3 Things Every Business Owner Needs to Know From the Start

When you’re floundering and totally consumed by your work, it’s impossible to tread water long enough to assess the situation and make a plan for getting back on shore.

It’s like being in the ocean — when you look into the depths, it’s just dark and murky. But when you scoop a little glass of water up, you can see through it because it’s not murky at all — it’s really clear.

If your business were an ocean and we scooped up just one little glass, what would you find?

What kind of clarity and insights could you gather by taking things piece by piece rather than worrying about EVERYTHING all at once?

Here are three things I wish someone had told me from the start, broken down into little glasses of insight.

1. The bad days are actually the best thing that can happen to your business.

They teach you what you like and dislike about your business, and usually bad days are caused by some kind of oversight or lack of time. They’re stressful for sure, but a great natural teacher of how and what to outsource, and they really make you look at your time management strategies.

Think of a recent time you had a bad day, and what “caused” it.

What things could you have done differently that day?

Is there any way you could have managed that day better (ex: by outsourcing or managing your time better, creating automated systems, etc.?)

Let’s say, for example, your bad day was caused by a client asking for last minute work. Youreally like this client (and the income they provide) so you say yes.

But you don’t realize until halfway through this work your client only gave you some of the information you needed, and now they aren’t responding to your emails. So, you do the best with what you have, but because of all the guesswork it takes twice as long to do, which means you don’t get around to writing that email announcing the new product thatyou’re launching.

Woah, this is a mess!

First thing first — I know you love that client, but it’s OK to say no to them, especially if you have other responsibilities or priorities, even if they are for your own business.

But, if you had written the email announcing your product launch ahead of time and scheduled it to send, you would have had some options: 1) say yes to your client 2) say no to your client and have a much deserved relaxing day instead.

2. You will have irrational jealousy.

It always surprises me that no matter how much I feel like I’ve accomplished, I will always eventually find someone I’m jealous of or admire, but secretly wish she’d fail. Hey, I’m human, and if you told me you never felt this way, I’d try to replace your battery pack.

Think of  three people you’re jealous of. What are they doing with their businesses that you’re not?  What are three things you could do to accomplish similar things in your business?

It’s human nature to feel jealous, or want to be like someone else, or to be better than someone else. But it’s not ok to just wish they would fail. Their failure will NOT create your success or make you feel better. Let those irrational feelings fuel you to keep working on your business and the products or services you are putting out into the world.

Because we all know what comes around, goes around. So let’s send out some positive energy so that’s what we get back. Don’t forget that karma is a b****.

3. Hustling hard is not forever, but it can feel that way.

I remember the first time someone said they took weekends off and that we were doing our clients a disservice if we didn’t have office hours we stuck to. I just about fell out of my chair.

How could I possibly take a break when my clients needed me, and I needed the income from my clients? Slowly but surely, I’m beginning to try this method, and it’s done wonders for my productivity.

Surprisingly, I thought it would be hard to jump back into work on Mondays but I actually find myself fantasizing about it.

Where is some space you could create for yourself in your own business? (ex: a morning off, a day off or even a weekend off )

What activities could you do during that time off to refresh and recharge your energy?

What if you did this on a weekly basis, what kind of changes might you see in your life?

Believe me, I know how strong the desire is to alway be available for your clients, always be working on some part of your business. But I also know living like that leads to burnout, meltdowns, nightmares, and wanting to quit.

You are allowed to give yourself time off. Did you hear me?

YOU ARE ALLOWED TO GIVE YOURSELF TIME OFF.

When you take, an afternoon, a day, a weekend, even a few hours and remove yourself away from your business, that’s when some of your best ideas will come to you. When you’re relaxed you allow room to creative ideas to be born. So don’t forget to give that to yourself!

Let me know in the comments what you think of these three ideas and how you will implement them.

One thing you shouldn’t be stressed about is having your legal ducks in a row. Take the quack, I mean quiz, now to find out more about what you don’t know you don’t know.