31 Things Every New Entrepreneur Needs to Know for Success

First and foremost:? Are we the only people who consistently wonder what the official cutoff date is for saying HAPPY NEW YEAR to every person you see?? A quick search on the Google machine provides some significant ranges.? One result suggests you stop saying it at 11:59PM on January 1st.? Another result makes it clear that you have until January 15th to yell the festive greetings at friends and strangers alike.? I’m sure you already know this, but we are rule breakers at SB PACE, and so we’re going to wish folks a happy new year well into March this year.? You’ve been warned.

Happy New Year!!!!!

Now that the holidays are safely (and thankfully) behind us, we can all get back to the business of running a business.? For us, that means guiding entrepreneurs to success, and topping our list for this January is sharing some of the toughest lessons we learned while launching and coaching over a dozen businesses since March of 2020.??

This info is for all of you entrepreneurs who are planning to use 2022 as the year to launch your first business.? Congratulations, you’ve made an exciting and courageous choice!??

Here are 31 things we want every new entrepreneur to understand.? This advice would have shortened the curve for us significantly had we known or listened to them before we started.?

1. Just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come.
2. If you’re going to have a business partner, make sure you like and trust each other.
3. You need to focus on selling ASAP, and NEVER stop.
4. Be very clear on the problems you are solving.? People buy solutions.? And they buy solutions from people they like.
5. The know/like/trust factor is huge in business.? Build on it every single day.
6. Posting to social media isn’t selling.? Yes, it can lead to sales, but it is NOT selling.
7. Even if you aren’t looking for investors you should have a business plan.
8. Be prepared (really prepared!) to not get paid for 12 to 24 months.
9. You can’t jump to the head of the line in experience.? You’ve got to put in the reps to become truly good at owning a business.? Even if you have years of experience in your industry or speciality, you still have to DO THE WORK.
10. Not everyone is your ideal customer nor do you want them to be.
11. The smaller you can make your market, the faster you will grow.
12. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.? Those ahead of you are almost always willing to offer advice and answer questions.
13. Nobody expects perfection.? You’re going to make mistakes early on and that’s okay.? The trick is to not make the same mistakes on repeat.
14. Be prepared to try a lot of different shit.? Not everything works.
15. Understand that being an entrepreneur is humbling.? And hard.
16. Regardless how many people are in your business, document your processes.
17. Understand paid ads before you start running them.? If your product or service has a low price point, you’re very likely looking at a losing proposition paying for clicks.
18. You are far more productive if you actually take some downtime.? The myth that entrepreneurs need to work 7 days a week, 20 hours a day is nonsense.
19. A social media content calendar done at least a month in advance will save you so much time during your week.
20. You can learn a lot from listening to entrepreneur podcasts and reading books.
21. Hire a coach! Invest in yourself and your business.
22. Writing good copy is hard.? Writing great copy is almost impossible when you first start.? Practice.? And invest in a course (or outsource your writing to a professional!).
23. Never pretend to be more successful than you are on social media.? It will hurt you in the long run.
24. Don’t make claims that aren’t true.? This seems obvious, but if you aren’t a 7 figure business, don’t put that in your social bio.? Don’t write it on your website.? Be honest about where you are at.? There are right-sized clients all along the way.
25. Understand the value of your time.??
26. Complete a detailed competitive analysis.? Knowing your competition and how you are different is a key component of success.
27. Pick a name for your business that doesn’t require a lot of explanation.? Starting something new is challenging enough, don’t make it harder by having a name nobody understands or recognizes.? Or worse, confuses for something else - aka SB SPACE
28. Understand how you differentiate yourself in the three phases of selling (pre-sale, during the sale, post-close).? You both need and want to stand out.? That’s how you become memorable in the minds of potential clients.
29. Focus on building relationships.? That’s how you build long term success.
30. Realize you are going to outgrow some people.? And it feels scary and disloyal.? But the reality is a lot of people in your current social circle and network aren’t going to understand what you’re trying to build.
31. Support rarely comes from where you think it will.? And this is a good thing, you’re going to be surprised in some good ways when you see who does show up.

If you need help launching or growing your business, reach out !