Small businesses are what runs the world. Don’t believe me? Google it. Supported by ThoughtCo., businesses with fewer than 500 employees are what is keeping our economy alive by providing jobs for over half of the nation’s private workforce.
If you’ve been contemplating starting a small business but worry about oversaturation, think again.
Back in 2016, starting a business was something I dove in headfirst but not without months and months of planning. Actually, it took me 8 months to take the leap into fulltime entrepreneurship. I left my 9 – 5 with 5 contracts that held me over into the world of entrepreneurship. Though I started my business as a solo-owner, I had so much moral support. I also had a mentor who showed me the ropes that changed my life forever. She taught me to have confidence in my talent and what to do with it. For her, I am so very grateful.
In this post, I’d like to share 3 gems of advice that I would’ve given myself at year one if I didn’t already know it.
RRL: Read, Research and KEEP LEARNING
In every line of business, it is so important to be on top of your game. Being knowledgable about your expertise comes with knowing your stuff and/or doing the proper research to find WHO to put in charge of knowing for you. Delegation is a part of this too!
I don’t mean just learning about your craft – but about how to run your business better and being a better entrepreneur.
This year, I was given a book by one of my clients called Grace Over Grind by Shae Bynes. If you were to go on Instagram and look for entrepreneurship quotes im sure one of the first 5 quotes you’d find would be something about grinding as hard as you possibly can without any sleep blah blah blah. That’s the perception social media has driven for entrepreneurship. Don’t get me wrong, at times, it can be a struggle – but it does not have to be a constant and unhealthy grind. This book helped me to tap more into developing healthier daily habits like turning off my email notifications when appropriate and counting on faith when it’s time to take my control-driven mind out of it.
This book taught me how to put good ethics and God into everything that I do and focus less on the monetary value as that will come as it should.
Know Your Worth
Your policies and price points should be set based upon your overhead, years of experience, research and training you’ve done and so much more.
Not using a calculator that doesn’t know your business process. And Certainly not someone else’s budget.
You set the rules.
You’re due what’s owed for your time.
I made the mistake of serious undercharging for the first two years in business simply because of a lack of confidence. I also wasn’t considering my true ideal customer. Instead of talking to a select few, I was throwing plays to the entire football team. I won’t say that I’ve chosen a certain industry niche – but there is a more narrowed target that I now speak to. This has changed my business so much.
Get organized.
In January of last year, I went searching for my first employee.
An assistant.
I needed this assistant to better manage my projects, clients, and workflow processes as a whole.
I wanted to reduce the admin work on my plate and throw it onto someone else.
What’s crazy is, I found this not in not a person, but a project management app. Honeybook!
I was using two different invoicing software, one project management site that I hated, no formal contract software, and no proper reporting system either. This wasn’t good and I knew it.
Honeybook provided a unified platform for all of these AND more.
I encourage any designer and/or solo-preneur to invest in a solid project management system. Honeybook sends automated emails for me, streamlines my onboarding and booking process and SO much more. It organizes my every move.
You’ll definitely want something like this from the BEGINNING!
This post does include affiliate links although I absolutely stand behind any product I recommend.
