5 Skills I Learned From Starting A Small Business
At 17-years-young, I was hanging out with my friends everyday, sneaking out of the house and driving around at night, gallivanting around my neighborhood.
This was not my story.
At 17-years-old, I was at home doing college applications in the a.m. and starting a company in the p.m.. The college apps bored me, but the company excited me.
Now, at 22-years-old, Root & Muddle is entering its 5th year since conception. With 5 years of experience, here are 5 skills I've learned from starting a small business.
Create a Game-plan. Before you start anything, you have to plan in-advance. Write out a list of tasks that need to get done. Then think to yourself: when does it need to be done? When do I have to start? how does it need to be done? Or even, who do I need to hire to do this? Planning is the antidote to poor-performance.
Set Deadlines. It's one thing to do a job. It's another thing to do it timely. In business, big or small, you can't take your sweet time. Setting deadlines lights a fire under your ass and forces you to work smarter, not longer.
Sacrifice. When you're starting, running, or growing a business, sacrifices need to be made. Sometimes you have to sacrifice a Saturday night with your friends in order to finish the marketing plan. Sometimes you'll have to reschedule that date on Tuesday because you need to meet with clients that evening. Sometimes you need to give up your reading time this week in order to finish organizing beta-test data for your product launch next month.
Delegate tasks. It's extremely rare that 1 person can do everything. For me, I hate handling finances and I'm not good with numbers. So my business-partner, Meena—who has a degree in economics— handles the books. But Meena isn't great at formulating products, so that task is mine. Figure out what you're good at and what you like, then hire the right people to do the things you don't want to. Efficiency is everything.
Always think ahead. When you're starting a company, you have to be ready to launch well before you actually launch. That gives you time to expand and innovate even before the world has a chance to see your work. If you sell physical or digital products and you're making a Christmas-themed product for the holidays, everything should be done weeks or months in advance. Nothing good comes rushed. Plus, when you're ahead of schedule, you're not being chased by stress and anxiety of last-minute work.
Final Thoughts
Though I've learned these lessons from business, they don't apply only to business. I've incorporated these lessons in my family life, school life, and social life.
