Honest Business advice I wish someone told me sooner!

I’ve been an entrepreneur now for 15 years and it’s safe to say I’ve made a sh*t ton of mistakes, have learned A LOT of valuable lessons, and have accomplished incredible things.

Everyday, I have business owners flooding my DM’s asking me for advice, tips, and strategies, so I decided to write a blog post sharing the TRUTH I wish someone told me sooner in my journey in the hopes that it will help you too!

So, if you want some HONEST business advice keep on reading…

1) You have to SLOW DOWN in order to speed up!

In the early seasons of my entrepreneurial journey, I was in straight hustle mode. I was working 24/7, I was putting my health on the back burner (to the point that I put myself into early menopause), and literally throwing money at people who claimed they would help me “grow my business.” I was desperate to reach that next level of success and I was constantly fed the idea that you have to work harder in order to be successful. And friend, that’s simply not true.

It took me YEARS to come to this realization and I only found this out because of James Wedmore. I invested money into his mastermind back in 2013 and the one thing that stood out to me TO THIS DAY is when he said, “You need to slow down, in order to speed up.” I had never heard this perspective before and it completely changed the way I operated in my business and STILL impacts my business to this day.

2) You’re either going to pay for TIME, MONEY, or QUALITY. You can have two but you can’t have all three.

Once I understood this concept, I applied it to every single product, workshop, or course I offered in my business and the change I saw in the type of customers I attracted was a complete 180!

This concept is the idea that you can have two of these components at any time but at the expense of the third. You can have quality and time but it won’t be cheap. You can have quality and money but it’s going to cost you time. You can have time and money but the quality of the product will cost you. This not only applied to how I created products but it was always in the back of my mind whenever I invested in something.

3) Nothing will ever be perfect!

This one may sound cliche but it’s 100% true. You may think that everything is going well in your business and life but nothing is ever perfect because perfection doesn’t exist. You’re always going to be strive for something better than what you have. You’re always going to wish you had more of something or less of something and you’ll never be content with what you currently have. It’s just how humans are wired. So, once you get over this idea of striving for perfection, THEN you can truly be happy and content with were you’re at in your life and in your business.

4) Don’t be afraid to have difficult conversations!

I initially started The Cake Mamas with a partner. And one of my biggest regrets was NOT having the difficult conversations we needed to have prior to getting into business together. Women in particular don’t like to come off as confrontational or difficult so we tend to stray away from the conversations that we foresee as being uncomfortable or awkward. But truthfully at the time, our circumstances (her being the biological mom to my two step-daughters, and the ex to my husband) were unique and we thought it would be a way for our families to come together at a greater level and it was good for marketing. So much so, that we got poached by Food Network. I say all this to say that a few years later, I became the sole owner of the business because as we grew we no longer shared the same vision for the business and it started to make our relationship strained. (don’t worry, we’re GREAT now! but please have the difficult conversations!)

5) You will make MASSIVE mistakes- but it doesn’t make you any less than as a business owner!

You will make a SH*T ton of mistakes, some more costly than others. But guess what?! We ALL make mistakes every single day. Give yourself some grace because running a business is freaking hard and it’s more likely than not you’re first time doing this. We live and we learn. It doesn’t make you any less than or any less capable as a business owner.

6) Running a successful business is MORE about resourcefulness!*

You can have the most amazing, ground-breaking product in the entire world but if you aren’t RESOURCEFUL as an individual, running a business is going to be very hard for you. Entrepreneurship is FULL of uncertainty, extreme highs, and the lowest of lows and if you can’t pull yourself up and out of the storms that will eventually surround your business then you’re gonna drown. So, if you can grow in one area of your life- learn how to be resourceful!

7) Have more FUN!

Running a business is STRESSFUL and LONELY AF! But at the end of the day, this passion or idea at some point brought you joy- so ENJOY IT! We get so caught up in the day to day tasks, struggles, and drama of running a business that we forget that we’re living a dream that we once wished and prayed for. Have more fun, let loose, and remember why you started this business in the first place!

8) Some people don’t want you to succeed!

It could be your closest friends, or family members, or even people watching you on the internet- sometimes no matter what you do or what you say people just don’t want to see you win! It can be difficult to hear but once you make peace with the fact that some people won’t ever support you or share in your vision the way you hoped it makes focusing on YOU (and the people who do SUPPORT you) a lot easier.

There are so many pieces of advice I’ve learned and heard over the past 15 years and I’m sure I’ll learn even more but these are the few that have really made an impact on me as a business owner. If any of this resonates with you- please send me a DM @thecakemamas or @janellecopeland on Instagram and let’s connect!