48 | 8 Lessons I Learned in My First Year of Business
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8 Lessons I Learned in My First Year of Business
The first year of business can be exhilarating, yet equally daunting. Join me on a reflective journey as I recount 8 pivotal lessons that shaped my first year as an entrepreneur.
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I started my business 4 years ago, back in the Summer of 2019. Since then, I've learned an awful lot about what it means to be a creative entrepreneur and grow a successful business online. But nothing compares to the lessons I learned in my very first year of business.
Let's rewind back to October 2019. I was a few months into my new business venture. I was beginning to work with my first few clients, and they were getting great results!
But when it came to my own business, it was a different story...
๐๐ฝ I was barely scraping over $1k a month
๐๐ฝ I was getting ghosted in the DMs
๐๐ฝ I was constantly working, but I wasn't seeing the results to match
After months of living like this, I realised that if I wanted something bigger for myself, I had to DO something different. So, I made a promise to myself that things would change. After all, as Einstein once said "The definition of insanity ๏ปฟis doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results๏ปฟ".
๏ปฟ๏ปฟ๏ปฟSo, I started to change how I was operating my business. I went from having barely any enquiries to signing my dream clients into 4 figure containers. ๏ปฟ๏ปฟI went from barely scraping by to making consistent sales and more than tripling my income in my second year of business! But most importantly, I built a business that I actually looked forward to working on each day. A business that I genuinely enjoy, and one that I was able to build on my own terms.
๏ปฟ๏ปฟNone of this happened by accident. It was all part of a carefully calculated plan to bring this to reality and reach that next level in my business, and there are 8 main things I prioritised to make this my reality.
In this blog post, I'm walking you through the 8 lessons I learned in my first year in business and how I applied those lessons to build the business I have today.
8 lessons I learned in my first year of business.
LESSON #1: MINDSET WORK IS IMPORTANT
Iโve never really been a spiritual person, and when I saw mindset work in courses and programmes I had joined, I was kind of resistant to it. I was very strategy focused and I didnโt understand how mindset fit into it.
But then I had a coach who explained to me just how important it is to work on your mindset and how much it impacts both your life and business. She made me realise that you canโt pour from an empty cup and that if I donโt understand my limiting beliefs then I will never be able to overcome them.
So, I began to do the exercises she gave me and work on improving my mindset and it really did change my outlook. Rather than seeing failure as a setback, I was able to see it as an opportunity to grow. Rather than giving up at the first roadblock, I was able to see how I could overcome it. And I found that I was just becoming a happier person.
Although it might seem a little fluffy on the surface, mindset work really is so important as a business owner and itโs something that should be prioritised from day one.
LESSON #2: ITโS SO IMPORTANT TO KNOW YOUR IDEAL CLIENT INSIDE AND OUT
Having a deep understanding of your ideal client is a huge part of business, and itโs one thing that will really make all the difference to your marketing and sales strategy.
Although I did have a basic understanding of my ideal client, it was mostly what Iโd assumed based on my own experience. But when I made the decision to conduct market research and actually talk to my ideal clients over a Zoom call, I learned so much more that I hadnโt previously considered.
I really got to know my ideal clients through their pain points, their goals, their past experiences and so much more. And when I actually talked to them face-to-face, they were able to tell me about their experience in their own words, which I was then able to take and use within my own marketing on my sales pages and within my copy - and that was the content that really got my ideal client to stop the scroll and pay more attention to me because I was saying exactly what they needed to hear. Thatโs the content that made them stop and think โthis girl gets me, sheโs in my head.โ
LESSON #3: BUILDING GENUINE CONNECTIONS & RELATIONSHIPS WITH YOUR AUDIENCE IS CRUCIAL
As well as getting to know my ideal client through market research, I really made an effort to connect with them on a personal level. I was committed to creating genuine connections and relationships with my audience, and doing this really paid off!
I would often have DM conversations with members of my audience. And not the DM conversations where you know the only reason youโre talking is so that someone can sell you on something. No, I didnโt use these conversations to sell at all. My only intention going in was to connect!
Through building those relationships with my audience members, I was able to build know, like and trust. I was able to get them to pay more attention to my content. And, when they started to consider investing in a coach or mentor, they would think to me because they already knew me, they already trusted me and I had never made them feel uncomfortable or like they were just a number I wanted to add to my bank account.
And the best thing about creating those connections is that you never know who you might connect with! Iโve not only connected with clients but also made friends and connected with people who have then presented me with great opportunities like podcast interviews or guest expert opportunities or asked me to be a part of their summit or bundle.
The more you prioritise making genuine connections, the more of a name you will make for yourself and the more your audience will really start to humanise you.
LESSON #4: CHARGING LESS MONEY DOESNโT MEAN THAT YOUโRE GOING TO GET MORE CLIENTS
In fact, it means the opposite. And I learned this the hard way!
When I first started my business, you could book 3 months of 1:1 coaching with me for under $500. Yep, you heard that right. I was giving my clients 6x biweekly calls, unlimited Voxer access and my undivided time and attention for less than $500.
It actually makes me feel sick to admit that, but itโs all a part of my journey and I learned sooo much from that experience!
The truth is that I was scared to charge more. I didnโt think people would pay that much to work with me and so I charged what I thought would be affordable and would encourage people to work with me.
But, there were 2 things that happened because of this.
1. A potential client would hear my price and be put off because it was lower than they expected.
The service I provided my clients with was amazing, and I knew that. But my price didnโt reflect that and so people would assume that they probably wouldnโt get much out of it for such a low price, and so they went elsewhere!
2. I would attract bargain hunters
Although I was able to make the sale, I had clients who werenโt willing to put in the work to see the results they desired and so these were my most difficult clients.
Of course, not all of my clients were like that. I had some clients who were massive action takers and really put in the work and got incredible results because of the action they were taking, but I wanted to be able to say the same for all of my clients.
And at this time, I was really really starting to resent my business because I was putting in so much work and effort and I wasnโt receiving the income to match.
Eventually, I realised how much I was undervaluing myself and my service. It took me a little while to pluck up the courage, but I eventually raised my prices to reflect the transformation my service facilitated.
I went from charging $500 for 3 months of coaching, to over $3,000. And while that might seem like a huge jump, it really wasnโt when I considered the value my clients were getting, the transformations they were experiencing and the return on their investment.
I had clients who had never earned a penny, and were suddenly making $2-3k a month just within the first 3 months of working together. I had clients who had only ever considered 1 form of income, create multiple streams and go from $2k months to $5k months and beyond!
My clients were making so much progress, and I realised that my pricing needed to reflect that. And when I raised my prices, so much changed!
Not only did it allow me to increase my income and receive a payment that reflected my time, energy and the transformation I was helping my clients to achieve, it also ensured I was attracting the RIGHT type of client who was willing to put in the work to achieve the results they hired me for. And I had more people say yes, because my price reflected the value of my service.
So this is probably the scariest lesson I learned, but trust me - itโs an important change to make. I really want to encourage you to take a look at your current prices and really think about whether they reflect the transformation you facilitate for your clients. If not, it might be time to raise them
LESSON #5: HAVING A STRATEGIC CONTENT STRATEGY WILL DO THE SELLING FOR YOU
Although I now teach a lot on the importance of content marketing through my course, Content That Sells, and through my membership, The Story Lounge, content isnโt something thatโs always come easy to meโฆ
When I first began marketing my business, I fell victim to the advice from Instagram gurus who told us that if we wanted to grow, we had to post new content every single day. Because of that, I found myself posting for the sake of posting. I wasnโt creating content in a strategic or intentional way, it was honestly just all over the place and didnโt really serve my audience.
When I realised that my content wasnโt converting in the way I wanted it to, I really honed in on my content strategy. I made sure that every single piece of content I created was strategic and intentional and had my ideal client at the top of my mind. Every piece of content had a clear purpose and every piece of content would educate my ideal client on what they needed to know, understand or believe before they could be ready to hire me or purchase my offer.
I committed to posting content 2-3 times a week on Instagram. That way, I wasnโt overwhelming myself or my audience with too much content, and I had the time to make sure that what I was publishing was high-quality.
When I made that change, I received so much more engagement, made so many more connections, and my sales and income increased as a result!
LESSON #6: YOU CANโT RELY SOLELY ON INSTAGRAM TO MARKET YOUR BUSINESS
Although Instagram is an amazing tool to market your business, it shouldnโt be your entire business. Too often Iโve seen business owners lose their livelihoods when Instagram decides to shut down their account and theyโre left to restart from 0.
While this never happened to me, it did happen to a few people I knew, so I really started to focus on building my email list and getting my followers onto a platform that I owned so that I could continue to nurture them there. That way, if something was to happen to my Instagram account, it wouldnโt be as much of an issue because Iโd still have my email list.
I now have multiple platforms for my ideal client to connect with me on. I have Instagram, my email list, my blog, this podcastโฆ so many different ways that Iโve been able to grow an audience and actually make sure that my business is sustainable.
RELATED EPISODE: 3 Ways Long-Form Content Will Transform Your Business
LESSON #7: SALES DONโT HAVE TO BE SLEAZY
I definitely didnโt sell enough when I first started my business. And yes, it was from the fear of coming across too โsalesyโ and annoying my audience.
But it was also because of the way I had been taught to sell. If youโre a longtime listener, youโll know that my very first coach basically taught me to use a lot of traditional sales tactics, you know like the bro marketing and sleazy dm scripts that just donโt feel natural and I really hated doing. So at first, I thought that was the only way to sell, and so I held back because it just didnโt feel right to me. I would mention my offer on my stories here and there, but I wasnโt selling nearly enough.
When I began to readjust my mindset towards selling, I realised that I started my business to make money - it is a job at the end of the day, not an expensive hobby. And I created my platforms with the intention of marketing my business. And that included selling.
I started paying attention to what I personally liked about the way others sold to me. What made me invest in someone. I paid attention to what felt good to me when I was talking to a potential coach or considering making an investment in a course or product. And I discovered that I was really drawn to those who didnโt put the pressure onโฆ who focused on the transformation rather than just on the pain pointsโฆ who gave me the space to decideโฆ
And so I then transformed my own sales strategy to reflect how I personally liked to be sold to. Because if I didnโt like being sold to in one way, my audience probably didnโt either.
When I made this shift, I went from talking about my offer once every week or so, to talking about my offer consistently. Iโm able to sell every single day, because Iโm not using intense sales techniques, Iโm soft selling my offer.
Iโm mentioning it at the end of captions, Iโm sharing the behind the scenes on my stories, Iโm celebrating client wins, Iโm sharing stories and case studiesโฆ and while this isnโt directly selling, it is reiterating the fact that I am a business and I have this offer available and so when I come to directly sell my offer, my audience have already been primed to that and itโs not a shock when I present them with the opportunity to purchase something.
So if you are not making consistent sales, it might be because youโre not selling enough. It might be because your audience doesnโt know what you have to offer. So donโt be afraid to show up and sell, because at the end of the day, when you sell you are giving your ideal client the opportunity to solve their problems and take a step closer to the life that they want.
LESSON #8: YOU CAN BUILD YOUR BUSINESS ON YOUR OWN TERMS
Listen, if you're not in love with your business, your offers and your processes... then what's the point?
If thereโs anything Iโve learned over this business journey, it's that you don't have to run your business like everyone else. You don't have to do something in your business just because your favourite mentors are doing it or because your coach has said that you should.
What works for one person, wonโt necessarily work for you.There are so many different factors that go into building a successful business and there are so many different strategies out there to choose from.
The honest truth is that there is no one size fits all strategy when it comes to building a business, and itโs important to build your business in a way that actually feels good to you. So if something doesnโt feel right, thereโs probably another wayโฆ you just have to find it!
For me, that was the way I showed up to work with my private clients. I used to run my coaching containers in the traditional way with weekly or biweekly calls and Voxer support and everything else that is traditionally included with 1:1 coaching, but it just wasnโt working for me. So, I started mentoring my private clients solely through Voxer and that worked so much better!
I attracted more aligned clients, I was able to support them so much better because I wasnโt taking from my own cup, and the whole process just felt so much better and aligned with how I wanted my business to be.
At the time, that wasnโt normal. I was one of the first people to introduce this style of mentorship and it was scary, but I listened to my intuition and it worked!
So remember, this is your business. Create it in a way that feels good to you.
The one thing that connects all these lessons together.
I have learned many more lessons along the way, but these are the top 8 that stand out from my first year of business and theyโre lessons that Iโve continued to carry through, even now in my fourth year of business.
And the one thing that connects them all? Consistency.
Even when things got tough, I lacked motivation or I didn't reach a goal... I got back up and tried again - because the only way to make progress is to take small, imperfect steps consistently.
If you are looking for someone to support you on your business journey - someone who has already been through it, someone who can be your second pair of eyes, your mentor and your cheerleader through it all, I am currently taking private clients for 1:1 mentorship. Click here to learn more and apply.
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If youโre an ambitious entrepreneur looking to create more time, freedom & profit in your online business and finally start building your business in a way that feels good to YOU, click here to learn more about how Leticia can support you with Private Voxer Mentorship.
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Hey! Iโm Tish!
I'm a marketing mentor for ambitious entrepreneurs who want to create more time, freedom & profit in their online business, in a way that feels good to them!
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