The first year in business can be some of the most challenging and very rewarding times. Your business is something new that you now need to take care of.
What is it like during your first year and what to expect?
What to avoid doing during the first year (especially)
What to actually focus on during the first year in business.
Letting go of comparing yourself by how many years you’ve been in business and how “far along” you think you should be.
I remember years ago when I first started out someone said to me, “Amanda, building a business is the long game. If you’re not going to commit to the next 5 years building your business, you may want to do something different now.” I remember being so naive about this statement thinking that, “Yeah. There’s no way it will take me that long. I’m going to easily knock this out in a year and it is going to be exactly the way I want it to be.”
Today’s episode is all about where to put your focus in the 1st year of business because if your attitude and mindset about what it takes to build a sustainable and successful business aren’t on the right track from the start, it could potentially derail you and lead you down a very hard and difficult path. And potentially land you back in Corporate America...and friend, no one wants that.
1. Where your focus goes, energy flows, results will show.
2. What you persist, resists. What you resist, persists.
We’re diving into where to put your energy the first year in business and what to focus on.
Every day we get to decide where we put our focus and energy. The first year of business is a roller coaster of emotions, outcomes, expectations, and more. Because the first year is such a rollercoaster, I recommend focusing on the journey along the way and what you learn, rather than putting so much energy towards the outcomes.
You might be thinking or asking yourself, “Okay Amanda but aren’t I supposed to focus on making money, that’s an outcome right?” And to that, I say, “Yes! And…”
Based on many conversations with entrepreneurs, clients, and personal experience, I always recommend building and validating your business as much as you can while working a full-time job. Because I’ve seen many many times before where you may be in a job you don’t love, you’re emotionally drained and so overwhelmed.
You might be thinking, “If I just had more time. That would fix my problem and I’d be able to build my business.” And while you’re not wrong that yes, in order to build a business you do need time but time alone isn’t going to build your business. It is the constant persistence of not giving up, not pivoting, not retreating that builds a business.
When you quit your job without validating your business and making zero income, your focus then becomes about making money to support yourself, to contribute to your family and when you’re not doing that, your thoughts can spiral.
If you do quit your job but aren’t making money in your business, I highly recommend finding contract work to bring in some sort of income even if it has nothing to do with the business you are building.
For example, let’s say you went through a life coach certification program and you’re ready to enter the world of life coaching. You open up doors and invite people in to work with you and then there are crickets. Clients aren’t knocking down your door but you’re thinking, wait a second, “I’ve got this certification why isn’t anyone signing up?”
Because you’re not making money in your coaching business (just yet because you still need to create content, build an audience, sales funnel, opt-in...all that stuff), your focus starts to look for the lack...lack of clients, lack of money...so your energy starts to feel needy and desperate because you find yourself thinking, “Oh my gosh. I haven’t made any money yet, no one is signing up for a consultation call, how am I going to pay rent, this is terrible….” and you kind of spiral out. Because you’re constantly persisting on getting new clients, you’re also repelling them because they can sense your desperation. But because of this, you’re resisting feeling lack but that also keeps persisting. What you persist resists and what you resist persists.
When you have money come in whether that is contract work that has nothing to do with the business you’re building, your brain no longer needs to focus on the lack of money or pressure on where you’re going to get your next client. Your energy completely shifts towards abundance because you’re no longer focusing on the lack.
In the first year of business, it is important to focus on the journey, not the outcomes. The first year of business is full of a lot of firsts and it can be a rollercoaster. You may have all these goals starting out but you’ll quickly realize that business while it may be simple, isn’t always easy. Achieving your goals isn’t always easy because when something goes wrong it is easier to want to pivot rather than staying the course. That’s why it is extremely important to approach the first year of business with the lens of experiment and release expectations regarding the outcomes.
Put your focus and energy into the present moment and take your time, avoid this energy and emotion of “rushing.” And let me say, I did this for so long in the beginning and once I realized that I don’t need to be in a hurry, everything changed. You know you’re rushing because you can feel it. The place in which you take action is from this place of “I got to hurry up and get this done.” Your brain will start to rattle off a list of 10 things you need to get done and you start to feel like you don’t have enough time. At that moment, I want you to catch yourself, breathe, and take action from a place of having enough time, you’re not in a rush, there is no reason to rush. Building a business is a long-term play.
For your first year in business, focus on the journey and what you’re learning along the way. And focus on being present rather than feeling like you’re rushing.
Until next time, keep doing it your way!