3 Things You Don't Need In The 1st Year of Your Business

brand direction & styling by us for Boheme Fragrances | photo by Aimi Photography

Starting a business is super exciting! Especially from the thought of bringing your vision to life and creating your dream business and career...

I also know that it’s scary.

You want to make sure you’re starting things right. You want to avoid mistakes and risks, and not waste your budget on anything that only leads you to disappointment…

You’re trying to make the best decisions you could at every turn, and you always want to make the most of your limited budget and time at this thrilling yet risky stage of your business.

We understand. From our years of experience in business, we learned from our mistakes. And if we were to start a new business again, we’d make sure to avoid the most common major time and money wasters that most entrepreneurs spend on! Are you at the early stage of your business, and want to make sure you use your resources effectively? Then make sure you don’t invest your time and money on these: 

1. Finding the perfect “brand” 

New entrepreneurs tend to spend a lot of time, energy, and marketing budget on finding the right logo, brand colors, packaging, business cards, and website, etc. These are all the tangible, visual things that make people “feel” like business owners, but distract them from focusing on actually running and building their businesses. 

These things are merely infrastructural and they don’t define your “brand.” Your brand is made up of every interaction and experience people have with you and your business, and it is determined by every business decision you make.

So, don’t waste too much resources on these “pretty” branding elements. You always have the option to re-brand and revamp later when you have more capital as your business grows and evolves. Instead, use your time, money, and energy on other important tasks to get your business off the ground!

Are you still searching for a brand style that sticks? Discover the hush-hush secrets of finding a brand style that your customers love. Here’s also the complete brand strategy checklist - your first step in creating a powerful brand!

2. Annual subscriptions

Many business platforms, tools, and apps offer discounts with their annual subscriptions compared to their monthly subscriptions. This tempts people to opt-in on the annual option to save money.

However, because you are still figuring things out and learning more about your business and customers in your first year, you will make lots of changes and adjustments at the beginning. And these changes may affect the tools and platforms that you find the most suitable for your business, which makes an annual subscription a riskier investment.

So, instead of trying to save a few bucks with the annual option, you would be better off going with the option with the lower time commitment. Once your business is more stabilized and after you’re more familiar with each tool, you can always upgrade your billing plan and subscription later.

3. Busy-ness

People have often mistaken busyness with productivity. This is especially true for new entrepreneurs who usually try to do everything at once and try different tactics they learn online. They pack their schedule and work through the nights and on weekends because they feel that if they are not staying busy, they are leaving money and opportunities on the table and that they aren’t trying hard enough to make their business work.

When you invest your time and energy in staying busy, you are actually doing the opposite of being productive. Your energy and attention are split, among different things, which tends to produce lower quality work and generate slower results. To learn more, read this post on the number one reason why business owners are busy hustling but not seeing results.

Focus your energy and time on what actually matters and is important in your business to gain momentum and progress. Start by setting quarterly goals, and map out your plan and schedule accordingly. If you want to crush all your goals, try this amazingly effective system to maximize progress and success.

Also, if you’re at the early stage of your business, make sure you don't make this huge mistake that most people make and avoid these 5 common entrepreneur pitfalls that are holding you back from growing your business!

Still looking for the perfect business name? Here are 6 crucial things you can’t miss to have a remarkable name that sticks. 

Join me at our FREE training, so you know how to grow your profitable brand people love AND a loyal customer community who keep buying from you!