5 Things Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know

Before I was a full-time nutritionist I had a short stint personal training for a couple of years in between my marketing career and Joyous Health. So if I count up the years, I've been my own boss for over a decade. In that time of being an entrepreneur I've made my fair share of mistakes and also had a few wins along the way too. But the winning always came after making ummmm, at least 1000 mistakes.

In today's post, with the help of my hubs Walker (he's an entrepreneur too) we've compiled our best mistakes and best wins to share with you five things that every entrepreneur needs to know!

Thinking that the only thing that matters is getting to the first page of google (by paying an SEO-company thousands of dollars) or having a flashy website, is sooooo 2005.

Instead, social media matters. It provides you with daily opportunities to grow your brand which increases traffic to your site, builds awareness and loyalty, increases brand recognition and ultimately cultivates your community. The fact is you have the opportunity to reach hundreds and potentially millions of people from the palm of your hand.

Every day you procrastinate posting on your social media channels, the more you have to lose!

When you commit to posting regularly, your site traffic will increase and your brand awareness will soar to new heights. 

Social media has been at the core of growth for Joyous Health since 2009. I absolutely LOVE sharing my passion for wellness by educating, empowering and inspiring people to live a healthy and happy life through social media. If you want to grow your business, then make social media a daily priority. Hubspot reports that just 6 hours a week on social media will increase your website traffic. That's 1 hour per day Monday to Saturday or double up one day and do two hours so you don't need to work on the weekend.

So what are you waiting for? Come on over to my Instagram, Twitter or Facebook page and introduce yourself!

Winning and losing is an undeniable part of being an entrepreneur - some days you'll be winning, while other days you'll be losing learning. It’s an ongoing and invaluable cycle that helps you grow and evolve your business as you evaluate what works and what doesn’t.

My point isn’t about winning or learning, however, it’s about how you handle the highs and lows that inevitably accompany them. So, here’s something I needed to learn, and one of the most important things I tell new entrepreneurs:

Enjoy the highs, endure the lows and throughout it all, strive to exist somewhere in the middle.

The fact is, winning does not mean you’ve “won” and learning does not mean you’ve lost. Each event is simply a waypoint on the roadmap to your entrepreneurial success. Keep these events in perspective and don’t get too high or low on yourself - instead, stay focused and keep moving forward.

When I was a personal trainer and studying nutrition at IHN, I had terrible balance. I was addicted to cappuccinos and napping -- honestly, I felt like a disaster. My joints always ached and I felt chronically tired. I canceled plans with friends and family all the time so I could sleep or because I was feeling like crap. I felt so guilty about this, but I just felt like I could never catch a break.

When I made the decision to prioritize what was important and start taking better care of myself, I found myself on an upward spiral (in a good way). Ditching the milky cappucinos was the first step and as a bonus I said good bye to aching joints. Then giving up my 5:30am clients was the next step, hello energy! I felt completely rejuvenated getting an extra hour of sleep. This allowed me time to focus on school and when I graduated from IHN, I had the energy to hit the ground running instead of running to my bed to sleep in the afternoon for an hour.

Fast forward to 2017, as you've probably read in previous posts about balance (like this video), or heard me talk about it on this podcast and this one, balance isn't always achievable, but self-care is an absolute priority for me. Good nutrition is a non-negotiable for me, meaning, it's a priority. Here's a little more about my morning routine which is part of my self-care. And, here's what 20 awesome women do for self-care if you need a little inspo :)

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When you start down your entrepreneurial path, you often need to wear many hats.

• Accountant? Check.
• Marketer? You bet.
• Operations Manager? Yup.

Oh, and sometimes you’ll also get to be a practitioner - you get the point.

When you're entrenched in your business and bootstrapping your venture, it can be easy to try and do everything yourself.

A business, at its inception, is like your baby and thinking of anyone raising it but you can be a challenging thought.

However, here’s what you have to remember:

It can be a tough pill to swallow when finances are tight, but identifying the areas of your business that are taking up the most of your time while providing the least return are good areas to look at delegating.

Think of it this way — for the two hours that you’re staring at spreadsheets, could you pay an accountant to do the same work in 1-hour; and in those two-hours you now have free, what can you do to build your business and generate revenue.

One of the biggest barriers to growth in small businesses are owners trying to do everything themselves. Remember, there’s only one of you and only so many hours in the day - so use your talents and hours wisely.

This is still something we need to work on at Joyous Health, and it’s not something you may necessarily be able to do early on. It is something that’s important to keep in mind as you plot our your path to growth.

Whenever I do public talks about my joyous health journey I always have people come up to me afterwards who have just started their business and tell me they want to be like me (which is so flattering and so kind!!), but they are intimidated by the mountain they need to climb and they are not sure how to get to the summit. People often don't realize that I've been working at this for a while. It's been a lot of hard work. I haven't subscribed to the 4-hour work week, like, ever, although that would be nice!

The bottom line here is you've gotta stop comparing yourself to people who have been in the business for longer than you and/or those that are successful. Instead of letting others successes get you down, invest in your business and get working on building the business of your dreams!  For me personally, in the early days of building Joyous Health whenever I saw my colleagues excelling in their business I had a little panic moment thinking "omg, I need to get my act in gear" but instead of feeling envious or jealous I let this light a fire in my fanny to get my ass working!!

I hope you found these 5 things every entrepreneur needs to know helpful. 

Be sure to check out the Joyous Health Business Program if you want to take your passion and create a thriving business of your dreams! 

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Have a joyous day all!

Joy (and Walker)