The journey of starting and running my own business has been both extremely rewarding and challenging, to say the least. Like anything you do for the first time, there are things you don’t find out until you get in the middle of it, things that turn out to be different from what you expected, and things you learn about yourself.

So, what have I learned? Honestly, too many things to discuss all of them at once so I’ll just name a few major things. 

First, the hardest and most important part is actually starting.

There will always be a thousand excuses you can tell yourself for not starting. It took me five years from the point that I came up with the idea of starting a detailing business to actually taking real action and making it happen. One day, I realized I just wasn’t believing in myself, and I overcame that fear.

If you don’t know where to start don’t worry, that leads to my second takeaway…

Talk to a business consultant.

A consultant can help you with everything from branding to social media to increasing revenue and everything in between. If you’re looking for a consultant, I highly recommend Christina Kanu Consulting.

The third lesson I’ve learned is that it’s ok (and important) to accept/admit what I’m good at and what I need help with.

Wearing every hat of the business at once may work for some, but frankly exhausting, unnecessary, and inefficient for me. As business owners, we often have a hard time asking for or accepting help because we don’t want to trust someone else with our baby. At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with having a team, and there’s only so far you can get without one.

Fourth, never allow yourself to get comfortable.

In order to grow your business, you have to constantly challenge yourself. That means setting new goals for revenue, social media presence, and every other aspect of your business. That also means constantly learning to sharpen your skills and learn new skills to be able to expand your services and/or add more value for your customers.

Lastly, regardless of whether your business hours are full-time or part-time, running a business is a full-time job.

Managing emails, mail, planning, social media, appointments, customer service, finances, inventory, attending events, employees, personal development, etc. As I mentioned in my second point, you need a team. On top of managing the day-to-day operations of the business, you have to represent and promote it everywhere you go. You never know where or when you’ll meet someone who can be a huge client or advocate for your business. 

If you’re someone who is thinking about starting a business or you already have, I hope this is helpful. Let me know your thoughts and feel free to add what you’ve learned on your business journey!

Thank you for your time and for reading my very first blog post!