5 lessons I’ve learnt from running two businesses

Be Mindfull is my second business but both businesses were born from purpose.

My first business offered similar services - marketing and graphic design but in a different decade with different clients. Over a number of years, I worked with a wonderful array of rural and remote businesses. A retirement village in Central NSW, a promotional company in Western NSW, an egg farm in Southern NSW, a bnb in Victoria, and a cattle station in the Top End to name a few. Why did I start my business? To give country businesses high-quality marketing and design services that their city friends could so readily get.

I made the difficult decision to downsize this business, which for years felt like both a professional and personal failure. After all, statistics show that around 60% of businesses in Australia don’t survive beyond their first three years, with a significant 20% failing within the first year.

Lesson #1 - Burn out

While running my business I worked part time in a not-for-profit role, volunteered as a Social Media Director and tried to balance my personal life - thinking ‘I could do it all’, squeezing every ounce of time out of the day. As it turns out, it’s true that you can’t pour from an empty cup and much to my surprise, I totally burnt myself out. I resigned from my volunteer position and delivered every single project for my existing clients and pulled back. I was disheartened that the ‘empire’ I’d intended on building to support regional communities was no more, especially since I grew up on a farm.

Now, Take 2. I take burn out more seriously and do things each day to fill my cup - walk in the morning, get sunlight in the first hour of being awake and am a huge advocate for nutrition. Sounds basic yes but it means I can be creative with my clients, drive Be Mindfull in the direction it needs, hold an executive role as a Communication Manager while still being a supportive daughter, sister, partner and friend.

Now I ask you, what are you doing each day to care for yourself? If the answer is ‘nothing’ or ‘I don’t have time’ - pause here, get a notepad and write down three simple things you can do tomorrow to prioritise yourself. It’s important. Then come back, keep reading and you’ll see why.

Lesson #2 - Know when to scale

My second biggest lesson from this experience was knowing when to scale up and when to scale down. I had lots of fabulous clients, more fascinating enquiries coming in and I started my business when there was a gap in the market. In hindsight I was at the cusp of employing someone but was so caught up in "the doing" and not prioritising business sustainability and growth that I couldn’t come up for air and be strategic. The thought of selling my business never crossed my mind—I simply didn’t have the brain space to consider it as an option or see it as valuable enough to be sold.

Starting Be Mindfull wasn’t an overnight decision. It became a pesky thought that lingered in the back of my mind. The more I immersed myself in natural health, nutrition, fitness and wellness, the more I wanted to be part of the solution for better health. I’d missed working with business owners (you’re truly one-of-a-kind) and I couldn’t think of a better way to use my skills than to help health and wellness business owners build their own empires. And there you have it, Be Mindfull was born.

Lesson #3 - Starting a business is much easier when you’re young, footloose and fancy free

When I started my first business, I had nothing to lose. I effortlessly flung myself out into the world to see what happened. This time round, I’m wiser, more experienced, more skilled and more connected. I’m also more cautious and considered with a healthy spoonful of self-doubt.

Have you ever thought ‘can I do this?’ or ‘what do I know?’. Yep, me too. Despite our experience as business owners, professionals and daily users of “health”, isn’t it funny how self-judgement and lack of self-belief creeps in?

Overcoming this takes consistent work, and if you’re like me it isn’t something you work on once and wake up and "poof" it’s resolved (wishful thinking I know). Imposter syndrome thrives on silence. I’m learning to share experiences, ideas and those ‘can I do this?’ moments with my closest confidantes. Not only does it help feel less isolated but often they will give you an honest opinion, accelerate your idea and pour more confidence back into you than you thought you needed! It takes a community even if you’re a sole trader.

Trust that you know what’s best but know when to lean on others when you need reassurance.

In doing this I am strategic with Be Mindfull’s direction. It helps to zoom out to the big picture - the long term goals and remind myself of my ‘why’. I love that I get to work with incredible businesses in the health and wellness sector. However, Be Mindfull’s mission is to help small business owners also achieve their goal so together we can help people find and access the health and wellness services they need. This brings me to my next lesson…

Lesson #4 - 1% everyday

It’s a marathon not a sprint. Our bodies are prime examples of this. Consistent good habits and discipline help us live happier, healthier some might say longer lives. It works for our businesses too. Everyday and especially on those harder days, I remind myself that just 1% everyday will compound into significant long-term growth and open up an exponential number of opportunities. Part of this is celebrating the little wins - getting a blog post up, emailing a client with initial logo concepts, making a decision that’s been on your mind, chatting with a potential new client.

You have purpose. You started your business for a reason. Keep your eye on the prize and you’ll get there.

Lesson #5 - Perspective

You’re striving for excellence but get so caught up trying to make something perfect or worrying about what people think that your great ideas never see the light of day.

Occasionally this still happens to me. I remind myself of the alternative. Is what I am currently doing all I have in me? My biggest motivator is ‘How do I want to look back on my life?’ A few things over the years have compounded this into wanting to experience as much as I can and hear as many peoples stories as I can. This grounds me and gives me a good dose of perspective. This might be through the gift of travel, a chat with a stranger in your local town or talking to another business owner at a networking event. What motivates you?

Rather than trying to obtain the unachievable goal of total perfection, I now ask myself ‘Will this matter in 3 weeks? 3 months? 3 years?’. If the answer is no, it takes the pressure off and gives me grace to get on with it - do the social media post, draft the proposal template, publish the blog post (even this one).

Business owners are some of the most resilient and motivated people I know. We adapt, rebuild and put ourselves out into the world as experts in our field (maybe with our confidence ‘L plates’ on and that’s ok). Don’t underestimate your abilities, do make your intellectual property (IP), your health and your business a priority.

If this resonates with your own journey, let me know in the comments. I’d love to build a community of like-minded, supportive and courageous health and wellness business owners!

Thanks for reading,

Madison

Founder, Be Mindfull