1 year of entrepreneurship - what I learned and how I applied it.
Today, April 1, marks one year since I officially launched Salt & Light Advisors, my Human Resources Consulting & Advisory Firm. It’s been an incredible, wild, and super-fast ride over the last twelve months. Narrowing it down to ten seems impossible, but just for fun, I took my top ten areas of growth and learning and made a list so I'll never forget this first year, and so you can learn alongside me on the journey.
Not all of what made me successful in corporate life will make me successful in entrepreneurship.
Actually, many of the habits I picked up in the more corporate side of things don’t translate over to small business life. I’ve had several laughs at myself, some wasted money, and other moments along the way that have been humbling in this area, to say the least.
Being an entrepreneur doesn’t have to mean putting your family on the back burner.
I always said I’d never start my own business because I watched my Dad as a business owner miss dinner, work late, stay at home (his office was in our basement, so he worked at home before working from home was cool!) and have constant interruptions. I thought that was a large aspect of business ownership and I didn’t think I could be the parent I wanted to be by choosing that professional path. The ironic thing is, I lacked balance in a massive way when I worked for other people’s businesses, so the ‘business’ wasn’t the issue. My life has been more healthy and more balanced since starting my own business than it ever was working in someone else’s. It’s a choice and a choice easier to make for me as an entrepreneur than it was when I was W2 at someone else’s organization.
Keep doing the right sales and marketing activities and the clients will come.
I write emails every Sunday or Monday to go out on Mondays. Every week, without fail I do this. We then take the emails and make blogs (or make emails from the blogs), and then take those blogs and convert them to 5 social media posts to share throughout the week. Every single week. I don’t compromise in this area, and there’s no need to with scheduling options on virtually every software I utilize. Since launching my pod, I do the same for episodes. I haven’t missed a week, and I don’t plan to. Consistency is key.
Learn from people who have gone before you.
I am not just a podcaster myself - I listen to podcasts very regularly, especially while I sauna and while I drive to my STL and CoMo clients. This year for me, it’s been listening to The Goal Digger Podcast [Jenna Kutcher], Online Marketing Made Easy [Amy Porterfield], Business Made Simple [Donald Miller], and a handful of others. But those three have given me the most practical tools I needed to keep my marketing and business foundation humming.
Along those same lines, here are the three books that made the biggest impact on me in year one:
The first was an affirming re-read by Patrick Lencioni called Getting Naked. It’s a fable about a consulting firm which really affirms my consulting style. I do things a little differently at Salt & Light, and Getting Naked empowers me to stay my own course, because there’s space for people like me in the consulting and advisory world. I read this book one the way to Punta Cana for a little getaway February 2024 with my husband. The second was Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell. Whether you are ready to hire your first employee as a small business owner, or if you’re a leader inside of an organization struggling with time management and efficiency, this is a great read for priorities and knowing when to ‘buy now’ when it comes to an assistant or support person. I read it on a flight from Seaside, FL (my fav US travel destination) and hired my first S&L Advisors employee when I returned home (which was in August 2023). The last was Coach Builder by Donald Miller (yes, same guy mentioned above). While I don’t follow all of his concepts, the framework has been really helpful for me to wrap my mind around this business I’m building, how to scale financially, and where to spend my time.
Make some entrepreneurial buddies along the way.
My plan was to wing it when it came to branding until I was big enough to pay for that from a marketing firm. That time came much sooner than I thought, and my choice for what agency to select was easy. I have been watching Hoot Design Company for years. They are female owned and located in Columbia, MO. The owner is fabulous and not only did they nail my branding, the owner, Kristen Brown, shared several other SMB owner tips along the way (she’s the one who recommend Buy Back Your Time to me). I also starting a small master mind called Money Maids which is a group of female SMB owner entrepreneurs for support and accountability. In January of this year, I engaged a fractional Controller for the biz from Optimized CFO + Controller Services. Rebecca has been a great sounding board and support. I consult an attorney friend, Ross Bridges [of Vessel, Bridges, Murphy Law Offices], when it comes to contracts and legal advice. And in January, I engaged Amplify Boutique to support my podcast and YouTube channel efforts. Cait Howard and her team have been super helpful in that area.
Trading time for money is not a long-term play for me.
There has to be other revenue streams on top of consulting clients.When you are a consultant, many bill for time spent. That’s easier to ‘sell’, but moving to a project based system is better as it’s focused on results or outcomes versus time spent and also helps me better quantify the value of my 20+ years of experience and tools and resources I have built over the past two decades. Also, I have ‘evergreen’ content I’m building out so I can sell products and value without being ‘present’ for the sale (think downloadables and online courses). And of course, my husband and I still have our real estate investment company so we make money in our sleep.
With every new deal I make, I get closer to the ideal client as I refine my offerings and how I deliver those products and services.
At the beginning, my goal was to say ‘yes’ as often as possible to build my book of business and rebuild my income. But with each passing day, I’m learning more about what I want to say no to (or what I’ve already started saying no to) so I can ensure I’m focusing on the highest and best use of my time, experience, skillsets, and to get me the closest to reaching my own personal and professional goals.
Spend the money on the tools.
I launched April 2023. I used Microsoft excel for my financials out of the gate. But by the end of 2023, I moved into QuickBooks. It’s a million times easier.
I sent my first email marketing from my email address as I was building my email list and marketing strategy. In September, I added Flodesk as a CRM/email template tool and haven’t looked back. It’s awesome. [And if you want 50% off your first year, which is already super affordable, use this link: https://flodesk.com/c/KERRIR]
I had a website in WordPress to get me started. I then moved to a GoDaddy website because that’s where I bought my domain. I then moved to Squarespace Circle (at the recommendation of Hoot Design Company).
I serve up my podcast on both Apple and Spotify, but my core host location is Kajabi. I also use this site for hosting online courses.
I use Docusign for my contracts. I use Canva for my graphic design. I use Riverside.FM for creating my podcast. I tried Zencaster first and find Riverside to be super easy to use with great contract options.
Don’t sell with your own pocketbook and don’t share with your personal network in mind.
This is last on my list, but one of my most favorites. I was conducting a new hire orientation for a class of newbies at a med spa client of mine last year and one of the new estheticians said, “I don’t sell based on my own pocketbook.” But what I heard her saying was: `I don’t make product and service recommendations to my clients based on what I can spend on products and services. I make all of the recommendations that I think makes sense based on that client’s goals and I let that person make their own decisions with the information I provide.’ And it SLAPPED. Would I pay someone $10,000 a month to consult me on Human Resources or Operations? Likely not, because I’ve been doing this myself for over 20 years and I don’t need that in my business. BUT would someone pay me for that? YES. They have. And they do.
The same goes with the socials. If I am gearing up posts for the 350 folks who regularly watch my stuff, then I am missing out. Those are my friends. They are my frenemies. They are my family. They are my high school contacts. They are my business interactions. It might be applicable to some, but I am trying to reach the mid-sized business owner in Montana whom I’ve never met. I don’t care if my uncle cares about HR or what I could do for his business (even though he should, in my humble opinion). But I do hope and care that based on my SEO, my consistency, my branding and marketing efforts, etc. that the right small to mid-sized business owner sees my stuff. And then one day, they are frustrated with something in their business, and they think of me because I position myself regularly to be top of mind. And they shoot me an email and we start making magic. Think bigger, people. Bigger is out there for you if you [regularly] reach for it.
If you like what you see and want to do business with someone like me, reach out to hi@saltandlightadvisors.com so we can set up a call. I don’t like it when people waste my time, so I promise I won’t waste yours.
Happy one year anniversary to my first full-time business baby, Salt & Light Advisors. She’s a beaut!
