Sean Simpson, Expansion Director
This past holiday season, one of my good friends came home to visit. Such things are typical at that time of year. Families travel, friends reconnect, playing catch up with one another when they can find the breathing room to do so. This visit was no different. We met up to talk about what’s new, asked for the typical life updates, but this time we added a new question to the standard fair.
“What’s inspiring you these days.”
I watched a video on how to deepen conversations and this was one of the questions that was suggested. Turns out, it’s a good one! My friend goes on to tell me about his photography business that he’s launching in New York. He describes the journey that brought him to this point, shows me his website, tells me about the partners he’s working with, all of the fun things that come with a new business. I congratulate him knowing this is a big step for him, but as I give my words of encouragement, in the back of my head I’m sharpening my knives.For the last two-and-a-half years, my day-to-day revolves around helping entrepreneurs which comes with A LOT of tough love. I was prepared to extend that courtesy to him. As I get to asking my questions about his operation, his pricing, his branding, his audience, I see the wheels turning in his head, punctuated by several expressions indicating there were a few lightbulb moments.
As the conversations continued, he told me there were so many things he didn’t consider. He then goes on to say “you should be writing this down somewhere.” I brush off the suggestion thinking to myself nobody’s going to read what I have to say. But then it hits me. My entrepreneurs have said the exact same things to me in their coaching sessions.
“Nobody’s going to read my posts”
“Nobody’s going to pay me that much for my service”
“Nobody cares what I have to say”
So here we are. In an attempt to combat the ever present imposter syndrome and be an example to my entrepreneurs, I launched Signature Blend – Tips to Launch your Small Business. In my series of posts, I spill the beans on steps you should consider when starting your own business.
To commemorate the first post, my first tip was Just Start. One of the conversations I have most often with my entrepreneurs is not letting great be the enemy of good. Having a perfectionist mindset can lead to paralysis by analysis, causing the business to be nothing more than an idea collecting dust. Not everything needs to be in place on day one. You have to give yourself grace in the beginning knowing that your business will only get better with time. The longer you work in, and more importantly, on your business after launching, the more you’ll get to add the big ideas you had at the beginning. Here’s my challenge to anyone who comes across this post. If you have that idea for a business, just get started. If you have that new line of product you want to introduce, just get started. If you have that new blog you want to start, spill those beans. Let this be your motivation to get started today.
