Are You Really Prepared To Be A Business Owner?
Let’s not beat around the bush; Owning and running a business is hard.
And if you’re about to embark on this journey, there are a few things that you might find challenging.
At least, these are the 4 big things that took me a while to get to grips with so of course, I’m going to share!
The reality is that being a business owner means hard decisions and it’s not always as easy as people make it out to be. Especially in the online world.
So without further ado, here are the 4 things that you’ll need to be prepared for if you’re about to take on the role of ‘CEO’.
Thing 1: There’s a difference between being a freelancer and starting a business
One thing I haven’t seen spoken about a lot is that there’s a difference between being a freelancer and starting a business.
Neither one is bad or better than the other. But there is a difference.
So if you’re building a business you need to approach things differently compared to if you’re freelancing. This is because when you run a business, the way you work, the way you attract clients, the way you build a team and even the way you market, changes.
For example, if you’re freelancing, chances are you’ll be able to find enough work for just you. You can log on to sites like Fiver, UpWork or Instagram and find projects and generally make a good living from this! And that is great!
But doing this doesn’t mean you’re running a business as such. You won’t necessarily have a specific vision that you’re working towards or be focused on making a bigger impact.
One of the biggest reasons there is a difference when building and running a business is the mindset involved because everything stops revolving around you when you run a business which leads me nicely onto point 2…
Thing 2: You have to learn to separate your needs from your businesses needs
When you run a business, you stop making decisions based on what suits your needs and wants best, but instead start making decisions from the business and brand as a whole.
This means you can’t simply be thinking about yourself and what you want right now.
In fact, I’ve had to make decisions that aren’t just not about me, but they’re actually not even the best thing for me! Sometimes you have to put the business first and look at what will benefit the business the most.
I’m sure you’ve heard of rose-coloured glasses…well it’s like that except you have to put on your business glasses, looking at everything through the lens of what’s best for your business.
This mindset change is a difficult one to chew and can take a moment to get used to. Especially as you start to grow.
Thing 3: Growing = more responsibility
The fact that as you grow, you start to take on more responsibility, makes sense. But the reality of it and the mindset change that comes with this reality is also a big thing to get your head around!
The thing is, when you start growing your business, you end up bringing in more clients, larger revenue, and hiring additional team members.
When you do this, it means one thing: Your business no longer exists to just support you…it’s now beyond you!
Not only do you have to make decisions that benefit the whole business (meaning, your team and your clients) but you have to be able to accept feedback and criticism from those clients and your team. You have to be willing to look at things with an impartial eye.
This is hard. It’s like criticising your child…like, you’d never tell your child they’re ugly (or at least, I hope you wouldn’t), but you might have to tell your business that one part isn’t functioning well or could be improved.
Then it’s on you to fix it!
So be prepared to be humbled and become very self-aware as a business owner.
Thing 4: Learn how to divorce your emotions from pricing
When you’re first starting out as a business owner it’s very easy to get caught up in the ‘charge what you’re worth’ trap.
But as you grow a business, you’ll soon find it’s not about charging what you’re worth but instead, it’s about what the service or product is actually worth, compared to others on the market and what the real value of what you’re providing is worth.
As we’ve already established…your business isn’t about you at this point!
Your prices are probably going to change quite a lot as time goes on as well.
And as a business owner, it’s your responsibility to regularly evaluate the profitability of your product and how you’re selling it.
So, for example, if you realise you’re closing 70%+ of your leads then maybe you’re priced too low and could charge more.
On the other hand, if you are getting a lot of pushback from people who fit your ideal client profile then maybe you’re pricing too high for where the market is at.
You need to learn how to separate your emotions from your pricing, and price in a way that’s best for your business!
Each of these 4 things can take a minute (or two) to adjust to and get your head around, but the reality is, that starting a business and running it efficiently is no easy task!
But, if you’re thinking about starting your own business, or already have, I have something exciting that might just come in handy!
I’m starting a podcast all about life as a business owner and (as usual) will be cutting out the bullsh*t and getting straight to the point with actional tips, advice and business updates to help you build a business that stands strong!