What you actually need to start a business
Today I want to talk about what you really need in order to start a business. And this is really fun to talk about, because I guarantee you it's less than you think.
A lot of this has to do with perfectionism and imposter syndrome. Those two things are usually what keep people from starting a business. They are what keep people stuck saying, “I'm not ready. I'm not ready. Oh, I'm just going to go and do this research over here first.” A lot of times, new entrepreneurs get stuck in this place of research or planning or preparing, and they never actually just pull the trigger and start promoting their business.
But, what's kind of amazing is you start to realize that you can start a business, and you can provide whatever it is you're going to provide for your customers so much sooner than you think that you can.
I'm going to use service providers as an example here — you feel like you don't know enough, you feel like you haven't learned enough, you don't have enough experience yet to be able to promote your business and get clients. But the reality is, you only need to be a few steps ahead of your clients in order for you to still give value to them that they're willing to pay for.
Usually, clients will be hiring you for a few different reasons; they might hire you for something they could do themselves, but they just don't have time to do. They might hire you for something that they just don't really know how to do or you can do better than them. And they might hire you to do something that they don't know how to do, but they don't have the time to learn how to do it, or the interest to learn how to do it, or they don't have the budget to hire someone to do it in house, those are typically the reasons that clients are going to be hiring you. So when you think about it from that perspective, well then sure there are clients who could do the thing that you’re doing, but they don't have time. Well, you don't need to have all the answers you just need to deliver at the level and give the value that they're expected in order to sell to them right in order to provide for them.
Think about when you first learned something, or right before you learned something new. You didn't know anything about it and you you probably thought the most ridiculous social media post was amazing because you didn't know anything about it. So, they are still seeing value because what you're delivering for them is still better than what they could have created themselves. And this is something that is a real mindset reframe for a lot of people in that there is always someone who will value your level of expertise, even if you don't have a ton of expertise yet.
That's why there are different price points for the same type of service. So someone who's just starting out, who still kind of learning social media, who doesn't have all the answers might not be able to charge as much or go after the same clients as an established agency that's been doing this for years that has great systems and processes that really knows the industry — and that's okay. But guess what? You can still get those clients that need that lower level of support that you're able to deliver. And this is a huge thing for so many new business owners in the agency right now.
Do you think that our level of expertise, the value that we're able to provide, and our price point are anywhere near what they were when I first started as a solopreneur in 2014? Obviously not. We are worlds further than we were back in 2014, and our prices reflect that. And our clients reflect that. But there's still plenty of small businesses out there who would find that and did find value back in 2014 from me as a solopreneur learning how to do this thing and improving as I went, they still found value in that and they still paid me for that. And this is such a powerful reframe.
If you're wondering what do I need to start a business, you need to figure out what you're selling. You need to figure out what you're going to sell it for at least to start — your prices aren't set in stone you can change them. And you need to figure out who your clients are, and where you can find them. Those are really the only things you need in order to start a business, everything else you will figure it out as you go.
And for those people who just feel like, “Oh, I need to do a little bit of research more research, a little more planning a little more preparation.” Do you think that all of that planning and preparation is going to keep you from having to change things, or learn more in the future? Absolutely not. Your business is still going to grow, your business is still going to change, your business is still going to evolve, and you are going to continue learning and improving. So why not start making money from your business, why not start your business now because actually starting it and doing it, you're going to learn so much more than just sitting there and researching and planning!
And this can be a huge release of judgment and expectations on ourselves.
Don't treat your business as something that's so precious. Well, what if I mess up, what if I do something wrong? I own it. I make it right and figure it out. And move on from that.
If you're worried about well “what if a client asked me a question that I don't know the answer to yet?" Tell them “you know what i'm not really 100% sure on this so I want to go and look into it a little bit and I'm going to get back to you.”
Most clients will appreciate you owning that you don't know the exact answer and doing the work to find out for them. It humanizes you. And it means that you're always learning and you're always improving which is great for them.
So if you find yourself saying, “I need to do this… I need to do that before I can start my business”, you're procrastinating. You're being a perfectionist because you don't know every single step or every single answer. So you're just endlessly planning instead of just going for it, taking the leap.
I guarantee you, your business is not going to be so precious, your clients are not going to be so precious that it cannot withstand a mistake every once in a while, that it cannot withstand you not knowing the exact answer every once in a while, that it cannot withstand you not being the best, the most experienced. Your business will grow and evolve as you learn and as you improve as a business owner.
Wouldn't it feel good if you can continue to learn, continue to improve, continue to do research, continue to plan, but also start making money in your own business? Wouldn't that feel great versus waiting until the “perfect moment”. What if, by offering those services now, even though you feel like it's not 100% where you want it to be — what if you started selling those things and so you started making enough money to be able to go out and get coaching, that would help you grow and scale and run your business more effectively? What would that mean for you? How much sooner could you get to your goals in your business if you did that?
So this is a really strong mindset reframe for a lot of people and I truly believe anybody can start a business, but don’t wait, just do it. Start doing it now and you will grow and get better as you go along, but I just cannot stress this enough. Don't wait until you have all the answers — just start.
