Building up your business to supplement a full time wage can sometimes be daunting and even seem unobtainable on your darker days. However, by breaking down tasks into smaller more achievable ones things won’t seem quite as daunting.
Commit to sending a newsletter and blogging at least once a week.
Consistency is key! It doesn’t matter if it is only your Mum, sister and aunty reading your newsletter and blog each week. Keep turning up and writing as though there are 1,000 people reading your information. You may hear crickets after every post and have every question go unanswered but over time your audience will grow and they will keep turning up week after week because you do.
The other bonus of this is that you remain focused on your business and your end goal. Plus, if no one is seeing those earlier posts, think of all the recycled material you can republish once you get really busy!
Back yourself and stop listening to the negativity.
Remember the day you decided to quit your job (or not return to your job after maternity leave) and how good it felt, and probably a bit scary too. But, you did it and you walked out excited about what the future had in store. Then reality hit and the bills kept coming and you are working so many hours and seeing small results. The doubt crept in…and then your family and friends started seeing your doubt and fuelled it by asking if you would be better off getting a job. They mean well, after all they are only thinking of you but it doesn’t help.
The best thing you can do for yourself is to stop listening to anyone else, including those voices in your head and just keep going about your business. Literally. Look at your long term goal, take some time out to remember why you made the decision to work for yourself and get back to work, you’ve got this.
Take notice of how you feel on your most positive days and try and capture something from that day that you can draw on when your self doubt kicks in. You may find comfort in knowing even the most successful business people have their bad days too, they just manage it better.
Join a small business group, mastermind group or get a coach/mentor.
These may seem like things only larger businesses or more established businesses do but they are absolutely invaluable for start ups to. On those days like the one described above, you can speak with your support team and they will help you pick up the pieces and get back on track. They are not invested in you as a family member or friend, they are invested in you as a person running your own business so the support is on a completely different level.
These groups don’t have to cost money and they don’t even have to be local, there are so many small business groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and other online channels. Some of the best relationships I have made are within these online groups and they just seem to really get me and have experienced all of the challenges I might have come up.
If you are working for yourself, it can be lonely, these groups will make you feel like you are part of a team again.
Offer to speak at a local event or create your own.
No one can sell your business the way you can. This may seem completely daunting and something you would never consider doing but hear me out. This is particularly useful for services based businesses but works for product based too.
Why not contact your local chamber of commerce, women in business, small business group etc and offer to speak. They are often stuck for speakers and would love to hear from you.
If this isn’t an option then what about running your own presentation. Offer to speak at the local community house, accountant, gym, health food shop, fashion store, cafe, wherever you think your potential customers could be. This arrangement costs you nothing and is a value add to the business offering your presentation. Just make sure at the end of your presentation you have something to easy to sell such as a package, product or set price service, you’ll be surprised at the number of people that take it up.
You’ll probably feel sick to your stomach at the thought of this but once you have done one, they just get easier. You might even enjoy it!
Business is all about being consistent, showing up each day and always keeping your end goal at the front of your mind. Keep this in mind when your little voices start talking to you and leading you astray.
Your task for this week is to commit to the four points above and see how these simple changes will make a big difference in allowing you to grow your business organically.
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