Happy Monday friends! I hope you had a great weekend and are ready to the tackle the week ahead.

We spent the weekend mostly at home knocking things off our to-do list like oil changes and garage clean outs, you know all the fun stuff you put off until you can’t possibly put it off anymore! Joe has pneumonia and bronchitis so he spent most of the weekend in bed but with the help of the girls I was able to still knock a lot of our to-do list off and it felt so good!

This may sound random but, as I was cleaning out the garage I was alone in my thoughts as the girls rode their bikes and I started thinking about when I last cleaned the garage to make way for all of my boutique stuff because it was right around the time I launched. I was thinking of how far my boutique has come in the last 15 months and how I have been able to pivot, readjust and learn so much — we’ve had over 1400 individual orders since our launch and I am just so proud of how far it has come.

As I was thinking back over the last 15 months, I started to think about some tips I would give myself if I was starting today, so I thought I would share them here with you in case you have it on your heart to start a business or, you just started one!

Here are my 5 tips for anyone who wants to start a business….

1. Do it scared. Look, you can wait forever to start your business but I can guarantee you that no matter how many businesses you have started or how long you wait, you are still going to be scared. Fear is still going to creep in somewhere and if you don’t just do it scared, you won’t do it at all. Just start. Even if it is small, just start.

2. Always be willing to learn. I started my boutique with no experience. Literally, I never even worked retail before but I have always had this dream of owning my ow store. So I learned. I You Tubed my heart out, I went on a retreat, I googled it when I got stuck, I asked questions. And, I still do every single day. As a small business owner, you always have to be willing to learn.

3. Build a community! The first 9ish months, I worked in isolation. I was by myself all the time unless at a pop up and it was lonely and boring. It made me miss my office and coworkers. I often got stuck because I had no one to talk to about my ideas or thoughts. And then, I started meeting other small business owners and built friendships with them and so much changed for the better. Don’t isolate yourself, find some business friends (they don’t have to do what you do to understand or relate) and build community!

4. Know your expenses vs. investments from the start. Everything at first is going to look like an expense to you. You are probably spending more money than you are making and that feels a little overwhelming. As you track your spending, take note of what an expense is versus an investment. For example, an expense is something that have to purchase that you can’t really get anything back on — when I look at my tissue paper and bags those are expenses, they are a necessary cost of the experience of my boutique but they aren’t going to make me money. On the flip side, going to a retreat, learning business development, signing up for a pop up — those are investments that I am making to see return on! Spending a ton of money can be scary, but when you know what you are spending and why you can make better decisions especially when money gets tight.

5. Listen to others but also trust yourself. When you start a business everyone is going to have an opinion, some good and some bad. Everyone is going to have an idea or thought of what you should do. And it is important to take feedback and advice from others BUT…make sure you trust yourself too. You started your business with a vision and you want to be true to yourself and that vision. Not every idea someone gives you is going to be right for your business and that is okay…take the nuggets of advice that work for you and tuck the rest in your pocket.

Starting a business is the hardest and the most rewarding thing I have ever done. It has brought me a lot of stress but also a lot of joy and the reward has been greater than the risk. Every single day I am thankful for this business and I can’t wait to continue to grow it.

If you are thinking of starting a business or you just started one and need someone to cheer you on, let me know it would be an honor to do so!