5 things they don’t tell you about becoming an entrepreneur
So you want to be an entrepreneur eh? That’s great! Congratulations on taking the path less traveled to living the life of your dreams. But don’t be fooled, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It is hard work. But You probably already knew that right?
If you have made the life-altering decision to become an entrepreneur, you are probably someone that loves a challenge, loves to problem solve, and can persevere when things aren’t so easy.
But of course, it’s always okay to get help, which is probably why you’ve found yourself here.
There are so many things I wish I would have know when I first started my business that would have made my life so much easier. In this post, I will be sharing with you 5 things that no one tells you when becoming an entrepreneur to hopefully make your journey even a smidge of a bit easier!
Mindset is Everything
When becoming an entrepreneur, your mindset is truly what will make or break you. Having the right mindset for becoming an entrepreneur is the key to success. There are a number of different ways mindset comes into play and here is what I mean…
While it is normal as a human to have negative thoughts, as an entrepreneur you really have to figure out a way to push through them. These negative thoughts might look like Imposter Syndrome, constant fear of failure, fear of what people think, fear of where your next paycheck is going to come from, fear that other people are doing it better than you, or whether or not you are doing it ‘right’. This negativity will pop up all the time so get in front of it and figure out how to shut those thoughts down.
Some things that have helped me are keeping a journal of affirmations that remind me that I can do it and my negative brain is really just lying to me. Also meditating on those positive thoughts will truly just rewire your brain to default to the positive instead of the negative.
Manifestation mindset is also key! It really does work! I would highly recommend reading The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles. It completely reframed my mindset for running my business and helped me learn the importance of manifesting the things I want in my life and my business.
Take a Chill Pill - Avoid Burnout
In addition to your mindset, your mental health (which is different) is also important. When getting your biz all set up it can be really easy to get lost in the process and let it consume you. At first it can feel great to feel all this energy and excitement towards something. All of a sudden you’ll realize you have this drive inside you, you never thought you had. You’ll want to work all day every day trying to reach some sort of goal. But when becoming an entrepreneur there really is no goal, it’s just a journey. So there is no need to race because while this all sounds great, burnout is real.
I myself, had this issue when I first started. I was working 10-12 hour days. I put my social life and mental health on the back burner to reach this goal of starting my own business and my business is the only thing I could think about. After about 2 months, I really started to feel the baby stages of burnout. All of a sudden I started to feel a lack of motivation, I would get mad about the tiniest things, I was having little breakdowns about small problems. And while I don’t regret it, I just want to make other aspiring entrepreneurs aware of this and say I would recommend avoiding it. Because there is no need. Everything will fall into place as it should.
Remember to take time for yourself and your friends. Meditate and take walks. Don’t skip your breaks during the day. Do other activities that don’t involve your business. Just remember to slow down and come back to earth and reconnect to yourself.
Reaching ultimate burnout is extremely dangerous for your biz because once you’ve made all this progress and you feel like you are on the brink, your mind and body won’t be able to show up to actually run it.
Invest In Help
Another way you can avoid the dreaded burnout is to invest in the help! I really wish I would have invested in help sooner. However, you will invest when you feel that the time is right! I am someone that really likes to figure things out for myself because it is just extremely satisfying to accomplish things on your own, however, if you want to grow you do need to invest in help at some point or you will actually probably risk your business losing money.
I invested in my first business coach about 6 months into starting my biz. At the time I had everything set up and things were going fine but I just felt a bit stuck. I didn’t know exactly what I should be doing at that point and I also felt like I just needed reassurance if I was headed in the right direction. Which is completely fine! It was really helpful and It was really just like the last little push I needed to really get things off the ground.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t and won’t be the last time I invest in a coach but at the time it was like when you are first learning how to ride a bike and you just need that last push from mom or dad and you are actually doing it. You are riding your bike!
It’s also a good idea to outsource things that are super time-consuming! Doing things for your business that aren’t in your expertise take you out of your creative genius mode. I would highly recommend outsourcing things like your social media or website.
I can help you with your website and branding if that feels like the right thing to invest in right now! Take a peek at my services here!
Your Competition is actually your most powerful ally
One of my favorite ideas from The Science of Getting Rich is the idea of creativity versus competition. A competitive mindset is not a creative mindset. Don’t waste your time on the idea of competition. Instead, look at your ‘competition’ as a resource.
By befriending other people in your niche, you are truly opening doors for new opportunities and resources. Especially the other people in your niche that are more experienced than you, are a great resource for extremely valuable help and support.
Most may look at other more experienced people in their niche as a threat - someone to avoid and just aim to do better than them. This is not the mindset we want people! Reach out to that person and nurture a relationship so you may be able to go to them for help when you run into an issue that they have probably experienced before.
You never know, there may also be opportunities that come from those connections! By nurturing this mindset myself, I have been hired by other designers that find that I have a skill they just don’t have. Everyone has unique skills to offer!
Be extremely detailed in your contracts
While most of this post has been about mindset, I just wanted to throw in one piece of advice about actual business processes and that is having extremely detailed contracts. I have, unfortunately, had some bad experiences because of vague contracts and this is so easily avoidable.
It can be really exciting to sign a new client and receive a deposit but make sure you take the time to go over your contract and/or proposal before sending it!
Be extremely detailed about what is included in your services and what to expect during the process. In case a project goes a little off the rails, you have a contract to refer to. Everyone you work with will be different and it takes a lot of practice to establish yourself as the person in charge so the project runs smoothly.
For instance, if you set deadlines and your client isn’t meeting those, it would be good to have something about late fees in your contract.
Also being specific about the scope of the service. Many people might later think of something else they want or need from you that is outside of the scope and while they probably have good intentions, just be sure you can refer to your contract and kindly let them know there will be an extra fee for those extra requests.
I am honestly still tweaking my contract every time as I continue to learn the important things that need to be included in my contract!
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Well there you have it, the 5 things they don’t tell you about becoming an entrepreneur. If you found this helpful, feel free to drop a comment if you would like to see a part 2!
If you are launching your business and still need help with branding and website (remember investing is important! ) I would be happy to help! Click over to my services page to learn more.
