- If you've been wondering if you have what it takes
to start your own business, then stay tuned.
We're gonna talk about a lot of things
that people don't tell you before you get started.
(upbeat electronic music)
Good morning, good life.
Welcome back to AmyTV, where we come together
to help you go after the life you want.
And thank you so much to the sponsor of this episode,
our friends at HP Wolf.
I get so many questions from people in my community
who are thinking about what it means to them
to build their own full-time freedom.
And that could look like starting
or growing an existing business.
There's so much that's unknown,
there's so much risk that could be involved,
but ultimately, so many benefits as well.
But we wanna make sure that we don't become a statistic.
We don't wanna be one of the 80% of small businesses
that fail in the first five years.
So in this video, I wanna share some things
that they don't tell you before you start a business.
Nobody told me these things.
I had to learn them the hard way,
and I'm gonna share them with you,
seven things that no one tells you
about starting a business.
Tip number one, bootstrapping is required at the beginning,
but you also cannot go it all alone.
Everyone loves to say
that the internet is a plethora of information.
You can find everything.
You can learn how to do everything.
You can make it happen.
You can find things on the cheap.
There's a lot of advice like that going around,
but we forget to also mention what it means to bootstrap
and not totally burn ourselves out
at the very beginning of all of this.
See, because it's so important to remember
that even when you may not have a lot of leverage,
you may not have a lot of budget or cashflow
to be able to acquire help,
we still need to be able to learn how to ask.
Asking for help is one of my biggest weaknesses.
It's one of the biggest things I had to learn
over the last decade of business for me,
because it's nice when you get it.
(Amy laughs)
But because we're continually educated
that we need to make things happen,
and learn, and be resourceful,
which are very important things we need to do,
we can't just rely on the world to deliver us what we need,
it's about balancing that,
and it's also about knowing when you need to ask for help.
Looking at what your strengths and your weaknesses are
is an objective opportunity for you to say,
here are the things that I know
I can probably take care of on my own
with my own time and on the cheap,
but here are some things I know I'm gonna need help with,
and I need to start asking for that help.
I need to start understanding how I can
make that happen as soon as possible
so it doesn't get procrastinated on,
it doesn't get pushed out of the way,
it doesn't get ignored where it could
elevate the business faster.
Come to terms with your strengths and weaknesses.
Don't take it personally, and remember,
bootstrap where it makes sense,
but you can't do it all by yourself,
so get the help you need so that you can
grow to the potential you see yourself.
Tip number two, no one tells you
how easy it is to protect yourself.
There's a lot of advice about how risky business is,
and in a lot of ways, it can be risky.
The unnecessary risks of being in business
we can take care of so much more easily
than we actually give ourselves credit.
If we would just give the proper time and attention
to making sure those things are good to go,
we will be taken care of.
Many of us starting a business from scratch
are leveraging the power of the internet,
maybe social media, until we're on our computers,
we're on our devices,
and we're spending a lot of time there,
and probably investing a lot
in building the assets and the things that we need
to promote ourselves, to create our products,
and so those devices become very,
very important to us very quickly.
The very last thing in the world that we need to happen
is a virus on the computer.
That's why this tip is sponsored by our friends,
the HP Wolf Security team, because they are going to help us
protect ourselves in those moments
that absolutely don't have to happen
and don't have to stall our business growth.
HP Wolf is security that helps protect us
against the known and the unknown.
They use AI to help determine how viruses behave,
and it has a 99% efficacy rate,
which means that you never
have to update for virus definitions.
HP Wolf Security uses application isolation
to help protect you while you're browsing the internet.
If you open ransomware on a device,
typically it freezes your entire system.
With HP Wolf, the ransomware attack
is isolated to the application,
which can simply be closed and then reopened.
60% of small businesses below 100 employees
that are attacked with ransomware
have to shut down because they lack
the capital to react and recover,
and HP Wolf is keeping that
from happening to us and our businesses.
This is going to give you the most secure PC.
This security is literally not available
anywhere else on the market.
So as you take this wonderful business
down a road of great success,
take the proper measures so that you are protected.
Check out the line of HP Wolf
Pro Security Edition ProBooks.
This way you know you and your small business
are completely protected, and you can browse,
email, and work totally securely.
Check out the link in the description down below.
Tip number three, if you actually wanna
leverage all of your time,
you need to have more discipline
than you've ever had before.
When we are in business for ourselves,
we don't have someone telling us
where we need to be, and what we need to do,
and when we need to show up all of the time.
There's so many things that being in a secure position
will do for us in terms of discipline,
'cause we're not asking those questions.
We're not determining the rules.
We, as the boss, decide all of those things,
and that decision-making muscle is a really important one
to learn how to flex in every way,
not just in business, but in life.
So it can be really confusing when, all of a sudden,
you go, oh, I can work on my own terms.
I can work my own hours.
And just when you thought you were
overworked at your previous job,
and now you're working on your passion,
you're working more hours than you ever did before.
This is where that discipline comes into play.
It can be very easy to make that line blurry
between work and life,
because you are going after a business
that gives you a lot of excitement and passion in your life.
So you don't mind spending some extra time in the evening,
or the weekends, or the early morning on it.
But without keeping track of that time,
without being really diligent
about how we're spending that time,
not just spending aimless hours
at absolutely anything to make it better,
we can lose track of how easily
we end up sucked into the work hole,
and never get our lives back.
And if we truly want, again, that time freedom
that being your own boss can do for us,
we need to be much more disciplined than that.
How are you keeping track of your time?
How are you keeping track of individual tasks?
How do you make sure that if you need to get something done,
and you give yourself that space of time
that you can allocate toward it,
that you stay within that space of time.
Time tracking may seem annoying to some,
but it is so helpful for actually giving you insight
on how you're actually using your time,
and where it's going, and how much you're moving the needle.
Tip number four, if you try to hide from promoting yourself,
you will never be successful.
We have all kinds of lovely resources out there,
and wonderful people who are helping us create a logo,
and make a brand kit, and help build a website,
and there are so many things
that are great and wonderful assets to our business
that help us to promote those services and products,
but when it comes time to put
your shiny little face in a headshot,
maybe make a little Instagram video,
maybe make that welcome video for your website
to show people who they are working with,
we wanna run away, we want to hide behind the logo.
But these days that is just not possible.
We, as consumers and as businesses
who work with other businesses,
we know that it comes down to how promising
are the people behind the business name
that're gonna help us get this done,
that are gonna help me go after the life that I want.
We wanna get to know those people.
So as a small business, if you're afraid
to be able to step in front of the camera,
I don't wanna make anybody feel nervous,
I don't want you to feel like
you've gotta become a showman all of a sudden
and start a YouTube show,
but there are gonna be some things
where just the power of your heart,
and your intention, and your passion
is gonna be the best thing that markets your business.
And we need that, it is a requirement at this moment
in business, and the economy, and the world.
If you think you're gonna be able to hide behind a logo,
and use all those tools, and make them pretty,
and pick your colors, and get the website,
and then put the phone number there, or the email address,
and think I'll just wait for the call, you are dead wrong.
We need your personal brand.
We need to know you stand behind what you do.
If you find yourself in a situation
where you don't know if you can put your face
out there for the business yet
because it's not where it needs to be,
or you have some other commitments going on
that are keeping you from that, then I ask you to question,
how seriously are you taking this right now?
And how much time do you have?
Because the slower you are to the uptake
of letting people in, knowing you,
understanding why you do what you do
so they can also get excited about it,
the slower it is that that business
is actually going to go anywhere.
Tip number five, who you surround yourself with
will make or break your business.
My favorite quote is from Jim Rohn,
it is just such a good one,
"You are the average of the five people
"you spend the most time with."
And when we are in a stage of life
where we are building and growing a business,
and spending a lot of our focus on that,
when we're surrounded by so many people that don't get it,
that's going to absolutely crush our mindset.
It doesn't mean that they need to exit stage left.
It just means we need to balance it out a little bit.
If you've got a couple of those people in your life,
and they're in your day-to-day,
and maybe they live in your home,
then who are you talking to on a daily basis as well
that understands what you're going through,
that might also be helping with
what you're going through if they work on your team,
or maybe it's a mentor, or a coach,
or someone that you can talk to
who truly understands what the struggle is,
where the passion is trying to get you to go through,
but the things that are stopping you along the way.
Your closest friends and family members
are gonna be supportive in the best way that they know how,
but that's not always in the best way that you need,
and understanding that you need both
is really, really important.
So if you think you can just sit in your second bedroom,
and build that business from your computer,
and think that it's gonna go great
without talking to other humans, you're so wrong.
Even the introverts in the room will agree.
Whenever we talk to someone who gets it,
whenever we talk to someone
who can really just be a soundboard for us
when we're going through these moments,
it escalates and makes the passion within us
fire up so much more.
And that leads me to tip number six,
because those friends and family
that might be on the other side of the spectrum
who are trying to be supportive of you,
even when you become a big success,
they're still not gonna get it,
and I say that with so much love,
because a lot of times when you hit
those big milestones that are more comprehendible,
they can say, oh my gosh, I get it now,
and that's so cool, and congratulations.
And then they'll want to spread the word
and help to tell your story,
and they won't be confused about what your job is
because those things happen that help us to map out our way.
However, just because you hit a big milestone,
just because you had a big moment,
just because something positive happened in the journey
after they watched you churn, and grind,
and work late, and all those things
doesn't mean that after you hit those milestones
that it's gonna be smooth sailing.
You're still gonna have moments
where they say, what do you do again?
(Amy laughs)
They're still gonna have moments where they say
you work on the internet, so can you fix my printer?
Like, no, I can't fix your printer.
They're still not going to understand when you're stressed
because you had something good happen,
but the stakes just continue to get higher.
They're still not going to get it.
So just don't allow yourself to get
to a space of expecting more from them
just because certain things have happened along the way.
This is still just your journey.
If it was meant to be gotten by everybody,
then everybody would do it,
and it's okay that they support on a surface level,
and you ask for their support in the ways that you need.
and you explain it to them
in the way that they need to hear it.
They're not gonna get it
just because you're becoming more successful.
You may still have to coach the people
who want to cheerlead for you through it.
And my final tip, 'cause we're just gonna end on a banger.
You know how I feel about tough love.
Number seven, the odds are stacked
completely against you when it comes to success.
People like me, we sit here,
and we love to share the highs of the high,
because we know that as amazing as they are,
they are worth sharing with you,
and they are worth considering for you
to potentially grow and build your business.
That doesn't mean that we still don't have the lows.
That doesn't mean that we
still don't have the valleys that happen.
That doesn't mean that things are easy all the time.
And that doesn't mean that success
was easy in the first place.
And it's really important to note that, again,
most businesses do fail for a multitude of reasons.
It's not always because your head wasn't in it.
It might just be that things change.
It might just be that the financials went sideways,
and it could have been unforeseen.
The odds are stacked against you,
so when you're getting into this,
you've gotta come in with the most objective mindset
that you're going to do your best,
and whatever you learn throughout this journey,
you're gonna be able to take it
as though it is self applied education for whatever is next.
You're never wasting your time
as long as you're giving something your all.
So that whatever happens, whether you end up
building the next big thing that's incredible,
and amazing, and it doesn't fail,
or you build something that teaches you what doesn't work
so that you can then move on to what does,
remember that the success odds are stacked against you,
but do not use that as a reason to not start,
because you can still only know
what you know from your experience.
Instead, use it as fuel for starting
so that you can begin this process
and get the answers that you wish
everybody else could give you.
But they can't, because you have to
go out and get them yourself.
Those are seven things I think is very important.
I wish somebody would have told me, quite frankly,
and so that's why I'm telling you,
seven things that you gotta know
before you get started in business.
I'd love to hear from you.
Maybe you have a followup question or additional ideas.
Maybe somebody told you something
you're so glad they told you
before you got started in business.
Share that in the comments down below.
Another big shout out to our friends at HP Wolf.
Thank you so much for sponsoring this episode of AmyTV
and helping to protect us from all of the unknowns
and the knowns on the internet
that are gonna hold us back from being a success.
Let's put a stop to that,
link in the description down below.
That's all for today.
Thank you so much for tuning in, I appreciate it.
As always, remember, subscribe for good vibes,
kiss the ones you love, and go after the life you want.
Cheers.
(mellow music)