When we help Mums just like you start a business for the first time, we tell them the online business world is sort of like becoming a mum for the first time, there are lots of ways to do things with lots of people with opinions and no one-size-fits all. I see this every day in my Facebook group Remarkable Business Mums which is an amazing collective of over 15,000 mums all starting or growing their online business (join us by clicking here)
Unfortunately what this has also meant is some false information and urban myths can stop us in our tracks from starting an online business because we don’t have the right information and perspective.
In my 16 years in business, I’ve pondered if I have seen all the myths, it certainly feels like it! I’m going to share with you the most common ones in this blog and also feel free to follow me on Instagram where I share more mum and business stuff in real-time via @hellofromnat and @business_jump
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MYTH 1 – Business is Complicated and Perplexing:
Have you been thinking about starting an online business and then come across words and acronyms like SMART, KPI, ROI, P&L SMB, B2B or B2C, USP and it has made you think whaaat the actual do they all mean!?
Or worse still, sometimes when we feel very clueless it can dent your confidence and make you feel like it is all too overwhelming and complicated which then means you back off pondering if you’re even cut out for business. So here is a secret. When I started out in business (back in my day haha) I didn’t know what any of that meant either. Over time you’ll pick up the lingo and as you lean into business bit by bit it will start to become more familiar and less scary and realise that actually it is a lot simpler than you ever imagined.
MYTH 2 – You Can Earn $5000 if You Buy Someone’s Blueprint:
Firstly I don’t subscribe to a one size fits all approach with business so whatever you read take it with a grain of salt and build up an inner confidence to always trust your intuition and thoughts over any else that someone tells you.
It is one of the reasons why I help members of the Business Jump Family start an online business around my CTP Method. Yes CTP stands for low cost, low time and high profit but weaved within it we also flesh out our client’s personality traits, strengths and weaknesses and zones of genius to ensure a business is built around them.
MYTH 3 – You Have to Get Market Feedback and Do Stacks of Research:
I know this is going to sound a little harsh but let me first context this by saying no one’s opinion should ever trump your own, or more importantly trump your intuition. There are so many variables when asking for people’s opinions about anything related to do with business that literally can render the opinion redundant.
This is because we shape our beliefs and opinions from our perspective of life which is influenced from the day we are born, right? It is ok to ask for feedback on Facebook but always enter into it with the thought process that some people won’t understand what you are asking the same way you may be judging from prejudice. So it is important to take other people’s opinions with a grain of salt and work based off actual actions from people rather than their assumptions. This is one of the reasons why my philosophies is to start with a simple foundation and then build your business around it based off on-the-ground intel from your clients / customers / audience and testing and measuring different ideas because the reality is, you will never know for sure until you just do it.
MYTH 4 – You Have to Plan Everything Out and Do A Business Plan
This is not a hard and fast rule and as we teach our clients in the Business Jump Family understanding you and the way you work is more important than feeling forced into a particular way of doing business. If you google for info on how to start a business you are going to find a loud narrative about business planning and how if you don’t plan you plan to fail.
Pfft.
This is not a once size fits all, k?
It is actually more about whether you have a planner personality or a spontaneous personality and then working within your strengths and finding a happy medium. If like me, you prefer to lead by feeling things out and piecing things together bit by bit you are absolutely fine to do this just make sure you know the direction you’re going in and the key things you need to do to drive in that direction. If you want to have a 12 month plan, perhaps start with a 3 month plan and then assess to ensure what you are working on is still relevant and current.
MYTH 5 – You Have to Be Passionate About Your Business Idea:
For sure it is great if you know what you are passionate about but after working with hundreds of mums who have started their own online business and admining a Facebook group of almost 15,000 like-minded business women in Remarkable Business Mums, what I have learned is we don’t always know what we are passionate about and if we don’t work it out within a few months chances are it isn’t going to rock up one day and yell ‘surprise!!’ I am here.
Sometimes, our passion is so much closer than we realise as well. For example we have a member of the Business Jump Family that used to be passionate about hairdressing. But after years and years on her feet in her home salon she was burned out and lost her passion. So instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water we leveraged off all that amazing experience she has and created a business for her helping other hairdressers start a salon from home via an online format.
The key here is to start trying things and through the process of doing (not waiting) you’re going to work out pretty quickly the things you like doing and the things you don’t like doing. The second key here is if you’re starting a business ensure you set it up in a way that it won’t trap you into a specific idea and that you can grow and evolve as you’re working out what you are passionate about. You have to learn all the things
This one usually boils down to a major fear of failure, in that we never feel quite ready so we need to consume all the content to try and prepare ourselves as much as possible. And, yes, learning is amazing and required however we only need to learn the information we need for the next step and the thing that are related to that next step. For example, if you are wanting to learn about Facebook ads, ensure that everything you learn is related to just that. Not Facebook ads, Instagram, Pinterest for example.
MYTH 6 – If You Fail It Means You’re a Failure:
Yeah but no but yeah but no. The beauty in this is we have a choice in terms of how we want to perceive our experiences. Was it really a failure or was it a lesson in growth? What are you actually judging the failure from and if you changed your expectations could you in fact find the value from the experience in a different currency. For example, we have a member of the Business Jump Family who didn’t end up launching her business because she got sick. But she became best friends with her business accountability buddy that we set her up with who was a huge support to her when she was ill. The value of this friendship far exceeded the business. Sometimes we just need to shift our expectations of how we define failure.
MYTH 7 – You Need to Wait for the Right Time to Start:
Starting a business is just like having a baby and rarely ever is there a right time or if you end up going for it you work it out as you go. I always say that as we take action and show the universe our commitment it will then expand to accommodate us. We all pretty much know that within life there is always one thing another enough that feels that time hole like quicksand so instead of waiting for the right time start however you can. Even if it is just one hour a week, what you’ll find is that one hour will start to grow and expand the more you focus and commit to it. That way, when you’re six months down the track you’ve got 24 hours under your belt which could be a whole business setup and ready to launch and that is better than nothing right?
MYTH 8 – If Someone Else is Doing It You Can’t Do It (Bonus Tip)
Generally in today’s market it is rare you are ever going to find an idea that hasn’t been done before and the biggest mistake you can make is decide not to do something just because someone else is doing it. Firstly, you have just as much right as anyone else to start a business even if there is someone doing something similar. Secondly, if there is someone else out there doing the same as you that is a great thing, it proves your idea can be successful and that there is a market for it. The next step is to be super smart and learn how to cut through the noise and find your own lane and this is what we help members of the Business Jump Family do. It all comes down to finding your unique angle and learning how to work smarter not harder so you can gain traction fast.
Finally, if you’re looking at competitors and it is triggering an overwhelming sense of dread and making you question whether you can ever be as good as them then stop and step away from the computer. Comparisonitis is the killer of all great intentions and in this case ignorance can be bliss.
