WOW! I literally just realized that October of this year will be 8 years since I launched my brand, Women of Standard and 4 years since I walked away from my job in Corporate America.
I was the girl who was willing to put the time in building “God’s dream” for my life in the midst of going to work everyday and putting in 40+ hours a week.
During this process of building my brand, I made a lot of mistakes and today I want to share a few of them with you today.
Despite my success today as a 6-figure earner through my coaching & consulting, and publishing business, there are things I experienced early on that if you take heed to could save you a lot of time, energy and money.
Here they are:
- I didn’t develop a financial plan before leaving my job- Now, for me, my exit from my 9 to 5 was a straight up faith move. I turned in my two week resignation and at the end of its term I was now on my own with only $250 in the bank with the words, “Will you trust me?” repeating in my ear.
For me, this was a faith walk because I had no desire to step out and do the things I felt called to do such as host events, launch a magazine and inspire people around the world. Initially I was scared to death and often wondered if I had made the right decision.
The first three weeks were rough. I had no clue what to do with myself. I hadn’t created a plan on how I was going to make money or take care of my daughter. I cried for two weeks straight feeling as if I had made the wrong decision.
Then one day something snapped and it was as if I could now hear and see clearly and I sat down at my computer and ideas to create trainings, programs, events (both live and online) began to flow. Now everything was up from there and truth is my lights never got cut off, my car was never repossessed, my daughter and I never went without a meal. I stood flatfooted on the scripture that says, ” The blessings of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it.” (Proverbs 10:22)
Now although this worked for me I don’t advise everyone to try this. I am all for Faithing It; however, one must know that they know, that they know, that they know that God has called them down that path. I know people who thought they heard God and moved prematurely and it cost them everything including their wife.
Why am I sharing this? Because there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being sure. Write out what you desire to do, How much money you desire to make, How you intend to make it, the turn around time in which you hope to do so. Write out EVERYTHING. Then after you write it out, pray over it and seek wise counsel.
I remember when the Lord laid it on my heart to become an entrepreneur, I went to my pastor at the time to discuss it with him. Being that he his background was in Corporate America and he was making over a hundred thousand dollars a year I just knew he would encourage me and have plenty of strategies to share with me.
NOT! I sat in his office for over an hour as he shared every failed business adventure with me. Not one idea did he share with me that worked;and he had many successful endeavors.
I remember him telling me basically that there was no time for dreaming and I couldn’t gamble my life because I must always ensure my daughter had a place to call home. I was told to focus on my daughter…in my mind… she was all I was thinking about.
I left there feeling defeated, disappointed and confused. If my own pastor didn’t believe in me then how the heck was I going to get this done. Note: I had never really (at this time) been validated by my natural father.
I cried for weeks after that and because my pastor was a trusted voice in my life I began to lean in to him more than I was to God.
Until one day the Lord placed a woman by the name of Real Talk Kim into my life. After sharing what I had felt the Lord was telling me, Kim was wide open and said, “You better obey God! Nobody has to understand but you and God!” She then went on to share her journey of coming off her job at Bloomingdale’s. It wasn’t until last year at my Women of Standard Experience Charlotte that I learned when I was actually the first person to book Kim as a speaker for my event after she quit her job. How awesome is that?
2. I wanted to help EVERYBODY!– I will keep this one short and to the point. If you are going to lead a profitable business you are going to have to get clear/specific on who you are called to serve.
My problem was that as a “church girl” I wanted to help everybody and it wasn’t until one day I was in prayer and literally felt that I heard the Lord’s audible voice say to me, “The Gospel is for everyone but your business is only those whom I have assigned for you to serve.
It was then that I had to purchase books on business and attend webinars, workshops and trainings to get educated on how to find my target audience, identify my niche and stand out in a crowded market.
Know that what you have no matter how great it is, someone will reject it. That’s okay, because it was not intended for everyone.
3. I hadn’t deal with my rejection issues- One thing I learned early on was that if I wanted to thrive as a business woman I had to first be healthy as a WOMAN.
What no one tells you when you decide to go into business is to first: GET YOURSELF TOGETHER!
Before you can try to help everybody else you must first deal with your own demons, fears and issues because if not the first time someone says, “No thanks,” and you have unattended wounds of rejection you’ll take it personal and could possible shut down your entire operation because of one person.
Even with your personal finances; however you are with your personal finances is the exact same way you’ll be in your business. Get a hold of your personal funds and you will properly handle your company’s funds.
If you found today’s blog to be helpful and you are an aspiring, emerging or even an established entrepreneur and currently find yourself stuck, I’d love to assist you as I too know how that feels. Click below to learn how we can work together. I’d love to be your coach- http://carlacannon.com/trailblazer-1-on-1-coaching/
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