In the last episode, Sarah said “You need to be smart about it”, when referring to starting her business, and it got me thinking about what I would tell someone who is considering Entrepreneurship after Divorce.
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Welcome back I’m Traci Simkins and this is Refined By Divorce, the place for recently divorced women who are considering Entrepreneurship. We talk divorce, mindset and small business, and today I’m going to give you my top 3 ways you can “Start Smart” in small business.
Refined Rebel - Beulah Louise Henry
On every episode we start by highlighting a woman who has gone before us and paved the way.
One of the most prolific inventors of the 20th century is probably someone you’ve never heard about, but she invented items that built the foundation for some of the modern technology that we still use today.
Beulah Louise Henry was born into a wealthy, well-connected family in North Carolina, which created a great environment for her to have an inquisitive and creative upbringing. she was 6 years she noticed that the hem of the flag would sometimes brush the ground when it was being lowered and she thought there’s got to be something to prevent that and then a few years later when she was nine she created her first prototype
Being a single, educated woman of means and connections, she was able to devote her life to her work, receiving her first patent in 1912 for a vacuum ice cream freezer, that doubled as a water cooler.
She had to make her own models, since the male-dominated industry wouldn’t give her the time of day, and her first successful patent was for toy related tech. It was a huge success and she was able to license most of their next toy related patents. She moved on to the typewriter and then sewing machines, using her extraordinarily creative mind to find solutions to everyday problems.
You can read much more about her on the website.
Top 3 Ways
Beulah was an epic leader in her industry and a pioneer who understood what it took to succeed in her time. And today I want to give you a few solutions to help you succeed in starting a small business. When I was interviewing Sarah, she said something that made me think, she said when starting a business you’ve got to start smart, so here are my top three ways to start smart!
1. Audit Your Mindset
You probably hear it everywhere – but what does it actually mean and why is it my number one way to Start Smart?
Your mindset is the set of attitudes, beliefs, thoughts, and perspectives that shape your perception, your behavior, and becomes the way you approach life.
We all know people who are born positive, who see the world through those rose-colored glasses. They expect the best and bounce back from difficulty and challenge with a smile on their face. Then there are people who are born negative and they see the glass half empty, they don’t respond well to challenges in life and are typically more content to go with the flow and avoid change. But I think it’s a spectrum, and most of us are just born somewhere along it.
Then there’s the nurture side of things, where your mindset begins to reflect the way you grew up and how you were parented, the way your family operates, your culture, your religion, your politics, and the experiences and situations you’ve been in.
Going through a divorce and other difficulties can absolutely skew your mindset, so it’s important to address before starting a business, so that’s why it’s number one.
You can audit our own mindset and change the way you interpret and respond in life, but it has to be through conscious effort and self-reflection. This is what sets us apart from animals. We have the ability to think and cultivate and shape the way we see the world and how we behave.
And all of this is important because success takes resilience and adaptability. Business is filled with uncertainty, setbacks and obstacles just like anything else in life and being able to bounce back from failure, face those challenges head on and solve problems is the only way to succeed, and it’s much easier with a positive mindset.
So as I tell my kids, take your temperature. Becoming self-aware is the first step, and from there you can make the changes you need to develop a more positive outlook and approach to life. It’s helpful in so much more than just business.
2. Develop Your Personal Vision
Before developing your business vision, develop your personal vision. It should reflect your unique perspective and the impact you want to make in the world, and developing it will help you clarify your long-term goals, and figure out what future you want to create.
So take time to reflect on what’s important to you. Consider the things that motivate you, that interest you, that inspire you. Understanding your values and your passions will provide the foundation on which you can find your purpose and shape your vision.
Visualize what you want to achieve and what you want to see in the world.
And then get specific and write it down. It’s not written in stone but it’s also not written in pencil, because you need it to be a guiding force for where you want to take your business.
Developing your vision will keep you committed and keep you focused and will give you the small steps that you need to take in order to succeed.
You can share your vision and get feedback but at the end of the day it has to be yours, so listen to your own gut and trust in yourself, cause you got this.
3. Discipline
This is one that I have always struggled with, but I can attest to the importance of it, and I have been consciously making progress. I’ve worked since the age of 15 and have a very strong work ethic. I love to work, I love to learn, and I love to create, but the thing that I struggle with is I tend to get bored with what I’m working on and so I have a tendency to leave those projects unfinished, and what has been really helpful to me, is making these small rules for myself. For those of us that struggle with forcing ourselves to do things I think this is very important. So I’ll not take on a new project until I finish one or end one, and taking that off your plate, getting rid of some things, that actually clears up mental space for you.
There are other things that have worked for me. We’ve all heard them, but they bear repeating because maybe I’ll have a different take on it.
Setting clear goals that can be broken down into manageable steps that can be checked off as you go.
Establish a routine, and I would say start with one at a time – master one routine so that it’s as automatic as brushing your teeth, before moving on to the next, don’t try to do too many things at one time.
Setting a Schedule – some people like to have a minute by minute schedule and then on the other end of the spectrum is me. So if you’re anything like me, rather than attempting to go a minute by minute schedule, instead try moving just a little bit that way. Maybe schedule your day in blocks or set aside different days to do certain tasks. There are different times when I’m in different moods, as far as creative and then the work that takes more energy or brain power, I do better in the morning, sometimes late at night, but usually in the morning. So try to figure out what schedule works for you, and it doesn’t have to be super regimented but it does help you with the discipline of getting things done.
Find a friend who can help keep you accountable or sign up for a class or group so that you have skin in the game.
Change your environment and set yourself up to succeed.
Do it for your future self. Envision how happy “future you” is going to be, because “current you” did the dishes.
Be kind to yourself. Don’t beat yourself up because you’re not like your type A best friend. Remind yourself of all the wonderful qualities you do have, and just keep moving forward. For those of us that are not a type A, discipline doesn’t come as easily, and so you have to work at it, and it’s okay, but I have found that discipline is one of the most effective ways that I’ve made progress.
So those are my top 3 ways to Start Smart and I’ll repeat them real quick.
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- Audit & Adjust Your Mindset
- Develop Your Personal Vision
- Focus on Discipline
Please subscribe, like, comment, do all the things. Check out the show notes for links and for more information and if you want to, if you’re interested, go to the website and I will send you a guide to help you decide if entrepreneurship is right for you. I hope you have a wonderful week.
Love In, Peace Out.
Bye.
