If We Were Starting Our Business Over Today, Here's What We'd Do Differently
Episode 706: Show Notes
What would you do if your business disappeared overnight but your skills and experiences remained? How would you choose your product or service? Would you want to play a similar role? Should you even remain in the same industry? Today on the show we share our answers to all these complicated questions, and more, as we reflect on what we’ve learned from building a business and running it for almost ten years!
In our conversation, we reflect on the current economic climate, what we learned from starting a business during a recession, and what we would want from a second business after building a company based on passion from the ground up. Tune in as we indulge in a conceptual exercise examining what we’ve learned over the past few years and what we would do differently for our next business, and why!
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From Founder to Entrepreneur
The distinction between being a founder and an entrepreneur can sometimes be a bit unclear. As a rule, entrepreneurs can invest without the major responsibilities of running a company on a day-to-day basis. Founders, on the other hand, create businesses from scratch that will someday be more successful. They spend a huge portion of their time and energy creating a product or service that will benefit society in some way, while entrepreneurs don’t necessarily have the same high level of personal time commitment and investment.
One of the key things we’ve discovered as founders is that we’re ready to utilize more of our entrepreneurial skills during this phase of our careers! As a result, if we were to start from scratch, one of the primary changes we’d institute is to create an offer that does not require our face or personality to sell it. Having this kind of dependency has been one of the biggest growth challenges we’ve faced as Founders and CEOs!
Recessions and Recurring Offers
We started our business during a recession and now, once again, we are heading for another economic downturn — if not a full-blown recession. Past recessions have had a lot to teach us, and we expect that this one will come with its own special takeaways. One of the key lessons we’ve learned from periods of economic stress is the immense benefits of creating a recurring offer that solves an ongoing problem. This means you can feel much more secure, knowing business owners won’t be tempted to cut your services the moment times become leaner.
The Difference Between Your First Company And Your Second
There is a big difference between starting your first company and creating your second. Not only have you learned more about how to run a company, but you may also have an entirely new set of needs and expectations. And if you started your first business out of passion and a desire to have an impact, but you did it with less (or no) capital, then your next project may need more money to achieve what you want it to. Especially if it’s more ambitious! Either way, you need to get clear on what you want before you can form a strategy on how to get it.
What To Do Next
We are not suggesting that you go out, tear your business to the ground, and start over! We’ve watched many people do it — and believe us when we say that starting over is incredibly difficult! But we do think it’s worthwhile to take a step back, assess your role, and reflect on some key questions. Exercises like the one we’ve done today (along with a heavy dose of self-reflection) can go a long way in helping you achieve insight into what you want to achieve and how you can begin to build towards it!
Quote This
I'm a business owner, not an entrepreneur. And I think I want to shift into my entrepreneur skill set in this new phase of life.
Highlights
From Founder to Entrepreneur. [0:12:58]
Recessions and Recurring Offers. [0:20:50]
The Difference Between Your First Company And Your Second. [0:23:24]
What To Do Next. [0:30:52]
Today’s Guest:
Abagail & Emylee
The Strategy Hour Podcast
The Strategy Hour Podcast is a twice weekly show hosted by Abagail Pumphrey and Emylee Williams, the founders of Boss Project. Join us for semi-ranty biz conversations for service providers looking to ethically grow their agency businesses. Episodes cover everything from lead generation to leadership mindset to team culture and beyond.
Key Topics:
Founder, Business owner, Entrepreneur, Recurring offer, Recession
