Small Business Owner Truths

My passion for supporting fellow small business owner isn’t new, I have now been one myself for almost 5 years! The learning curves? Steep. The truths? Often learned the hard way. Wherever you are on your self-employed journey, I’m sending solidarity – and hopefully some helpful insights / tips your way with this blog.

The Beautiful, Messy Truth of Being a Small Business Owner

I wasn’t one of those people with natural entrepreneurial flair who knew the 9-5 wasn’t for them. I didn’t ask myself ‘who would be my dream boss?’, and decided the answer would be me! To be honest though, even if that was or is you, it doesn’t mean that the path is necessarily easier to follow. There’s still a lot to navigate!

On the plus side, there can be flexible hours rather than the 9-5 (but this can mean ‘hello weekend working’ too). You can say no to clients, providers, and well, make all the decisions. But … you also make all the decisions! The freedom and choice is great (new idea? Let’s go! New service, introduce it!), you don’t have to win someone else over to take a leap of faith in you. But the responsibility, the overwhelm, this can be great too.

Reality check number one probably hits quite early. Say you are a coach, like me. You love to coach! Ah, but there is all the other stuff that features too in ‘running a small business’, like the admin, the finances, the marketing etc. There are times when you can feel like you’re constantly running just to keep up. You’re not alone. The truth is, building a business takes courage, faith patience, and resilience (to name a few!),  but it can also feel overwhelming when things don’t quite pan out as we hope or expect. Back to that responsibility – it’s all ours (no employer umbrella here!).

So now we’ve addressed that first inevitability, let’s consider some other truths small business owners face – and what we can do to help manage them.

small business owner Truth 1: Busy Doesn’t Always Mean Progress

Ouch! Sorry, I know that one sounds harsh. This one fell into the ‘hard lesson learned’ camp for me.  I could occupy myself for ages with ‘business stuff’, but really I was avoiding doing the things that needed doing in favour of something that really wasn’t a priority. Ticking off things you’ve done is all well and good (who doesn’t love a ‘ta da’ list – when you can show yourself just what you’ve achieved) as long as it included the things that really move your business forwards, or have a defined purpose.

Hands up, I’ve been here, in the ‘busy doing’ trap rather than ‘this is part of my business plan’ thinking. Truthfully, you may recognise you are doing the same if your output is not matching what you are putting in (suggesting something else needs putting in!). Don’t be afraid to have a brutally honest check-in with yourself about your business – what you are doing, what is working and what is not. You don’t have to tell anyone! Your focus on your next business priority will give you a clear steer of where your next actions will need to be.

Small Business Owner Truth 2: Pricing = Confidence Minefield

So many thoughts here – do you advertise your price openly, or not? (you’ll find schools of thought supporting either camp here!), but most importantly, what do you feel about what you charge and the value you offer? It is so demoralising to pour everything into you work and then feel shortchanged, uncertain and/ or nervous when it comes to pricing.

Truth bomb  – no matter what figure you land on, it will be perceived as too much or not enough by some.

So much goes into pricing – and like most things, we can choose again (or revise over time). It’s not just about your time and any cost components that go into your prices, there’s your confidence over what you are offering too. If you don’t have this, why is that?

Small Business Owner Truth 3: Not Every Client is Your Ideal Client

In the early days it can feel like every client is a win. You can feel tempted to say yes, even when something maybe didn’t feel quite right. Sometimes it takes a while, and a few experiences, to know exactly who your ideal type of client even is, and that’s OK. But once you do know, don’t ignore it!

Your ideal client may also evolve over time, as you and your business does too. There’s no faster drain on your energy that misaligned clients – it will mean you aren’t using your skillset to your best, and the client probably won’t be receiving what they thought they would either. Don’t beat yourself up for having a difficult client experience – it is bound to happen at some point, and next time you might remember what the red flags were so you can spot them more easily again.

If you have a niche, don’t be afraid to reinforce it and say no to things outside of that. In my experience, my niche continues to evolve, it has actually expanded rather than contracted, but I know what my skillset is (and isn’t!) within those.

Small Business Owner Truth 4 - Mindset Matters, Massively

Small business ownership is not for the fainthearted. You need courage, faith, patience and resilience in abundance. You also need dedicated passion for what you do, skills to stand out, and you have to wear many hats. But with all the strategy and know-how in the world, you will still need your mindset to work with you and your business, not against it, for it to succeed.

Doubt for example, or fear, can be like putting the brakes on to your carefully formed plans. Strategy + mindset = business growth and success; I’m afraid you can’t shortcut one of them! It’s very normal to experience wobbles during your small business owner journey. You might think you’ve created a great offer, and then there’s crickets. A positive call with a potential new client leads to ghosting. I don’t think any owner has ever said ‘Yep, it was all easy and straight forward, every step I took led exactly where I expected, every client was a dream, and my income exceeded all expectations without me working into the night ever, every step of the way’. (If you’ve met this person, do let me know, I’d love to know their secret!).

The truth is your mindset has to be one that is comfortable with failing. And then trying again. It’s not easy when it is just you – you are putting yourself out there and it can feel like the failure is therefore a reflection of… you. It isn’t. You’re actually being bold, trying something and then refining. I’m not sure there is another way to business success!

Small Business Owner Truth 5: Your Business Needs to Fit Your Life

... Not the other way around! The lines between work and home can become very blurred as a small business owner! Just as the 9-5 may not be there, it can also mean we dip into our business continually, and the off button seems to vanish! It can get tricky – our businesses are part of our lives, not the other way around, and when work takes over too much it can lead to burnout.

It’s not to say that it isn’t hard work – because often, certainly in the early days, it is. But every step forward is progress, we can’t do everything at once, and nor are we an expert in all the things. If it is taking over, we can start to resent our business, even more so if despite all our efforts it isn’t bringing the financial reward we wish for. The reward for having our business should ideally be two-fold – the income and the enjoyment. If you are running on empty and not enjoying your business, then really, even if it is bringing in income, is it worth it?

This time we can use the freedom and decision-making that comes with small business ownership to our advantage. It may seem hard because the temptation is often to work all the hours and do all the things, but more focused work, and boundaries between where work finishes and time for you, your interests and your family begins are important to have in place.

Is it time for a reality check in your business?

And how you feel about it and how it fits in your life?

I’ve created the 'Small Business Owner Reality Check' for this very reason!

At time of launch until 4 April 2025 I am offering something special  - a 1-1 90-min session to dive not the nitty gritty of your business for just £80 – a chance to get the new financial year off to a strong and confident start.

I’ll ask you a few questions before we meet, to shine a light around what’s really going on, and post-session you will have a monthly mini reality check document to keep the momentum going of all your hard work.

Together we will uncover some quick wins and some longer term plans for you and your business. If you’re interested or want one of those last 2 spots available, just drop me a message with ‘reality check’ as your subject to kathryn@kbmindfulcoaching.com

Your reality check, and some well-deserved confidence and clarity, is just 90-mins away!