How to Have More Fun With Your Business {Episode 13}

Building a business can seem SUPER scary, overwhelming and intimidating. But in reality, it's just a big giant experiment!

If you want to start a business from home (or grow an existing one), today I'm teaching you how and why to alleviate a whole bunch of pressure off your business, how to react when things go wrong AND how to have a whole lot more fun!

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Building a business sometimes feels like a big deal, right? Answering a call that God sends you sounds really serious, huh?

Admittedly, even my intro for this podcast is a little heavy - simply because I want moms listening to understand what a privilege it is to be able to shine our light out into the world!

But I don't want anyone to freak out because it's such a big, serious deal. In reality, it's absolutely NOT. If you're not ready, or you get cold feet, or your first 3 business ideas lose money, it's all totally and completely ok.

The truth is, starting a business is just a path, one of an infinite number of paths that you could choose for your life. 

Not only that, but there are countless paths not involving business ownership that would be just as good and worthy and amazing.

As mentioned in previous episodes, there is no right choice for you. There's not a right business type or niche or ideal customer or structure. There are a million ways you could build it and get the results you're hoping for.

The point of all these reminders is this: building a business is NOT life or death. It's actually really fun! And the quicker you can embrace the idea of a FUN business, the easier the whole process will be.

When I was a kid, and tempers were flaring, my dad often said "don't lose your sense of humor". It was a quick reminder that life is rarely as serious as we make it and sometimes that heaviness can cause unnecessary drama. 

A business built under enormous pressure is bound to fail. It's like a garden that needs to feed your family immediately. There will be NO patience for planting and watering and waiting for those little sprouts.

And then, as soon as anything pops up, you'll immediately pounce on it, desperate to make it grow faster.

But a business that's built on curious possibilities, fun and enjoyment allows for leisurely watering, slow and patient fertilizing and even a relaxing afternoon in a hammock watching your little tomato plants grow.

So how to we eliminate some of that pressure and lean into enjoyment?

First, we eliminate all or nothing vocabulary from the thoughts we think and the words we say. PLEASE stop saying "this has to work"!

Think about your kids...when you get worked up and all up in their face and tell them "you HAVE to do this!" how well does that go?? Terribly, right?

Think of your business like a living, breathing entity. It doesn't like feeling stressed and it doesn't like being told it has to do something. So no more "this has to work" or "I don't know what I'll do if this fails" or "this HAS to make money".

You're setting it all up for failure. It doesn't mean you can't expect your business to make money - I highly recommend you do! But allow it to come about slowly and patiently. 

Instead, embrace the same language you'd use for a growing garden or child. "This is hard sometimes but will turn our beautifully in the end." "This will look exactly the way it's supposed to." "I can't wait to see how this will help support my family." 

Secondly, beware of decision fatigue. Starting a growing a business requires tons of decisions: website, branding, niche, elevator pitch, products, services or offers, delivery, pricing, marketing, etc.

I have a simple and easy strategy for making (seemingly) difficult decisions super easy. I call it 1-1-1.

Give yourself 1 day to gather all the information, testimonials, advice, etc. Then give yourself one day to research it all. Then just one day to make the decision.

For example, one day to make a list of all the email service providers you've heard of, friend recommendations and other info, then one day to look into all of them and list pros and cons, then one day to decide.

You don't HAVE to take this long, you can gather info, research and decide in just one afternoon! But if you tend to drag it out, try this. 

If you don't want to get stuck on these beginning decisions and it all seems overwhelming, check the show notes for my 30 day start-a-business guide that takes all the guesswork out of it.

Once we've taken away all the pressure and decision fatigue, we're going to commit to looking at our business like a really enjoyable experiment.

Experiments are fun! They can be low pressure and exciting. They involve trial and error, brainstorming and creativity. When an experiment fails, it's not a FAILURE, it's just an experiment that needs adjusting, to get the results we want.

Are you able to laugh at problems in your business? When the wrong product shows up from the manufacturer or your website looks stupid or you look silly on a live video, can you find the humor in it?

Taking your business too seriously is a surefire way to kill it with the pressure of perfection. It WILL not be perfect (not even close), ever. It will get better and better, but the sooner we can learn to laugh about what goes wrong, the more successful we'll be.

There's another important reason why we want to keep our sense of humor - it means working on our business will be FUN!! 

I love working on my business - I get to use my creativity, help people, learn so many cool things and make money. But anytime I let myself put too much pressure on my biz, the fun factor is seriously diminished.

How can you keep your sense of humor? What thoughts do you need to adopt to ensure that working on your business stays fun? That doesn't mean it won't be hard work or drive you crazy sometimes, but I want excitement to be the driving force behind it all. 

Then we get to sit back, watch it thrive and enjoy it so much more!