10 Essential Tips For New Business Owners..
Things I wish knew before starting my own business… Iv made the mistakes so you dont have to!
Disclaimer: My blog posts contain affiliate links, this means that at no extra cost to you, I may receive commission on some products mentioned in my blog. I only mention products I genuinely support and love so you can be confident I am only recommending products that have been tried and tested by me or my clients.
Email marketing is controversial, some people think its dead blah blah blah. The truth is, its a direct way to keep your clients and customers upto date with your latest work, products and services. With social media as we know the algorithms are changing constantly, all it takes is for Insta to stop liking your posts and you’ll see a drastic decline in who sees your posts, with email, it gets directly into your audiences inbox. I love Flodesk, easily integrated into your website, allowing you to build your list and create aesthetically pleasing content to keep your audience engaged.
Get 50% off your first year with Flodesk here
Learn to manage your money - Cashflow
So it took me literally years to understand this and to be honest im still getting the hang of it. Its easy as your making money to get a little boujee and spend it as fast as it comes in. I wasted SO much money and its taken a global pandemic and a lockdown where I had zero income to make me think differently about money. Investing money and time on the wrong projects can make or break your business. You have to look at what platforms are benefiting you, what ROI (Return On Investment) and stick to what makes you grow. For example I use most social media platforms, I find the ROI on Instagram is next to nothing, so even though I use it to showcase my work, I dont spend too much time trying to keep up with the latest algorithms.
I find writing everything down including income, and mainly outgoings. I use the GoGirl money planning book and write it all down whilst on the go, this helps me really see what im spending and how I can save.
Focus On Your Value, Not Just The Money...
Any successful business offers something people either cant do themselves (a trade or service), offers convenience (time efficient service) and something people can make money from. Thinking and analysing what exactly your offering your consumer will 100% clarify what direction your going in and how to action this.
Questions you should be asking:
What do I offer that can provide value to others
What do people need that I can give - Knowledge, services.
What platforms are my audience on? How are they going to find what I offer.
How can I offer customer service support to my clients?
How can you expand what you offer and make it more streamlined?
I have designed an in depth business plan template to help you find your path, be more productive and create an actual plan of action step by step. After all a dream without action is just a dream, the more time goes by, the more ‘Il start on Monday’ mantras you tell yourself, the further you are from living how you want to live.
I like to break it down so that starting RIGHT NOW is possible, even if its the tiniest step. I also believe and have seen it within my own business and life, consistency is absolutely paramount. Small steps every single day will get you so much further than a big step once in a blue moon. You can buy my business plan template here.
Never Stop Learning.. Teach Yourself Everything…
Most successful people are well educated. Im not talking about some fancy degree, im talking about when we seek out knowledge in order to know more about something we wasn’t taught in the 11 years we spent 8 hours a day aka school. The truth is the education system in the UK is backward to say the least. My experience in school was spent trying to get away with wearing as much make up as I could, going through the motions of lessons and trying to not get seen half naked getting changed for PE.
Most people can relate, I look back on the 11 years and ask myself other than learning to read and write, what life skills did I actually learn. I never learnt what an interest rate was, how to manage money so I wouldn’t need finance, loans and credit cards. I never learnt how to set up and manage a business, get a mortgage, buy a car, and certainly didn’t learn how to invest money and set up an abundant future.
School teaches you to get a job, save money in the banking system (which is a whole other education btw), earn 0.1% interest, work your 9-5 job, pay your mortgage you stretched yourself to get, ask for your 28 days a year holiday allowance, and put towards a pension (that they invest for you). I am absolutely not knocking this life just for the record. Most people are completely happy with this and because of the 11 years in education dont really know any different.
For the small amount of us that want something different and bigger, we have to step out of the box, wayyyyy out!
I find that YouTube is amazing for building knowledge. You can literally teach yourself anything. I taught myself how to invest on the stock markets, how to set up an investment ISA, dividend yield stocks, CryptoCurrency, (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot) I mean I did something called Stake my Dots for heavens sake! I love YouTube for how-to videos, finding people across the globe talking about subjects most people won’t!
My favourites atm are:
I can honestly say this woman changed my life. Its hard to find UK based information especially on YouTube. I did her online course on ‘Vanguard Investment ISA’ where she talks you through step by step, beginning to end on the advantages of having an investment ISA for the future and how to set it all up safe and secure. This woman is a legend.
I literally listen to this guy all day, every day, out driving on the road, making dinner, in the bath. His channel interviews nearly every successful person in the world, Michael Saylor, Rao Pal, Wallstreet Trapper and Anthony Pompliano. I love the videos about Crypto as im all in on that atm but he discusses all topics from business to mental health.
Katie Grazer - Pinterest and Blogging
Katie Grazer’s YouTube channel is beyond helpful and in just a week and watching 2 of her videos about the power of Pinterest and implementing her strategy I have already gained 1K impressions in just ONE week. I followed her video about Tailwind and have gained clickthroughs to my blog, which has then lead to an increase in sales in my affiliate marketing business.
5 Best Books - You Need To Read
Rich Dad Poor Dad - Written by Robert Kayosaki, this book should genuinely be read in schools. Helping you understand the mindsets of two different breeds of people. Youll certainly be able to distinguish the difference between the two after reading. Most of you will be able to relate and maybe have both a rich dad and poor dad in your life. This book changes your attitude towards money and basically helps you unlearn everything you have learnt.
Happy Sexy Millionaire - Steven Bartlett is a successful entrepreneur who delivers the most honest and down to earth language in this book. He doesn’t claim to make you a millionaire nor is this a ‘self help’ book, he emphasises how difficult it is in modern times to not compare yourself to others on social media and how to combat this and stay in your own lane. I listened to this on Audible and found it so refreshing and relatable.
The Creature From Jekyll Island
To understand money is unlearning basically everything we’ve ever been taught. Taking a step away and understanding what money actually is, how it works across the planet and who are making it. The hierarchy of how its been designed and how for the most part no-one questions it… until now. This book is backed up with pure evidence and is an honest account of what really happens when we put money into the banking system. Having been updated year by year keeping it current this book will blow your mind and you may never see money in the same way again.
An oldie but goodie! This classic book about the law of attraction and how the universe works sounds like some sci fi crap - well it really isn’t! Iv seen first hand how a persons way of thinking can literally change their whole lives for better or for worse. The power of thought, energy and vibrations is not a myth, it doesn’t matter whether you believe in it or not, a lot like gravity, its happening regardless. As humans if we cant physically see something we shy away from it, write it off and tend to actually fear it. A fear of the unknown can narrow your mind so much into imprisonment. This book teaches to be open minded so you can let the universe work its magic.
Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill
First released in the 1930s by Napoleon Hill who watched and monitored most successful people of the time and clarified their behaviour, beliefs and principles.
Concluded into 13 principles of what it takes to become successful not only financially but in everything. This book focusses on the law of attraction without saying as such. I love the fact it gives you practical advice and exercises to do.
Online Tools - Websites That Make Your Life Easier
Flodesk - Build your email list - As mentioned earlier building a network of your clients and consumers is paramount. Create amazing email campaigns with flawless delivery straight to their inbox.
Canva - All businesses need aesthetically pleasing content, whether its for your social media, website and email marketing. Your going to need top quality imagery and documents to get your message across. Canva is beyond easy to navigate, offering templates from a simple instagram post to a full E-Book (this is next for me). I use it for everything and can spend hours piecing together content and can get so creative with it too.
I prefer the desktop version of Canva but the app is amazing for on the go, you can scan the QR code below to download.
Tailwind - A scheduling app that works hand in hand with Pinterest and Instagram. Takes a bit of getting used to and I had to follow Katie Grazers Video (below) to know how to schedule posts and pins. I took out the upgrade which lets me schedule 100 pins per month, 3 a day, within 1 week I had 1K increase in impressions which I was impressed with.
Pinterest - Pinterest is one of my most powerful tools. I used to put a lot of focus on instagram as I love how visual it is but looking at the analytics I found most of my audience come from Pinterest. This links perfectly to Tailwind where you can schedule your pins so easily.
Etoro - I love investing in the stock markets and use Etoro as a tool to expose me to amazing companies in which to invest in. I spent a LOT of time researching before I invested my money and recommend you fully understanding it before you do. I am not a financial advisor and I do not give financial advice. Im just a girl who likes nice things, but I find it has changed my mindset towards spending on pointless items and instead invest it. I love seeing my money working for more money and also find it so interesting researching all the companies.
Start your investing journey here
Tips On Staying Motivated - Self Care Is Paramount
Its hard when your wanting to become ‘successful’ to get so carried away and let yourself go. I am a big advocate for mental health and feel so passionate about doing anything we can to make ourselves feel good and healthy. I do yoga practice every day, walk my dog 3 times a day and try to meditate, especially whilst walking, I say try as I know meditating sounds like some hippy la la crap, but honestly its changed my mindset and keeps me focussed. I think working on your mental health is constant hard work, especially with everything that’s gone on in the world, with constant fear mongering and negative news its easy to fall into an anxious crazy person running around trying to get rich.. ha!
Self care can be something so simple like having a hot bath, putting a moisturising treatment on your hair or painting your toe nails, I have a whole other blog on ideas to keep yourself happy and healthy. Check it out here
How To Build A Loyal Clientele
Building a steady, loyal clientele in a service based industry is absolutely paramount to long term success. This takes consistency, and being proactive with potential clients, networking events, rebooking clients and providing a flawless service from the first point of contact all the way through to receiving feedback of your services. I have designed a super cute printable guide which goes into detail of what to do to create the freedom in your life and being able to do what you love every day!
So this is a short summary of tips and advice when starting your own business. I could go on forever and am in the process of writing an E-Book going into more detail of my journey and aim to help as many young business owners as possible over the coming years. I aim to be the role model I never had within the hair and beauty industry and made soooo many mistakes and have literally wasted thousands of pounds making said mistakes. To help someone become successful in this absolutely amazing industry, well what could be better than that?!