So THIS is a bit awkward…
You know how sometimes you’re the windshield, and sometimes you’re the bug? I seem to have had a sunny run of windshield lately…2024 has just been rolling my way. Lots of nice, lucky, wonderful stuff. (Knock wood!) And this just happened, to put the cherry on top:
Read the whole story here.
Which – don’t get me wrong – is great. Of course it is. The thing is, I’ve been here in the UK long enough for this to just start to feel – I dunno – a bit cringey. Bit OTT, you know? On top of all the other good stuff.
However, there we are. It is what it is. And since it has happened, I’d just like to take the opportunity to say a few things to you if you’re thinking about starting your own business. People often ask me these days how we made such a success out of our little kitchen table enterprise. After having walked this path for ten long years now, here are my guiding principles, in no particular order:
- Cash is NOT king.
- Do something beautiful.
- Never cut corners.
- Never compromise.
- Don’t take out big loans. You don’t have to, and it will just create anxiety. Only buy what you can afford, and let your business develop gradually.
- Don’t grow your business – deepen it.
- The kindest person in the room is often the smartest.
- Grit is the quality most correlated with success, even more than talent or intelligence.
- The two elements that comprise grit are passion and perseverance.
- The business that wins, is the business that grows leaders the fastest.
- Start with the end in mind – know what your legacy plan is. What do you want to leave behind, when it’s time to retire?
- Don’t neglect your family – no one ever lay on their death bed and wished that they had worked longer hours.
- The day of ruining the environment to make a success of your business is over. It needs to be good for everyone, from the ground up.
- Bricks-and-mortar is dead, and the day of the high street is over. Use the Internet as your shop window to the world.
- Tell your story. People want to buy from someone they like, know and trust.
- Figure out a way that the business can continue to make sales while you sleep.
- Your business should be the intersection of four things: what you love, what you’re good at, what the world needs, and what you can be paid for.
- There’s only one question to ask when things go pear-shaped (and they will!): “How is this an opportunity?”
- Just put your boots on the road and get walking. You don’t have to know everything before you begin.
- Failure is simply a measure of how much risk you’re taking. I look for an 80-20 split. If I’m failing less than 20% of the time, I’m not taking enough risks.
- Perfectionism is the enemy. Whatever you’re doing, it doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be done.
- Last but not least – if you’re dreaming of starting your own business – do it! It’s the most marvellous, rewarding, terrifying, eye-watering, brain-bending, exciting thing you will ever do. And no matter what the outcome – I promise that you will never regret stepping out into the adventure.
As part of my leadership effort, I’ve spent a lot of time and energy training a FANTASTIC cadre of Nutritional Therapists. Everyone to whom you speak at CG is a trained NT – no call centres or bots, just live human experts who answer all your gut health questions in under a minute, 8 am to 8 pm weekday. They’re sitting there ready, so make use of them on live chat for FREE!
Are you on LinkedIn? Follow me there and we’ll talk about getting your own business up and running!
Good luck!
Hugs,
Shann.x
Shann Jones MBE
ps If you want to read more about how we did it, all the details are in my best-selling book How to Start a Business on Your Kitchen Table. (Hay House, 2020).
