Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff

Seriously. It’s SUPER easy at start-up to get totally hung up on your brand. Trying to find the right image, the colours, the style. You want everything to be perfect. Of course you do - that’s absolutely natural. But it can STOP YOU IN YOUR TRACKS, have you feeling overwhelmed before you’ve ever gotten off the ground. It can cause you to spend HOURS agonising over the look and feel of the awesome biz you are about to create.

Your biz will grow, change and develop with you. As you experience the life of an entrepreneur, in charge of your own chariot, the look and feel of everything you create at start up will change over time. And you’ll change too. As you put yourself and your biz out into the big wide world, you’ll start to recognise what is working, what is not. And you’ll steer your golden chariot accordingly. So please, don't get too hung up on perfecting all the detail at the start. Leave room to grow.

I made a proper cock-a-hoo of my first online biz. I took WAY too long deliberating over the look and feel, trying to get it perfect for a non-existent audience. I wanted my message to resonate with EVERYONE, to be something peeps were jumping through flaming hopes to get to. It didn’t work! But I learnt a valuable lesson. Second time round I simply DID MY BEST. I created a basic, clean, easy to navigate website, and got on with the job of creating GOOD content to start making some money. Note I used the word ‘good’ content and not “GREAT”. As time has passed I’ve learnt more about my audience and have re-evaluated, refined and re-designed as my audience dictates. I listen to them, and adjust my chariot’s route accordingly.

So start with what you can. Get the basics in place. Worry about the spectacular look and feel a little further down the line once your chariot has gathered some speed and you’ve some customers on board. Don’t get too hung up on the look, the feel, the name, the brand, the cohesiveness of what you are doing. Just do your best with what you’ve got. Get yourself in front of your audience. People will buy in to YOU. The fact that you may not have an all singing, super stonking brand to rival Coca Cola will not stop your biz reaching greatness over time.

Trust in you. Your message, and the service/goods you are putting out there, and know that one day you and your chariot will start to sparkle. A little bit of dust here and there at the outset is fine. Don’t sweat it. Just get started.

Audience

You Must Have An

Don’t panic! I’m talking about market research here. OK panic. Just a little. But to get down to the nitty gritty. So many gorgeous girls head on out into the world of solopreneur-ship believing their service or product is the PERFECT thing the world needs right now, without any prior market research. UH-OH!

Now some peeps might love and excel at the whole market research thing. Good on you if you’re one of those marketing marvels. Most of us are not. It can be scary and uncomfortable putting ourselves out there and asking “what do you think of this idea” “would this work for you” “would you be interested in….” Most of our caution is grounded in fear. “OMG what if they hate me/think I’m stupid/laugh at the very idea/tell me it’s been done too much/think my idea has no merit/yadda/yadda/yadda..” Well, they might. That’s the SCARY thing about market research.

But think. Just for a moment. If you don’t put yourself out there and ask these questions to the peeps you are going to target (and you SHOULD know who you’re going to target, and I suggest you niche it down as much as possible), how are you going to know if the time and effort it is going to take to get your biz to a working, profitable, money making machine is going to be worth it? You MUST get to know your audience, know what they want, right from the get go.

The whole “I’d do it anyway because I’M SO PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS!” is fabulous darling. It’s totally supercalifrajilous to have passion. But can you afford to live your passion day in and day out if it brings no financial return?

Lack of market research from the outset about YOUR audience is going to cause you problems. So put your golden chariot cape on and start asking the people you want to sell to whether they are interested in what you’re proposing. In doing so a. you’ll get to understand whether what you propose is going to be worth your time and effort, b. you’ll have a better idea from the outset whether you need to jiggle things around a bit to better suit the audience you want to attract, or c. you’ll realise you need to do something completely different to meet the needs of your proposed audience, or find another audience that fits.

I was a victim of lack of research in my last biz. I just wanted to get it out there. I KNEW the whole world was waiting for me to show up. I didn’t need market research! WRONG. It failed. I had to accept that the message I was putting out was not suited to the audience I was targeting. Lack of initial research meant I got it wrong. It was a good lesson to learn. But I’d like you to avoid the same pain if possible.

I have since niched down. Females. Aged 35-65. Solopreneurs or Career Babes, with an interest in self care and self development. I went out and asked them ‘What would you like from my Life Support Service?’ The answers provided a platform from which to build my biz. And this time it worked. You lovely goddesses showed up. Know your audience. And KNOW what they want.

Not to be a Deirdre Downer here (no offence to any beautiful Deirdre’s out there, I just like the rhyme), but whatever you’re working on with your biz, whatever the timescale you have in mind, double it. Pure experience has taught me that even with the best of intentions, and adding rocket fuel to your chariot, stuff takes time, and more often than not - longer than you think.

When I started creating this membership area for you lovely ladies I figured it would be a couple of months to get enough content ready, the membership area built, and the whole thing launched. WRONG! Try more like five months AND with less content than I had originally intended. Yes, I could have hired peeps to help me with some of the work, but I had very good reason not to (see lesson 6).

Creating, building and attracting an audience to your biz will take time. Any thoughts of overnight success (unless you are hugely lucky or related to Posh Spice), will not happen. Get your head around that. Start-ups are tough and arduous. They’re also wildly exciting and challenging. But still. You’ll be wondering why your website isn’t being built more quickly, why it’s taking longer than you think to build your mailing list, your social media following, your income streams, your systems, your team of golden chariot riding freelancers (see lesson 5). But fear not. You are not alone.

And don’t give up hope. I’m here to tell you VERY clearly, it happens to us all. When you look around at your competitors who are riding the tide of success, it’s really easy to wonder why you aren’t there yet. The answer is because they are most likely 5 to 10 years ahead of you. They’ve been where you are. Doing the hard slog, staying focused day in and day out, waiting for the sun to shine. And shine it will. One day. But probably a day in the future way past where you’ve set your goal.

So be clear at the outset. Everything you touch in your biz is likely to take more time than you think. And because the expectation of many is that the good stuff will happen sooner, when it doesn’t, plenty give up and walk away. You’ve got to be a patient Poppy, and a committed Clara, in it for the long haul, and very clear that overnight success happens to a very select few.

Set your goals. They’re totes great. But also be prepared to move the goal posts as you go. Make them portable. Hang on to your belief in your biz. Allow time, and then add some more.

This lesson is ESPECIALLY true for those of us who are solopreneurs, and even more so if, like me, at the outset you are also juggling family commitments, a paying job, walking the dog, helping your fella run and manage his multiple businesses, and you’re doing everything on the tightest of tight budgets.

It will happen. Generically. In good time. So please don’t send yourself into Mandy meltdowns (sorry Mandy’s), when all your plans take longer than you think.

It Will Take MUCH Longer Than You Think

I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH. Which is why I typed that in big, bold, underscored letters.

If you fail to take the time, and make the effort to look after your own health and wellbeing FIRST, you might get bitten. Badly.

I know too many lovely women who have set their chariots to “Full Charge Ahead”, without thinking about how they will look after numero uno on the journey to business success. That’s why so many highly skilled, wonderful biz goddesses are posting online about burnout. It’s prolific.

And when you are creating a biz, it’s not only tempting to dive right in, burning the candle and the plate it sits on at both ends, but sometimes it’s also NECESSARY. Launches have to happen, deadlines sometimes have to be met (but not always - see lesson 3). But seriously. You MUST have in place a ‘sanity strategy’ in order to ensure you are able to cope in your life and business FOR THE LONGER TERM.

If there is one thing I have very first hand experience of, it’s burnout. CHRONIC burnout. Which happened to me the first time around in 2001. When I was at my height as a personal trainer, racing around training 9+ people a day, travelling 500-700 miles a week, teaching classes, eating on the go, not sleeping enough, NOT SWITCHING OFF ENOUGH. It was all about my biz, until my body said ‘NO MORE!’ My chariot backfired, burped and broke down. So did my body. Fifteen years on I still carry the consequences of ignoring ME, and putting all my clients, my biz and everyone else I could think of FIRST.

So. Consider this. How and when will you take downtime? When will you take a break from your business? When and how often will you schedule in a digital detox and remove yourself from the online world ENTIRELY. How will you self care? With yoga? Massage? Reiki? A long bath? A regular walk in nature with the dog? When will you read for pleasure not for business? How often will you put down your iphone/ipad/compoopa and simply spend time with family and friends, laughing, socialising, loving? When will you holiday? How will you eat to support your body in renewal and replenishment? When will you take time to exercise to help your strength and health?

Trust me. These things are PARAMOUNT to your success. Don’t put them on the back burner like I did. Don’t turn to drugs, alcohol, caffeine, crap food and doctor’s visits for medication. PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE IT UNTIL IT IS TOO LATE.

It took me SIX long years to get back to functioning at about 80%. Think of what I could have achieved during that time if my health hadn’t gone to hell in a bucket.

YOUR SELF CARE IS YOUR FIRST PRIORITY. SORT OUT YOUR SANITY STRATEGY FIRST.

Most Important

Taking Care Of You Is

Do NOT Employ Staff

Ok. So two points here.

Firstly. I would STRONGLY advise against employing staff at start up. I get that there are some businesses where it’s necessary - for example you might open a restaurant and need to hire a head chef, commis chef, front of house, waitresses etc. So I accept that there are circumstances - dependent on your business - where having staff at the outset is necessary to get your biz off the ground.

But in particular I’m talking about businesses similar to mine - i.e., online. If you need to hire staff at all during your online start-up, use freelancers. People who have the skills you require, who do not need to be on your permanent payroll with all the far reaching implications employing people brings. Get the work freelanced out to people who you only have to pay for the hours they work, and are flexible with the hours they can offer. Your initial budget does not need the additional expense of permanent employees.

And on the subject of freelancers….

Uh, how many people do I know who have employed freelancers early on, and when I ask why? I am told “I have no skill set to build websites. I’m great at making clay pots/life coaching/telepathy/selling shoes/designing coats for frogs, but building websites? Nah.. I’d HATE to have to do that.” You can replace the words ‘websites’ with social media, adverts, photography, book keeping, financials, setting up systems… I KNOW LOTS OF PEEPS WHO VERY EARLY ON HAVE OFFLOADED TASKS THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO DO THEMSELVES.

How many peeps do I know who have also offloaded work they are not interested in, find boring, can’t be bothered with - AND have paid a LOT of money out to freelancers before their business has made a single dime in sales? I KNOW LOTS OF PEEPS WHO HAVE DONE THIS. How many peeps do I know that lack full control of their business because they’ve offloaded all the stuff they don’t like/don’t know how to do, and can’t find ‘time’ to learn or do? YOU GUESSED IT…And how many peeps do I know who have lost control of their biz because they don’t know it inside and out - I KNOW PLENTY OF THOSE TOO.

How much did I know when I first started? Stuff all. How many things have I had to learn AND do that I still do and don’t like? Chariot loads. How much did I learn? AS MUCH AS I POSSIBLY COULD. When did I hand over to freelancers? Only when I knew enough about what I was handing over to be able to delegate the freelancer’s work efficiently, and maintain full control of my biz. I did EVERYTHING on my own for the first 12 months. Building a website - I did it with NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE. Same for social media ads, building a members area, creating a mailing list, photography, financials, videos, book keeping. You name it - if I didn’t know it I went away and learnt it. And I kept it that way for as long as I possibly could. I highly recommend you do this too. Learn you business. Learn every aspect of it. Inside and out. Become best friends with Google. And get a thorough understanding of your systems and processes before you consider delegating the work to someone else.

Budget, Budget, Budget

If I had thrown caution to the wind at start up I would have bought myself a brand spanking new MacBook Pro, iPhone and iPad. I could easily have talked myself in to how necessary those purchases were for my biz. I’m an Apple geek. I would not have taken much convincing.

However, being the balanced person I am (most of the time), I recognised that I had to start-up on the tightest of tight budgets. It was another great lesson in how you CAN get there without spending thousands in the process. In my previous biz which failed, I ended up around £2000 in debt by the time I walked away. Not a massive amount in the grand scheme of business failures, but it stung nonetheless.

This time was different. I vowed it would be. It cost me less than £100 to get my website up and running. And I used my clunky old MacBook, iPhone and iPad to get me there, all the way through tutting and hissing, but still…

Everything I did, EVERYTHING, I did with the mindset of “How can I get this done to an acceptable standard for as little cost as possible.” It's surprising just what you can do when you don’t have thousands, or even hundreds of pounds to throw at a new biz.

My biz ran at a cost of roughly £60 a month for the first year - a year the biz was not making money - a time I spent creating content and working on my brand, image, and business self development. I took on extra one-to-one clients to fund that monthly cost and it was money I was able to risk losing if my business did not work. It was a cost I could swallow and move on from if necessary without any long term debt implications.

I searched for good hosting and software at reasonable cost (see lesson 7). I taught myself how to do EVERYTHING. Building a website. Setting up social media. Creating opt-ins. Creating content. Decent photography. Booking keeping. Facebook ads. Google analytics. Heat maps. Membership areas. Adobe photoshop. You name it - if it needed doing, I learnt it and did it myself to save on costs. Yes it took longer. Yes it was exhausting and frustrating at times. But I got to the point where my biz started to make money without having incurred massive debt up until that point. I financed my biz from earnings, not borrowings, and I was realistic about what I could afford and when. Did it take me longer? Yes. Would I do it the same way again? Absolutely.

Be VERY clear about the financial implications of your business and how you’ll manage those financials before your biz starts making money. Be clear about whether you can cope financially if your biz does not succeed. NOTHING in your business is worth risking your home, your health or your relationships for.

Please, pretty please, don’t get carried away with spending in order to get there more quickly, or to offload the stuff you hate (see lesson 5). And FYI - at the time of writing the crusty old MacBook, iPhone and iPad are still hanging on in there. I’ll buy myself new ones one day, I promise.

Be A Know It All

So I’m going out on a limb and repeating myself a little here.

But that’s only because THIS IS SO IMPORTANT.

So forgive me - but I’m acting in your best interests.

The more your learn about every aspect of your biz, the better control you will have over it now and in the future.

I seriously do not like admin. But I do it. I’ve never built a website. But I’ve learnt how. I seriously dislike book keeping (it normally sends me on a chocolate hunt), but I do it and I’ve kept my cupboard full of healthy no sugar chocaroo.

I know how every aspect of my business works. And I also know the status of everything. I know my financials. I know my web visitors. I know how many followers I have on FB and Insta. I know my mailing list numbers. I know my opt-ins, the size of the graphics I need to use in FB ads, how to find an API key (NEVER even heard of that one before I needed it to set up my opt-in), I know which plugins I have on my site, how much they cost, and how they work.

I’m not blowing my own trumpet here. I’m simply pointing out - again - that if you want to maintain control of your biz, if you want it to function well, if you want to be in a position where you can delegate work effectively - you have to know what it is you are delegating. How it works, what needs to be done, and how to do it yourself. There may be times in the future of your biz where you lose staff at short notice. You need to know how to pick up the pieces and keep going so that your chariot continues to run smoothly.

Passing off work to a stranger with no real knowledge of that work yourself can land you in deep doodah. If you don’t know it - don’t give it away. Learn it first and then find the support you need where you know your stuff and are able to maintain control of your biz and delegate effectively.

There’s not a lot you can’t learn about your biz online these days FOR FREE. utube and Google are my best online buddies. They have taught me things I’d never even heard of - like API keys.

Learn to wear a variety of hats. Don’t worry if they don’t match your dress. Just learn, learn learn. It will be invaluable for you and your biz.

Your own learning and self development in your biz should be a lifelong journey. Be enthusiastic about learning all aspects of your biz. Make notes, keep an information bible you can refer to when needed, be the most knowledgeable person you employ. You’re the one steering the chariot dear. Finance, IT, Social Media, Marketing, Branding, Book keeping, Admin, Systems, and on and on and on… Learn it. Be wise. Be a know it all - in a good way.

Comparison Syndrome Kills

In my humble opinion this is often where trolling starts. When people compare themselves with others, do not like what they see, feel a failure, and lash out.

I highly recommend you check out your competitors. First of all because it is reassurance that what you are starting to do can work. But also because it will help you keep an eye on the things they are doing that are bringing them success - things you can re-work and re-create in your own unique style for your own audience.

There’s no need to feel you have to re-invent the wheel on your chariot. Take a look around. See what others are doing that is in your line of work. Do it better. But don’t compare yourself unfavourably to them. It’s hugely self destructive. And they were once where you are - just starting on the ladder to greatness, trying to figure it all out, and make it the best it can be. If they can do what they are doing successfully - you sure can too.

Watch your competitors with interest and excitement. Allow their work to be a platform for creating your own awesome business. Allow their success to inspire your own ideas, your own greatness.

And a word of CAUTION.

If you are seriously contemplating copying your competitors verbatim. Don’t. Just don’t. I’m sure you’re a beautiful Goddess with principles, and the very thought of plagiarising someone’s work leaves a biter taste in your mouth. Being a full on copy cat is unpleasant. And at some point it will come back and bite the perpetrator on the bum. That’s Karma.

There are those out there with low morals. I wish it weren’t so. They will take a person’s hard work - including yours - work that has involved sweat and tears - and they will use it as their own. Mostly because they cannot be assed to do the hard work required to get their own work out. It stinks. Terribly.

There are beautiful Goddesses out there in this big wide world who work in a similar field to me. Some of them are light years ahead of where I am right now. I could let that pull me down. But instead they inspire me. They remind me there is an audience out there. And that there will be peeps - like you my dear dear lady - who will be happy to hear my message - my way.

I keep a close eye on my competitors. I LOVE to see what they are doing. I LOVE to see their successes. They help get my creative juices flowing, creating good content for you.

I would never in a million, bazillion, trillion years think of taking their work and marketing it as my own. And I don’t compare myself unfavourably to them either. Neither should you. Don’t compare. Use your competitors as research, allow them to inspire you to greatness too. Keep it positive, upbeat, keep your self belief, however far behind them you may currently be. One day you’ll be the leader too.

Reserch, Research, Research

This lesson is similar to lesson 2 (you must have an audience).

Before you implement or use ANYTHING in your biz, research it thoroughly.

I’m not saying this will always protect you. But it will sure as hell help.

Web hosting? Research it. Web design? Research it. Plugins? Research those babies too… Mailing list providers, social media automators, membership sites, graphic designers, accounting packages, freelancers, routes to market, seminars, books, felt tip pens you are using in your creative endeavours (like me), research, research, research.

Before you spend a penny on ANYTHING, research it thoroughly to be as sure as you can that it is right.

As already mentioned I need a new Macbook. And when the time comes to make my purchase I could simply walk into the Apple shop, point to one that is a replica of my current one (albeit more up to date), and shout “I’ll have that one.” But no. Times have moved on. My Macbook is heading for ten years old. Bless. And I want to make sure my next purchase will be capable of carrying my business for another ten years if necessary. So I’ve researched it. ALOT. Looked at all the options and considered. And I have the results logged in my financials bible. My purchase will be a Macbook Air 13” 8GB. The most cost effective option (of course), with sufficient memory/capacity to carry me for years to come.

I did similar research for a suitable web host (had to be UK based with UK call centres, compatible with wordpress, with a number of mailboxes and other bells and whistles), same for my membership site, mailing list provider, plugins, accountancy software etc.. It was all researched thoroughly. Which is why - for now - it all works rather well. Ding dong.

I’m fully aware that some of my software will need to upgrade as my business grows, but I’ve researched those too. I know where I’m heading and when I’ll arrive there. I had to be super careful about using software and hardware that would enable me to launch my online biz on a really tight budget. And I did it. I didn’t just pick out the first thing and use it. I stood my ground, did my research, asked questions. Found out what others were using successfully, asked for feedback, read all the relevant literature, and made a balanced decision based on the information I researched.

It’s a great grounding in successful business building. Thorough research will help steer you in the right direction with clarity. It may not always work. But I have to say to date - because of research - my mistakes have been small, manageable, and without any serious financial implications.

So put your professor specs on and get your research done. You’ll thank yourself for it over the longer term.

If ever there was something we biz girls are good at, it’s putting off writing instructions for every system in our biz. I hold my hands up on this one. But I’m getting there. And I wish I’d started much earlier. Which is why I’m sharing this lesson with you.

The systems that help your business function and flow NEED written instructions. So that your biz and everyone in it works cohesively. The sooner you put system instructions in place for every part of your business, the easier your growth and management will be, and the less firefighting you’ll be involved in.

As your business grows and you start employing freelancers, or even employees to help - having clear written instructions for all your systems/operation will ensure those people can take on board their responsibilities in a way that is consistent rather than fragmented.

Let me give you an example. Say you have a SYSTEM where you create a Newsletter every week to send to your audience at 9.00am every Wednesday morning. And the design of that Newsletter is consistent and matches the rest of your brand, and there are key things you ALWAYS refer to in your Newsletters, for example your most recent blog post. And your audience has been receiving that Newsletter for a year - and they love it. It WORKS for them. Then you decide to freelance it out. You tell the freelancer to take a look at past Newsletters and follow the same format. You’re stuffed up to the neck with other work, so you’re glad to offload it and let them get on with the job in hand. And they are totally professional. And hugely creative. And, thinking they are acting in the best interests of you - they do a little makeover. And when you receive the draft for approval it’s NOTHING LIKE YOUR NORMAL NEWSLETTER. You’re now in meltdown because the darn thing is due to go tomorrow, you’ve got to start over, and you can’t get hold of the freelancer because they are in another time zone. By the time you can contact them, your sending deadline will have passed. Bump. You’re up half the night frantically re-doing it yourself, and when you do speak to the freelancer they take offence, and you STILL have to pay them.

Now if you have written instructions for your newsletter system - in detail - AND for every other system in your biz, you can provide clear, concise, step by step written instructions to anyone you need to, and know you are providing guidelines that will maintain consistency and flow. People will be much less likely to go gadding off doing their own thing, and many peeps will also feel much more comfortable having clear written guidelines to follow which help create a cohesive and uniform working environment.

Start systemising your biz from the get go. Don't leave it like I did. It’s much easier at the start than further down the line when everyone is singing from a different hymn sheet, and you’re running around like a loon trying to tidy up the ensuing mess. Be committed to creating written instructions for EVERY system in your operation, and your business will flow accordingly.

Systemise To Monetise

Learn Your Lessons

Get On Your Chariot And Ride Your Biz To

Greatness

Let Me Know How You Get On!

Copyright jennymlane.com 2016