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Foundational Fridays

You Don’t Need a Revolution. Do Ordinary Well.

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You don’t need a revolutionary idea.

You need to do ordinary work… better than most people are willing to.

 

Over the past couple of months, we moved.

Which means I’ve had a front row seat to the small business economy in action.

Movers. Contractors. Electricians. HVAC. Handymen. Real estate agents. You name it.

And I’ll be honest with you… it was the same experience I had 11 years ago when we bought our first house.

  • People don’t call back
  • They show up late (or not at all)
  • Communication is inconsistent
  • Quality is hit or miss

Then every once in a while, you find someone who just… does things right.

They answer the phone. They show up when they say they will. They do solid work. They follow up.

Those people?

They get five-star reviews.
They get referrals.
They get repeat customers for life.

That experience should change how you think about starting a business.

 

What actually separates successful small businesses from the crowd

Here’s the part most people miss when they say a market is “too saturated.”

They are looking at how many businesses exist.

They are not looking at how many businesses operate well.

Those are very different numbers.

 

When someone tells me they are hesitant to start a business because “there are already so many people doing that,” I understand the instinct.

It feels crowded.

It feels like you would need something groundbreaking to stand out.

But when you actually step into the real world and start interacting with businesses…

You realize the bar is much lower than you thought.

Let’s break down what “doing ordinary well” actually looks like.

  1. Be responsive

This is the easiest advantage you will ever have.

Most businesses are slow to respond or don’t respond at all.

If you:

  • Answer calls
  • Return messages
  • Keep people updated

You immediately separate yourself.

As a lawyer, I learned early on that one of the most common complaints is lack of communication.

So I built my practice around being responsive.

That alone put me ahead of a large portion of the market.

  1. Be predictable

Customers want to know what to expect.

  • Show up when you say you will
  • Deliver what you promised
  • Don’t surprise people in bad ways

Predictability builds trust faster than anything else.

And trust turns into repeat business.

  1. Do quality work… consistently

You don’t have to be the best in the world.

You do need to be reliable.

Consistency beats occasional brilliance.

People will choose the person who is solid every time over the one who is great sometimes and frustrating the rest.

  1. Follow up

This is wildly underused.

After the job is done:

  • Check in
  • Make sure things are still good
  • Ask if they need anything else

It shows you care… and it keeps you top of mind.

  1. Be easy to work with

This one sounds obvious.

But it’s rare.

Clear pricing. Clear expectations. Clear communication.

No confusion. No friction.

People will pay more for a smoother experience.

 

Where people get this wrong

A lot of first-time founders believe their advantage has to come from the idea itself.

Something new. Something innovative. Something no one has seen before.

In reality, most successful small businesses are built on ideas that have existed for decades.

  • Plumbing
  • Landscaping
  • Business Consulting
  • Cleaning
  • Fitness
  • Home services

The opportunity is not in inventing something new.

It is in executing something proven at a higher level than your competition.

When I started my law practice right out of school, I heard the same thing you might be thinking:

“There are law firms everywhere. How are you going to compete? It’s impossible.”

I didn’t try to reinvent the legal industry.

I focused on:

  • Being responsive
  • Being clear
  • Working with a specific type of client (small businesses)

That combination was enough to get traction.

 

The real takeaway

You don’t need to out-innovate the market.

You need to out-execute it.

And the good news is…

Execution is something you can control.

 

Weekend Exercise

This is about helping you see opportunity where you might currently see saturation.

  1. Pick a service-based business you have personally used in the last year
    (contractor, mechanic, gym, cleaning service, anything)
  2. Write down:
    • What frustrated you about the experience
    • What went well
    • What you wish they had done differently
  3. Now ask yourself:
    • Could I improve the experience just by being more responsive, predictable, and clear?
    • How could I apply these same principles to what I am already good at?
  4. Finally, write a simple version of your business idea:
    • Who you would serve
    • What problem you would solve
    • How you would do the “ordinary” better

The goal is training yourself to recognize where real opportunities exist.

Because once you start seeing it…

You won’t be able to unsee it.

The Fear That Keeps You Stuck

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Are you avoiding starting your business…
or just avoiding the moment people might see you try?

 

Let’s be honest about what’s actually going on.

Most people don’t stay stuck because they lack ideas.
They stay stuck because they are afraid to be seen trying.

Afraid it won’t work.
Afraid people will judge them.
Afraid they’ll look inexperienced… or worse, look like they don’t know what they’re doing.

So instead… they stay quiet.
They don’t talk about their idea.
They don’t post.
They don’t tell friends.
They keep it “private” until it’s “ready.”

And that day never comes.

I get it. I’ve felt it too. Still do sometimes.

But if we’re going to take this seriously, we need to talk about it directly.

 

What fear is actually doing to your ability to start a business (and how to move through it)

 

  1. Fear of embarrassment is really fear of exposure

When you say you’re afraid of failure…
what you often mean is you’re afraid of failing publicly.

That people will see it.
That they’ll remember it.
That it will define you.

But here’s what’s actually happening in real life:

  • Most people are not paying nearly as much attention as you think
  • The few who do notice are usually curious or impressed
  • The ones who judge… were never going to support you anyway

You are imagining an audience that doesn’t really exist.

And that imagined audience is controlling your behavior.

That’s a bad deal.

 

  1. Confidence doesn’t come first. It comes from preparation.

This is where starting smart matters.

Most advice out there is “Just start!” “Post on social media everyday and build a following!” “Build in public!”

None of that gives confidence or helps you start a real business. If anything it just amplifies the anxiety and burns you out quick when it doesn’t work. (And it doesn’t really work in my experience)

But when you’ve taken the time to learn how to start a business, you will have

  • Thought through your idea
  • Identified who it helps
  • Pressure tested whether someone would actually pay

…you’re not just guessing anymore.

You have something real to stand on.

That doesn’t eliminate fear completely.
But it makes it manageable.

 

  1. Promotion is not optional

If this part makes you uncomfortable, good. We need to address it.

You cannot build a business if you are unwilling to talk about what you do.

People don’t magically discover you.

You have to:

  • Say what you do
  • Say who you help
  • Say why it matters

Over and over again.

I know a chiropractor who wears a branded shirt to his kids’ school events.

That’s not random.
That’s intentional visibility.

He understands something most beginners don’t…

If you are not willing to be seen, you are not ready to grow.

 

  1. You’re probably wrong about what people think

This one stings a little.

Because we tend to assume the worst.

We imagine:
“They’re going to think I’m naive.”
“They’re going to think this is a bad idea.”
“They’re going to think I’m wasting my time.”

In reality…

A lot of people are thinking:
“I wish I had the guts to try something like that.”

They are stuck in jobs they don’t enjoy.
They have ideas they’ve never acted on.
They are watching you do something they haven’t been willing to do.

You are not the one who should feel embarrassed.

 

  1. Yes, you might fail… and that’s still a win

Let’s not pretend failure isn’t possible.

It is.

But if you:

  • Start with some structure
  • Learn the fundamentals
  • Test before you go all in

…your odds improve dramatically.

And even if it doesn’t work the first time…

You come out with:

  • Real experience
  • A better understanding of customers
  • Skills you didn’t have before

That’s not wasted effort. That’s progress.

The only guaranteed way to lose is to never start.

 

Weekend Exercise

This is where we turn this from a mindset issue into action.

Step 1: Write a simple one-sentence description of your business idea
Use this format:
“I want to help [type of person] solve [specific problem] by [your approach].”

Don’t overthink it. Just get something on paper.

 

Step 2: Tell 3 real people
Not anonymously. Not online first.

Tell:

  • A friend
  • A family member
  • A coworker

Your goal is not approval.
Your goal is exposure.

Pay attention to their reaction and questions.

 

Step 3: Share it once publicly (optional but powerful)
If you’re ready…

Post a simple version of your idea:

  • What you’re thinking about starting
  • Who it’s for
  • Why you’re interested in it

No pitch. No pressure. Just clarity.

 

Step 4: Reflect (this is the important part)
Ask yourself:

  • What actually happened vs what I expected to happen?
  • Was the fear accurate?
  • What did I learn from the conversations?

 

You don’t get past this fear by thinking your way through it.

You get past it by walking straight into it… in a controlled way.

Start small. Stay consistent.

That’s how you get to the other side.

 

How to Pressure Test Your Idea Without Overcomplicating It

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How do you know if your business idea is actually good…
or just sounds good in your head?

Most people never answer that question. They either overthink it for months… or jump in blind and hope for the best.

There is a middle ground. That is what we are going to walk through today.

 

I have worked with a lot of first-time founders, and the pattern is pretty consistent.

They think they need a full business plan. A website. Branding. Maybe even an LLC.

Before they have done the one thing that actually matters…

They have not tested whether someone will pay for what they are offering.

So they either build too much… or avoid starting at all.

What you need instead is a simple way to apply pressure to your idea early. Something that gives you real feedback without turning this into a six-month project.

 

What we are going to do today: A simple way to pressure test your idea using real-world signals

 

Let’s define what “pressure testing” actually means.

You are trying to answer one question:

Will a real person exchange money, time, or attention for this?

That is it.

Not “Do people like it?”
Not “Does this sound interesting?”
Not “Would you buy this someday?”

Those questions feel productive… but they do not move you forward.

You are looking for behavior, not opinions.

So here are three simple ways to create that behavior without overcomplicating the process.

 

  1. The Conversation Test (Fastest Starting Point)

This is where most people should begin.

Talk to 5 to 10 people who you think would actually be your customer.

Not your friends who want to be supportive. Not your spouse who already believes in you.

People who match the problem you are trying to solve.

Your goal is not to pitch. Your goal is to understand.

Ask questions like:

  • “How are you currently solving this?”
  • “What is frustrating about that?”
  • “Have you ever paid for a solution before?”

If they have never spent money on anything even close to your idea… that is a signal you need to take seriously.

If they describe the problem in detail and seem frustrated, now you are getting somewhere.

You are looking for tension.

No tension, no business.

 

  1. The “Simple Offer” Test (Where Most Ideas Break)

At some point, you have to stop talking and make an offer.

This is where most people hesitate.

They feel like they need everything built out first. In reality, you need just enough to answer one question…

Will someone say yes?

A few simple ways to do this:

  • Offer a service manually (even if you plan to automate later)
  • Post in a local Facebook group or community
  • Reach out directly to people you spoke with and say, “I’m trying this, want to be one of the first?”

You are not trying to scale. You are trying to learn.

If you cannot get one or two people to say yes at this stage, building more will not fix that.

 

  1. The MVP Test (Lightweight, Not Fancy)

This is where people tend to overcomplicate things.

An MVP does not mean building a full product. It means creating the simplest version of your idea that allows someone to take action.

Here are a few real-world options:

  • Landing page
    A simple page that explains what you do and has a “Buy Now” button. Behind the button is a page that states that it is still in the works and you offer to put them on the waiting list. You can use analytics to see how many have clicked the buy now button and then see how many follow through by actually joining the waiting list.
  • Pre-sale
    Sell the service or product before it exists, then fulfill it after.
  • Manual service
    Do it yourself behind the scenes before building systems or hiring.
  • Simple booking link
    Let people schedule and pay for a call or service.

Notice the pattern…

You are always asking for some level of commitment.

Time. Money. Effort.

That is what makes the feedback real.

 

What You Are Actually Looking For

You are not looking for perfection.

You are looking for signals.

  • Do people respond?
  • Do they ask follow-up questions?
  • Do they hesitate on price?
  • Do they actually commit?

Even small wins matter here.

One paying customer tells you more than 50 people saying, “That’s a great idea.”

 

A Quick Reality Check

Most ideas do not fail because they were terrible.

They fail because no one ever put them under pressure early enough.

People protect the idea. They polish it. They wait until it feels ready.

Then they launch… and find out the market does not care.

You want to find that out early, while the cost of changing direction is low.

 

Weekend Exercise

Your goal this weekend is simple. No overthinking.

Pick one idea you have been sitting on and run it through this process:

  1. Write down who this is for (be specific)
  2. List 5 people you could talk to (actual names)
  3. Have at least 2 conversations using the questions above
  4. Create one simple way for someone to say yes:
    • A message offering your service
    • A basic landing page
    • A pre-sale idea

You do not need a logo. You do not need a business name.

You need one person to take one real step.

That is how you move from thinking about a business… to actually starting one.

 

If you do this right, you will either gain confidence… or save yourself months of going down the wrong path.

Both are wins.

 

The System That Saved My Sanity as a New Business Owner

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Starting a business introduces a strange new fear.

You are working harder than ever. The business might even be doing well.

Yet every month you still wonder…

“Am I actually going to be able to pay myself?”

One of the things no one prepares you for when starting a business is how uneven revenue can be.

Some months are great.
Some months are quiet.
Sometimes the phone rings constantly. Other times it feels like the world forgot your number.

Early on, that unpredictability drove me nuts.

I would look at the calendar and start mentally calculating…

Bills are due in two weeks.
Clients are slow paying this month.
Phone isn’t ringing enough.

Even when things were generally fine, the uncertainty itself created stress. Your brain hates uncertainty. It wants to know what is coming next.

Eventually I realized something simple.

The problem was not the business.

The problem was my lack of a buffer.

What saved my sanity was cash flow planning… specifically building a “rainy day fund” for my own pay.

Most new business owners make the same mistake.

They pay themselves whatever is left over that month.

If revenue is good, they get paid well. If revenue is slow, they take less or nothing.

This seems logical, but it creates a constant stress cycle. Every month becomes a question mark.

Instead, I built a buffer inside the business that existed for one purpose.

Stabilizing my paycheck.

Here is how it worked.

First, I determined a reasonable monthly pay amount. Not a dream salary. Just the number I needed to cover personal bills and live comfortably.

That became my target monthly pay.

Next, I built a rainy day fund inside the business. Think of it as a shock absorber for uneven months.

Now imagine a simple example.

Let’s say my monthly pay target is $5,000.

One month the business performs well and has plenty of cash. I pay myself the $5,000 and the extra stays in the rainy day fund.

Another month is slower. Maybe I come up $1,000 short of that target.

Instead of reducing my pay and stressing about it, I simply pull $1,000 from the rainy day fund.

My personal income stays stable.

Over time, it evens out.

Good months refill the fund.
Slow months draw from it.

What this does is remove the emotional roller coaster of entrepreneurship.

The business still fluctuates. That is normal. But your personal life becomes stable.

This also creates a second benefit.

Once the rainy day fund grows beyond what you really need, you suddenly have options.

You can reinvest the extra into marketing.
You can try a new idea.
Or you can pay yourself a bonus.

But you are making those decisions from a position of strength rather than panic.

For me personally, this simple system did something important.

It let my brain relax.

Instead of lying awake at night wondering if the numbers would work out this month, I knew the buffer was there.

Sometimes the biggest upgrade you can give yourself as an entrepreneur is simply removing uncertainty.

Weekend Exercise

This weekend, do this simple planning exercise.

Step 1
Examine or build your personal budget. You need to have line items for all your monthly expenses. You cannot go into business if you don’t know what you need to ensure your own house doesn’t fall apart.

Step 2
Determine what the minimum take home pay you can survive on.

Step 3
Start working on your startup budget. Include a rainy day fund equal to that minimum take home pay. This means you could have a month where you only make enough to cover expenses and still have your full pay.

 

This will set you on the path to building something every entrepreneur needs…

A little breathing room.

That breathing room is often the difference between constantly feeling stressed and actually enjoying the business you are building.

 

Before You Start a Business, You Must Understand these Tax Basics

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Quick question.

If your future business made $50,000 in profit next year… would you know how the taxes work?

Who sends the money to the IRS?

When those payments happen?

How much you should set aside?

Most people who want to start a business have never thought about it.

They assume it works like a normal job with every sorting itself out in April.

That assumption is how people end up paying a bunch of penalties. Or you remember my story about the guy owing the IRS $15,000 he didn’t have?

I see situations like this a lot, unfortunately they are usually coming to me after the fact.

So for you, let’s avoid those problems with some small business tax 101.

When you worked a traditional job, taxes happened quietly behind the scenes.

Your employer withheld money from every paycheck and sent it to the government for you. At the end of the year, you received a W-2 and filed your return.

Most people never had to think about it.

Running a business changes that.

No one is withholding taxes for you anymore. No one is automatically sending money to the IRS.

You are responsible for all of it.

That sounds intimidating at first, but the underlying system is actually straightforward once you understand the basics.

The goal today is not to turn you into a tax expert. It is simply to help you understand how the system works so you do not get surprised later.

 

The three things every small business owner needs to understand about taxes

If you grasp these three ideas, you will already be ahead of most new entrepreneurs.

  1. Most small businesses are “pass-through” entities

Most small businesses operate as:

  • Sole proprietorships
  • Single-member LLCs
  • Multi-member LLCs taxed as partnerships
  • S-Corporations

These are called pass-through entities.

That means the business itself usually does not pay income tax.

Instead, the profit passes through to the owner’s personal tax return.

Example.

Let’s say your business earns $80,000 in profit.

The IRS treats that $80,000 as your personal income, even if the money stays in the business bank account.

This surprises a lot of people. They assume taxes only apply when they take money out of the business.

But if the business made the profit, the IRS generally expects taxes on it.

  1. You usually need to make quarterly estimated payments

Remember how your employer used to send taxes to the government throughout the year?

You now have to do that yourself.

Most small business owners make quarterly estimated payments to the IRS.

Typically in:

  • April
  • June
  • September
  • January

These payments estimate what you expect to owe for the year.

If you wait until April and try to pay everything at once, two things often happen.

First, the bill is larger than expected.

Second, the IRS may add penalties for underpayment. They call it “interest.” But in reality it is a penalty.

On more than one occasion, I have had people tell me that their CPA told them not to worry about quarterlies. If you get one of those, RUN!

Get in the habit of setting aside a portion of your profits each month (25-30% at first until you figure out a more exact percentage). Have it there waiting for the quarterly payments. I use a separate savings account for this purpose.

  1. Your taxes are based on profit, not revenue

This is the encouraging part.

Businesses get to deduct legitimate business expenses.

Common examples include:

  • Software and tools
    • Equipment
    • Advertising and marketing
    • Professional services (lawyers, accountants)
    • Office supplies
    • Business insurance
  • Cell Phone
    • Mileage or vehicle expenses used for business

If your business earns $100,000 but spends $40,000 on legitimate expenses, you are usually taxed on the $60,000 profit, not the full $100,000.

But there is one requirement.

You must actually track those expenses.

That is why good bookkeeping matters so much.

Open a separate business bank account. Run business income and expenses through that account. Track them regularly.

You do not need an elaborate system.

Many small businesses do just fine using tools like:

  • QuickBooks
    • Wave
    • Xero

The goal is simply to keep accurate records so you know what your business actually earned and spent.

 

Weekend Exercise

Spend some time doing three simple pieces of research.

  1. Choose a bookkeeping tool

Look into options like:

  • QuickBooks
    • Wave
    • Xero

Pick one that feels simple and manageable. The goal is not perfection. The goal is having a system that tracks income and expenses from day one.

  1. Research what is required to open a business bank account

Most banks will ask for things like:

  • Your business formation documents
  • Your EIN from the IRS
  • Identification for the owner

Look up the requirements for the bank you plan to use so you know what to expect when the time comes.

  1. Visit the IRS website and explore estimated taxes

Search for “IRS estimated tax payments.”

Look at how the process works and how payments are submitted.

Then ask yourself a simple question.

Would you feel comfortable handling this process yourself, or would you want help from a CPA?

There is no right answer. Plenty of entrepreneurs do it themselves. Plenty hire professionals.

The important thing is understanding the system before the money starts coming in.

That preparation alone puts you ahead of most people starting their first business.

The First 3 Legal Steps on Your Journey to Starting a Business

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Most new entrepreneurs spend weeks thinking about logos.

Very few spend an hour thinking about legal structure, contracts, or taxes.

Guess which ones call me a year later with problems.

If you are serious about starting a business, there are three legal foundations you cannot skip. Not later. Not when you “have more revenue.” Now.

When someone books a Start Smart Session with me, they usually want to talk about ideas. Marketing. Pricing. Growth.

All good things.

But before any of that works, you need a legal spine. A structure that holds everything upright when pressure hits.

Because pressure will hit.

Here are the first three legal areas I tell every new entrepreneur to understand before they launch.

The Three Legal Foundations Every New Entrepreneur Must Get Right

  1. Understand Entities. Separate Yourself from the Business.

When you form an LLC or a corporation, you are creating a separate legal person.

That sounds abstract. It is not.

That legal person can:

  • Sign contracts
  • Open bank accounts
  • Be sued
  • Owe debts

And most importantly, it can absorb risk.

If something goes wrong and your business gets sued, the lawsuit should be against the company, not you personally. That is the wall. Your personal house, savings, and future earnings are on one side. The business risk is on the other.

Even in “low risk” industries, things happen. Contracts go bad. Customers get upset. Vendors fail. One claim can wipe out years of effort.

Separating yourself legally is how a mature person launches a business.

But forming an LLC is not magic. You also have to:

  • Keep business and personal finances separate
  • Sign contracts in the business name
  • Avoid treating the company like your personal piggy bank

The entity only protects you if you respect it.

That is step one.

  1. Get Your Contracts in Order Before You Need Them

Most disputes do not start with evil people.

They start with unclear expectations.

If you sell products, you need terms of service. Clear return policies. Warranty language. Shipping expectations.

If you provide services, you need a client agreement that answers basic questions:

  • What exactly are you providing?
  • What are you not providing?
  • How much are you being paid?
  • When are you being paid?
  • What happens if they do not pay?
  • What risks are you not responsible for?

If you do not answer those questions in writing, you will answer them in an argument later.

A good contract does two things:

  1. It limits liability.
  2. It prevents misunderstandings before they turn into lawsuits.

I always tell clients to think like this… where could this go wrong? Where might someone say, “That is not what I thought I was getting”?

Spell that out.

It can sometimes feel harsh (though a well written contract won’t come across that way). But think of it like insurance. It is there only if you ever need it, and you will be glad that it is there when that time comes.

Clarity is kindness in business.

  1. Understand Taxes Before Revenue Shows Up

The IRS does not care that you are new.

They do not care that you are learning.

They care that they get paid.

If you are profitable, you will likely owe:

  • Federal income taxes
  • State income taxes
  • Self-employment taxes
  • Possibly sales tax
  • Possibly payroll taxes if you hire employees

And most new entrepreneurs miss one big thing.

Estimated quarterly taxes.

If you wait until April to think about taxes, you are already behind.

I had someone come into my office once who had a fantastic first year. Better than expected. He was proud. He should have been.

Then he said, “I owe the IRS $15,000. But I do not have $15,000. I spent it.”

That is not a business problem. That is a planning problem.

You have to treat tax money like it is not yours. Because it is not.

Set aside a percentage of every payment you receive. Open a separate tax savings account. Talk to a CPA early, not after the fact.

Starting smart is far less stressful than fixing avoidable mistakes.

 

You do not need to become a lawyer or an accountant.

But you do need to understand the game you are stepping into.

Entity. Contracts. Taxes.

Those are not advanced topics. They are day one topics.

Build on rock, not sand.

Weekend Exercise

Set aside 60 focused minutes this weekend.

  1. Write down what legal structure you are currently operating under. If you do not have one, research LLC vs sole proprietorship in your state and write a one-page summary in plain English.
  2. Outline your future customer agreement. List the services or products you plan to offer and answer the key questions: scope, payment terms, non-payment, risks, refunds. Do not worry about perfect language. Focus on clarity.
  3. Estimate your first-year revenue. Then calculate 25 to 30 percent of that number. That is your preliminary “tax reserve” target. Write it down. Make it real.

You do not need everything perfect.

You do need to take these steps seriously.

Start smart. Your future self will thank you.

Are You Actually Ready to Start This Journey?

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A lot of people ask me, “What business should I start?”

Very few ask, “Am I ready to take this seriously?”

That second question matters more.

There is a big difference between wanting to start a business and being ready to begin the journey.

I am not talking about being ready to open next month.
Not ready to file paperwork.
Not ready to quit your job.

I mean ready to treat entrepreneurship as something worth studying, planning, and preparing for… the way you would prepare for law school, a marathon, or building a house.

Most people never pause long enough to make that distinction. They feel the spark. They get excited. They start brainstorming logos.

And then they stall out.

 

Before You Choose a Business, You Need to Choose the Journey

If you are serious about this path, three things must change.

  1. You Stop Looking for the Perfect Idea

When someone is casually curious, they are hunting for an idea. Some look for their passion, some for a sure things, while others want the unicorn. But they all are unready.

When someone is ready, they are willing to build skill and knowledge first.

That is a different mindset entirely.

Ready people start asking:

  • What do I need to understand about cash flow?
  • How do real businesses price?
  • What legal and tax structures exist?
  • How do I evaluate risk?

They are less interested in inspiration and more interested in competence.

Business rewards the person who understands the rules of the game. It does not reward the most excited person in the room.

 

  1. You Begin Thinking in Years

Most first time entrepreneurs underestimate the timeline.

If your primary question is, “How fast can I replace my income?” you are still outcome focused.

A more mature question sounds like this:

“What would I need to learn and build over the next 12 to 24 months to create something stable?”

Real businesses compound slowly at first. Revenue is uneven. Confidence grows gradually. Skill builds through repetition.

The online gurus won’t tell you that. I will.

And if that reality discourages you, that is useful information. It does not mean you cannot do this. It simply means you need to adjust expectations.

The people who endure are not the most hyped. They are the most patient.

 

  1. You Accept That This Will Expose You

Starting a business will surface your weaknesses.

You will discover:

  • Gaps in your financial literacy
  • Gaps in your communication skills
  • Gaps in your discipline

That is normal.

If you are ready to see those gaps as areas to strengthen rather than reasons to quit, you are probably ready to begin the journey.

Entrepreneurship has a way of acting like a mirror. It shows you who you are under pressure.

That can be uncomfortable. It can also be transformative.

 

  1. You Are Willing to Prepare Quietly

This is the quiet test I often give.

If no one ever applauded your early effort…
If no one knew you were researching at night…
If it took two years before this paid you anything meaningful…

Would you still want to pursue it?

If the honest answer is yes, that is a strong signal.

Because the early phase is mostly invisible work. Reading. Thinking. Running numbers. Asking better questions. Saving money. Observing industries.

It is not glamorous.

And that is fine.

 

Why This Matters

Many people try to execute before they have committed internally.

They treat entrepreneurship like a hobby but expect professional results.

That mismatch creates frustration.

When you decide you are ready to learn and prepare, something shifts. You stop chasing shortcuts. You start building foundations.

And foundations compound.

 

Weekend Exercise

Do a simple Readiness Audit.

Rate yourself from 1 to 5 in the following areas:

  • Financial stability
  • Time discipline
  • Emotional resilience
  • Willingness to learn unfamiliar topics
  • Patience with delayed reward
  • Comfort discussing money and numbers

Then ask two follow up questions:

  1. Where am I weakest?
  2. What specific action over the next 90 days would move me up one point?

Maybe it is building a three month emergency fund.
Maybe it is reading one book on small business finance.
Maybe it is tracking your own personal spending for the first time.

No announcements.
No domain names.
No big declarations.

Just preparation.

Because the decision to take this journey seriously comes before the decision about what to build.

And once that decision is made, the spark has somewhere solid to land.

Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: How to Actually Believe in Yourself

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The only thing stopping you is you.

I know that sounds like a motivational poster in a high school gym. Stay with me.

Most new entrepreneurs do not struggle with intelligence. Or work ethic. Or even ideas.

They struggle with a quiet voice that says, “Who am I to do this?”

That voice shows up when you think about sharing your new business on social media. When you consider raising your prices. When you imagine calling yourself a “business owner.”

It whispers, “You are not ready.”

Let’s deal with that head on.

Confidence in business does not come from personality. It comes from preparation. Today I am going to show you why imposter syndrome happens and how to replace it with real, earned confidence.

First, understand what business actually is.

Business is a game.

Not a childish game. A structured one.

There are rules. There are scoreboards. There are repeatable plays.

Revenue. Expenses. Margins. Positioning. Customer acquisition. Legal structure. Cash flow.

When you understand the rules and have a playbook, you stop feeling like a fraud. You start feeling like a player.

The problem is most people “just start.”

They get told to launch fast. Build in public. Ship something. Iterate.

If you run onto a football field without knowing the rules, you will look foolish. Not because you are incapable. Because you are unprepared.

That feeling of being an imposter is often just the feeling of being underprepared.

Second, realize something important.

The people you think “have it all together” often do not.

I have worked with hundreds of business owners. Some very successful. Some barely hanging on.

You would be shocked how many are winging it.

They do not fully understand their numbers. They have never read their own operating agreement. They price based on vibes. They hope payroll clears.

Confidence does not equal competence.

Many loud entrepreneurs are simply comfortable being uncertain in public.

That does not make them smarter than you.

It often just means they are more comfortable with risk.

Third, build confidence the boring way.

Preparation.

Have a written plan. Even if it is simple.

Define who you serve. In plain language.

Outline how you will make money. Specifically.

List your startup costs. Estimate conservatively.

Choose the right legal structure. Understand basic tax implications.

Sketch out how you will get your first five customers. Not five thousand.

Will you get everything right? Of course not.

But when you sit down to take action, you will not feel like a fraud. You will feel like someone executing a plan.

That shift matters.

Imposter syndrome fades when action is anchored to structure.

And here is something else.

You are not trying to become the best in the world on day one.

You are trying to be one step ahead of the person you serve.

If you know how to help a small local business set up bookkeeping because you have studied it carefully, you do not need to be a CPA with twenty years of experience to provide value. You need to be competent and honest.

That is enough.

The goal is not to eliminate fear. The goal is to replace vague fear with defined risk.

Defined risk can be managed.

Vague fear controls you.

You can do this.

Not because you are special. Not because you have perfect confidence.

But because business is learnable.

When you learn the rules. When you use a playbook. When you start smart instead of just starting.

You dramatically increase your odds.

That is not hype. That is preparation.

Weekend Exercise

Take one hour this weekend and do three things.

  1. Write down the exact business you think you want to start. One paragraph. No buzzwords.
  2. List the five biggest things you do not understand about it.
  3. For each one, write one concrete step to reduce that ignorance. A book. A call. A course. A conversation.

Imposter syndrome thrives in vagueness.

Clarity suffocates it.

Start there.

 

How to Figure Out What to Charge for Your Product or Service

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“How much should I charge?”

Almost everyone who is thinking about starting a business gets stuck here.

As a new entrepreneur or business owner, pricing feels uncomfortable in a way other decisions do not.

It feels personal. It feels exposed. And for a lot of people, it brings up doubts they didn’t expect to have.

Pricing is one of those topics where people want a formula. Something clean. Something objective.

There are formulas, but pricing decisions rarely feel settled just because the math works.

That is because price is doing more than covering costs.
It sends signals. It shapes expectations. It affects how customers see you and how you see yourself as a business owner.

If you are early in the process and feel unsure here, that is normal.
The goal is not to find the perfect number. The goal is to understand how to think about the decision.

How to Think About Pricing in a Way That Actually Holds Up

When pricing works, it usually rests on three things working together:

  • A strategy grounded in real numbers
  • An understanding of how customers interpret price
  • A willingness to adjust over time instead of locking yourself into one decision forever

We will walk through each.

Pricing strategies. Start with your costs and work outward.

At a minimum, you need to understand what it costs for your business to exist.

That includes fixed expenses like software, insurance, rent, and subscriptions.

It also includes variable costs like materials, labor, and transaction fees.

Once you know those numbers, you can calculate a break-even point.
That gives you a baseline. It tells you what price keeps the lights on.

From there, you can work backward from income goals.
​
· How much do you want or need to earn per month?

· How many sales or billable hours are realistic?

· What price makes those numbers line up?

This step is not glamorous, but it matters. Especially early on.

Cost-based pricing, however, is only part of the picture.

Many products and services are priced based on value rather than cost.

​
​Value-based pricing looks at what the customer gains by hiring you.

Time saved. Stress avoided. Errors prevented. Results achieved.

This is hard for first-time entrepreneurs because the work feels easy to them.
That usually means they are skilled, not that the work lacks value.

People pay because they cannot do the thing, do not want to do it, or know they should not be doing it themselves. That gap between where they are and where you can take them is where value lives.

So get comfortable and confident in the value of what you provide. Try not to think about how hard it is or how fast you can do something or even just the cost to produce a product, because using that thinking 9 times out of 10 you will price your product or service too low. Instead think in terms of value.

You should also look at competitors. Not to copy them, but to understand the landscape.

What do similar products or services cost?
Where do you naturally fit? Lower price, middle of the pack, or premium.

Every option is viable. You just have to choose deliberately.

Pricing psychology. How customers interpret what your price says.

Price is not just a number. Customers use it as information.

A lower price can signal accessibility.
It can also signal lower quality or higher risk, especially when they do not know your brand yet.

This is where many new entrepreneurs get tripped up.

They assume that being cheaper and better will make the decision easy for customers. In practice, it often creates confusion.

If someone has never heard of you and sees a price well below the market, they may hesitate. They wonder why. They look for a catch.

If your business depends on trust, expertise, or perceived quality, your price needs to support that story.

On the other hand, competing on price can work when the business model supports it. Volume, systems, and efficiency matter here.

The important part is alignment.
Your pricing should match how you want to be perceived.

Experiment, test, and review. Pricing changes as your business changes.

Pricing is not a one-time decision.

Early on, you do your homework, pick a reasonable price, and put it into the market. Then you pay attention.

· Are people saying yes quickly?

· Are you overwhelmed?

· Are you constantly anxious about cash flow?

Those reactions tell you a lot.

Many businesses raise prices gradually as demand increases.
Others adjust when costs rise or the market shifts.

This is where bookkeeping becomes critical. If you do not have clean numbers, it is hard to know what needs to change and why.

Pricing works best when it is reviewed regularly, not emotionally, and with real data in front of you.

Weekend Exercise

Set aside some quiet time and write this down.

  1. List your fixed and variable monthly costs.
  2. Calculate your break-even price.
  3. Write a short paragraph answering this question:
    What problem does my customer avoid by paying me instead of doing this themselves. Then see if you can put a dollar amount on that.
  4. Look at three competitors and note where you realistically fit in the market.
  5. Choose a price you feel comfortable standing behind right now.

You are not locking yourself in forever.
You are making a thoughtful starting decision.

That is how most sustainable businesses begin.

The Boring Thing that Gives you the Most ROI

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Small business owners are notoriously bad bookkeepers.

Not because they are lazy.
Not because they are stupid.

But because bookkeeping is tedious and it feels like it does nothing to really benefit your business. It may feel that way but that isn’t true.

Most people start a business because they are good at something.
A skill. A trade. A service.

Very few start a business because they are excited about spreadsheets, reconciliations, and monthly reports.

So, bookkeeping gets pushed off. Hand waved away with “I’ll deal with it later.”

Later has a habit of showing up all at once. Usually with interest, penalties, and a pit in your stomach.

I have seen this play out more times than I can count.

I have had someone sit across my conference table and find out, for the first time, that they owed the IRS $15,000. It was not because they were dishonest. It was because they had no idea what their numbers were telling them.

I have worked on a business sale where the owner lost $250,000 in purchase price because they could not clearly prove profitability. The buyer simply did not trust the numbers.

And in my own businesses, bookkeeping has been the difference between anxiety and confidence. Between guessing and knowing. Between hoping I could pay myself and knowing I could.

Here are the 6 things bookkeeping actually does for you (and why it is not optional)

First, you cannot make good decisions without it.

Every meaningful business decision depends on numbers.

Can you hire?
Can you raise prices?
Should you kill a service or double down on it?

Without bookkeeping, you are making these calls based on vibes and optimism. That works until it doesn’t.

Once your books are clean, decisions stop feeling emotional. You can point to the numbers and say, “This is working” or “This needs to change.”

Second, cash flow lives here.

Profit and cash are not the same thing. That distinction trips people up constantly.

Bookkeeping shows you:

  • When money actually comes in
  • When it actually goes out
  • What obligations are coming next month

Without that visibility, you end up reacting instead of planning. That usually means credit cards, lines of credit, and unnecessary interest payments. It also means stress that follows you home.

Cash flow planning is peace of mind. Period.

Third, taxes are not optional.

The IRS does not accept “I didn’t realize” as a defense.

Good bookkeeping lets you:

  • Estimate taxes before they hit
  • Set money aside intentionally
  • Avoid ugly surprises

Bad bookkeeping turns tax season into a crisis. Good bookkeeping turns it into a scheduled task.

Fourth, it protects you legally.

Clean books create a paper trail.

They help show:

  • Business income versus personal income
  • Legitimate expenses
  • Separation between you and the business

If you ever get questioned by the IRS, a lender, or a buyer, this matters. A lot.

Fifth, it shows what is actually working.

This one stings for many owners.

The service you love might be barely breaking even.
The “side” offering might be quietly carrying the business.
One client might be draining far more resources than they are worth.

You cannot fix what you cannot see. Bookkeeping turns on the lights.

Sixth, it increases the value of your business.

Whether you want to sell one day or not, clean books give you options.

Buyers pay for confidence.
Banks lend to clarity.
Investors want proof.

Messy books do not just slow deals down. They reduce the price.

Weekend Exercise

This weekend, do not try to become a bookkeeping expert.

Do this instead.

If you already have a business:

  1. Pull the last 3 months of bank statements.
  2. Write down:
    • Average monthly income
    • Average monthly expenses
    • Your best guess at profit
  3. Ask yourself one honest question:
    “How confident am I in these numbers?”

If the answer is “not very,” that is not a failure. That is information.

If you don’t have a business yet, research 3 software solutions for small business bookkeeping. Compare pricing and make a pros and cons list of each. Then watch a Youtube training for each. This will help you in knowing which you will utilize when you launch.

 

Bookkeeping is not busywork.
It is your business playbook.

Football teams review film. They study what worked. They cut what didn’t. They adjust the plan.

Your bookkeeping does the same thing.

And once you start using it that way, business gets a lot less stressful.

 

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