[Transcript starts at 1:35]
Hello, hello, hello, my podcast people and thank you for joining me for yet another episode of my favorite podcast. So today we are breaking down my top four unexpected issues that you will very likely encounter and experience as an entrepreneur.
But first, can we talk for a second about, well now I don't know what week it's gonna be, but episode number four, I believe, four or five of uh, what is it? Last of us? The show about the fungus. The fungus among us. I should probably know the name, but I don't. I think it's Last Of Us. I was not okay after that episode. I know a lot of people really liked the episode with the two, um, with Bill and not Ted, Bill and the other guy. Uh, and that was fine.
The episode with Sam and Henry, my heartstrings; tugged, broken, dead. Oh my gosh. This should not be a spoiler also, because this, this episode will come out so far after that episode, but I am recording this the day after that Sam and Henry episode aired, and my God. I love zombie films. I love zombie shows.
Um, I shouldn't say that. I love zombie films. I don't necessarily love zombie shows because of the same reason, this is why I don't really love this fungus amongus show. I'm watching it largely because Ashley wants to keep watching it. But we, what we tend to see with these zombie shows is that it reveals that it's not the zombies that are the worst thing, it's humanity.
And I'm like, yes, I know. I understand this and I don't wanna see more of this. Whereas a movie, there's like a, you know, it's finite, it's two hours, hour and a half, whatever, and you get an ending and like some resolution. And then it can actually be, be about the zombies and if there's special effects or just like how creepy they are, whatever.
This is a TV show, and we saw it happen with Walking Dead, right. When they killed Glen with the bat, and it was a human that did it, I was like, I'm, I stopped watching the show. So I don't even know what season that was, but I, I was like, I can't keep watching this. I like to watch Million Dollar Listings.
Just like, let me, gimme like floof tv. But either way, just wanted to throw that in there. I do like to, you know, humanize this podcast. One of the things I've kind of felt is that I love doing these shorter episodes and really focusing on making them tactical. But then I'm like, I don't wanna get rid of the human aspect.
I love the kind of conversational piece. It's like a pseudo conversational piece because I'm conversing with myself, but you do listen and you do text back, and I, I love that. I'm so grateful for that. Um, you know, however, quote unquote delayed it may be. Um, and I wanna make sure that I, that I, I want to make sure that I don't lose that.
So there's the conversational piece. That episode, my heart, my heart, literally, oh my God, my heart. My heart. A moment for my heart, folks, a moment. Okay, so today's episode we're breaking down four unexpected issues that I, I believe you will very likely or could very likely experience as an entrepreneur.
Um, I have seen these themes as recurring themes that come up time and time again, whether it's one of them or all four of them. And as in, you know, a single client. Um, and I wanna just help you kind of be aware of them and perhaps with that awareness, use that awareness, uh, to manage expectations and, and facilitate preparation.
The biggest issue that I see, and that causes these four issues, right? Or the biggest, the theme here that I see that causes and leads to these four issues is the fact that entrepreneurialism at the end of the day means self-employment. If you have the benefit of just going right into it, maybe someone else is supporting you or whatever, or you have a, you know, really reserves that you've built up amazing. But now you have become self-employed, which means the freedom that you seek is the freedom that you will now become responsible for managing.
Most folks, they go into entrepreneurial entrepreneurialism or they become self-employed cuz they're like, I don't wanna deal with a shitty boss. I get that. I don't think it's the best reason to start a business, to be completely honest. I think you're better off, if your problem is, I don't want a shitty boss, then you should probably go find business that doesn't have a shitty boss.
Cause oftentimes people don't want a shitty boss and then they just replace that shitty boss with themselves and end up becoming a shitty boss. And you're like, well, it's not better that you're the shitty boss. So, what, you know, another thing that people will go into entrepreneurialism for looking for is time freedom.
And they're like, I wanna be able to do what I want when I want, which also isn't the best reason, and you tend to get a lot more flexibility working for yourself, but not necessarily ultimate time freedom. What you will find is that these things that you wanted, now you are in control of actually making them happen.
And you are in, you are responsible, not in control, you are responsible for making those things happen, and you're responsible for way more of your day and way more of what you're doing. And oftentimes that's a shock to people and it's very unexpected. It's an unexpected issue. And sometimes people can't get over it and it stops them.
It's okay if it stops 'em and it stops you and you're like, actually, this isn't for me. That's a very valuable lesson. But if you're like, I don't want it to stop me. I wanna be prepared for it. I wanna be aware of it. I want some suggestions on how to work through these things. I got you. That's what this episode is about.
So, four unexpected issues. The top four unexpected issues that you will very likely experience as an entrepreneur. Number one, biggest one is managing time. The problem that we see is that when you work for yourself, everything can become work or work related, which suddenly means that anything and everything can be used as an excuse to not actually do the work that needs to get done.
So, you know, rearranging your office. That is work, is tangential to work, and that's probably more fun than like looking at a profit and loss, a p and l sheet. So we'll be like, well I'm just gonna do that instead cuz like, rearranging my office is gonna help me cuz it's gonna gimme in the right mind frame so I can like then do these other things.
That can be a very slippery slope, folks, and suddenly you're doing everything but actual work. Solution here: four of 'em I'm gonna give to you. Number one, get an accountability buddy. That could mean hiring a coach, but you know, I like to go to the kind of free route first and use what's around you. So if you have someone that's a, that's a friend that's doing something similar to what you're doing, put that out there.
Or if you're like, I don't have that, cool. But you have social media. Put it on social media and be like, this is what I'm doing today. I'm getting this done. If you are the type of person that responds well to that kind of external, um, responsibility and external accountability, gotta know yourself.
Second solution, second option here is adding more to your schedule. We know Parkinson's law is very true. Work expands to fill the time allotted. So if you say, I had all day to do this thing, well then it's probably gonna take you all day. If you literally have five things that you need to get done, suddenly you're like, I'm gonna get more stuff done.
All of my parents listening to this, my mom's, I know that you understand that and you're like, when there's a bunch of stuff and I gotta take this kid to this and this and this and this and this, suddenly you're like, Hey, well, this thing has to get done in that timeframe or it's not getting done. So oftentimes in the beginning, you don't have a lot of stuff you don't have a lot with clients maybe, so let's put some more things on your schedule.
It doesn't necessarily have to even be work or work related, but get the schedule a little bit tighter and that's going to, uh, allow for, create better time management opportunities. Speaking of time management, that's gonna be step number three or solution number three: is a time audit. I love doing this and if you ever want help, you can sign up for a Maestro Meeting.
I love helping people get their schedules in order. I absolutely love it. I was just working on this with Ashley, like this is literally one of my most favorite things to do. So time audit means you take note, take stock of everything that you do all day for at least a week. I typically prefer two weeks cuz usually the first week you don't actually, you don't act right.
You just be changing things cuz you're like, this is what I wanna be doing. And like look at me. And then by second week you're like, ah, fuck, I'm just gonna do what I normally do. And then you can see like, okay, where this is where this is time, this is where this time is going, this is where this time's going, this, there's a lot of task switching.
Uh, so part first part there is audit your time and then from there you look to time batch. AKA you're putting items together that have similar energy expenditure, and similar energy requirements. I've done multiple episodes on time batching. Courtney, if you could link at least one of those. Thank you. All right, so that will help out with your time management.
The third part, and this ties into what we said earlier, is then once you've audited these things, sometimes you just gotta eat the frog. And did an episode on that. Actually, it might have even been an episode, maybe it was a YouTube video that Joe… I'm not sure, either way, if you could link that, Courtney.
Um, sometimes you gotta eat the frog. You gotta do the thing you don't wanna do, and you do it first so that you know it's gonna get done. Some of these less sexy, less fun things, especially if you're a creator or a creative type. Doing numbers and like bank stuff is not fun and finances is not fun. Do it first. Get it out of the way.
Uh, last part of the solutions here for managing time is just leaning on discipline. Remember that easy is earned. And having that more, that flexibility and having the ability to take more time off is earned. When you've established a set routine and you've been doing this thing for years and years and years, and you built up to trust with your audience, you can take more time off and, and step back.
So take that. And that statement is from, or that quote is from Jade, Jade, Teta. Um, um, that's Jill's ex-husband. But I like that quote. It is what it is. You can take it at face value.
Second unexpected issue that I see entrepreneurial entrepreneurs running into is working alone. The problem is that they, some folks just really like to have teammates, team members, or have a team. One, and I think the kind of the overarching theme we're gonna see through this, or a running theme we're gonna see through all of these is self-awareness and, and understanding how you are, how you operate, what you like, what you don't like.
But if the problem is that you really like having a team, you really like being surrounded by people, team members, teammates, or you like having a team, managing a team, first join a mastermind. Join a group coaching program. You may, it may be easier for some people to pay to play in that regard. It doesn't have to be the most expensive mastermind by any means.
But yes, you could try joining a networking group as well. I think maybe those are free. The next level up would be some sort of like group coaching thing that is like a mastermind. And again, don't spend a zillion dollars on these things. But the reason I say pay to play is that in the beginning, if you're not really bringing things to the table, you don't have much success yet, you don't have much proficiency with things, you may need to pay to get into a room to be around other people that are learning and are in the same space as you.
Depends on where you live. Maybe you have more of these opportunities just naturally and networking things. Awesome. One of the things I've seen is that a lot of the networking events tend to be in, for in-person business or brick and mortar business, which is a little bit different.
Um, joining some sort of coaching program can be really, really helpful just to be surrounded by people that essentially become like teammates. So they're doing, you know, their own project, but it's, you're working on it at the same time. You're going through it at the same time. Um, I will actually pitch now that I think, I didn't write this down in my, um, outline, but I'll pitch the Mafia. If you are looking for team members, team teammates, I should say, but you're like, I don't wanna spend a zillion dollars, the Mafia is a great option, absolutely phenomenal option, and a way that you can connect with people that are in the trenches doing the thing at the same time that you are. So if you want more information on that, shoot me a text. 3 1 0 7 3 7 2 3 4 5.
Would love to chat about that. Um, $37 a month. It's not, not gonna break the bank, um, or uh, you can shoot me a DM @themovementmaestro.
So we said, number one, join a mastermind. Second option here would be to create your own mastermind. This can be difficult if you're not bringing things to the table. You don't have a big network yet, but if you do, cool, then get your friends together and create those, that team, right, where they're working on their things, but you're doing it together.
You're holding each other accountable. Uh, third thing, hire when you have funds. So if you're like, I actually like running a team and that's just part of one of your strengths, amazing. Understand that and then wait to hire until you can actually financially, financially make sense, but then you can hire a team and at least start one at a time.
Yes. I think it's important to understand what exactly you're hiring for. Do you want a teammate? Do you want a mentee? Do you want someone that just like does things for you? Like kinda an operator position? You gotta figure out exactly what you need. But that it would be a third solution there for, um, people that are like I don't like working alone. I don't like being in by myself with this. Hiring a coach could be helpful as well, um, because they can give you someone to, to bounce ideas off of. They can, you know, someone that, that, that gets it and has been there. Um, I think this is especially helpful of a, as a tip for people that live in places where just being an entrepreneur isn't as common of a thing.
Like, there's a lot of people where I live and a lot of people I meet that understand it, that get it, that I could use as, as teammates. And you know, my best friend Jill, my business bestie, she lives up the street. So if you find yourself in kind of one of those, like entrepreneurial oasis is, I don't know how to say that word, uh, it may be prudent for you to go and, and kind of pay to play a little bit and become part of a group that you can, can use as a team or consider to be a team.
The third unexpected issue that I see entrepreneurials- entrepreneurs, I keep saying that wrong, entrepreneurs run in to, is the fact that they have to do everything themselves in the beginning, right? A lot of people just, they want to just do the thing that they're good at. They, they just wanna coach and they're like, I just wanna be a coach.
This is why I said earlier, it's not necessarily the best idea, you're like, I, I don't want a shitty boss, to then go and start your own business. Because then you have to do everything. Now you are the boss, now you are marketing, now you are the branding team. Now you are the outreach team. Now you are the sales team.
Now you are also the coach. Now you are also IT. And you have to learn how to do all these, especially if you are going into the online space. It's a big learning curve, steep learning curve, and a lot of things that you have to learn. So the solution here: number one, you embrace it. This is literally your job now.
If you're like, Hey, I wanna go into online business, okay, cool. Understand that you're gonna be online then. Folks will go into the online space and be like, I hate technology. And I'm like, this is your job now, ma'am. This is, this is your job. So we're gonna embrace it. Understand that this is part of delivering on your service, delivering on your, your product.
The next potential solution is to remember to learn, just focus on learning one single thing at a time. Yes, you are gonna have to acquire these new skills and if you try to do it all at once, you're gonna get overwhelmed and you're probably gonna quit. You're like: I gotta do this, I gotta do SEO, and I have to learn about how to do videography, and I gotta learn about lighting, and I gotta learn about marketing, I gotta learn how to write better so I can write blogs, and I gotta like make a, make a podcast. And oh, I gotta like make a website, and now I gotta do scheduling.
I know it's a lot of things. Yes, you can learn all of those things, absolutely. But you're gonna learn them one thing at a time. Okay.
And then the last part here, would it of course be paying. You could hire out. I strongly suggest though, folks, that you learn how to do these things on your own first. So much value in this. I've talked about this numerous times. Part of the value is simply that you realize how long it takes, how difficult it is, and then you are more willing to pay someone else. You're not gonna nickel and dime someone or get some, you know, you're not gonna under undercut, undercharge someone, or excuse me, underpay someone.
The flip side of that, or the counterpart to that is that when you know how to do it, you are, you're safer. Cause what happens if you just like have you just hire out, hire out, hire out, and you don't know how to do shit, and then that person quits. Then what? Then what? I don't want you to ever be in that kind of situation.
So tremendous value in learning how to do the things yourself first, having some idea how to do it, and then you can look to hire out.
All right. Fourth and final unexpected issue that I see folks running into as it relates to becoming an entrepreneur, being in the online space is having expectations of outcome. Many people come from the in-person brick and mortar space, or they come from having a traditional job where you go in and you get paid to basically go in, you get paid to show up. Did you put in your hours? Did you do this thing? Cool. Then I will give you money. That doesn't happen online, when you're running your own business. You could show up, you're providing solutions online, you're creating content, putting your your name out there, and no one buys anything. That's the reality, especially in the beginning. No, probably no one is going to buy anything. And that's actually the first solution is to change your expectations, manage your expectations. Get rid of all expectations in general and get rid of, and I'm gonna say it, a sense of entitlement.
We all tend to have it and we think like, oh, but my shit's so good. Like, people should want this. It's a sense of entitlement. Just because you have an opinion doesn't mean you deserve an audience. Just because you decide to start a business doesn't mean that you deserve clients and customers. It's all, there, there's some luck that's in there. And anything that we do get, and we do recieve, we just gotta be super grateful for.
So to borrow from my good friend Meredith Root, have expectations of effort, not outcome. That's the only thing you can control is how you are showing up. So you expect that you're gonna give a hundred percent and that's it. No one is obligated to reciprocate or anything like that. We're gonna get rid of that. Get rid of that expectation.
The solution to that solution then is to diversify your self-worth portfolio. Meaning, business, online business is what I call an open outcome item. I, I introduced this in a past episode.
Courtney, if you could link that. Thank you. And all I mean by open outcome item is that there are multiple factors that are outside of your control that influence and ultimately determine what the outcome is. You only have a say of part of that. Fixed outcome items, you have full control. Did you do the thing?
My suggestion for scratching this itch and dealing with this expectation mismanagement or, yeah, and expectation management, is to do more things that are fixed outcome items. AKA do more things where you have control of the outcome. The reason I tie this into a self-worth portfolio is oftentimes because people put, they tie their self worth into the outcome of the business.
I made this thing, I put my lifeblood into it. I love it so much. No one bought it. They don't like me. I'm not good at this. When in reality we know that that's not, that's, they're not the true, the two don't go hand in hand like that. My, my Instagram isn't growing like low self-worth. They don't go hand in hand.
What I would suggest doing is doing more things that you do have a say in the outcome. Whether that's an art class, whether that's dancing, lifting weights, something that you are in full control of how you show up, and that will dictate the outcome. Yes, you're still gonna need time to get that outcome, but you are way more in control of that than something that requires input from other people.
Bonus here. Try to pick things that you're good at. I know people like to push that boulder uphill. Don't recommend doing it all the time. Let let it be easy. Let it be fun. Pick things that you are good at. Really get some momentum with that, and you can lean on those things, especially when you have the times in business where you're doing all the work, you're putting in the work, but maybe you aren't seeing the outcome just yet.
All right. There you have it folks. Those are my top four unexpected issues that you will likely experience as an entrepreneur. Number one was managing time. You work for yourself. Everything's work related. Suddenly you're like, I don't actually need to do that work cause I have this other quote unquote work I need to do.
Uh, second one was working alone. Some folks really like being part of a team or having other people there as teammates, and that's not always the case. It's usually not the case when you are first starting out. Third thing was the fact that you have to learn how to do all the things. You are a marketer, you're a salesperson, you're a sales rep now. You're the IT department. You're definitely the janitor as well. You're literally doing all of the things and that can be a shock for some people when they first start.
And then the last one is having expectations of outcome. Well, I did this thing, I should get paid. I did this thing. I should have an audience. Throw it away, throw that, throw those expectations away.
My hope is that in, in doing this episode, it creates some awareness that can, for you facilitate preparation and really help with expectation management. Obviously, if you want to in, you know, inject me into any of this as a solution, I'm happy to help out.
Happy to, to see if we'd be a good fit for coaching, but my 100% intention with this was simply to put it on your radar. Because I do see people come into the online space and just get blindsided by things and they're like, This is what it's actually like?! Yeah. This is what it's actually like. And I personally love it.
There are solutions to each of these problems, and if you are truly wanting to be in the out the online space as an entrepreneur, the potential and possible outcomes of that are absolutely phenomenal and can be life changing. But again, you gotta stay in the game long enough to actually win the game, whatever winning looks like for you.
All right. Look at, I'm looking at the outline, we got through the things. I'm thinking about that episodes still truck- tugging at my heartstrings. A little rhyme there. As always, endlessly appreciative for every single one of you. I see the reviews, you folks are leaving reviews again, and I love it.
And maybe I'll ask for another one. If you haven't left one yet, some stars, preferably five or an actual review. I read them and it's just really cool to have communication with you folks. Uh, so that'll be my call to action today. If you liked it, if you loved it, if you're picking up what I'm putting down, would love, I would absolutely love a review.
And yeah, just super, super grateful for each and every one of you. Until next time, friends, Maestro out.
NEW! Watch this episode on YouTube!
MOTM #278: Batch Your Time to Get More Done
MOTM #444: Breaking Down My Weekly Schedule (for real-life examples of batching)
MOTM #420: How to Eat the Frog
MOTM #442: How to Develop a Process-Oriented Mindset
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