For me, Aroma Alchemist LLC was "born" the day I filed my LLC. That's when I decided I was officially a business-owner and, since then, I've accumulated both experience and insight into how to keep going. Here are five things that I learned over the course of my first year as a creative business owner.
- Community is key. If you choose to DIY a business like I did, you may find yourself saying, "Where do I start? Am I doing it right?" Being part of a community has helped me to answer these questions, and more! Be willing to listen to the wisdom of others, those who've paved the way before you. Have the courage to speak up, ask for help. Own your wisdom and offer it willingly. If you're a creative business owner (or you know you want to be), I invite you to join me in the Being Boss Community. (Yes, I do get some perks if you sign up and, yes, we can still be friends if you don't.)
- Be your own best friend. It's easy to fall into the trap of focusing on the negative in a given situation. In fact, humans are "wired" to do just that. Whereas that mindset may have meant survival to our ancient ancestors, it more often means self-sabotage to us in the modern age. You don't have to always be the sunshine and smell like roses. There is a time for every season, every emotion. But imagine your best friend sharing whatever it is you're going through. How would you talk to them? Quite possibly with more empathy than you've been exhibiting.
- It's okay not to know. You do not have to have absolutely everything laid out in a bound typeset plan, complete with color-coded checklist. There is a time for research and a time for doing, real doing. It's true: a journey of a thousand miles really does start with a single step... even if that step is into the Uber that's taking you to the airport. As long as you know what you're doing now and have an idea what you're going to do next, you can figure out the rest as you go. Yes, you may end up back-tracking or wishing you'd done A instead of B, but you're learning and that's okay. Besides, then you have an interesting tale to tell later and who doesn't love an interesting tale full of plot twists!
- Just do the thing. Overthinking and over researching can simply be procrastination in disguise. If you're like me, you may procrastinate because you want it to be "perfect." Wake up call: nothing is perfect! There's always something we could do better... less typos here, a better word choice there, more compelling photos... (the list goes on). It's better to try now and course-correct later than to have done nothing at all.
- Start small/dream big. I have big, BIG dreams... and I have a business that requires time, attention, and money. It's okay to have dreams - please do! In fact, you probably wouldn't be reading this if you weren't the dreamer type. The trick, however, is to focus those dreams... like a magnifying glass focuses a ray of light. Narrow your focus to a few offerings to start. Think of all the "big names" you know. They might have a gazillion offerings today, but they most likely started with one thing... one thing that they did really, really well. Hold onto those dreams, though... when you've mastered the "now," you can revisit those dreams like a kid in a candy store... which one will you sample next?
If this topic interests you, check out these recommended resources. Note that I do not receive any compensation for the items listed below. I am sharing materials that I personally found useful and would gladly suggest to a friend.
Recommended Resources:
- Forleo, M. (2019). Everything is figureoutable. Penguin Random House LLC.
- Shannon, K. & Thompson, E. (2018). Being boss. Running Press.
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