I’ve seen a few interesting blogposts lately with titles like “10 things you don’t know about me” and “12 things I’ve learned in my first year of blogging”. They reminded me about all the things I didn’t really know, before I started the happychild website. These are 5 things I did not really know about being an entrepreneur until I took the plunge.
1. It’s All About You Yes, even if you are sick or want to take a holiday – you are it – you are the one who needs to update the content, check the comments and answer the emails. So my suggestion is to find a friend or an assistant or a generous relative to help you out here from time to time, or you will start to resent your new baby business. You can also find ways to automate aspects of your business to take the pressure off you when you need a short break. Examples are scheduling tweets via Hootsuite or scheduling newsletter mailouts with newsletter programs such as MailChimp or aWeber.
2. You are Not Alone Even though it’s all about you, there are thousands of men and women who have gone before you and made the same mistakes, you are not alone. So take advantage of this fact early on in your business development and seek out mentors and networking groups where you can find support, information and encouragement. Look at local chambers of commerce, explore your network on LinkedIn, ask other business owners and read magazines relevant to your industry.
3. Intellectual Property is for Small Business Too In my past life I was a lawyer. So I knew that registering a trade mark was an important part of building a successful brand, and protecting it. I spent the money to register my brand via ipaustralia but to be honest, I wondered how important this would be at the early stages of business. Last year I found out how important this was because no matter how small your business is, there is often someone else right behind you either claiming to coincidentally have the same ideas as you or even trying to emulate your brand. Please take my advice on this, see a trade mark lawyer and find out the best way to protect all of your intellectual property.
4. It Always Costs More than You Think When you are preparing cash flow spread sheets and financial projections, you will be advised to over-estimate some of your expenses. This is sound advice and you should follow it. Even if your fixed expenses stay much the same you will find new software, new websites, new books and new services that your small business cannot do without; you will also be confronted with new opportunities and new problems that need to be solved for you to move ahead. You can’t necessarily anticipate what these new expenses might be but I suggest you allow for a few thousand dollars extra in the kitty for your first two years of business. For example, you may end up needing to take legal action to protect your brand (see my last point).
5. It’s Worth It Being an entrepreneur is hard work and requires even more determination and energy than you might think. I kind of knew this but I’m just confirming this for you if you are wondering. What I did not know was whether it would be worth the struggle, the late hours, the self-doubts, the constant juggling and re-prioritising and the personal and financial risk. Well I am here to report that it’s worth it. I have not yet made my first million, or even close to it, but starting up my own business in an area I am passionate about has taught me so much about myself, my capacities and my vulnerabilities. I have met incredible people and become a more creative and resourceful person on my ‘entrepreneur’s journey’. If you are thinking of taking the trip, I say jump in with your eyes wide open, it’s worth it.
