Episode 03: 3 Business Owning Lessons

You can listen to the episode here by clicking the play button above, or you can download the Soundcloud app and download to listen on the go! 

For those of you who prefer to read, I have included the transcript here below!

 

In today’s episode I want to quickly share with you 3 specific lessons that I feel like I have learned as a business owner- that I have been thinking about lately.

These are some things that I have just learned with experience over time, and cjust ontinuously find myself coming back to and still learning. So I hope you find what I am about to share both encouraging and helpful today!

Alright, the first lesson I want to share with you is who you surround yourself with- both in person and online- really does matter and make a significant difference.

You’ve most likely heard the quote from Jim Rohn that says “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” I believe that this isn’t just for in person relationships- but online too!

I want to ask you, who are you surrounding yourself with who is challenging you to grow? Who is pushing you to succeed? Who are you following on social media that speaks LIFE into your business, your home, or your personal growth? What Business Facebook Groups are you a part of? What books are you reading? What creative networks are you engaged with?

You see, I have learned, and goodness- honestly I am still learning, to become very protective of who I am surrounding myself with. If someone I follow on Facebook is always posting negative rants or discouraging comments, then I often make the decision to unfollow them.

If an account I follow on Instagram makes me feel like nothing I ever do in business will be good enough- I no longer hesitate to unfollow. If I attend a creative meet up and I leave feeling more discouraged or negative about my business than when I walked in, then guess what I will no longer be carving time out in my schedule for anymore?

I don’t surround myself with people who are always talking about how hard things are, and that includes online. Instead I look for leaders who are full of encouragement. Who make me want to be a better business owner. Who challenge me to hustle and work harder- in a GOOD way. Who speak words of FAITH and LIFE.

Because my mindset and my results are too important to not care that much.

Ok, so a second lesson I wanted to share with you quickly is  that the whole “Build it and they will come” idea? Yeah…so that doesn’t work.

I remember years ago when I had just hired my first professional designer for my photography website- and thought this would solve everything. That my website alone would make the difference, and I had this idea in my head that when publish got pushed on that baby and launch day came- that inquiries and bookings would come pouring in.

I’ll never forget when my friend warned me in the design process, she told me “Just make sure you have real expectations after you launch it.”

What I had to yet to understand is that now that I had the dreamy website I had always wanted, that now the real work actually begins. The work of Pushing my business out there for people to come to my website, the work of having that branded client experience ready to meet them on the other side.

I wanted to bring this up here because I see it happen a lot. Launching a website in and of itself is not a one stop fix. It’s crazy important- but you don’t launch a website and sit back and watch your inbox just explode with dream inquiries- your marketing is still going to need a game plan!

Now, a third and last lesson I want to share with you today is how working from home as a full time business owner takes some serious discipline.

I remember the days of working another full time job and I would see my friends in the industry who were living that seemingly “full time dream life” and I remember just thinking- man- as soon as I can make that happen everything will be AMAZING!

Now don’t get me wrong- there are some serious perks to working from home full time. But it also takes some serious discipline on my part.

Which sometimes I am super strong in- where I am hustling like crazy- at my desk bright and early, ending the day feeling really accomplished, and then there are days where the couch and some popcorn and catching up on all the episodes of This is Us is really how I would actually prefer to spend the entire day.

One of the things I have had to really learn is how to take my own work hours seriously. Now that doesn’t mean I have to show up to my in home office in a power suit with fully done hair and makeup everyday, but it does mean that I can’t schedule other things AS IF I am just home with nothing important to work on in my business.

So whether this means being intentional about when I schedule coffee dates with other photographers , meeting a friend at the mall- or even just little things like grocery shopping.

(which let’s be honest, for me, most often turns into stopping in 5 other stores and before I know it the entire day is lost to meaningless errands for something trivial like a new lipstick)

I think productively working full time from home looks different for everyone- just as full time itself looks different for everyone- and it definitely has taken me some time to learn what works best for me so I would encourage you- if you are not yet full time- to have that realistic expectation coming in-and if you are already working from home full time- to be more aware of how you are spending your time.

It’s essentially the one resource we can never get back- and successful business owners use it extremely well!

I hope you enjoyed this episode and the things I wanted to share with you today. I’ve received a lot of great feedback about this casual little audio experience so I plan on keeping it up!

Know that I’m rooting for you this week, and I can’t wait to share more content like this in the next episode!