Last Updated on: 2nd February 2024, 10:29 pm
So, I haven’t blogged for years. I haven’t even visited this site until now, and I was surprised to see that my last posts were from two years ago.
A lot has happened since then. There was a time when I was in a rut (probably about the time I stopped blogging) where I didn’t feel motivated to keep going or to do much else for that matter. And then business picked up, and I got so busy that all my time was spent on work, again leaving no time for blogging or anything outside work.
I was getting so much work at the time that I was at a loss on how I could scale my business. At the time, I was doing everything myself—marketing, recruiting, creating my website, and even writing and editing despite having a team of writers and editors.
I kept telling myself that surely, I didn’t have to be so overworked all the time. I didn’t think business owners and entrepreneurs had to be so busy all the time. What about the freedom of time? People supposedly leave their jobs and start a business to have more time to do other things, but that was definitely not happening for me.
Since I was a computer science graduate, I knew nothing about running or growing a business. At any rate, there isn’t even an Entrepreneurship course that would teach people how to start and grow a company from the ground up.
Most business courses teach you how to manage a business that’s presumably already established. Also, every business starts and grows in different ways, so there’s no single procedure or formula to do so.
Although I love to read and I know I should if I want to learn more, I really don’t have the time, so I just watch YouTube videos on business topics and attend trainings—whether online or offline—whenever there are some available.
I sought to learn how I could grow my business without killing myself. Many of the business lessons I learned surprised and shocked me, and I’m still trying to figure out how best to implement them.
Business Lesson #1: You should be working ON your business–not IN your business–after 6-18 months of operation
Although I “launched” my startup only in 2016, I’ve been working with my team since 2014, and although I had a team, I was still very much involved in the writing and editing tasks as well. These tasks took so much of my time that they did not only cause me to burn out, they also prevented me from growing my business, which involved engaging in marketing initiatives.
I was so busy catching writing and editing deadlines, that it took up all my time, and this went on up to the second year of my company “launch” (for lack of a better word).
So, how do I start working ON my business when I was practically the brand? When I reach out to prospective clients, I leverage on my experience and skills, so I feel that they choose to work with me because of my skills and experience. As such, I felt that I would be doing them a disservice if I didn’t get heavily involved in the content creation process.
Another challenge I had was that working ON the business meant I had to let go of some control of the actual work that my team does.
Still, I thought that delegating so much of the work would reduce my margins—why delegate something when I can do those tasks, allowing me to earn more?
If I continued to think this way, though, then I’d tire myself out and I probably won’t be earning much more than I did anyway.
Thanks to the advice of Blake Young, the trainer from Daymond John’s Success Formula Training, which I attended in Oct. 2018, I got to implement strategies where I would be properly compensated should clients want me to be involved in the content creation process.
His advice led me to hire someone to assist me with the administrative tasks and took steps to establish a system that would enable my team to provide quality output with less supervision from me.
Although I was very reluctant to let go of that control, I realized that it lifted a heavy weight off my shoulder as I can now focus on initiatives to grow my business without worrying about how my team is doing.
Business Lesson #2: Make sure your daily work tasks are geared towards growing your company
A trainer asked us to reflect on whether what we do daily are things or tasks that will grow our business. If not, then it would take us a long time to reach our goals.
I reflected on what I did everyday, and my tasks comprised mainly of writing, editing, responding to emails, processing salaries, etc. None of these involved initiatives that would grow my business – well, no wonder it wasn’t growing.
Again, this meant I had to be more hands-off from the daily tasks and focus more on the bigger picture so-to-speak. My daily tasks should comprise only or mainly of tasks that grow my business. In the next post, I’ll share what the 3 ways to grow your business are (and yes, there are only three).
Business Lesson #3: Perfection is the enemy of great
“Perfection is the enemy of great,” was the exact phrase Blake told me when I described my problem to him. He was a business consultant, and I was asking him how I could scale my business, given that I was doing so much.
He told me that my problem was that I wanted to ensure everything was perfect (based on my standards) as I felt the need to review each piece of content we created despite having experienced people in my team. He said that this mentality would keep me from succeeding. He even said that clients won’t really care if there are a few typos or grammatical errors.
I watched videos from other entrepreneurs and they say the same thing, that if you wait for everything to be perfect or complete before you start something, then opportunities might slip by.
However, I find that my clients do care even about the little mistakes. A prospective client even noticed a single typo in a 93-page document! Besides, aren’t we supposed to give the best in everything we do—that means trying to be as close to perfect as possible?
Clearly, I’m still struggling to take in this lesson, as every part of my being wants to scream that it can’t be true. But even the investors on Shark Tank (I’ve been binge watching it) say the same, so I’ll continue to find ways to implement that In my business.
For starters, I need to put more faith and trust In my team that they can do a great job even without my constant supervision.
Business Lesson #4: Money loves speed
Blake and all other trainers I’ve encountered also say that money loves speed, which means the faster you can execute something—whether it’s starting a business or completing deliverables–the more money you’ll get.
I guess this is true. I used to work for a client who charged his clients very low rates while demanding us writers to complete the work very quickly. Despite the low quality of work his company produced and despite the very low costs he charged his clients, he got to earn a lot due to the speed by which he delivered the output (He was delivering thousands of content pieces every week!).
I don’t like that strategy, though, as it would lead to low quality results, which I do not want my company to be known for, and to an overworked team, which would lead to decreased job satisfaction and decreased productivity.
To increase the speed of our content creation process, I created a Content Style Guide (I know I should have had it in place from the start – I had time to work on it only recently, though) to help reduce the editing time. I am also growing my team so that more writers and editors could work on big projects. Of course, I’m also taking myself out of the content creation process whenever possible, as I, too, am among the bottlenecks.
Business Lesson #5: You work to earn money, not to make friends
This is one of the harshest lessons I had to learn. I’m quite the optimist, one who likes to believe that all good things can be preserved if only you try. This goes for business and work relationships, too. I like to consider the members of my team and my clients friends and not just colleagues.
However, as you run and grow your business, you will have to make tough decisions—ones that may hurt these relationships. I find it difficult to terminate members of my team even when they’re underperforming—plagiarizing, submitting late, etc.–because I try to be considerate. I reason that they’re probably going through some personal issues or that they’re just humans—it was probably a one-time mistake.
I find, though, that the more I try to be considerate, the more such behaviors persist. In the end, I just terminate them, but by then, damage has been done—clients may have been lost and a lot of time and effort may have been placed on making up for their shortcomings.
I also recently had to change my pricing structure, which I knew may displease my current clients. I knew they relied on and needed my services and that the pricing changes may hurt their budget, but it was really something I had to do, as growing a business comes with increased costs.
In the end, you just have to do what’s best for you and your business, even if it means cutting ties and severing relationships.
Business Lesson #6: You’re only as strong as your weakest link
This is a lesson Eric Siu shared in one of his videos. He said that he learned it from Eliyahu Goldratt’s book The Goal, which discusses how bottlenecks hinder productivity and how “a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.”
As I was forming my team, I prioritized hiring people with good attitudes over those with good skills. I reasoned that skills can be learned and honed, but a bad attitude cannot be easily changed. I did have a lot of people in my team who were very skilled at what they did but whose attitudes could use some improvement.
I tried my best to coach the not-so-skilled members of my team and spent more time checking and correcting their work. For sure, they would improve over time—or so I thought. Alas, any improvements they’ve had over the years were minimal, if any.
I realized that they hindered me from growing my business (taking in more work or clients and engaging in marketing initiatives) because I was spending so much time coaching them and editing their work. Even after I started having editors in my team, their pace was also slowed down by all the corrections they needed to make.
So, as much as I appreciate all the members of my team and as much as I want to help them improve in their skills, keeping the underperforming members onboard was really dragging down all our work processes. As a result, I’ve been getting more decisive on who to keep and remove from my team. It sometimes makes me feel like I’m being ruthless, but it is what it is.
Business Lesson #7: Sales cures all
This is another lesson I learned from Daymond John’s Success Formula training. Many business problems –lack of cash flow, lack of marketing budget—and even personal problems can be solved by money.
I don’t consider myself materialistic and for many years, I refused to believe that money is all that important, but in recent years, I’ve realized I do need money to pursue my other dreams, that money is not the be all and end all, and that it is just a tool for me to reach my other goals.
Sales cures all, as all money (when it comes to running a business) comes from sales. It ensures that the business continues to operate and grow.
This lesson is tough for me because, as an introvert, I don’t really know how to sell nor do I want to. However, it seems that there’s no going around this if I want to grow my business.
When I first started out, I created my website, shared it on several Facebook groups, wrote a couple of blog posts, and invested in Facebook ads… Then I waited. I waited for three months, but no client came knocking on my door.
Through a series of unfortunate events (It was an embarrassing thing that took place, which I’ll probably share in the future), I discovered that direct marketing was the most effective way for me to get clients. I sent cold messages to contacts on LinkedIn and attended online and offline meetings with clients, which really terrified me.
This was what worked for me, so this is what I continue to do until now.
I also recently joined Alignable, a small business network site, and I try to go out and meet people if they ask to meet up even if they don’t seem like prospective clients. It’s always good to meet new people as they may know someone who needs your services. It was weird, though, cause one contact asked to meet for coffee. He didn’t give any indication of wanting to know more about my business, though—creepy! Of course, I didn’t go.
Something else I didn’t do before was follow up on emails or messages to clients. I was so busy working IN my business. I also didn’t really want to follow up, as I didn’t want to seem pushy, which may turn the clients off.
I’ve been more diligent with following up with clients now, and I realized that there are various reasons they don’t reply to my messages or email. One is that they haven’t read it yet because they’re too busy. My email may have already been buried in their inbox, which means there’s a good chance they won’t get to read it. Another is that they may have read my message but just forgot to respond. Still, some haven’t taken any action on my offer yet because they’re too busy or they’re still considering their alternatives.
By
following up with clients, you get to remind them that they still haven’t
responded to your email (they usually will afterward) or you’ll get to know
where they are in terms of your offer.
I find that, with my clients, it takes around a month or a few months to close a deal, so it helps to stay in touch with them throughout this time. I try to follow up after several days or even after a week, as surely, reading and responding to their emails is not their priority. Before I had an assistant, it would take me months to get back to applicants’ emails.
The next thing I need to muster is the courage to go to networking events. These events are great opportunities to meet people who may need your services, especially if you’re B2B, and for you to become known in your industry.
Business Lesson #8: It’s difficult to scale agencies
This is a lesson I learned from the Marketing School podcast by Neil Patel and Eric Siu. They said that it’s hard to scale an agency beyond a certain point, as the margins decrease as your team grows. They advised that you should use what you earn from your agency to fund other businesses if you want to further grow your income.
This makes sense, as experts say the best way to scale a business and to ensure you achieve the freedom you desire (freedom with your time) is to use automation. However, unlike product-based businesses, service-based businesses aren’t as easy to automate, as the services still come mainly from people with a special set of knowledge, skills, and experiences. These cannot be easily automated, if at all. They can’t even be easily replicated. It’s hard to find people with your exact set of skills and experience.
This lesson is tough for me because I love to write and I can’t see myself not ever wanting to write. In addition, the idea of selling products terrifies me since I don’t know how to do a hard sell. However, I’m willing to give it a try. They say you should have multiple income streams, and this can be one of those income streams.
Selling on Amazon seems like a good idea. You can have them handle order fulfillment so you don’t have to worry about the logistics. If I get into this, the only thing I’ll have to work on is the marketing side, which I’m sort of already doing in my business now. Nevertheless, it’s something new that I have to learn. Well, I’m up for the challenge!
Business Lesson #9: The road to success is quite a lonely one
“The people who laugh at you now will one day tell people how they knew you.”
This was a quote shared by Blake at the Success Formula training. I’m not sure if it was his or someone else’s. Anyhow, it means that you’ll hardly get any support in the beginning, especially if your business idea is perceived as weird or unconventional or if people simply don’t understand what you’re doing.
Unlike when you’re employed where you can count on your superiors and colleagues to give you recognition for your hard work, there’s no one to give you a pat on the back when you’re just starting a business regardless of how hard you work.
It may take time for you to achieve the results you want. You will get a lot of no’s before you get a single yes, and unless you have a business partner who would encourage you or with whom you can share the disappointments, you’re pretty much on your own.
You have to be self-motivated enough to keep on going. You have to believe in yourself and in what you’re doing even when no one else does.
If you persevere and eventually succeed, then you will likely gain the respect of the people who didn’t believe in what you were doing initially. This can be a great reward. However, don’t persevere just to prove people wrong, as you shouldn’t have to feel that you need their approval.
Instead, work hard to reach your goals because you know that they will bring you happiness and will help you pursue your other goals and dreams!
Let me know in the Comments below what lessons you’ve learned in growing your business.
