9 Things You Should Know Before You Start A Small Business

It’s all the rage, "Start a side hustle!”, they say.  It’ll be a great source of income and plus you get to do the thing you’ve wanted to do all along!  Or, if you plan to go into you small business full time, they say “You can be your own boss!”  Or “You’ll be able to make so much more money!” Or “Now you can create your own hours and work whatever schedule you would like!”

Maybe nobody really says that out loud, but that’s the general impression that “the culture” puts in your face.

As someone who owns and runs two small businesses (this website’s company, The Simple Design Co, and now our coffee shop, Simple Coffee Co) I’ve seen both sides of the coin on the joys of being your own boss.  I’m not here to present myself as someone who has “made it”, because I haven’t!  This blog is just the 9 things that I wish I had known 6 years ago when we started our first business.

1. Business don’t take off just because you start them.

I always had the impression that some people just start businesses and it hardly mattered what they did, the business would just sorta take off all by itself.  That’s almost never true.

One of the most common misconceptions that I had about “successful” business owners was that they possessed a hidden skill or talent that mysteriously made everything they touched a success.  On the contrary, what I have noticed is that most success small business people are people who have a baseline level of competence, but always keep on going.  They never let the ship coast, but instead continue to learn and push, at least a little bit.

2. Spend no energy on the Haters.

Disclamer: You will almost certainly barely ever run into anybody ever that would qualify as a hater. Also, genuine critiques of flaws in your system do not qualify as haters! That aside, you will inevitably run into somebody that is just not a nice person.   Refund their money, even if they don’t deserve it, wish them a good day, and keep going with the things that move you forward.

It’s really hard not to fall into the trap of a good spat.  For instance, we were once (publicly) accused of copying another person’s work, despite being relatively obsessive about not copying other people’s work.  Not only that, we had proof that we hadn’t done anything wrong, but that was beside the point.  If you spend energy on the haters or the false accusations or even your competition, you are only wasting the time that you should be spending on making your products and services better.

3. The actual skill that your product or service requires is probably the least of your worries.

This has to be the number one mistake people make when starting a small business or side hustle.  For example, “I’m a talented barista, I’m going to start my own coffee shop!”

  The skills that your industry requires to complete the physical product or service are the absolute baseline of what you need.  People aren’t necessarily impressed that you know how to be a good barista, they expected that when they walked into the specialty coffee shop.  They are impressed when they are greeted over and over with a friendly team of well trained people.   Of course you need a good barista, but if you want to run your own coffee shop, you need to be able to train people and promote your business and figure up good margins on your products and order supplies on time… the list goes on.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t intended to discourage you!!  Just make sure you are working on the right skill set, or you will constantly be frustrated that nobody is noticing how much better of barista (or any other thing) you are.

4. Spend more time and energy in marketing

You almost certainly will not spend enough of your first several year’s worth of income from your business on marketing.  It’s really hard to spend the money on marketing that might bring you more income later, when you could just spend it on the equipment upgrade that you could really use right now.   Marketing also isn’t necessarily financially expensive.  If you don’t have a lot of extra cash to spend, spend your time instead.  Post on social media super consistently, and get intentional about what is and isn’t working.

Every new customer that you reach today could turn into 100 customers in 5 years.

Extra tip.  If you are into social media marketing, be very careful when spending money to “boost” your posts.  The people who are successful with paid ads on social are very particular with who gets to see their paid ads.  Unfortunately, paid ads on social media for small businesses is usually just a direct deposit from your bank account to the social media’s bank account, with no real benefit to you. (I know, I know… paid ads can work, and we have done them, just be careful.)

5. Decide if you want to own your job, or run a business.

A lot of people who own their job think they run a business.  There is nothing wrong with owning a job, just be intentional about what it is you are wanting to do.   What’s the difference between owning a job and running a business?  One easy way to tell is to go on vacation.  Does the business keep going even if you are not there?  If yes, there is a good chance you run a business.  A proper business is a set of procedures and standards that produce products and services, outside of your direct efforts (that’s not an official definition :). If you run a proper business, you as the owner are replaceable, and that’s a good thing.  A proper business also needs to make more money than it pays you, or you are essentially running a non profit.   

Businesses often start as side hustles, so don’t be discouraged if you are in the side hustle stage and you want to run a business.

Don’t feel as if you are “less than” if you own your job, rather than run a “business”.  Owning your job can be a completely valid option.  It’s possible to earn a great income, make the world a better place, and be able to make your own schedule, all without needing to hassle with employees and scaling your business to size.  Just be intentional, if that is what you are looking to do.

6. Don’t be the worst boss you’ve ever worked for.

I’m not natured to be a workaholic, but sometimes one business or the other demands that I put in 17 hour days, back to back to back.  That’s fine.  Honestly, it’s often fun, because it’s a season of growth or change, and it’s a project that we are excited about.  Endless work days are not a recipe for a happy life though.

As your small business or side hustle picks up steam, you have to create boundaries around the most important areas of your life.  Your time with God, your family, your marriage, your church, your close friend group.  A lot of people go into business to make more time for those things, and end up being busier than ever.  Just like everything else in our crazy modern world, your business will want all of your time and attention, but it will be just fine if you put in into a well structured box and make it stay there.

Don’t get me wrong, I spend a lot of time with my family, in the business.  Way more so than if I had a normal 9-5 job.  Again my point is only this, be intentional!

7. Have nothing to hide.

This is probably better as a mindset or a lifestyle than a small business tip, but have nothing to hide.  Always strive to produce only quality.  If you are always trying to improve, and you believe in the things you are producing or selling, everything becomes better in business.  You no longer fear a disgruntled customer, because you will give them a genuine apology, and give them a refund, and learn from the mistake.  The less than ideal product that you sent them was not because you were lazy, it was because of an honest mistake or flaw in your system (that you will now go fix)… and that’s a huge difference.  Your customer can quickly tell if you are trying to just do business with them to make a buck, or if you are trying to make their life better.

8. Read

Read books that pertain to what you are currently trying to improve on.  I’m not really a “self help” guy, but I am a big believer in the power of books.  Here are a few to get you started.

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It-Michael E. Gerber

This is a great book on the importance of building systems.

Buy it here… https://amzn.to/3YXtBN9

This Is Marketing: You Can't Be Seen Until You Learn to See- Seth Godin https://amzn.to/3YNb2v4

This book is a good starting point for understanding what marketing looks like.

The One Page Marketing Plan, by Allan Dib, Joel Richards

Buy it here. https://amzn.to/3C7x6qD

This is a good book on simplifying your overall marketing, which is almost always a good idea.

Entreleadership- Dave Ramsey

Buy it here https://amzn.to/3C8mpEg

It’s been a minute since I took in this book, but it’s a great baseline business book that will get you started in the right direction.

9. Look beyond yourself.

Business can be a selfish, greedy, cut-throat world. Or it can be a place to bless people, further God’s kingdom, and make the world a better place. If your only objective is to make yourself wealthy, you are missing all of the best that running a small business has to offer. You might be able to build your business and pad your bank account, go wherever you want, and buy anything you get a hankering for. If you do really well you might even end up with a private jet… but then you die. We all die. (that turned morbid quickly) If every interaction you have with people your business touches is geared toward making the world a better place, you will won’t die. Or at least your impact won’t. In the end, that’s the only real reason we want to get into business in the first place… To have impact. To improve the world.

So what is the answer to the question we posed? Should you start a side hustle? Yes! Do!… unless that hinders you from making a positive impact on the world. If it bogs you down and consumes your life at the expense of all the most important things… NO!! please don't ! Either way, only you can make the call… don’t be persuaded one way or the other by the messages you get on social media. Running a small business is not easy, and it’s definitely not guaranteed, but if it is what you are supposed to do, step into it. It’s pretty stinkin’ rewarding.