My Top 5 Business Mistakes (And What They Taught Me)
When I started out in business, my mind was filled with ideas and goals and fluffy dreams. I was so positive and full of excitement for my business future. My coaching was going to help so many women in business to reach their goals, and in turn they’d help me to reach mine. It was a win-win. Nothing could stand in my way.
As time moved on, I realised the harsh truth of business. Without money, a business isn’t a business – it’s a hobby that you can’t afford to keep up in the long term. No pipeline, no revenue generating activities, no interest online means no money. No profit. No business.
The self-doubt started to kick in – the comparisonitis, the self-sabotage, the imposter syndrome. How was I going to be as good as any of them – the ones who had ‘made it’? The Marie Forleo’s. The Mel Robbins’, the Brené Brown’s? All my role models – how the hell did they do it? How did they get up every morning and put their big girl pants on and get everything done?
I know they had bad days like everyone else, but that gave me no comfort (I don’t want anyone having a bad day)! Why did this have to be so hard? Why couldn’t I just be content with a well-paid office job like everyone else? But I couldn’t, I wasn’t made like that, I couldn’t sit in an environment where I wasn’t growing or learning or evolving.
The office was not an option.
I’ve made many mistakes being in business, I call them character building lessons. I don’t even like the word ‘mistake’ or ‘failure’ because there are no mistakes or failures anymore, only situations you won’t find yourself in again, or pointless tasks you’ll avoid to reach your goals faster.
Here’s my top 5 ‘mistakes’ in business (and what they taught me), the things I hope you can avoid if possible on your entrepreneurial journey.
1. Not being visible enough to connect with clients
This one is huge, and this was one of my first major mistakes. I hid. I buried myself in writing courses and programmes and creations that never saw the light of day. I procrastinated on launching anything under the guise of perfectionism, that way I didn’t have to tell people about my work or ‘sell’ anything.
But in today’s world (more than ever in the midst of COVID-19), your online presence is the best way to reach your ideal client. Hiding will not get you in front of clients, or help you sell your products and services. Hiding only makes things worse – it magnifies all the things you think are wrong with you and what you offer. Hiding stops you moving forward.
You’ve got to reach out, to connect, to tell your story. How are people going to connect with you otherwise? How are they going to know if you’re the right fit for them or if they want to work with you?
This has been a huge learning curve for me as I’m a natural introvert. I love my own company and being alone with my work and creativity. But I had to show people what I could help them with, what transformations I could help them achieve in their businesses. Visibility was a key component of that. I committed to one post a day across the platforms, and shared stories, tips, advice and asked questions. It wasn’t easy but being consistent and committed make it bearable!
Trust in the process.
Action Steps:
Commit to one post (or video) on one platform every week for a month, then increase it to two posts (or videos) a week after that for a month, and build it up gradually.
Choose the platform your Ideal Paying Client is most likely to be on and get connecting.
Tell stories of your past, the mistakes you’ve made, the testimonials you have, the advice you can give. Be the person who stands up for what’s good (and bad!) about your industry.
2. Not focusing on the numbers, the revenue generating activities or ‘selling’
As business owners, we don’t focus on the numbers enough, not just the finances, but the reach outs, the connections, how many clients we need to make a profit, and the big dream numbers too! The ‘I can buy a new car/house/holiday numbers!’ I made the mistake of hiding from the numbers at the beginning of my business with my usual self-limiting belief that ‘I’m no good with numbers’ (have you said that to yourself before?!)
As a result, I’d no focus on how my business worked, no strategy relating to the numbers in my business and what they meant to me. I didn’t know how many clients I needed to have a good month or an ‘off the charts’ month, how many people I needed to reach to generate leads or how many discovery calls I should have, how many people to connect with and develop relationships with online and offline.
I focused on the stuff that didn’t really matter, procrastinating on sending out the newsletter or blog or information on how to work with me, scrolling through social media news feeds, comparing myself to others on LinkedIn or Instagram or Facebook, and falling deeper into the negative spiral of thinking I wasn’t good enough.
I started working on this major gap in my knowledge, got familiar (and even friendly!) with my numbers, and now I love them! Numbers in business are where the magic happens (like it or not!) – they are the backbone of your biz.
Action steps:
Answer the following questions:
What numbers should you be focusing on in your business right now?
How many clients do you need per month to cover personal and operational costs?
What emotional reason do you need for this money (holiday of a lifetime, a new house, financial security)?
3. Not doing the inner work
For me, this was a gamechanger! In the negative spiral, I thought I’d never be good enough to make it in business. Doing the inner work meant facing my fears and managing my emotional triggers. I was the most confident person on the outside, but inside I was confused about what my purpose was and what my values were. I wasn’t clear on what I was selling either, or what my clients needed from me.
If you don’t believe in what you stand for or what you sell to others, you’re already losing. Doing the inner work helps you manage all the ways you could sabotage yourself as you play bigger in your business. It means digging deep and getting honest about the areas that will trip you up as you level up.
Different triggers will present themselves at different levels of your business, and the inner critic will try to pull you back into your comfort zone. Your inner critic doesn’t want you to follow your dreams, it wants you to be secure and stable and not rock the boat. Entrepreneurship is anything but secure and stable, you need to grow and evolve.
The inner work will confront and make you aware of your inner critic, your imposter syndrome, your self-sabotaging tendencies, your procrastination and perfectionism ‘excuses’ for not putting your work out there into the world. The inner work will put a mirror up to your weaknesses, your tendencies to hide from things that scare you, but being aware and learning to manage these blocks will make you more determined than ever to make your business work for you.
Action Step:
Answer the following questions.
What does your inner critic say to you every day?
What’s keeping you small?
What blocks or triggers are holding you back from playing big in your business? Do the inner work!
4. Not realising self-care was part of the job!
It’s an obsession, isn’t it?! You can’t think about anything else, you’re constantly coming up with ideas and plans and concepts for new courses, programmes, and products. You’re on the phone or computer til all hours day and night, you can’t sleep some nights for all that’s going on in your mind.
But this can’t go on forever. Something’s gotta give, and most often that’s your body or your brain. Burnout is very real for entrepreneurs, it’s one of the factors that can cause businesswomen to turn their backs on it for good. Juggling business and family life can take its toll.
Self-care needs to be part of your entrepreneurial routine, exercise and rest are just as important as sales calls and creativity. Not resting enough means you’re prioritising the business over all else, and you are more than the business.
A lesson learned, just in time for me as I sat for 12 hours or more a day not exercising, not eating the right foods, and not walking the dog for long enough to get all the energy out of him (the biggest sin!). Those walks were a life saver, fresh air, fun with Bowie, meeting people on the street and chatting, they may have been the only people I saw all day!
Action Steps:
Make an appointment with yourself every day to walk the dog, run, jog, do Pilates, Yoga, cardio - whatever floats your boat! 30 minutes every day 5 days a week without fail.
Get some sleep and eat good food (not junk food!).
Journal, meditate, or listen ambient music to rest your mind for 20 minutes a day
5. Not focusing on my strengths
In the early days, I thought I had to be good at everything, to be proficient in areas I’d little or no knowledge of at all. I studied as much as I could about all things business – sales, marketing, finance, legal, social media, digital marketing – you name it. But the things I was best at was coaching, creating courses, and teaching my clients new ways to manage their businesses, their productivity and their mindset. I nearly burned out through all the learning and was so hard on myself that I nearly gave up. I looked at the gaps and identified ways to outsource so I could focus on my strengths.
There’ll always be gaps in your business, blind spots you can’t see until you’re up close and personal. I tried too hard to be all of the things when I started in business. But it was the Zone of Genius I needed to focus on – the things that only I could do in my business – no one else.
When you concentrate on these areas, you’re aligning with your values in business, and what makes you stand out from everyone else.
By outsourcing the stuff you’re not great at and focusing on the areas that only you can do in your business, you’ll massively improve your chances of attracting the right clients, Your own acceptance of the weaknesses and blind spots in your business will also lead to self-improvement.
Action Step:
Answer these questions:
What are your Zones of Genius?
Where are you best in your business?
What are your blind spots and how can you outsource those?
Take time out every evening to reflect on your day and work out what improvements you need to make the next day even better.
All of these things sound really simple and doable, but there is work to be done in all these areas. These mistakes could have cost me my business without the self-awareness to change, adapt and learn. Entrepreneurship is all about experimenting, taking a chance, making things happen. The road is long, but it can be simplified by focusing on the key things above, and not making the same mistakes I did.
If I can help you in any way with any of the points above, especially with the inner work and strengths pieces, please get in touch at hello@lynseyhanratty.com, I’d love to help!
