On June 1st, I celebrated my two year anniversary as Chief Words Officer at Erica Walter Writes. That is to say, I made it two years as a small business owner! Along the way I’ve learned a lot of important lessons, which I’m summarizing here for you. Want to make it two years (or more) as a small business owner? Take a few tips from me!

1. It won’t be perfect. Start anyway.

2. What you thought you were going to do and what you actually end up doing will probably be very different. Start anyway.

3. Say yes and learn.

4. Say no and stay focused.

5. Create and stick with boundaries:  for your work hours, for your work location, for the kinds of work you will do, for the way you will engage with your customers.

6. Quarterly planning, monthly planning, weekly planning, daily planning. 5 Reasons You Need an Integrated Marketing Calendar.

7. If you can only choose ONE of the above, go with weekly planning.

8. Selling your services and selling somebody else’s services are vastly different. Choose to do something you’re so excited about, you actually feel like you’re doing people a disservice if you don’t get them to take you up on your offer.

9. When it comes to pricing your services, use this formula borrowed from Dori Clark: FEAR + 10%.

10. Embrace this belief: You are 100% in control of your earning potential: AND THAT’S A GOOD THING.

11. Work with people who deserve to succeed. 

12. Surround yourself with other people who are working on something meaningful. They might know something you don’t – and they’ll be valuable emotional support as you navigate the world of “building something great.”

13. The Newborn Pomodoro Method is everything.

14. Celebrate milestones and accomplishments. When you own your own business, nobody else is going to throw you a party but you.

15. Outsource your weaknesses and double down on your strengths. 

16. Read and re-read and re-read again Traction.

17. When you make a mistake, don’t send an email about it. Make a phone call and own the mistake with your words. It takes less time and hurts way less, in the end.

18. Design a business you would want to work for.

19. Do everything with enthusiasm.

20. Put your vacations on the calendar and 100% check out for them. Build your business around downtime, don’t squeeze downtime into your business.

BONUS: 

GIVE BACK. Design it into your business plan. When there’s a bigger purpose to the work you do, it raises the stakes on all of the above.

SUMMIN’ IT UP

Many small businesses don’t make it to the one year mark. Some would say that “not everybody is cut out to be an entrepreneur.” I would argue that this isn’t true at all. Not everybody will CHOOSE to be an entrepreneur, because it is hard, and scary, and risky, and and and. But anybody CAN start. Anybody CAN build a business, be it a side hustle or an empire. 

If you are somebody who has already chosen to wear the mantle of Small Business Owner, I salute you (and would love to hear what you’ve learned along the way). 

If you’re considering it, I’d love to hear from you too. What’s holding you back?

And if the thought of owning your own business is not in the least attractive to you, but you still want to have a kick-ass career, these lessons can apply to you, as well. How much more invaluable to your employer will you be when you choose to apply yourself to your work as if the business were your own?