Starting your own business can be one of the most empowering and liberating things you can do!

  • No more answering to a boss you don’t like.
  • No more dealing with painful and petty office politics.
  • No more micro management
  • No more working to someone else’s timetable.
  • Creating something you are passionate about to help people
  • Or maybe you just want to run your own race and dance to the beat of your own drum

Whatever your reason there are some key things to think about before you jump in – and they are all things I have learnt from experience of being an entrepreneur so I hope you find them helpful (P,S. I started my own business in 2010 and grew it to a $20m+ turnover without funding or going into debt- before selling it in March of 2022 – read about it here)

12 things you NEED to know about starting your own business

1. Don’t quit. Don’t quit your job until you are ready and I mean really ready to launch. Creating and launching any business takes time (a lot of time) and money and you want to keep an income source for as long as possible before you have to go it alone. This may mean you are working double time whilst you set yourself up but trust me it will be worth it as everything takes longer to launch and create versus what you planned and having a financial buffer when you have delays will make a huge difference and help alleviate stress.

2. Get organised. Set your business bank account up and get a separate business card. This will ensure you don’t mix your personal finance with business and this is super important as when you get busier and busier you will have less time to spend sorting through and separating out and if you don’t get on top of it – you will spend days if not weeks trying to get on top of it at tax time

3. Be realistic. 99.9% of all business’s that launch take time to build, grow and make money. Don’t think you can launch one month and then be in profit the next month. It took me 3 years to make a solid profit when I launched The Healthy Mummy business and although this was a long time – it isn’t so uncommon BUT at the same time you can do it a lot faster than 3 years! I had ZERO experience, no mentor, no training and if I was to do it all again I would set a goal to be in profit within 6-12 months.

4. Hard work. Get ready for CRAZY hard work. Starting a business is such a lot of work. It is all encompassing and it can feel never ending. You have to be prepared for hard work and have that expectation in your mind. My husband used to always say to me ‘if it was easy everyone would do it”. So no, it’s not easy and you have to work hard BUT if you can make it work it IS worth it

5. Balance. As much as you you need to work extremely hard you also need to BALANCE that work with your own life and family life. I can’t overstate this enough. I launched my first business when I was pregnant with my first baby so I totally understand the need to balance starting a business with a family. What I found worked for me was being very flexible with my hours. So I have always worked at bizarre times – so I would get up super early and often go to bed late but this has always allowed me to be there for my kids which has ALWAYS been so important to me and still is to this day. You just need to find the balance and hours that work you and remember not to run yourself into the ground.

6. Focus on your own lane. So often people in business or who have a business FIXATE on competitors. And honestly I think this is such a bad thing to do. You need to focus on what you are doing. On what you are creating. And NOT worry about what others are doing. If you have a vision and a plan you just need to focus on that and execute it. There are always other business’ out there. Always other competitors. But don’t worry about them – instead focus on what you are doing and on your customers and do it the best way possible.

7. Customers are number 1. For me the customer is always number 1. Worship them. Listen to them. And think about them every hour of every day. Without the customer you have no business. You have nothing. So make their happiness, their satisfaction the number 1 focus you have.

8. Build resilience. One of the biggest things I have learned about myself is that I am resilient. And I believe this is crucial in business and has helped me succeed. I bounce back pretty fast and don’t dwell on things that go wrong. And things WILL go wrong. Left, right and centre! So you need to learn to not hold onto the mistakes and instead learn from them and move on as quickly as possible.

9. Build your team. It is so so so important to have a great team. An amazing team make the difference between an average business and a super sonic profitable business.  I have worked with AMAZING people over the years and I couldn’t have succeeded without them. And although at the beginning you need to wear all of the hats, as your business grows you need to have a team and infrastructure to be part of that growth – so always think about who your team is going to be as you grow and treat them well.

10. Protect your intellectual property. This is so important. I cannot tell you how many people don’t have trademarks for their business. This can be so so dangerous as if someone else either has the trademark for your business name or registers it after you have spent all the time, money and effort on building yours it can be DEVASTATING to have a cease and desist letter come through the door. So when you are looking to launch – do your research and speak to a lawyer to ensure you protect your business name and don’t have a name that will cause you problems later – this is absolutely worth investing in.

11. Believe in yourself. One of the hardest things about creating something new and your own business is BELIEVING in yourself. It is so hard work that self doubt can set in and make you question yourself. BUT you have to believe in you. Don’t listen to the doubters (and there will be many). Everything you need to succeed is within you. Accept that you will have bad days but that isn’t the end. You will bounce back and you have to believe in you. In what you can do and just take one step at the time.

12. Never lose sight. Don’t ever lose sight about why you started your business – and for most people it is never about money. Most successful business have a strong reason for why they are there and a story behind them. This is so important as when things get tough you always want to look at why you are working so hard and your ultimate vision for the business, the customer and the greater good.

I hope this helps 🙂

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