Three months ago, Dan and I had an epic milestone in parenthood…we showed Remy “Back to the Future” in all its 1980’s glory.
We cheered on George in his battles with Biff, begged Marty to make it home, ate far too much popcorn and decided time travel had its pros and cons. I had no idea how philosophical 8 year olds could be when Remy said, “you know Momma, I have a feeling there are more than a few things I could redo in life and get them better this time around.”
I have a feeling he was thinking more of soccer goals, NOT getting caught reading after bedtime and reconsidering that time he decided our four pound dog should take a bath with him {epic parenting fail}, but it took me to a very different place….
What would I have done differently if I was opening a business again for the very first time?
I’ve spent the last six weeks chatting with different business owners and we narrowed down the main categories of change to 3 areas:
- Financial: Questions, like “how much savings do you really need to have?” {hint: never enough} and “what’s the idea amount to pay for a lease?” ranked as highly as “how do I pay my team?”. Now, I’ve never taken a business or accounting class, so experience has been my teacher and it has certainly taught me that one thing truly matters: the more you put into getting your finances right before you open your doors, the more likely your doors will stay open {and you will stay profitable}.
- Mindset: Some days I feel like this word is bandied about without anyone knowing what the right mindset truly means, but in this case I’ll be very clear. You will be moving from an employee to an entrepreneur and your priorities and thought processes must change in turn. The hardest time I had was honestly in determining how to pay someone who had been “me” just months before. But, keeping the right mindset over why I was here and what my role was, gave me a peace of mind I never expected.
- Systems and Strategies: Whoever tells you that you can open your doors and this business will just happen…well, they’ve clearly never run a business. The more you come into this with clear systems that you can replicate and teach to others, the more likely you’re going to get yourself past profitable and into entrepreneur dream world. This takes some work, some learning and the investment of time and potentially money to see what it takes to truly build an epic business, but the good news is, you’ve got the time to do it.
With grit + gratitude,
Xo Lisé
