{"id":1702,"date":"2015-10-21T00:43:11","date_gmt":"2015-10-21T00:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/?p=1702"},"modified":"2015-10-22T00:45:02","modified_gmt":"2015-10-22T00:45:02","slug":"4-things-i-learned-after-my-first-year-as-an-entrepreneur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/4-things-i-learned-after-my-first-year-as-an-entrepreneur\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Things I Learned After My First Year as an Entrepreneur"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Jeff<\/a><\/p>\n
JEFF BOSS<\/div>\n
CONTRIBUTOR<\/div>\n
Entrepreneur, Executive Coach, Author, Speaker<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Image credit: Elliott Brown | Flickr<\/a><\/div>\n<\/header>\n

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It\u2019s been almost a year since I took the entrepreneurial leap and launched\u00a0myexecutive coaching<\/a> practice. I\u2019m not going to lie, working for myself has been completely spoiling. Setting my own agenda, choosing the place and times to work, and determining the clients with whom I work (no social hand grenades<\/a>) has been completely fulfilling.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a big believer that\u00a0in uncertainty lies opportunity<\/a>. If the rules aren\u2019t already written then write your own rule\u00a0book, and if there is a book, make edits.<\/p>\n

Related:\u00a0Don’t Let these 5 Illogical Thoughts Stop You From Starting a Business<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sharing lessons is important. After all, nobody learns from their successes or really even question why they won something, they just accept it. Here are four things to consider before taking your leap into the entrepreneurial unknown:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0Marketing isn\u2019t easy.<\/h2>\n

Not in terms of marketing your product but yourself (self-promotion). Now, I\u2019m not blanketing all entrepreneurs by saying this because there are certainly people out there who believe the world revolves around them. However, for those who live in reality and \u201cget it,\u201d selling yourself (not that way) isn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the secret to not sounding like a you-know-what: don\u2019t talk about yourself. Instead, highlight what it is your product or service provides and let customers make the connection for how it benefits them. This is a subtle yet important difference. People want to know how they\u2019ll benefit from buying what you\u2019re selling, and yes, who you are is a large part of that.<\/p>\n

Consumers buy from vendors they like, trust, and respect. They also buy products and services that benefit them so be sure to craft your marketing message that way.<\/p>\n

2. A strategy is different from an objective.<\/h2>\n

I wrote in another column what a\u00a0sound strategy<\/a> looks like, and just the process of thinking strategically can be a challenge if you\u2019re more inclined to the executor role. Think of it this way: an objective is where you want to end up —\u00a0it\u2019s your destination. Strategy is how you get there.<\/p>\n

Consider, for instance, a ladder — the kind you lean up against the side of the house to clean out the debris in your home\u2019s gutters. When you lean the ladder against the house, the goal is to climb to the top (and not fall off). The rungs provide the means by which you get there — the daily behaviors that help you execute the strategy — and the rails of the ladder set the direction for where those rungs lead (they can only go one way). If, once you get to the top of the ladder you find yourself on the wrong roof, you simply shift the ladder.<\/p>\n

Related:\u00a0Being Your Own Boss Is Great Except for the Hours<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

3. Focus on what you,\u00a0and only you,\u00a0can affect.<\/h2>\n

Entrepreneurship is an investment in yourself,\u00a0your beliefs, convictions\u00a0and definition of value. After all, if you don\u2019t believe your new widget is valuable then you wouldn\u2019t feel compelled to sell it, right?<\/p>\n

As an entrepreneur, you should focus on your area(s) of expertise, on what only you can affect, and allocate other tasks to outside professionals. Virtual assistants<\/a> are great for this as they provide the subject-matter expertise to work effectively and efficiently in their roles while allowing you to do the same.<\/p>\n

4. Stay fit.<\/h2>\n

Anybody who says there\u2019s no time in the day to exercise simply doesn\u2019t place fitness as a priority.\u00a0It\u2019s that simple. Being an entrepreneur is no different. What prevents people from doing the hobbies they enjoy is fear. They worry that if they\u2019re not working on something geared toward business then they\u2019re not being productive, and this is anything but true.<\/p>\n

We all need personal time, it\u2019s how we decompress from the pressure of the day so we can return the next day and work optimally.\u00a0Learn how to manage your fear<\/a> of missing out (or FOMO) syndrome and watch your stress levels plummet.<\/p>\n

It’s not an easy decision, but holding your\u00a0feet\u00a0to the fire and placing yourself in an environment that demands success certainly\u00a0narrows down\u00a0your priorities of what’s important and what isn’t. It also wields greater fulfillment. Choose wisely.<\/p>\n

Related:\u00a0A 4-Step Checklist That Will Increase Your Chances of Starting a Successful Businesses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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JEFF BOSS CONTRIBUTOR Entrepreneur, Executive Coach, Author, Speaker Image credit: Elliott Brown | Flickr October 21, 2015 It\u2019s been almost a year since I took the entrepreneurial leap and launched\u00a0myexecutive coaching practice. I\u2019m not going to lie, working for myself has been completely spoiling. Setting my own agenda, choosing the place and times to work, … Continue reading 4 Things I Learned After My First Year as an Entrepreneur<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-startups","pmpro-has-access"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4MGMb-rs","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1702"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1703,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1702\/revisions\/1703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leadershipshape.com\/wardroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}