after working in an organization for 9 years I took the leap into running my own business since then I've had some breakthrough moments and I've had the complete opposite where I've launched something I pulled money into and it's completely failed along the way I've read countless books on entrepreneurship marketing and business but nothing has taught me more than the trial and error of actually building something from scratch and so in this video I'm sharing the seven biggest lessons I've learned as a new business founder what's worked what hasn't and what I wish I knew earlier
let's get into it number one launch first perfect later did you know that Toyota started as a textile company Sony was just a small radio repair shop Amazon it was originally an online bookstore and Playdoh it was actually invented to clean wallpaper all of these now billion doll companies they didn't start as the polished World dominating brands that we know today they launched with a very simple version of their product and evolved base on real world feedback according to Eric Reese who is the author of The Lean Startup businesses that launch with a minimum viable
product and improve based on customer feedback are 2.5 times more likely to succeed than those that spend years chasing Perfection and even though I had read this book and I knew the stats I didn't truly understand this until I launched my last product when I first created nichas Inner Circle which is an online community where people can learn from experts get their finances reviewed and receive expert answers to any money question within 48 hours before it actually launched formally I spent months obsessing over what should be inside this membership and yet the moment it went
live I almost changed everything in the one or two months after that based on actual user feedback since making these changes the engagement has become so much higher and the product has become so much better as a result of just launching it and learning from real user feedback along the way so if you're sitting on a new product or an idea waiting for the perfect version to just appear Just Launch it because the perfect version doesn't exist in your head it exists after real customers have used it number two read the numbers when I first
started online it was a lot of trial and error essentially just throwing spaghetti in the wall and seeing what's stuck and that's totally normal in the early days you don't always know what's going to work so you just try everything but as your business grows that approach becomes quite risky and now almost all of my decisions are driven by numbers not g Instinct I look at what the numbers are telling me because when you can see what product line is costing you more than it's making when you can identify which offer is plateauing and might
need a Rebrand when you know exactly where your biggest expenses are that's when you can steer your business with confidence you have the real data and the real numbers that back whatever decision you're making so it comes from a place of precision and confidence not guesswork if you're a business owner one of the biggest challenges is just know knowing exactly where your money is going at any given moment what's coming in what's going out and what's left but knowing this information is so important to the success of your business and I would go as far
as saying it's make or break so really understand the numbers and the revenue and the expenses that's going on in your business and use that information to drive decisions forward I personally use zero to track this and I've been using them for years and they have very kindly agreed to sponsor today's video Zero has removed most of the stress I had with bookkeeping and keeping up with my finances it connects directly to your bank accounts automatically importing transactions in real time so you always have a clear up-to-date picture of your finances cash flow invoices payments
all in one place one feature I absolutely love is the mobile app you can snap a photo of your receipts on the go and then zero processes them instantly if you're Cony on the move between meetings working from different locations this is a game changer the receipt gets logged gets categorized and gets stored before you even have a chance to lose it on top of that zero isn't just about bookkeeping it actually helps business owners make smarter financial decisions by showing insights into spending into profitability and cash flow in a way that's really simple and
easy to understand and what I found really helpful with my business is that zero has integrated seamlessly with over a thousand business tools including all of the ones that I use stripe PayPal Shopify making it perfect for anyone managing multiple income streams so if you want to check it out they're offering an exclusive deal for my viewers just click the link in the description to learn more thank you so much zero for sponsoring today's video number three optimize tax from the get-go one of the best things you can do for your business is to get
smart about taxes right from the start tax mistakes cost small businesses thousands every year whether it's missing deductions filing late or overpaying because of poor tax planning these mistakes add up f and I still speak to so many business owners that don't realize how many expenses they can legally write off things like home office costs software subscriptions travel expenses they can be deducted if you work from home a portion of your rent utilities and internet might be deductible if you pay for your business tools like accounting software or design apps those can be claimed if
you're not keeping track of these you're probably overpaying also how you structure your business can also have a big impact on your tax in some cases being a limited company instead of a soul Trader could lower your tax bill different structures come with different tax benefits so it's worth understanding what's the best for your situation from the start number four marketing is just as important as a product every now and then I see a comment under one of my YouTube videos saying something like I love the content or I love the video but the title
feels clickbait or I wish you had a different thumbnail and to be completely honest I get it my own titles and my own thumbnails sometimes make me cringe I don't love using certain words in my titles but at the end of the day the more people who click because of the title and thumbnail the more people actually get to see the content inside I can make the best video in the world but if the title and the thumbnail aren't kick worthy no one will find it and the marketing needs to be there it's the same
with the product you can create something incredible but if no one knows about it it's going to fail I've seen average products make millions because they were marketed well and I've seen incredible products flop because they wer so what I'm trying to say is that marketing deserves just as much time and effort as the product itself in some cases you might even want to Market it first if you Market your product before you create it you'll know whether or not there's actually demand for it that way you're not just hoping it will sell you have
proof that people want it so if you're working on something right now whether it's a product a service a side hustle don't just pour everything into making it the perfect product ask yourself how will people find it why will people care what will make them click because no matter how good your work is if no one sees it it doesn't matter number five never forget why you're doing what you're doing this is something that I always try to remember but if I don't remember something pulls me back to remember it every time I've made a
decision that pulled me slightly off track from what my values are and why I started this in the first place something else happens not usually a good thing that pushes me back on track again it's usually a hard tough lesson but those moments are necessary because they remind you what really matters matters and it keeps you on track of what's meant to be this is not practical or logical right now but I do truly believe that the world will test you it will see if it can trust you with one person one customer one opportunity
and if you deliver if you stay true to your mission then it will trust you with more that's how I think about business and how I think about scaling a business even today I have to remind myself just last month I turned down a really big sponsorship deal because it didn't align to the messaging I wanted to deliver and yeah it takes a lot to say no to some decisions that might look very very attractive but are misalign from your business and as a result you might spend a few hours maybe even a few days
questioning whether you made the right decision whether you're being stupid for turning it down but at the end of the day just remember why you started because when times get hard and they will get hard in business the only thing that will carry you through is that original reason as to why you started it the purpose behind it all and number six business is personal this is something I learned from the book 40 truths about entrepreneurship highly recommend this book really an easy and insightful read one of the biggest mindset shifts I had to make
when transitioning from banking to entrepreneurship was realizing that business isn't corporate it's actually very personal in the financial corporate industry there's this Unwritten rule where it's don't show your vulnerability you keep things professional you keep things polished and at a distance and I carry that mindset into my first year as an entrepreneur I try to be professional in the corporate sense keeping things neutral not disclosing too much sticking to what felt safe but every time I leaned into my story every time I shared why or every time I shared something that made my stomach churn
a little bit and made me feel like I'm being too open or too vulnerable it had a direct impact on the impact I was making more and more people don't want a perfect person because it's just not realistic your personality your journey your values these aren't things to hide behind corporate language they're your superpower big corporations spend Millions trying to seem relatable and seem authentic but as entrepreneurs we already have that authenticity we just need the courage to show it so as a final thought starting a business is honestly one of the hardest but the
most rewarding things I've ever done it's tested me in ways that I've never expected but it's also made me grow and change as a person in a really positive way I haven't really spoken so much about starting a business or creating a side hustle on the YouTube channel and the more I speak to people the more I realize that this is something that a lot of people want to do not necessarily to make money or to do to quit their job but just as a way or as a creative outlet that lets them do their
own thing or find their own passion or purpose alongside their job and if you're someone who actually loves your job and has found the passion and purpose through that then that's amazing you probably don't even want to consider a side business but if you've got this far into the video which is basically the end it's worth giving a shop just so you don't have to look back and ever wonder oh what if I tried that thing thank you so much for watching if you like this video remember to subscribe I'm going to put out a
bit more content into my journey what I'm up to if you like that let me know in the comments or if you prefer my personal finance content mostly then I can stick to that I'd love to hear from you as well as to what you enjoy hearing about from me
