If you’ve decided to launch your own business from home like millions of other Americans, the competition can get dizzying. With so many people offering similar products and services online, how can a small business owner beat imposter syndrome and stand out? It takes time to grow into your identity as a small business owner, but that’s part of the journey. These five tips will help you focus on what matters most during your first year and make the most out of your chapter one.
Use Social Media to Make Connections
Promoting yourself online is obviously important for traction, but you can use it for another reason, too. Follow other accounts of small business owners who you can look to for inspiration. Genuinely respond with enthusiasm to their posts, and over time, you’ll get to connect with them as fellow entrepreneurs. Small business owners also tend to document their process online for their customers to see, but aspiring successes can learn a lot from watching others who are a bit farther along in their journeys.
Don’t Rule Out the Power of Higher Education
You can spend thousands of dollars on courses from coaches and entrepreneurs, or you can put your money into a Master of Business Administration. While some classes are useful from a practical standpoint, they don’t have any major return on investment. An MBA gives you highly transferable skills and knowledge that can help you elevate any entrepreneurial endeavor. It’s not just for people with money to spare, either. You can borrow funds from a private lender to cover the cost of your MBA and consider it an investment in your company and future.
Expect Unsatisfied Customers
It’s crushing the first time someone asks for a refund or leaves a nasty review, but it’s a part of the job. Every entrepreneur is going to experience backlash from a dissatisfied customer at some point in time. Have a response strategy in place for when this happens so you can respond calmly and with empathy. You can’t please everyone, and you don’t have to. But you should take complaints seriously and learn from them to improve. If you want to start your own business successfully you have to be prepared for things like this so they don’t halt your forward movement.
Don’t Be Afraid to Be Different
If you don’t innovate, then you will never be able to feel like your business is wholly yours. With the rise of small business owners on TikTok and Instagram, it’s easy to fall into the trap of copying everyone else because people clearly love them. But if you do this, you only become a mimicry of their success, ultimately undermining your own. Don’t live in anyone else’s shadow. Your concepts may be inspired by others, but you can infuse your own tastes, ideas and style to make something truly original.
Do It for Passion More Than Profit
You aren’t likely to become rich in a year from your new business. It takes time to gain sustainability, so don’t judge your success by profits alone. What you should be focusing on now is pursuing your passion and learning as much as possible. As you grow, your business will, too. What matters most is that you’re in it because your heart is there, not because you’re hoping to hit it big with minimal effort.
