5 Things You Should Know Before Starting Your Own Business

Looking to leave your big corporate job and starting your own business? Many senior executives daydream about the freedom of what life could be not working for the man. Starting your own business feels like the way out of modern day slavery. Of course, there are practical reasons to consider, however, I would like to explore the psychological and energetic thinking you should employ before you make that big leap of starting your own business.

Top five things you need to know before you make that big decision:

1. If you're going to run your own business you need to build up a strong network. So, whether you're in a current role that's giving you that opportunity to do that OR whether you have to go out and find that network - you need to supercharge your career identity. You must become ‘bigger’ than your job role where you're currently at. You need to get your name out there as an asset that outweighs your current role. You need to build contacts and networks and get people to realize that you are the valued stakeholder and you hold the value of information, data, and integrity. Networking is the number one thing. If you don't have a network, it's almost impossible to leave.

Networking is the number one thing.

2. You need to become a master at sales and receiving. Sales is often a dirty word for a lot of people. However, if you are going to start your own business you do really need to master the art of selling. Now let’s be clear, it needs to be in your own authentic way, and in a way that works for you. We all have a different style of selling. Find yours. However, you do have to do the number one thing which is ‘ask’. You have to ask for a sale. Whether that's asking online, asking face-to-face, asking on the phone, asking people to refer you, asking people to tell other people about you. You have to master the art of being able to sell your product or service, which means that you need to understand it well, and you need to articulate it well, and you need to practice that art of receiving. So, it actually goes beyond just a logical aspect, the idea of asking. It goes into the energy realm of receiving. You have to be able to receive. You have to be able to let people help you, support you, nourish you, and be open to things coming inward. It's very easy for us to all give and send energy outwards and try and create traction. But to actually, hand on heart, allow yourself to be supported, looked after and nourished, that's actually a critical part of the sales process. You have to learn the art of receiving. So start with accepting compliments. Start with asking someone to help you. Start with accepting the idea of being bought lunch or a coffee, and you'll find that your sales skills start to switch on.

3. The third thing that you have to master - well, you should master - is unblocking what is blocked. You have to really do some deep soul-searching around what are your blocks because your personal challenges do definitely impact your business. We cannot remove the person from the career. You need to really get familiar with the art of "What are my personal challenges and blocks, and how are they going to impact on my business?" You are the business. Your energy and spirit is behind the business. You have to think about what your personal challenges and blocks are and start to deal with them asap because they will pop up in your career, but more importantly, they'll pop up in your own business tenfold. Your business is a creation of yours. It's like a baby or a creation that you have birthed into the world, and so, you need to be able to do that in a clean way because your energy will directly impact on this creation that you've birthed. So work out what they are. Examples of blocks would be not being able to receive, as discussed in the above point. Or perhaps, creative insecurity around your product or what you're offering. Or maybe its perfectionism being a block which means you never launch anything or get anything out there. Or it's fear of judgment? What will people say when you start launching your business or selling? So working with your personal blocks is really powerful. I help a lot of people do this in terms of what's personally affecting them that's also impacting on their business.

4. You need to be able to manage your mind. So your mind is a powerful tool. As we know, it can put you through ups and downs. The word mindfulness has been thrown around a lot lately. Your mind can really dictate your energy, your purpose, your passion. It can dictate how confidently you present yourself in the world. So managing the ups and downs is critical. Business will go through ups and downs. There will be times when it's better, and times when it's difficult, and times when you're feeling stressed, whether that be about cash flow or managing overwhelm. One of the things that you need to do is get your mind right. So if you are a type of person that is stressed a lot or goes up and down, I would suggest that you work out how to really find that balance and peacefulness, and point zero where you are in your centre and your flow, and you know how to get back there quickly when life throws you curveballs. Because when you own your own business, it suddenly makes your career a lot more impactful on your personal life since the money and career go together when you own your own business. When you're in a corporate job, you'll get paid a salary no matter what. It is more secure. Of course, there are other issues there as well. But when you're working for yourself, the buck stops with you.

If you're mindful if you're clear and if you're on purpose - then everything runs just that little bit better.

5. And lastly, point number five is you need to really redefine what you think freedom is. A lot of people start their own businesses because they want freedom. And they think about freedom in terms of not having a boss telling them what to do, or freedom in their working hours and flexibility, or freedom where they operate from. And they're all very much aspects of freedom. However, it can be a real false sense of freedom when it comes to running your own business. It can actually restrict some of your freedoms. The amount of sales that you pull in that month can affect what you earn which could affect your ability to take that expensive skiing holiday. You might find that even though you've got more flexibility of time, your time is actually psychologically more trapping for you because you're thinking about your business long after you've finished work for the day because it's your baby. It's your birth and your creation. So freedom? You need to think about how many hours will I be doing, and what am I going to be psychologically responsible for, and all of those types of different ways that you experience freedom. Whilst you receive some freedoms, there are others that can be taken from you or at least impact on you short and long term.

So they're the five things that people need to consider when they're thinking about leaving their corporate job and getting their own business started. I help a lot of people with blocks, staying balanced and setting clear intentions around what can be possible. Being able to perform at your very best is underpinned by my idea of "when you are happy, you are energised". If you're mindful, and if you're on purpose - everything runs just that little bit better. Good luck starting your new venture.

Find your Inner Zen,
Debbie