If you’ve made the decision to start a business, take a moment to celebrate that step. So many people think about starting their own business, being their own boss, and doing work that speaks to their souls. However, very few people have the courage to do it. So if you’re planning to start a business, you’re already doing far better than you think.
In the following guide, we will explore four things you might want to keep in mind if you’re starting a business. The focus here will be on businesses within the European Union, but many of these tips apply to other locations as well.
Mindset Over Matter
First and foremost, you’re going to have to open yourself up to lots of uncomfortable conversations with yourself. No one’s life is perfect, and this means everyone has had negative experiences that shaped their worldview. You almost certainly have a few self-limiting beliefs, and starting a business is one of the fastest ways to come crashing face-first into those beliefs. For the next five to ten years, you’re going to be dealing with strong emotions as you plant the seeds of your business, tend to them, and watch your passion grow.
Every time you’re feeling a strong emotion that you would consider negative, even if it doesn’t seem at all related to your business, take a moment to feel it out. Journal if you have to. Notice if there are any statements or beliefs attached to the feeling. Something like: he only pulled that off because his parents are rich, or she just got lucky, or I can’t do that for whatever reason.
These thoughts are going to come up all the time, and your first instinct is going to be to push them down and ignore them. Your second instinct is probably going to be to give up. What you’re going to need do instead is find an example that proves that belief wrong. You’re going to find someone who had poorer parents than you, who pulled off what you’re aiming for. You’re going to find someone that was extremely unlucky but still managed to build a thriving business. This is a lifelong practice if you want to build a business.
Get Clear On Your Vision
Running a business is a process filled with decisions, so many decisions that sometimes it’s going to feel like your head is spinning. To deal with the inevitable decision fatigue that can cause serious burnout (and ruin productivity for weeks), you’re going to build a vision statement for your business that you can return to. It can be half a page; it can be a book, but it needs to include your vision, your mission/purpose, your ideal client profile (don’t skip this—you want headache-free clients, not problem clients), a pathway to profit (how much you want to be charging for how much of your time/effort/product) and a loose outline for attracting sales or clients. Every time you get stuck, return to your vision and ask whether the choice brings you closer to the vision or not.
Understand Regulations
Starting a business often requires jumping through hoops. Government regulations are not always easy to find or understand, but they must be worked with, not against, if your business is going to thrive. If you’re looking to open a financial institution in Lithuania, you need to be seeking out a Lithuania electronic money institution license. Figure out what you’re legally required to do and get those balls rolling early on. Sometimes bureaucracy takes a lot of time.
Get Cozy With Pitching
If you run a business, you’re always pitching and marketing yourself. Early on, spend an afternoon figuring out how to explain what you do to potential clients or networking with contacts in a confident and succinct way. You want to be able to explain who you are, who you help, what you help them do, and what the results of your help are. You want to be able to explain all of this in a minute or less (ideally less), and you want to be able to say it in a cheerful and comfortable manner. Practice in the mirror if you need to.
With the above tips and the determination to keep learning and trying new things until you find what works for you, you and your business will be in a good place. Take lots of notes and refer back to them, so you can figure out what you did that produced results and what you did that didn’t. The only rule in business is that things change, and this means you need to be open to flow with whatever life throws your business next.