.
There is an amazing world of opportunity, for all of us, with anything to offer.
So you’ve got a thing. You have a service, a product, a creation, or any other kind of gift that people would want. Now what do you do? This is where so many people get stuck. Excitement and passion peters out amidst the drudgery of the imagined operational expectations. But we, as humans, tend to make things more difficult than they need to be. We drown in the unknown. But in reality, it is easier to get your business off the ground now than it ever has been.
Now what?
1. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR THOUGHT PATTERNS
With an estimated 90,000 thoughts zooming through our brains each day, the vast majority go unnoticed. Most of them are unusable nonsense. Many of them band together to create themes, patterns and ways of thinking and processing information. Our brains are always looking for shortcuts and ways of streamlining the vast amount of data we receive each day into useful information. One of the the ways we do this is through the formation of beliefs. Often these beliefs lay beneath the surface of our consciousness. I’d wager that all of us, no matter how attuned and soul-searching we may be, still have beliefs that are as yet unknown to us. Beliefs about the way the world works, or human nature, or ourselves that can create a necessary energetic shortcut for our brains from sensory input to assessment. It’s not a bad thing in and of itself. Think about it, if we used as much energy to perform daily tasks as we did the first time we performed those tasks, how would we ever accomplish anything? Or if we hadn’t learned to associate certain things with imminent danger, how would our species have survived?
If you want to be successful at a business, you have to start by paying attention to your thoughts. Are they serving you? Do you have an inherent belief that you will be successful, or unsuccessful? Do you believe that you have something of value or worth to offer, or do you believe that maybe your self-assessment of worth is off? Do setbacks constitute failure? Do the negative opinions of others carry more weight than your own? If you are going to be successful you have to believe that you will be. Period. So pay attention to the way you talk to yourself, and to the kinds of thoughts flitting through your head. Are they serving you? If not, it’s time to scrap them, and begin building a new mental dialogue. You can do this by first noticing the unhealthy thoughts or negative beliefs. Notice them without judgment. As you cultivate awareness around them through reflection you can create space to pause and provide a counter-argument. Over time, this becomes your new reality.
2. FAILURE IS A GOOD THING
We hate it. We cringe. For most of us failure is a deep and personal reflection of ourselves. When we take a risk and put ourselves out there, and it doesn’t pay off, what does that say about us? It can be socially mortifying. It can be gratifying to those negative self-beliefs. It can be a relief, a reason to move back into the safe and comfortable zone of what we already know. Taking social, personal or professional risk uses the same chemical process of physical risk. Fear is fear no matter where it comes from. Stepping into unknown territory can, at times, feel like moving against our biological wiring for survival.
But y’all, failure is a good thing! It’s market feedback. It’s validation of the risk. It’s an act of expanding your sphere of comfort. It’s an opportunity for a pivot. Brene Brown said that the Ted conference should be “renamed the failure conference, because everyone presenting knows what it is like to fail.” Sometimes spectacularly. Sometimes with losses. Sometimes with heartache as something we poured our souls comes to an unsuccessful end. Failure is an opportunity. Every time you risk failure you are stepping into the unknown, expanding your comfort zone, and learning new things. Every novel business starts there. And every entrepreneur, especially the successful ones, knows what it is like to feel failure. Do you want to feel something in common with the big dogs? Get out there, be okay if it fails, learn from it, and start again.
3. CREATE CLARITY AROUND YOUR VISION
Okay, so you’ve got your head right. You’re prepared to weather worst-case scenarios. You’ve built the necessary confidence that you can do this. Note: this does not mean you feel confident in everything, only that you believe in your abilities to adapt when needed. So what’s next? Take a look at what you’re offering again. A good, long, hard, scrutinizing look. Is it clear or muddied? Is it complicated or simple? Do you see a direct path to move forward with it? Can it work? Who is your target audience/customer/client? What are you doing? Why are you doing it? It can be easy, especially for the visionaries among us, to get carried away by exciting ideas. I can do this, and this, and this, and then I can do this, and then this can play into this, and the ooh what about this? And around and around we go in this spiderweb of inspiration.
It’s a trap!
Or at least it can be. Vision is necessary and amazing and can be so much fun. If it is to be successful it needs to be clear. You need to be able to answer the following questions, concisely:
What am I doing?
Why is it needed?
Who needs it?
How will I provide it?
If any of those questions are unclear you will get stuck. And if you get stuck after pouring your heart and energy and time and maybe even money into something, it could easily translate to failure, or an opportunity to give up. So many people get stuck here. They see the thing, they just don’t clearly see the rest. Put some serious and practical energy into answering the above questions. You need not only to be able to answer them, but also to articulate them. Can you create an elevator pitch that answers those questions? Great, you’re on your way!
4. LEAN ON YOUR RESOURCES
In order for you to be able to move through this stage, you need to have a clear and accurate perception of your strengths and weaknesses. Do a SWOT analysis where you identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Ask for feedback from others. Journal about it. Do whatever makes sense for you, but critically (and without criticism) launch into a self-analysis. Identify your resources, and don’t be afraid to call on them.
The excitement that comes with the vision can be easily tamped down by the reality of the execution. Running a business likely contains at least one element that is boring to us, or that we aren’t very good at. While marketing may be exciting to some, data analysis may be exciting to others. While some people thrive on networking, others may enjoy content creation. And so on. There will be an element to running your business that is boring to you. GUARANTEED. There will be an element to running your business that you are not good at. GUARANTEED. This is a perfect opportunity to tap into your resources, particularly your network. You are likely already surrounded by people who are good at the things you aren’t, and they many come from the most unlikely places! Your 16 year niece may have a gift for words that no one else has. Your co-worker may be able to take a spreadsheet and identify sources of bleeding income at a glance. Is there an app or a software program that can do the thing you struggle with? Look around you, who and what can help? Don’t be afraid to ask. None of us can do this on our own.
5. ALLOW YOURSELF A BREAK (EVEN EXTENDED ONES)
We live in a culture that thrives on progression, forward momentum, accomplishment. Every you turn there is subtle messaging to keep achieving new heights, in just about every element of our lives. Better yourself, better your finances, better your career, better your relationships, go go go and get better every day.
How exhausting.
The reality is that we cannot sustain that level of output on a regular basis. We just can’t. Not only that, but we often miss out on the beauty and power of what just is, right here, right now. It’s important to look ahead. It’s also important to slow down and just be. The mindfulness movement is a symptom of our achievement culture, a necessary counterbalance.
I learned that I am seasonally inspired. I am super motivated and energetically producing and feeding professional and creative momentum in the Spring and Summer. I crash in the Fall and Winter. I used to wallow in shame and self-judgment during those slow months, feeding the disillusionment monster with negative thought patterns. But I’ve learned, over time, that I won’t get stuck there. The inspiration comes back. The motivation comes back. The energy comes back. The passion comes back. And I’ve adjusted my operations to be more suited to the seasonal swings.
I allow the momentum gained in the motivating months to create a sustainable model of maintaining through the slower months. Moreover, I’ve found that I come back with newer and more polished ideas for moving ahead. It’s a perfect restorative rest to take my business to the next level. And let’s be real, everything in the winter takes more energy, even shivering.
So cut yourself some slack when you hit the coasting, or even declining, phase of the business. It doesn’t mean it’s the end. And see it as an opportunity to step back and allow for new perspectives. Source it for inspiration.
And, above all, be kind to yourself. You likely really do have something worthy to offer the world, and you have everything you need to be able to do it. You’ve got a thing, now do it!