What I’ve Learned After A Year Of Running My Own Business
I can’t believe it has been a full year since I took the leap of faith and started my own business. It has been a wild ride but I am so thankful I did it!
So what have I learned? Hmm, so much but a few things that stand out to me are:
Don’t take rejections personally.
Yup, that’s right you get told NO a lot. At first, I would get really upset when someone told me no. I immediately would question whether I was a good dietitian or a good business owner. I thought I was the problem. So, I decided to discuss these concerns with my Women's Entrepreneur Mastermind group and found that rejection is common and just part of the business. They encouraged me that receiving a no is normal and to keep pushing forward. So here I am a year later with lots of no’s and some yes’s.
Imposter syndrome is real.
Wow, this hits hard. Imposter syndrome is something I constantly struggle with. Being your own boss and running your own business plays into this big time. I would second guess myself all of the time. I felt like a fraud even though I have all of the proper education and certification I need to be a good dietitian. Don’t let imposter syndrome trick you into thinking you aren’t good enough to reach for your dreams.
Patience is key.
If you know me, you know I struggle with being patient. So this has been huge for me. For the first couple of months, I thought I would become an overnight sensation, but to my surprise, I wasn’t. I had ups and downs. I heard that it could take up to 3 years to have a profitable business and after 1 year, I believe it. Don’t get me wrong, I hustle hard. I have 3 jobs. I work ALL the time so that one day, I can drop the two contracted RD jobs and be full-time with my business, my passion.
I spend a lot of time on content, blogs, scheduling, charting, etc and all of those are things I have to do to keep my business going but that I don’t get paid for. I look at these as investments in hopes for me to see some payout in the future.
So, be patient. I have met my goal of clients that I wanted in the first year, so now I plan to set more goals to see what I can accomplish within my second year.
Work-life balance.
I thought this would be easy, but I was wrong. It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle all day everyday mantra, but is that really healthy?
Working all day, every day can lead to burning out and I have felt that. I have been working with my mentor on prioritizing myself because if my cup is empty I can’t pour it into others’ cups. This past year, I haven’t taken a vacation where I haven’t worked. So, for my next vacation, I am truly planning to take off.
I find a work-life balance to be so hard when you’re running your own business because it’s hard to not check your business social media account when you check your personal one. It’s hard to not check and reply to emails on a Saturday when you are the only business member. It’s hard to not talk about business with friends and family when they have been there supporting you the whole time. It’s hard to put down everything at 5 pm. So, I am working on that because I deserve a life! That is one reason why I went out on my own. I wanted to be in control of my days, and I have let time get the best of me. So here’s to taking my time back!
There are plenty of other things I learned this past year, but those stick out to me most. I am excited for year two. I am excited for my business to grow. I am excited to become an Intuitive Eating Certified Counselor. I am grateful for my friends, family, and fiancee that continue to push me and support me in the venture. I can’t wait to share my knowledge with you all and expose diet culture for what it really is, #BS.