Before I go into my spiel I must say, “Happy Labor Day.” I do hope you’re taking some time to relax if possible.
But the truth is… you may not be. And that’s okay for now. You own a business (and often times you probably use holidays to get some things done right?). I wouldn’t be surprised if you did.
How I Started
I remember when I first started in business 8 years ago, I was so darn hungry that I literally took no days off. This was before I had a social media training and coaching company and before I used the power of social media to triple my corporate income and eventfully quit my job.
Before I quit, I was working 9 – 5 Monday through Friday, going to school 3 days out of the week from 6pm to 10pm (not to mention I wasn’t married to my now husband and daughter’s father, so I was juggling all of that with a child). Oh and to add on top of that I was modeling part time. Lol Yeah, so a day off? Ha, I didn’t know what that was!
I’m not saying it was healthy but I did what I had to do. And don’t get it twisted, when I quit my job it got harder! Although I had some success with leaving my job and doing well in the company I was in, when I started my own company the hours got even longer because I was starting from scratch. I eventually ran out of the income I made with the 1st company so I had no choice but to work harder. Now I know it’s not about how hard you work but how smart you work.
I’ll tell you why it was harder though… why I worked longer, why I ran through my savings, why my husband and I had to move in with my mother in law, why I had to get a J.O.B for a year, even after I started my company.
Because I had no guidance and no mentor at that time.
The Power Of Guidance
The first company I was in was a network marketing company so while it was my business it wasn’t mine from scratch. I had mentors in that company. The lady who brought me in was my guide and mentor. When I started my own company it was just me. Little ole’ me.
[Fact – for every level I have moved up in income or skill I had a mentor. The 1st two years of my Social Media business I struggled]
After having to go back to work (and luckily finding a job as a social media manager) I was able to save my money and invest it back into coaching and use my work income to pay my bills.
I remember being afraid to invest in my first group program. I recall it was around $2,000. I called my husband and asked him if I should do it. He believed in me and told me that he knew if I did it, that I would be in a better place because I was always a good student. I also figured, I HAD to have faith in myself that if I invested in this program I would do the work to see the result.
So I did it. I invested in a group program (not 1 on 1 mentorship yet) but the return was well worth it. I went through that program and started implementing right away. While working my full time job, I had the most clients I had ever had! I was making more in my business than I ever had (while working for someone else. Go figure!) And my systems were on point because no one knew I was working (not even my clients at the time) and I had to make sure my business ran smoothly. I made $101,000 that year!
After that experience I became a personal development junky! Lol I was so confident in knowing that anything I put my money into, I was going to make work. Regardless of the sacrifice or my circumstances. And trust me, I have had some VERY tough circumstances over the past 6 years after starting my social media company. That’s a totally different (more personal) blog post.
So I say all of that to say…
Calling yourself a small business owner or entrepreneur sounds cool to the outside world but WE know (all too well) that it takes long hours (often more than a 9-5 in the beginning), lots of faith and hard work.
But you can do it.
You can come out successful.
You just can’t give up.
Happy Labor Day friends!
