2025 will be my 5th full year as an agency owner.

2025 will be my 5th full year as an agency owner.

Here are the 5 things I’d go back and tell year 1 me.?

It’s going to take way longer than you expect.

If there’s a mistake to make, I’ve made it. Shoot, there are mistakes I’ve made multiple times in a row that took me months or years to understand.?

When I started a business back in 2020, I knew it wasn’t going to be quick, but I didn’t have a realistic idea of what it would look like for the first 5 years.?

Growing a business takes a long time. The flash-in-the-pan online “business” owners that we get bombarded by advertisements from aren’t the norm. They’re either full of sh*t or didn’t build a sustainable business.?

Which leads me directly to my 2nd point:

“Things built to last take time to build.”

I have a T-shirt that says this and it’s my favorite shirt to wear on the days that are especially hard and frustrating.

The truth about building a business that won’t crumble when it scales is that it takes time to get the service, processes, team, offering, and results right.?

Sometimes it can take an entire year to brainstorm a service, roll it out, break it, fix it, re-implement it, and then break more things when it scales again before you truly have a scalable service.

It’s really easy to get discouraged by the challenges that arise when building a business, especially when it seems like everywhere on the internet is filled with people who are building bigger businesses faster and easier than you are.?

Build your confidence outside of the business.

Perhaps the most pivotal point in my business journey was when I completed #75hard for the first time.?

I was at an all-time low and needed to rebuild myself from the ground up. That 75 days completely changed my life. But why?

For the first time in a year up to that point, I took pride in my inputs and built my confidence by tackling challenges that had NOTHING to do with business. My confidence was no longer tied directly to how many deals I did (or didn’t) close that month.

When the market speaks, listen.

The business I thought I’d build was not the business that I’ve built.

For example, I thought I would ONLY do social media marketing.?

And then I saw how impactful SEO could be.

Then we saw how many people needed support on their websites.?

Then we saw the value in making people's problems go away.?

Now, there’s an end to this at some point because it can lead you astray.

However, if I had remained closed off to the market, I would have a business that’s about a third of the size it is today.?

Now, time for the most important piece:

People are EVERYTHING.

Period. The end.?

People on your team. People in your circle. People that you build relationships with that ultimately become your clients and friends.?

The one investment that has paid for itself a million times over is the investment into the relationships I have with people.

It’s what has allowed us to build a great team.?

It’s what has led me to a second family through masterminds.

It’s what has led me to build fantastic relationships with our clients.?

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I look forward to reading this at the end of 2029 as I near the end of year 9 in business and laugh at how clueless I am right now.?

Until then - Lessons and blessings.