Sarah Lakhani Consulting

Where Brand and Business Come Together This is the space where ambitious women come to bring clarity to their ideas, structure to their growth, and meaning to the businesses they’re building.

starting a business

Starting a Business: Do’s and Don’ts

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They say hindsight is 20/20.  And I’d have to agree, especially when it comes to starting a business.  When I look back at the past year, I can easily see all the things I did that served me and business, and all the things I did that didn’t really have an impact.  And it’s not just me.  Whenever you talk to entrepreneurs, they’ll tell you that they made a lot of mistakes, learned from them, and in parallel did a lot of things that moved the needle for them, too.  So here’s my advice when it comes to starting a business – my do’s and don’ts of starting a business.

These 5 things are the biggest lessons I learned when I started my business.  If I were to start my business from scratch, I’d keep these at the top of my mind.  The good news is that you get to learn from my experience.  You have the opportunity to take the shortcut.  And really, that’s what coaching provides.  Guidance, support and a map of the shortcuts that will get you results faster and with less stress no burnout.  So let’s dive in! Here are the 5 things I would make sure to do if I were to start over.  

Lesson #1: Know what your revenue-generating activities are, and make sure you’re doing those every day. 

Add non-revenue generating activities to this, but never drop the revenue-generating activities.  I spent months getting my website perfect.  And although I love the idea that I have a website I’m proud of, and I am a firm believer in creating a website, I would caution against spending too much time on it.  I would also caution against being focused solely on your website.  Your website is important, but it’s even more important to make sales.  So if you’re building your website while making sales, incrementally improving or adding to your website as your business ticks along, then great – you’re doing the right thing.  But if you’re pausing everything to work on your website, as I did, then you’re missing the opportunity to actually start making money in your business.  And the sooner you actually start, the sooner you’ll learn what works and be able to adjust your sails for maximum growth.  

Lesson #2: Do thorough research before you settle on your business. 

When I first started my business, it was a completely different business idea.  I researched it, I interviewed people, and although the people I interviewed told me they would not pay for what I was creating, I continued to create it.  But I quickly realized the error I made, and I changed my focus.  With this new focus, I didn’t do any research and I didn’t interview anyone.  That idea died quickly.  I then spent a lot of time learning, researching and formulating my new business idea.  This one made sense.  I found clients and signed a few on.  This new direction was well researched, but on top of that, my clients helped me make changes (and continue to inspire the changes I still make) in my business to bring it to where it is now.  

Lesson #3: Sign on clients or get customers as early as possible in your business. 

It took me 2 months to sign on my first client.  That’s not bad, but it’s also not great.  I now know I wasn’t doing enough to try to get my first client.  I posted a little here and there on LinkedIn.  I spoke to a couple of friends about it, but I know I could have moved faster.  And although this isn’t a race, nor should it ever feel like your business is a race to success, there would have been some benefits from starting earlier.  I would have learned earlier what my clients need.  I would have created my program earlier.  I didn’t start engaging with my ideal client until months after I established my new business idea.  By engagement, I am referring to both marketing and just spending time on social media, finding people who fit my ideal client description and talking to them.  

Lesson #4: Find your business tribe (or partner). 

When I started my business, I didn’t have a group of business-owner friends to share ideas and thoughts with.  I spent my days working on my own, building my business and whenever I needed support, someone to talk to or lean on, or a second opinion, I reached out to friends and family.  But it’s not the same.  Friends and family are great, and getting their support definitely makes a huge different, but they don’t know much about starting a business (unless they, too, have started their own businesses).  When I finally made friends online who were also on the journey of starting or growing their own businesses, it was a huge breakthrough.  Now I had people to share ideas with.  I had people who were going through the same journey as I was.  They could relate.  They could share things they learned.  They could give advice based on experience.  Having this group opened up so many doors and so much possibility in my business.  

Lesson #5: Offer a deal that your clients/customers can’t say no to. 

I didn’t want to charge anything less than what I believed I should get paid given my years of consulting experience.  But what I failed to see was that I didn’t have any coaching experience.  So although I could charge high prices for my consulting work, I needed to start at a lower price for my coaching service.  Why?  Because I had no proof of my ability to get results via coaching.  And to do that, I needed clients.  And to get clients at the start of my journey, I needed to offer a deal that they couldn’t say no to.  And that’s what I ended up doing.  Had I started earlier, my entire business would have been built earlier. 

But this isn’t an “I wish” story.  This is a “here’s what you can learn” story.  So to summarize:

  1. Image matters.  But not more than getting clients or customers.
  2. Spend time on research.  
  3. Get your first sale as soon as possible.  
  4. Find a support network.
  5. Don’t be scared to offer an amazing deal to get your first few clients/customers. 

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When should you start your business?

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Should you start a business while you already have a job, or does it make more sense to quit and dedicate all your time to your new business?  This is an ever-debated question, and in my opinion, the answer depends wholly on you and what suits you, personally.  There is no right or wrong option here, just pros and cons for each one.  

From what I’ve seen, most people prefer to start a business while having the security of an income from an existing business in parallel.  That is very likely testament to most people not liking to take risks.  Most people are hard wired to leaning towards safety and security.  It’s human nature.  But then again, there are some people who prefer to take the leap, to jump off the cliff, and to figure things out when under that pressure of having no other option.  As Ried Hoffman says, “An entrepreneur is someone who jumps off a cliff and builds a plane on the way down.” 

So where does that leave you?  If you have an existing job but you’re thinking of starting a business, should you do it in parallel or quit first?  Or what if you’re in between jobs and are wondering whether to starting building your business with 100% of your time, or find another job and work on your business in parallel?  

Starting a Business in Parallel to Another Job

Starting a business while you already have a steady income from an existing job, whether a corporate role, a part-time job or a job that just helps you pay the bills is a great way to remove the pressure of having to generate profits as early as possible.  You can choose to do this if:

  1. You don’t work well under pressure, and not having an income for a little while would be a lot of pressure on you.
  2. You don’t have savings to sustain you for at least 12 months while you focus on building your business.  
  3. You aren’t comfortable with releasing your product or service too quickly, and although you know it can’t be perfect, you need a bit longer to feel ready.  
  4. You are creating a business in an industry or field that is new to you, and thus requires you to build up some knowledge prior to being ready.

Dedicating All Your Time to Starting a Business

Quitting your current job in order to dedicate 100% of your time to creating your business works well if:

  1. You need the pressure in order to get things moving. 
  2. Your current job is extremely time consuming and doesn’t give you the time or brain space that you need in order to spend quality time working on your business.  
  3. You have enough in savings to last you at least 12 months.
  4. You’d like to be able to spend 100% of your time creating your business.
  5. You have existing knowledge in the area of your new business, or have already tested the idea.  

Deciding Which Option is Right for You

As I mentioned earlier, there is no right or wrong.  You could start your business in parallel to an existing job or you can go all in, quit your job and dedicate 100% of your time to building your new business.  To help you make that decision, I’ve created the questions below. 

Q1: Do you have savings to sustain you for at least 12 months?  

Q2: Have you already tested your idea? 

Q3: Do you work well under pressure?

Q4: Do you prefer to put in a lot of work in one go to get your business started (versus a longer, steadier build)?

Q5: Do you need external pressure to “encourage” you to make progress with your projects?  

Q6: Could you immediately find customers for your product or service if needed?  

Q7: Do you have a support network, whether a coach or entrepreneur friends, to guide you through this process?

Q8: Are you absolutely certain that you want to start your own business, and are willing to do whatever it takes?

If you answered yes to at least 7 of these, you could be ready to go all in.

Creating the Right Environment for Success

Whichever option you choose, there are some things you can do to maximize your chances of success in creating and launching your business.  These are the 5 principles that I recommend to anyone starting a business. 

Invest in guidance:  Whether you’re going all in or you’re building your business on the side, getting help from a coach or consultant is going to get you results faster.  And that in turn will motivate and encourage you to keep going.  Nothing kills drive and enthusiasm faster than not seeing results.  

Create a support network:  Other than getting the help that will drive results faster for you, it’s also highly beneficial to have a group of friends or peers who are going through the same journey as you are.  Your friends and family could be highly supportive, but nothing compares to having people to talk to who truly understand the journey you’re on.  

Take breaks:  Make sure to schedule in some time daily for a little self care, a little rejuvenation practice and a little enjoyment.  But also, make sure to schedule in time off on the weekends, and some additional time off every few weeks.  This is beneficial for two reasons: avoiding burnout and allowing new ideas to arise.

Celebrate your wins:  Creating and building your own business is a never-ending journey.  You will always be working on it, making changes, updating, upgrading, expanding, iterating… and so it becomes even more important to make sure that you’re stopping every now and again, celebrating your wins and acknowledging how far you’ve come.  Otherwise, it can start to feel like you’re never actually “done” and you’re never “there”.  

Build accountability:  Whether you’ve invested in a coach or not, having someone to hold you accountable is priceless.  A coach is, by virtue of their role, someone who is there to not only guide you to make the right decisions for you and your business, but also to hold you accountable to implementing and making progress with your business journey.  

Deciding the Best Time to Start Your Business

When it comes to deciding the pathway for you and your business, make decisions based on what’s best for you, your skills, your personality and your preferences.  Your business and this journey that you’re on (or about to embark on) should be enjoyable, exciting and something that you look forward to every day.  Ensure it is those things by leveraging your unique strengths and preferences, not someone else’s.  

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Building Your Business Vision

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Building your business vision is the best investment you can make right now.  Knowing where you want to go with your business will help shape everything else that follows.  

It will provide clarity that will shape your mission, your values, your brand strategy, your business strategy, your customer strategy and customer experience, your sales and your marketing strategies, your product and service development… quite literally everything in your business.  

So perhaps you’ve come across the VMV acronym before – Vision, Mission and Values.  And it’s quite likely that you’ve been told how important it is to build your business vision.  But the value is in whether you’ve actually done it.  

Let’s take a little bit of time out today to identify the ways that your vision affects your business – positively, if done right, negatively, if not done at all (or done in a less-than-desired way).  

First things first…

What is a business vision?

Your business vision is your North Star.  It is the final destination you want to eventually get to.  It is the reason you created your business, the deep reason – your why.  

And it is this deep reason or “why” that gives you fulfillment.  

Most business visions are so aspirational that they might never be achieved, and that’s ok.  It’s good to be aspirational.  But your vision doesn’t have to be so aspirational that you’ll forever be striving to achieve it.  It can be something more achievable.  But it is important that your vision be something that inspires you.

Here are some examples of how you can shape your vision statement: 

  • To eradicate [something you work towards getting rid of, e.g. hunger]
  • To increase / create more [something that you work towards increasing, e.g. female CEOs or founders]
  • To be the best at [whatever it is you do/provide/create/produce/make available]
  • To bring [something] to [type of location / people]

Why is a vision so important?

Your vision is the guiding light, the destination, the ultimate goal of your business.  

Without a vision, the biggest issue you’ll almost certainly face is that your efforts won’t be aligned.  What does that mean?  It means you’ll be doing things that move you in some direction, but not necessarily towards where you want to be.  And different things will move you in different directions, so your cumulative efforts will be scattered, not stacked.  Why is that an issue?  Other than not getting closer to your goal, unaligned action means you’ll be busy all the time, but you won’t see the desired outcome from your effort.  That in turn can – and most likely will – lead to becoming unmotivated and burnt out.  

How does articulating a vision help?

  1. It helps you identify your mission.  Once you have a business vision in mind – the destination, the ultimate goal of your business – you can identify your mission.  Your mission is the “how” to your vision.  If your vision is to help 1,000,000 women start their own businesses, then the “how” describes what your business will be doing to achieve that vision.  Perhaps it’s by having a membership-based community that supports and provides frameworks, information and guidance to women starting their businesses.  
  2. It helps frame your brand strategy… and your business strategy… and your sales strategy… and your marketing strategy… and your product or service development… and your customer strategy… you get the point.  The reason why it has such an impact on everything that follows is because your vision describes your destination.  And all the other strategies that you build into your business (like your brand strategy, your business strategy etc) are designed in such a way to get you to that destination, to that vision.  [Little side note here: Do you see how not having a vision can result in each of these critically important strategies then veering off their own path?  Without a common destination in mind, you could end up creating a brand strategy that takes you one way, and a marketing strategy that takes you another way, and a business strategy that doesn’t align with either.]
  3. It reduces anxiety, stress, burnout, and all the other feelings associated with overworking and not seeing the results you want to see.  Why?  Because your actions will be aligned.  Because your strategies will be aligned.  Because your efforts will be created in such a way that they drive you towards your vision.  And on that note…
  4. It creates fulfillment.  Because seeing how you’re making a positive impact on the thing that drives you is fulfilling.  And…
  5. Seeing your ultimate goal get positively impacted through your actions is the thing that will keep you going through the tough times.  Because there will be tough times; there always are.  But knowing what you’re working towards and seeing how you can and do make a difference is a big motivator.  It’s the biggest motivator, in fact.  

So, Sarah – what’s your vision?

I was hoping you’d ask!

There is a reason I work with entrepreneurs.  I want to help build more heart-based and values-based businesses.  I want to see more entrepreneurs and small businesses succeed.  I want to create that movement, that ripple effect. 

Also, I find that entrepreneurs and small businesses deliver their products and services with heart, with a lot of care, with genuine appreciation for their customers.  I want to create more of that.

And lastly, I want to give back and help others give back to non-profit businesses.  And I find that a lot of entrepreneurs and small businesses do that.  And they do it, again, from the heart.  

So, having introduced my background thoughts, this is my vision: 

My vision is to create a world where people are successful doing the things they love, delivering from their hearts and making the world a better place.  

And now it’s your turn

If you don’t already have a vision, create one.  Dig deep.  Find out why you do the thing you do in your business. 

And ask yourself: what impact do I want to have on the world?