But…Where Do I Start?

So, you want to get your butt in gear and jump start your mama business – but you just don’t know where to start? Not to worry! That’s exactly what we’re chatting about on today’s action-filled episode. Whether you’re a special needs mama, raising trauma kids, mama of teenagers, toddlers, or newly pregnant – you belong here. Let’s walk this journey together.

Links Mentioned in this Episode:

  • FREE Goal Planning Resource: sarahbrumley.com/goals
  • Instagram: @sarahlbrumley

Note: If you like receiving this content via podcast or blog, please leave me a review on Apple Podcasts so that I can continue to provide exactly what you want and need to grow your mama business. OR – post the link on social media and tag me so that I can thank you for sharing the news!

Transcript:

So, you want to get your butt in gear and jump-start your mama business – but you just don’t know where to start? Not to worry! That’s exactly what we’re chatting about on today’s episode. I’m so glad you’re here.

I hear it all of the time: I know I want to start a business, but I just don’t know where to start. Well stick with me, because today we are going to throw all of the excuses out the window as I give you the three most important things to do when you are just starting out in business.

And, I just have to say right up front that there are so many things you can choose to do right off the bat. Things like picking branding colors or designing your logo, and while those things ARE important and we will address them in the future, today I’m chatting about three things that you can do that will set you and your business up for success long-term. And trust me, waiting to do these things will only create frustration in the future – so you’ll want to implement them ASAP.

Step 1: Create Boundaries

If you only take one thing away from this episode, it should be this one, so make sure to listen up.

When you first start out with your business, it’s new, exciting, you are full of energy, and you can’t wait to fill every free moment of every waking hour (plus the hours you should be sleeping) trying to get “all the things” in place. (You’ll probably hear that called the “hustle” mindset.)

And that’s all well and good, but at some point your energy reserves will peeter out. You’ll no longer look forward to putting in effort. Your kids will start telling their friends and teachers that all mommy ever does is work. The laundry will pile up. The normally cooked meals will consist of takeout and leftovers. Why? Because you didn’t put boundaries in place.

A lack of boundaries is what kills the majority of mama businesses. It’s not the fear of sales (although that’s definitely a holdback) or a lack of product or service offering. No. It’s a lack of boundaries. Because when you don’t have boundaries, you allow yourself and those around you to trample on what really matters most to you. Please don’t do that – to yourself or your family. Instead, take some time to really determine what those boundaries will be and how you will maintain them.

So, where do we need boundaries?

  • Around your time (When will you work? When will you not? Will you allow client calls on only certain days? When will you check your work email?)
  • Around your personal life (What will you share? What will you not? Where will you work? What events/activities are non-negotiable?)
  • Around your energy (How will you recoup?)

If you aren’t totally sold on the need for boundaries, just know that I’m going to be sharing my story about how I burned out in business on next week’s podcast episode. I highly recommend tuning in so that you can (hopefully) learn from my mistakes and really embracing these boundaries. When you do, you allow yourself to have a thriving business AND your family, too. Isn’t that what you really want? I know I do!

So, we know that the first thing you have to do is create boundaries. That brings us to the second thing.

Step 2: Identify Your Why

So you have a product or service you can’t wait to sell online. That’s all well and great, but if you don’t know the why of your mama business during this exciting beginning part, there’s no way that you’ll be able to be successful when the going gets hard.

Let me explain. In my business, my why is two-fold. First, I want to be able to be present for my family when they need me – that’s why I run the business in the way that I do. Second, I have a deep rooted desire to serve other mamas with the skills and knowledge that I’ve accumulated over the years.

Now, these might not seem like anything huge in the grand scheme of things, but for me they make a huge difference when things aren’t going quite the way I’d hoped. For example, when my babysitter called in sick last week and I didn’t have time to record the podcast episode on my list, instead of feeling like a complete failure, I was able to revisit my why. I want to be present for my family when they need me, which means that recording the podcast episode at the expense of my family did not serve my best interests. Right?

My deep rooted desire to serve other mamas comes into play when I just don’t want to get on social media today. And don’t get me wrong – there are plenty of times when staying off of social media is perfectly okay, but in my business, I use social media as a way of connecting with and creating impact in the lives of other business owners. So, when I wake up on Thursday and I just don’t want to – I am able to revisit my why of wanting to serve other mamas with the skills and knowledge that I’ve accumulated. This also helps when I’m looking to add or adjust things in my business – when I know that my why is to serve mamas in business, then I’m quick to look for ways to do just that.

Now, this might seem fairly straightforward, but this is something that the majority of mama business owners don’t know when I speak to them during our first accountability coaching session. And, they find themselves spinning around in circles because they are doing things that don’t matter, wasting time, and not getting the results they want. And they are frustrated. Why? Because they don’t have a why.

So, today we need to prioritize knowing what your why is:

  • Why are you in business?
  • Why now? I mean, you could’ve started this business years ago, or wait until your kids are in school or graduated? Why now?
  • Why this business? Sure, you love knitting scarves for people, but you also love watercolor painting. Why did you pick scarves over painting?
  • Why are you serving that person or group of people?
  • Why?

And I do feel I need to add a little disclaimer here. Your why may change over time, but for the most part, it will serve as your underlying motivation for getting things done, even when you’d rather just quit.

If you need additional help navigating the why of your business, I highly recommend grabbing my FREE resource designed to help you clarify your goals so that you can launch and grow the business you’ve dreamed of. Grab yours HERE

Okay, so the first thing we need to do in business is to create boundaries and the second thing is to identify your why. That leads us to the third and final step of today’s episode and that is to:

Step 3: Decide that the Process will be Fun

You’ve got big dreams and aspirations for this business that you are creating. And – that’s good. Because a business without a dream won’t go anywhere. But the thing about big dreams is sometimes we get so focused on the end game that we forget to enjoy the process.

The thing about launching and growing a business is that the goal post moves, right? The first goal is to launch and get that first sale. And you will feel excited about that when it happens, but that excitement will be fleeting – because, you’ll have to decide whether that was enough for you or if you want to press forward to bigger things. Likely, you’ll choose the latter and your next goal will be to make $1000/month or…fund that upcoming family vacation. Whatever it is, the goal post will have moved.

And…when you reach that goal, you’ll need another and another and another. That’s business.

This is part of business. So you should expect that if you are seeing growth (which we all want) that goal post is GOING to move.

But, if you are constantly waiting for the next big thing to happen, you will miss everything that happens in between. That’s why I want you to make the commitment right now that you will enjoy the process, not just the end goal.

By doing so you will allow yourself to enjoy the small bits in your business. To enjoy the time you get to spend doing what you love. To acknowledge each person that you serve. When you do that, you give an even greater meaning to the business that you are running, and you save yourself from feeling like you are never accomplishing your goals.

Because I promise you that there will be times in your business that you will feel like nothing is moving the needle forward, and if you are only focused on the next goal, you’ll find yourself disheartened, burned out and ready to quit. But if you are loving the process, the day to day tasks you complete, then you won’t want to step away from what’s making you happy. You’ll be more apt to recognize the small progress being made and see how it’s moving you toward the bigger goal ahead.

So, decide that you will enjoy the process, the ups, downs, wins, challenges, the whole shebang. Because if you aren’t enjoying it, then what’s the point, right?

Okay, so the first thing we need to do in business is to create boundaries, second thing is to identify your why, and the third thing is to decide that you will enjoy the process. And that leads us to the action portion of this episode.

Jumpstart Your Mama Business – Action Steps

And you are probably like, Sarah, you already gave me tons of things to do. And it might seem that way, but I’m a huge proponent of taking action, because action is where the dreams turn into the reality. And that’s why every Mama Business episode comes with action steps you can take immediately to up level your mama life and business. Ideally you’ll take action on all of the things we’ve discussed today, but if you only have time for one, it’s this:

Today’s action step to help you jumpstart your mama business is the following: CLARIFY YOUR BOUNDARIES.

I know from personal experience that I am more likely to accomplish what I’ve set out to do if I’m accountable to someone. So, drop me a tag on Instagram and let me know what your NON-NEGOTIABLE BOUNDARIES will be so that I can cheer you on throughout the process. And truly, I’m here to cheer you on.

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