Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
10 Mistakes Business Owners Make
19 Plays1 year ago
In this episode, I discuss 10 mistakes business owners often make when running a business.
Here's My Book Recommendation:
You Owe You: Ignite Your Power, Your Purpose, and Your Why by Eric Thomas
If you want to send me an email you can email me at [email protected]
Instagram
Twitter
Facebook
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Purpose
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to the Eliana Nita podcast, the podcast created to inform, challenge and empower you. Now let's get down to business.
00:00:24
Speaker
Hey, guys. Welcome to the Alienated podcast. I'm your host, Alien. And welcome back this week. If you are joining me as a loyal listener, thank you for tuning in this week. If you are a first timer, welcome, welcome, welcome. A little bit about myself. I am a formulation chemist. I am a licensed esthetician and a business owner. And I give tips and tricks and all of that stuff on this podcast. We have a good time. We are down to earth. We have good conversations. I have great guests.
00:00:53
Speaker
And hopefully you learned something while you're here.
Common Business Mistakes
00:00:56
Speaker
So today I want to talk about 10 mistakes that I noticed that business owners make. Now listen, I talked to several business owners, I polled them because I have a bunch of friends that are entrepreneurs as well. And so we all kind of sat down and culminated this list together. So I'm going to give you two things that we make mistakes with doing.
00:01:17
Speaker
Number one, not knowing our limits and triggers. Y'all, let me tell you something. Being a business owner ain't for the weak. You got to know what you know, what you know, and you got to make sure that you have a handle, not only on yourself, but on the rules and regulations of your business.
00:01:41
Speaker
And how you can build your rules and your regulations for your business is by understanding what your limits are and what your triggers are. So if I need to have a certain amount of sleep at night, that means that I have to have certain business hours that accommodate that. If I need eight hours of sleep, that means that I'm not gonna be up at two, three o'clock in the morning and having a conversation with you via email, text, group chat, whatever.
00:02:11
Speaker
And you have to know that as a business owner, you have to be very self aware of yourself. And when you know your limits and your triggers that will determine who you are willing to work with and who you cannot work with.
00:02:26
Speaker
It just, you have to possess honestly, emotional intelligence is quite the thing in business only like you have to be very, very aware of your emotions and your triggers and things like that because one thing that I know is that clients can be incredibly emotional, especially because
00:02:46
Speaker
It's their business and depending on what you're in, if you're in a service type business or a product, if you sell products or not, like the like clients can be a handful and they don't mean to necessarily be that way. But they're just really passionate about it. And if they feel like you're not 100% into their dream, then they'll like
00:03:05
Speaker
fall out on you. And if you are not emotionally prepared for that, you're going to always find yourself at odds with people. So it is quite, it is so vitally important that you know your limits and your triggers and know when you need a break.
00:03:20
Speaker
know when you need to rest, know when you need to eat, know when people, you know, if somebody says something to you, this is going to trigger you and know how to respond to all of those things. So take the time to learn yourself and be emotionally intelligent.
Maintaining Values and Pricing
00:03:36
Speaker
Number two, the mistakes that we make is bending the rules or overextending ourselves for a client. So a lot of times we have things set, right? You have in your mind, like, I am only going to do this, this, this, this, and this.
00:03:51
Speaker
But you might decide to sway or overextend yourself because you either want to make the client really happy so that they can be happy or you want to land the client or whatever, right? So you'll go through all of these limbs that's unrealistic and you'll end up running yourself into the ground and the work that you're doing won't be worth it because you overextended yourself.
00:04:18
Speaker
and you bent your rules. Do not ever, business owners, you hear me? Do not ever forsake yourself for the sake of a client. Do not ever forsake yourself for the sake of a client. I'm not saying not to make sure that the client is happy. I'm not saying not to give good customer service. I'm not saying any of that.
00:04:40
Speaker
What I'm saying is that do not forsake your rules. Do not forsake the things that is important to you. Don't forsake your values. Don't forsake any parts of your integrity to your client. Don't do that.
00:04:57
Speaker
because you'll end up hating yourself and regretting that you did it in the first place. That is something that I noticed that especially when you are a new entrepreneur and you're really anxious or thirsty to get a client or land a contract, you'll do whatever. Please don't get to that point. Don't ever allow yourself to get to that point because you'll end up losing credibility within yourself and within your client. Because if you become gutter to get them, you'll have to stay gutter. And that's not what you want to do.
00:05:27
Speaker
So number three, we cheapen our prices to land the contract. Guys, one thing I've learned in business is you have to know your price and know why your price is your price. So when it comes down to pitching your price and your quotes and all of that stuff to your client, you need to have everything detailed out, layered out, numbered out, all of that so that they understand fully why your price has to be your price.
00:05:57
Speaker
Sometimes people are just out here taxing because they want to tax and they're not really worth it. But if you know that you're a hard worker, you know you're going to put your very best into whatever it is that you're doing, then you need to always make sure that you can explain that to your client and make sure that they fully understand that.
00:06:19
Speaker
But don't ever cheapen your price just to land a client because here's the thing what somebody won't pay somebody will easily pay I will never forget I was working with a client and I had gave her a quote and it was a it was a really big quote and I was nervous to even give it to her and she told me in her email. She said I know you're worth it and
00:06:39
Speaker
I'm going to make the investment to do what I have to do to make sure that I can pay you and afford to do this." When she told me that it was like music to my ears, it was like the wind behind my wings because she got it. She understood that I had the level of expertise. I had the years of experience. She knew that I knew my stuff and she knew that I was worth it.
00:07:02
Speaker
But the key was I had to know that I was worth it. And that's the thing. When you know that you're charging a price and you're charging this price for a reason, you're never cheating your client. But if you're cheating yourself, you are cheating your client because you're going to be less motivated to do the work. When you have that pressure on you, when you know that you charge your client the right price, and you're like, man, this person is paying me X amount of dollars. I got to make sure I show up. That pressure is going to make you perform in excellence.
00:07:31
Speaker
But when you know that you cheated yourself and shortchanged yourself, you're not going to show up. So do not ever cheat yourself, achieving your prices just to land a client or the contract.
Building Strong Business Foundations
00:07:44
Speaker
Number four, not having good systems in place, whether that's a client intake process, an invoicing system, pricing systems. You need to take time to think through your business, its needs, and create the systems around it to make sure that that business is going to be successful.
00:08:01
Speaker
That is a huge mistake that we make all the time as business owners is that we do not consider all of the aspects of running our business and what it's going to require for our business to be successful. So you have to have really good systems in place to make it very easy for your client to either contact you or your customer or consumer to purchase your product or
00:08:27
Speaker
find you, you have to make things extremely accessible for your client or consumer base. And the easier you make things for them, the easier things will be for you. So make sure you have the systems in place. The next mistake we make is not having a good support team, whether that's employees, whether it's lawyers, accountants, mentors, coaches, whatever.
00:08:49
Speaker
We oftentimes try to do entrepreneurship by ourselves because especially if you're a solo entrepreneur, you'll be like, Oh, this is mine. This is mine. I have to do it myself. This is my baby. You feel like you have to protect it, but you need good support teams around you. You need good people that can help you get out of your head. Um, you need friends that'll take you out for a night on the town so that you're not always
00:09:10
Speaker
focusing on work, you need a good lawyer that can handle your contracts and your business stuff where you need a good accountant that can count your dollars and make sure you're paying your taxes on time. You need good people around you and the only how you'll be able to get that is by opening yourself up and availing yourself to be able to be help. Make sure that you're being vulnerable. Get you a good therapist so that you can talk to somebody and air out your different things so that you're not
00:09:37
Speaker
holding it all on the inside, but like share your responsibilities with your employees. Don't try to do everything on your own. Get you a good team, a good support team around you and respect their excellence, respect their expertise. Put these people in position to do, empower them to do what you need them to do.
00:10:00
Speaker
If this is your lawyer, don't be trying to be a lawyer for them. Like they went to law school, they got that degree. Trust them to be who they are and who they say they're going to be. And if they're not, then you need to do the next best thing and find somebody else to put in their place. But yeah, get you a really good support team. The next mistake we make is underestimating our ability to be successful.
00:10:24
Speaker
we oftentimes like to play, especially when you're a solo entrepreneur, I know this is, or when you're a first-time entrepreneur, we are, especially when it's like the first generation, like you either have to be extremely motivated or you're gonna be like really scared and like underestimating yourself. Listen, if you have this idea and this idea is working and the wheels are turning,
00:10:50
Speaker
Guess what? You're going to be successful, but you're only going to be as successful as you allow yourself to be. So never underestimate your ability to make something work or to make a thing happen. If you say it's going to happen, guess what? It's going to happen. But if you don't believe in yourself, if you don't believe that you can be successful, if you don't believe that your idea is a good idea, guess what? Nobody's going to believe it either.
00:11:17
Speaker
So your success ultimately begins and ends with you.
Continuous Learning and Personal Growth
00:11:21
Speaker
The next thing we make a mistake at is not taking time to learn. Every week on my personal calendar, on my business calendar, I set aside time to learn. Whether I read every day, I read a book, I read an article, I'm listening to something, it has become incredibly easy to have access to information.
00:11:46
Speaker
You can listen to a podcast, a business podcast, you can listen to audio books, you could join webinars that's free like in my particular industry and personal care and cosmetics. They are always hosting webinars. I am always signing up to join in on webinars because I'm always trying to learn something new within my industry.
00:12:08
Speaker
Whether it's about a new piece of raw material that's being premiered, or whether it's about a new technique or a new preservation system, or whether it's about manufacturing and operations, whatever, I am always constantly putting myself in the position to learn.
00:12:26
Speaker
Just because you got the degree or you finished the program doesn't mean that you stop learning. You give your clients the best the more you learn, the more that you expose yourself to information and ideas and things like that, the more you can offer to people.
Balancing Work and Life
00:12:42
Speaker
Never, ever, ever stop learning. Number eight, not having time for a hobby that has nothing to do with work.
00:12:51
Speaker
When I tell you I have had to learn that you have to unplug yourself from your business like your life cannot be all about your business like I am a single woman I live by myself so for me, I can have my laptop and
00:13:06
Speaker
all of my work on one side of my bed and then I can be on the other side of the bed. I have lived that life, right? And so I will roll over at two, three o'clock in the morning, grab my laptop, work on something, research a piece of raw material or try to, you know, tweak a formula or whatever, right? Because my work is my work and I love it, right?
00:13:25
Speaker
But I have had to learn, Elion, sometimes the best creativity comes from unplugging yourself completely from your work. So whether that is taking a knitting class or painting or taking an exercise class or going golfing or whatever it is that your vice is, you need a hobby. Business owners get a hobby that has absolutely nothing to do with what you do.
00:13:50
Speaker
Right? And when you do that, you're going to find so much joy and fulfillment. It's going to, it's going to make you want to live life. It's going to give you like, it'll give honestly, like what I've learned from having a hobby is like, as you have this hobby, and I tried to pick like a really expensive hobby that requires me to make an investment because the more I want to get into my hobby, the more money I want to make to be able to give to my hobby. So it'll make you work harder and smarter in your business. Honestly,
00:14:19
Speaker
when you have something that you can aim towards and go and have fun with. So please y'all find a hobby that has nothing to do with your work and have fun with life. The next thing we do is not take breaks. Y'all, I am all gassed, no breaks, right? But I have had to learn that sometimes you need to slow yourself down and take a break. You need to rest.
00:14:45
Speaker
You need to have a healthy diet. You need to have fun with your family and friends. You need to make memories, right? That is a part of living and being successful. What is the point of building a successful business or building
00:15:00
Speaker
these things up or having these structures in place. If you're not going to enjoy them, what is the point? Please take time to take a break. Whether it's to have a day off to lay in your bed and watch Netflix all day and banjo show. Do it. I encourage you to do it.
00:15:18
Speaker
Whether it is you taking a moment to go on vacation or go visit a family member out of town, hop on the flight, take a break, take a break, please take a break. And the last and final thing that we make mistakes in in business is not maintaining our health.
00:15:44
Speaker
As a business owner, your most valuable resource beyond your time is your health. Your health and your time is the most valuable resource that you have as an entrepreneur. You will find nothing more valuable in entrepreneurship than your health and your time, honestly.
00:16:07
Speaker
If you don't have time and you don't manage your time wheel, you'll never be able to make the money that you want to make. If you don't have health, it will take your time away from what you need to do. You have to take time to maintain your health. Go to doctor's appointments, go get checkups, take breaks and rest.
00:16:31
Speaker
Make sure you're taking your vitamins and your supplements. If you have medication that you need to take, take your medicine. Do whatever it is that you need for your health. That is the key. Beyond having good time management skills, you need good health.
00:16:54
Speaker
You will not survive the ups and downs, the ins and outs of entrepreneurship if you do not have good health. You want to be fit for your future. That's what my mentor told me. You need to be fit for your future. I, over the course of the pandemic, from 2020 up until now, I lost 83 pounds.
00:17:19
Speaker
83 pounds. I looked like a totally different person. I bugged down. I did the work and I lost the weight. Why? Because I knew that I had a journey that I was getting ready to go on and I needed to make sure that my health was in check before I did it. If I did not have healthy, um, if I didn't have healthy habits in place, I would never be able to survive all of the things that I'm enduring now.
00:17:45
Speaker
If I didn't have a workout regimen, if I didn't have a healthy eating regimen, if I didn't have things in place now, I would not be able to survive. And so I want to encourage you all to make sure you take time in this year and moving forward to make sure that you are as healthy as possible for your journey and that you're fit for
Recommended Reading and Conclusion
00:18:05
Speaker
your future.
00:18:05
Speaker
So of course, you know, I have a book recommendation and it is written by Eric Thomas. It is called you owe you. So I'm going to link that book into the book. This are into the the bio or in the descriptions below.
00:18:21
Speaker
And please make sure you go check that book out. It is a phenomenal book. Excellent read. I have an audible. It's a seven, like maybe close to eight hour listen, but you can get it done in a day or you can listen to it in a couple days or for a week or whatever, but it's so, so good.
00:18:37
Speaker
Get it y'all. And if you want to email me or talk to me, you can email me at alienanidashow at gmail.com. I am your favorite chemist or your fav chemist on all of the social media platforms. And as always y'all be blessed and stay relevant. See you next week.