Via Airmail

I launched a business this last month - and I didn’t even realise it.

Building a new business has been horribly uncomfortable. I’m spending more money than I’ve ever spent before. I’m being more vulnerable than I’ve ever been before. I am banking on things like never before. I am checking my spreadsheets six times a day.

The reality is that it doesn’t look as easy as others might make it look, because behind that is a lot of self doubt is a lot of confusion is a lot of overwhelm, and a hell of a lot of late hours. And so, I wanted to share that with you.

In this episode;

• I share the reality of launching my latest business
  
• I tell you more about my plans to launch 6 businesses in 3 years
  
• You’ll hear an honest conversation about my experience recorded in the car with my husband.
  

I have been challenging myself and pushing myself towards an extreme abundance mindset over the last few weeks.

I am levelling up in almost every area of my business, starting new ones and so I've been practicing abundance thinking A LOT over the last few weeks and it’s really not always easy. When you’re growing or starting a business, it’s so much easier to sit in the fear, scarcity and worry that something won’t work out.

So I really wanted to share more about scarcity thinking and abundance mindset with you in case it helps you with something that you're going through.

In this episode;

• I explain the difference between abundance & scarcity mindset
  
• I share my experiences of learning to grow a business while making abundance based decisions
  
• I give you three questions you can ask yourself if you’re stuck in a scarcity mindset
  

When I was working full time in a 9-5 day job, I was conflicted. I both enjoyed my job and was grateful for it, but I still wasn’t entirely fulfilled. And only when I heard Liz Gilbert describe the distinction between your job, your hobbies, your career and your vocation, did I realise that was ok.

So in this podcast episode - I'm going to give you permission to not love your job, and even go so far as to say that it's okay to hate it because it's just a job.

It's not your vocation, it's not your career, it might even be your hobby, it might just be a job. And that is completely fine.

Listen to find out more about the difference between your job, your hobby, your career and vocation and hear the three questions you should be asking yourself if you’re not entirely fulfilled by your current job.

Batch working means that instead of doing one task repeatedly every single day or maybe once a week...rather get yourself into a good state of flow.

Plan all of those things out and do them in a big batch. And that way you’ll work faster, your work quality will be better, and you’re removing the stress having to interrupt your day.

Listen to the episode for my advice on batch working and 6 examples of what I batch work in my business.

I’m answering a listener’s question; “If I have a business idea, how do I know if my idea will be successful?”. You know what? You just don’t. You really have to give yourself permission to try and figure it out.

But have a listen to the episode where I give my five tips to help you know if your idea will be successful;

1. Research
   
2. Don’t force yourself or the idea
   
3. Don’t assume failure
   
4. Start small (listen to Ep 002!)
   
5. Launch anyways (listen to Ep 001!)
   

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Episode 10!! Our household has banned the word “risky” from our vocabulary when talking about our plans, dreams and business ideas.

Calling your business ideas and plans '“risky” devalues them. And if we’re being honest - there’s no real reason to call your business ideas '“risky”. If you’re trying to invent something that no one else has done - sure - it’s risky. But if you’re basing your decisions on strategy, evidence and skills that you already have - your ideas and plans aren’t risky. They’re challenging, difficult but not risky.

Join me in banning this word from our vocabulary going forward.

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In this episode, I share the seven things that I've learnt so far in my experience as an entrepreneur. If someone sat me down over a cup of coffee and asked me what I’ve learnt - this is what I would share with them. I will be learning plenty more, and sharing it with you in the podcast. But as always, it's important to show up and be open and honest about the things that I have learned so far and be open to new things coming my way. So let's get into it.

1. Look for potential
   
2. Over commit & power-through
   
3. Do it well from the very beginning
   
4. Be kind in your business
   
5. Undercharge & overdeliver
   
6. Get comfortable with money
   
7. Not everyone is you, and that’s ok.
   

This episode is full of my earliest memories as an entrepreneur, the stories behind four of the businesses that I have run so far, and how I realised that I was meant to be an entrepreneur.

I hope this episode gives you a little bit of context into where I am now and why I've decided to be a full time entrepreneur for the foreseeable future. It’s all about the experiences that have sort of shaped me and got me here so far, and also just a little bit of insight into the small businesses that have taught me things. And ultimately given me the confidence to know that this is something that I'm good at and this is something that I am wanting to explore for the rest of my career.

So if you're ready to listen to my experiences and my background, and everything that's led me to now being a full time creative entrepreneur settle in, because that's what this episode is all about.

This week, I answer Tarryn’s voice note about how to move past imposter syndrome, the fear of failure and how to just keep moving forwards without getting overwhelmed.

I wanted to share my tactics, ‘tricks’ and the exact things I tell myself everything time I struggle with these barriers.

Imposter Syndrome

We all have time consuming, frustrating, nitty-gritty tasks that build up in our business that we feel are just not getting us anywhere. But in today’s episode - I want to ask you to reframe how you think about those tasks and think of them as having exponential impact on your business. I share some of my experiences and frustrations with boring tasks, and how ultimately they’ve resulted in success.

Learning a new skill, understanding new software, setting up new systems all feel unimportant and annoying every time we dedicate time and energy to them, but trust me, those are the tasks and activities that are going to set your business apart from the rest.

Have you got a bunch of business ideas swirling around in your head? Maybe you have no idea which one will be successful and you have no clue how to pick the winning horse. Listen to a listener struggling with the same thing, and my advice to them about how to pick & test the right business idea.

How do you know Which idea to start with? How do you pick the right idea?

1. Let it marinate.
Don't feel like you have to build the business within one month. Don't feel like it has to launch or it has to exist out in the world just because it's an idea.

2. Talk to people about your ides.
The more that you talk about that idea, the more that you're giving yourself permission for it to be something that exists outside of your head.

3. Write a business model canvas.
The Business Model Canvas is one of the simplest and easiest things to do. It's a one page document that allows you to really think through all the moving parts of your idea.

4. Set up some criteria and measure your ideas against them.
I wrote a list of criteria that were important for me for any business that I was going to take forward. Once I had all my personal criterias. I rent them in order of preference.

5. Think big, but test small.
Pare your idea down to its smallest part and create a smaller, more manageable version of that idea and test it.

We're taught as entrepreneurs to fight against obstacles & constraints that come up in our businesses. But what if we used those constraints to be more creative and more innovative instead? Hear my advice on how I've used constraints to breed creativity in my business - it involved risotto balls and egg boxes!

Have you ever been scared to launch something? Ever been scared to write a business plan? Give a speech or put something out into the world? You're not alone.

In this episode you'll hear me (and my husband) filled with doubt & nerves as I record and plan this very podcast. A real, behind the scenes look at how scary it is to put something out out into the world as a creative entrepreneur.

If you’re looking for a sign that you should do the thing that’s going to scare you the most - here it is. My first pancake.