What makes us different
Any entrepreneur knows that whilst launching a new business comes with excitement and anticipation, it's accompanied by a level of anxiety whilst you're working on the first sales.
I think the reason for this is closely connected to why we choose to do it in the first place.
Why do we spend our time and risk our money on our own businesses, instead of spending our time as an employee and leaving our money in the hands of the banks, investors or maybe in the casino?
And why does that make us so uniquely excited but anxious when it comes to inbound sales?
👨‍💼 I've built two successful businesses and experienced the same feelings in both (MAGNIV and TKMC)
đź“– Then I launched my book and podcast and felt the same feelings again.
🆕 Now I'm in the process of launching two MORE businesses, from the ground up - and yes, it's the same thing.
I think entrepreneurs like myself feel an inherent need to be involved in defining outcomes for ourselves. It’s this need to know that I’m the one deciding the outcome and only I am to blame. Like making breakfast. I decide how good my breakfast is going to be. So if I decide to go quick with a bowl of cornflakes and some fruit - that’s on me. If I decide to scramble eggs, make toast, chop a salad and squeeze orange juice - I created that success. And if I burn the toast and dry out those eggs - that’s my fault too. We like our actions to be directly connected to the results - for better or worse, our destiny is in our hands.
Even when we are employees, we’re entrepreneurs within the company that we’re working for - creating opportunities both for the business and for ourselves, whilst everyone around us is coasting along in their 9-5.
I think this translates into a lot of other areas too.
Fears. I’ll take a deep breath if I’m stepping out onto a glass platform, because I know that if the glass breaks and I free fall hundreds of meters to a gruesome death on the ground below, it’s totally out of my control. But I have no fear about getting up in front of an audience, because I control my performance.
Shit that happens. Recently, whilst working an ambulance shift, my bag got stolen out of the ambulance. With my wallet and some other valuables in it. It was inconvenient, that’s for sure. Usually I empty all my pockets into my bag, because I have so much equipment on me that there’s no space for personal items and I don’t want to risk losing anything. It happened to be, that day of all days, that my keys were in my pocket, so there’s one thing I didn’t lose. Around 3 weeks later, on another shift, I lost my keys too.
Some would react to this with a simple “FML”. Many heard about the theft and said, “oh I’m so sorry”. But really, it was quite simple. I didn’t lock all the doors to the ambulance properly. One was open, my bag got stolen. It’s easy for me to accept the responsibility because although some arsehole really did go to steal from an ambulance… I can blame myself and do better next time. The money it cost me… that’s on me. The same goes for my keys. They didn’t grow wings and fly out my pocket. I just wasn’t paying enough attention.
But let’s come back to the anxiety of the sales - specifically, in low-value products where we’re not selling direct, but rather marketing to masses. There’s only so much we can do to make a great product and launch great marketing. We can push and drive and try.
But the more we push and try and invest, the more time and money we’re at risk of losing. So at the beginning, the excitement is mixed with anxiety. Waiting to see if we’ve done it again or the people say no.
Because it’s out of our hands. Which we don’t like. So we’re anxious even though we’re excited.
That’s okay though. It’s part of the game. Other people might not get it… But I get you.
So here’s how I’m dealing with it, currently out of pocket from launching two new e-commerce stores:
Focus on the things I can control: While I can't control when and how my first sales will come in, I can control my own actions and efforts. I can focus on doing everything I can to promote and market my business, whilst not being obsessed or stressed, because whatever happens will happen.
Stay positive and stay the course: It's easy to get discouraged when sales are slow, but it's important to stay positive and stay the course. When the initial execution adrenaline has passed, retaining motivation to keep working is more difficult. But push yourself.
Take care of myself: Building a business can be stressful, so it's important to take care of myself and manage my stress levels. This doesn’t mean allowing myself to let go, but rather pushing myself to sleep healthy hours, eat healthy food, exercise and go out with friends. It helps to not think about the business, even though the business is always on your mind.
