Did you know that we humans are creatures of habit? If you’re anything like me, dipping your toes into something new can be a scary experience. The unknown IS scary. There are so many ways to turn and ideas to follow through with in your head before the big launch day. Jumping into a new adventure is something that needs to be done in full faith and with high expectations. It’s important that you are all in, ready to get wet, and have established successful habits to maintain a growing business. This adventure can and will be a wild one. And it will be worth the risk.
But how do you know it will be worth it, Emily?
It will be worth it because the value of pursuing your dreams is irreplaceable. Doing what sets your soul on fire is powerful and is purposeful. Even if it doesn’t wind up with you sitting on top of a fat stack of cash and having someone feed you grapes all day, it’s something unique that you cannot experience in any other realm. Following your passion. Following your calling. Doing business the way you want to. Interacting with the people that mean the most to you. Making change. BEING the change. I know it is worth it.
With that being said, I want to chat with you about some habits to adopt in order to be a successful entrepreneur.
Habit 1- Goal Setting
I know, this habit seems like a no-brainer, but you would be surprised how many people do not have a business plan or a short term goal list for their business. Evaluate your business and your dreams and write down what you want from your business, your biggest goals, how your schedule should look, determine your travel status, and more. Having this mapped out is a good way to measure your dreams and see how far you’ve come after you’re able to do a benchmark review. Make a cute background in canva for your cell phone wall paper, write it on a note and stick it on your fridge. Set a reminder every day. Do SOMETHING that keeps your goals in front of you. This will subconsciously keep you goal focused and be an underlying reminder to keep going until it’s tangible.
Habit 2- Create a Schedule
Now if you know me, you know that I love planners and calendars. I ALWAYS have had a habit of keeping a planner in my purse. Like a real, paper planner is with me at all times. It not only helps me keep on track with my business calendar, but my personal life, too. I keep my bills, meetings, schedule with the kids, school events and EVERYTHING in my planner. I would be very lost without it. I keep receipts in my planner, too, until I upload them to Fetch Rewards. My current planner even has a pocket for safe keeping, so I keep a couple photos and a book of stamps and return address labels in there for mailing on the go.
I also rely heavily on my planner to ensure that I stay on task with all of my design work. In case you don’t know, I work a regular 9-5 job/career and also am a virtual assistant. I also take on design clients as my schedule allows and offer photography on the weekends. I have a habit of keeping very busy and like to have multiple flows of income for various reasons. Keeping track of the tasks I need to address in each position is vital for my day to day. I typically will email my current design clients and give them an outlook for the next week and when I think I’ll be tackling their projects, so they can anticipate when they might hear from me or have an idea of when a great time to collab on their project might be.
It also helps me to stay focused instead of spending very little time each day on every project- I schedule my tasks to be completed by day. For example: Mondays, I do my V.A. job for a few hours. Tuesday, I work on Design Client A’s branding kit and logo, Wednesday I will pop back over to my VA Job and then will wrap up working on the branding kit. Thursday, I’ll touch base with my client who needs social media art created and on Friday, I’ll work on minimalist drawings from my etsy shop or store. It keeps my mind moving and allows me to really dig into one project at a time, instead of just touching and going on all of them. It also helps me to develop a workflow habit and keep myself on schedule and on task.
This doesn’t work for everyone though and you have to take the time to learn what works best for you! The most important thing that I do, though, is keep a list of my to-do items handy. Whether it’s in google keep, a physical note on my desk or in my planner- crossing those items off one by one is empowering and fulfilling!
Habit 3- Have Dialogue with your Client
This also probably seems like a silly habit, but I have found my most successful clients have thrived when I truly work hand in hand with them. I love sharing updates while I create and openly welcome their critiques throughout the project. My dream is to help my clients reach and fulfill THEIR dreams- so why not bring them along for the ride? I am well known for sharing logo updates step by step. Sometimes, my clients say “I trust you, do what you need and show me the finalized images” but most of the time, my clients have no idea where to start and LOVE being involved, so they can see the growth of their brand happen right before their eyes. It gives me an opportunity to connect with my client and understand their vision in depth and get to know them better. It also avoids me having to tack on extra fees for redesign, if I show them throughout the process. We can make simple tweaks quicker and easier than having to scrap a whole design.
Thanks for reading today. There are plenty more habits to adapt for your business to thrive, but these are the top 3, in my opinion. What would you add to this list?
If you’re still not sure where to begin and could use a hand moving your business in the right direction, drop me an e-mail and lets chat!