6 Things I Wish I Had Known Before I Started My Business

My kids are back in school and, in the stillness, I felt inspired to start blogging again.

To tell the truth, I’ve been so focused on my clients and my kids that I have turned away from working on my own business (hence… this blog’s death). And while I love being able to take on other people’s voices, I really want to get back to using my own.

So…. let’s jump into it. Here are some things I wish I had known before I started my own business.

The Hustle Culture Ain’t It

The first thing I wish I had understood was that, regardless of how many Instagram posts you see from coaches telling you to hustle your way to $10k months, the hustle culture just isn’t worth it.

There was a point in my business a few months ago where I was working every spare second of the day. I was pulling in so many clients and working on so many projects that my head was constantly spinning. From the outside looking in, I was absolutely killing it.

And you know what?

I hated it.

Not only was I not getting the time I wanted with my own family but I also felt as if I wasn’t delivering the quality work that my clients deserved. How could I be creative 24 hours a day?

Since then I’ve taken a step back and am attempting to find more of a balance between accepting new projects, spending time doing the things I love doing, and allowing myself to rest.

Run Your Business Your Way

This one seems easy but it’s not. Especially for new entrepreneurs, there seems to be so much thrown our way.

If you want to succeed, you need a website and a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You need to learn the newest trending dances on TikTok. You need an app. You need to take this course. You need to take that course. You need to offer a million offers. You need to offer just one offer. You need … You need … You need….

You don’t need any of that shit!

What you need is to show up authentically on a platform that you will be consistent with (cc: me and this blog I haven’t touched in months…). Start small and, once you’re comfortable, you can build on it.

If you love Instagram and trust that you can find your audience there, start on Instagram. If you would rather connect with professional contacts, fire up that LinkedIn page.

Once you’re comfortable and consistently producing marketing content your audience is relating to, expand to another platform.

Focus On What You Love Doing

If you know the history of Chaos Coordination, you know that I started as a virtual assistant. What I really wanted to do was write but I wasn’t sure how to make money that way so I picked the road that was most related to my previous life as a paralegal: administrative tasks.

But one of the reasons why I left the legal field is because I was bored. I wanted to be creative and I wasn’t getting that opportunity. So why am I attempting to build a business that would continue to bore me?

Instead of focusing on administrative tasks, I turned to focus more on writing. My audience resonated with this switch and I am happier than ever. When you are truly passionate about your work and pleasant to work with, your clients will feel it.

Don’t Be Afraid to Try New Things

Starting your own business or deciding to freelance instead of a 9-5 is scary. The unknown can be overwhelming sometimes but you can’t let that fear get in the way of building something great.

Want to try a new marketing strategy? Do it.

Want to offer a new product or service? Do it.

Want to work really hard for 6 months and take the other 6 months off? I’m not going to stop you!

The best part of being an entrepreneur is taking risks.

Admit When You’re Wrong

This one is actually a good life tip but, for the sake of this conversation, let’s apply it to business.

Sometimes we do things as business owners that aren’t great. We purchase a new platform we don’t need or put too much investment into a marketing strategy that isn’t working. Maybe we agree to work with a client that we just aren’t vibing with.

Whatever it is, admit when it isn’t working. Rather than hiding from the fact that you made the wrong decision, acknowledge it, own up to it, find a solution, and move on.

Acknowledge You Don’t Know Everything

Listen, I am a hell of a writer. I love to write. I love to take other people’s stories and twist them into a bomb-ass content marketing strategy.

But when it comes to Facebook ads, financial analysis, or website development, I’m pretty useless.

Until I admitted to myself that I couldn’t know everything there is to know about running my own business, I wasn’t going to grow. I could only get myself so far before I needed to learn from other people who knew more than I did.

There are obviously a lot of other technical things I wish I had understood better, such as the importance of a content marketing schedule or how to understand email marketing stats, but I think these six things are also really important.

If you want to pick my brain, follow along on this incredible entrepreneurial journey, or have more questions about how to develop a quality content marketing strategy, check out my Instagram page. You can also join my email list. I promise to never spam you 😝