125: Excuses And Fears Whether You Are Starting A Business Or Side Hustle, A Solopreneur
125: Excuses And Fears Whether You Are Starting A Business Or Side Hustle, A Solopreneur, Entrepreneur, Mompreneur, Freelancer, Bookkeeper, Virtual Assistant, Business Owner, Or Self-Employed
Whether you are thinking about starting a new business or you currently have a business, you may be experiencing excuses and fears that are holding you back from moving forward. Starting a business or expanding your existing business can be scary. There are many risks that you, as a business owner, take on, but no matter where you are in your business journey, you need to be aware of when you are using excuses and fear to hold you back. In today’s podcast episode, I talk about the most common excuses and fears that business owners have and how you can deal with them as they appear in your business. I’m also working on a program that will help take you from the level you are at in your business, whether that is the initial phases in getting your business set up and started, making your first 5k, 50k, 100k, or more each year. When you are aware of the excuses and fears you have in your business, you can start taking action to move past them and watch your business succeed. Whether you are starting a business or side hustle, you’re a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, mompreneur, freelancer, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online, or in-house bookkeeper, or a virtual assistant or VA, moving past these excuses and fears will ultimately help you grow as a business owner which will, in turn, help your business grow and succeed as well. These tips are essential whether you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, FreshBooks, or HoneyBooks for your business finances; or doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google Document…
Ready to set up your business? I have a program I’m creating to help you get your business set up so that you can start making money. Sign up for this program here:
Are you ready to try coaching? Schedule an Introductory Coaching Session today. You’ll have the opportunity to dip your toes in and see how you like coaching with an affordable Introductory Coaching Session. I’ll spend the whole time coaching you on anything you’d like coaching on in your business or your personal life:
Schedule a free consultation, and we’ll work together to dive into where you’d like to see yourself and your business in the future. We’ll create a laser-focused plan, including which action steps you need to take to get started on the path to success:
Join us in the Mastering Your Small Business Finances PROFIT LAB if you are ready to take control of your business finances and create the profitable business you are striving for. Are you ready to generate revenues and increase the profit in your business:
If You Are Ready To Choose, Start Or Grow Your Side Hustle, Get Your Free Checklist And Assessment Here:
Grab Your FREE guide: 5 Essential Strategies For Stress-Free Bookkeeping:
Your FREE Online Virtual Bookkeeping Business Starter Guide & Success Path Is Waiting For You:
Join Our Facebook Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/womenbusinessownersultimatediybookkeepingboutique
The Strategic Bookkeeping Academy, including Bookkeeping Basics, is open for registration! You can learn more and sign up here:
Looking for a payroll solution for your business? You can get an exclusive 15% discount on your payroll services when you sign up here:
QuickBooks Online - Save 30% Your First 6 Months:
Sign up for a virtual coffee chat to see if starting a Bookkeeping Business is right for you:
Show Notes:
Whether you are thinking about starting a new business or you currently have a business, you may be experiencing excuses and fears that are holding you back from moving forward. Starting a business or expanding your existing business can be scary. There are many risks that you, as a business owner, take on, but no matter where you are in your business journey, you need to be aware of when you are using excuses and fear to hold you back. In today’s podcast episode, I talk about the most common excuses and fears that business owners have and how you can deal with them as they appear in your business. I’m also working on a program that will help take you from the level you are at in your business, whether that is the initial phases in getting your business set up and started, making your first 5k, 50k, 100k, or more each year. When you are aware of the excuses and fears you have in your business, you can start taking action to move past them and watch your business succeed. Whether you are starting a business or side hustle, you’re a self-employed individual, a solopreneur, entrepreneur, mompreneur, freelancer, small business owner, a remote, virtual, online, or in-house bookkeeper, or a virtual assistant or VA, moving past these excuses and fears will ultimately help you grow as a business owner which will, in turn, help your business grow and succeed as well. These tips are essential whether you are using a computerized software system like QuickBooks, Xero, Wave, FreshBooks, or HoneyBooks for your business finances; or doing your bookkeeping manually with an Excel spreadsheet or even a Google Document…
Welcome Back…When you think about your business, what do you feel is your biggest excuse or fear that is holding you back? It may be what is holding you back from starting your business, or it may be what is holding you back from growing or scaling your business. Think about this for a minute. What do you think is holding you back right now in your business journey? If you know there is something holding you back, but you just can’t seem to put your finger on it, you may find that a few of the excuses and fears I am covering today may resonate with you. If so, make sure you take some time to really think them through and create a plan to move past what is holding you back. Being aware of any excuses or fears is the first step in understanding what is holding you back so that you can move forward in your business.
Many of the excuses and fears that I am covering today are what hold people back from initially starting their business, but many business owners with existing businesses find these excuses and fears pop back up throughout their business journey. The first main excuse that I hear from my clients is that they are waiting for the right time. You may be thinking this as well, but I’ll tell you that there are many business owners who have started their business that wish they would have started earlier. There will never be a perfect time to start your business. If you are thinking this excuse, ask yourself, what is really holding you back? Why do you think that it’s not the right time right now? Jot down every thought that you come up with, and then get to work to see why this obstacle is something you can simply come up with a plan to overcome. If it is your current job, you may be able to start a side hustle and grow your business from there. This helps you continue to have your stable paycheck, benefits, and comfort of maintaining your current job while you start and grow your business to a point when you are ready to quit and go all in with your business. Whatever your excuse is, if you really want to start your business or grow your existing business, you need to find out what your excuses are and follow your plan to move past them.
One of the biggest fears I hear my clients talk about is the fear of failure. The first thing I want you to know is that this fear is normal, and it’s okay to have. If you never try, you’ll never fail, but you’ll also never succeed. Is this what you want for your dreams of owning a business? I want you to know that even the most successful business owners think this thought periodically, but they use it to their advantage. I want you to believe that when you fail, you can use this failure to create an opportunity to grow. It gives you a chance to see the failure and create a plan where you can try another way to succeed. There are many business owners out there that thrive on failure. They are ready to fail a thousand times so they can see what is not working and create something that will work. I want you to start embracing failure with everything you do and let it help you grow as a business owner.
Perfectionism is an excuse that I struggle with personally as well. Perfectionism can hold you and your business back in so many ways. If you wait for everything in your business to be perfect, you may never get your business started, or you may never allow your business to grow. Think about a simple thing in your business. Let’s take your business cards, for example. If you are waiting until you have the perfect business card before you start your business, you could wait forever. But, if you design a business card that suits your business right at this moment, don’t wait any longer to order them. Don’t let perfectionism hold you back. I promise your business cards will evolve over time. If you ask any business owner if they still have the first design they did for their business card, website, or brand, I’m sure they will tell you no and that they have had many over their years of owning their business. I like the saying done is better than perfect. I want you to work towards not letting perfectionism hold you back in your business.
Many of the business owners that I work with use time as their excuse. I hear that they don’t have enough time in their day to start a business. If this resonates with you, I’m going to ask you to really take a look at this excuse also. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. I’m sure you’ve seen many business owners succeed even if they have a lot of other things going on in their lives. If you are asking yourself how they do it, you just need to start being mindful of where you are spending your 24 hours each day. You naturally prioritize things that are important to you. If starting a business is important to you, you’ll need to start prioritizing the time you devote to it. Start with a simple fifteen minutes each day or maybe a couple of hours each week. When you prioritize this time for your business, you’ll be amazed at how much you can get done in your business when you are focused on this time. When you start prioritizing this time to focus on your business and you start getting things done, you’ll often gain the motivation you need to keep moving forward in your business.
Money is often a big excuse I hear my clients talk about when they are just getting their business started. My best advice in this area is to start small and then grow and invest in your business over time. When you utilize what you have and make the best of it, you may be amazed at what you can do in your business. Be resourceful. There are many things you can do in your business that don’t require money. You may need to roll up your sleeves and do the work yourself, but many business owners put a lot of sweat equity into their business to get it up and running. Some business owners will change how they live; they create a budget that has less overall costs so they can invest this money into their business. If you are passionate about starting your business, you will find a way to make it work. This is the true meaning of entrepreneurship.
If you are using your skills as an excuse or even a fear in either starting or growing your business, think about this for a minute. Here is another area where you can simply write down every thought you have about the skillset you currently have and why it is holding you back. If you genuinely lack a skill, find out how to learn more about it. Many business owners will have the skillset they currently have, and they continue to increase their skillset and knowledge around their business as they grow. If you already have what it takes to start your business, don’t let this hold you back. You’ll gain additional experience throughout your business journey. If you have something that you can offer to help others who may be struggling, why wouldn’t you take the initiative to help them?
And then there’s the competition. Many people will think that if there is a lot of competition in the area of business they are starting, it is a bad thing. It will hold them back from getting their business started, but what if I told you that competition is actually a good thing for your business? Competition means your business idea is something people will buy. It is solving a problem that your customer needs. What you need to do with your business is understand why your business will be different from the rest of your competition. Why should your customer want help from you rather than working with one of your competitors? Competition should never hold you back, you should use it in your favor to help your business grow.
The last thing I want you to think about, especially if you are just getting started with your business, is why you want to start a business in the first place. I want you to understand the real reason behind your idea of starting a business. Is it the freedom, your passion for how you can help others, or maybe it’s the impact you can make? Knowing your why will help carry you through your business when things get tough, or you need extra motivation to keep moving forward. If you already have a business, you may already know your why, which may have helped you through some tough times, but if you don’t know your why take some time to think this through as well. Write your why down and post it somewhere you can see it every day. This will help motivate you in your business and keep you on track to reach your goals.
Starting a business can be scary. Owning a business can be risky, and many businesses pivot from their initial idea and grow a successful business, but the only way you can do this is to take your initial idea and get your business started. You need to take the leap. You need to get past all your excuses and fears. You need to take it seriously, and once you get started, you’ll be able to see where your business will go over time. Starting a business couldn’t be easier than it is right now. If you want to start a business, what’s holding you back? Don’t let the excuses or fears I talked about in this episode hold you back. It takes a lot of work and perseverance to start and grow a business, but your first step is to use your obstacles as stepping stones to move you forward. You need to execute, and you’ll do this when you take the first step to start your business. If you have an idea, you know your why, and you are ready to get your business going, I am working on a program where I’m helping people just like you to help you get your business set up. I’m covering the foundations and what you need to do to set up your business. I know this is one area that holds people back from starting their business. They know what they want to do in their business, but they are just not sure how to get the business set up so that they can start making money. In this program, I am covering what you need to have in place as well as how you can set everything up to track your finances, even if you are not making any money yet. This program is excellent for people who are just starting their business and even those who may have already started their business but want to ensure that they set their business up correctly. If you are interested, you can sign up for the waitlist by going to www.FinancialAdventure.com/Start. I will initially be offering this program for free, so if you are ready to get your business set up and started, or if you know of someone who could benefit from this program, please pass this information on to them or recommend they listen to this podcast episode and join when they are ready. I know there are many people out there who either want to start a business or side hustle, but they have been waiting to get their business set up. They are using it as a roadblock. I know there are lots of questions you have when setting up your business, as well as many of the excuses and fears I talked about in this episode. I’ll help you not only acknowledge these excuses and fears but I’ll help you work through them as well. I’ll help you with your idea and your why if you don’t have these nailed down yet. I know you can research and research your way to setting up your business, but that takes time, and you never know if you are getting the correct information. When you sign up for this program, you’ll fast-track your way to getting your business set up so that you can start making money. I’ll save you time, and for now, it is free. It is a win-win situation for you, so I hope to see you in the program soon.
And, you know I’m going to ask…what’s at least one thing you will take away from this episode that will help your business succeed and grow your bottom line? If you need some accountability, join our PRIVATE Facebook community and post your action item, we’d love to support you.
