Before You Start A Business, You Should Know This.

I initially wrote this post back in 2011 when I was living in Italy! I want to share this again because many, many years along, I still offer the same advice...

Starting a business is both exciting and “nerve-wracking.” I never regret my decision to do it and I've often thought that had I not done so, my life could have turned out very differently – in a word, not as brilliantly.

But what nobody really ever mentions to you is the amount of time that business consumes in your life, and I'm not just talking about the bit where you’re sitting at your desk or wherever you're working. My business is pretty much present most of the time, and whilst it doesn’t really bother me, the whole unwinding, switching off, not thinking about it, just doesn’t seem to ever happen! I'm finding that it’s a struggle to not have at least a part of my brain engaged at every moment, thinking about my business in some way…

Mission Impossible - Meditating.

SCENARIOS

#1 – Dinner conversations we’re discussing the business, what happened that day, what I'm working on, new clients I started working with, etc… I guess the usual end of day conversations.

But, even years later it still extends out into…

#2 – At night I'm laying there thinking of a project or a blog post I want to write, jumping up and grabbing a pen or my iPad to get them out before I lose them (I have lost so many good ideas before sleeping).

#3 – In the car when I go out, I’m thinking about the business, something going on in it, or simply driving around thinking about things I want to work on.

#4 – When I go out with my kids, I’ll often take the iPad, or a notepad so I can write down ideas that pop into my head randomly about the business.

#5 – Ideas will suddenly form on things I can do to improve, create, perfect, streamline, master, add-on... you name it, it’s generally on my mind.

My entire brain is like a think-tank for my 1nSourcing business (which you can learn how to do too), and most of the time even laying there listening to music, I am, in some way or another thinking about my business, my clients’ businesses, my projects and if not, I'm thinking about my family and how my business impacts them, and our lives together.

As you can see, I'm not all that great at meditating yet 😂

NUGGET OF WISDOM (From back then through today...)

So, it’s a bit like when sometimes, someone tells you when you’re a kid, “Make the most of these years, they're the best years of your life” or when you have someone who has kids tell you, before you have kids, “Life will never be the same once you have kids." Here's my piece of wisdom…

👉 If you're considering starting a business, particularly if it's as a new VA, and it’s something you’re passionate about and want to develop and grow, and not treat it as just a way to earn an income – then be prepared to pretty much go at it 24 hours a day (because unless you’re watching a good programme on TV, are asleep, totally engaged in another activity, or being hypnotised) you’ll likely, in some way or another, have your mind on your business in some form. #Passion