Can anyone start a business?? The No.1 thing you need to know first.

A while ago I met up with a lovely girl who was just about to launch an amazing foodie business.  I was so excited for her and was hanging out to be a loyal customer.  And then something happened. Something terrible.

She read a book.

I don’t know the exact title of this book.  But it made me mad. Super mad.

Essentially it was a book about deciding if you've got what it takes to start your own business.

By the end of this book this girl had packed up her dream and stuffed it on down because she didn’t tick whatever boxes it prescribed.

Total tragedy. 

And not just because I can’t eat her delicious food (although that clearly sucks). The real tragedy is that now she isn’t doing what she loves.  Because the rubbish idea that she wasn’t cut out for it was planted in her head.

There is only one non negotiable for starting a business.

You have to really, really, really want to do it.  With every fibre of your being.

Yes there are different skills and qualities that will serve you.  Everyone will have a different mix of these and that’s ok.  Personally, I’m pretty bad at figures but great at marketing. I love design but not sales.  Other people are the complete opposite.  You play to your strengths and then you fill in the gaps. You can learn the skills you need. Develop the qualities. And as you grow you can hire in people who have things you don’t.

All of this can be done IF you want too.  If starting your own business is what your heart wants to do you can find a way.  No-one is born an entrepreneur.   And everyone is unique.  Your business will be a representation of you. You don’t have to turn yourself into a pretzel trying to be something you’re not.

I know I’m repeating myself. Guilty! But it does come down to how much you want it.  Which comes down to your ‘Why?’  Why do you want to start your business? To express yourself, to help others, to create a great lifestyle?  The trick is to connect with your why and this will keep you going while you ride the inevitable ups and downs and learn what you need to along the way.

How do you know if you really, really, really want to do it?

Think about your idea. How does it make you feel? My bet is if it’s what you really wanna do your whole face will light up, from within. You eyes will smile.  People around you will notice this when you talk about your idea.  If you find yourself day dreaming often about your idea that’s another pretty big clue.   If its been hanging around for quite some time and doesn’t seem to disappear, it might be time to start really paying attention.

Sometimes it’s trickier to pinpoint IF you really want to do something. It can be scary to admit to ourselves what we truly want to do. Within seconds of imagining it we disconnect from our deepest desire telling ourselves our  idea is too far fetched, not practical or possible. I know I used to do this myself. How practical do you think earning a living making cups of tea for my friends used to seem. But I found a way!

Don’t confuse feelings of fear with doubt.  And don’t get bogged down in the details. You aren’t trying to figure out how it’s going to happen yet. Just if the idea makes your heart sing.

You can also try thinking about the reverse. Imagine how you’d feel if you don’t do your idea. If you spend the rest of your life exactly as you are now, would you be satisfied? What if you saw someone else doing your ‘thing’?

Once you’ve decided you WANT to do your idea, there are a tonne of things you can do to help garanteee your success but the first and most important step is deciding. Own your dream.  You are entitled to it and you can find a way to make it happen!

Do you worry about not having the right skills? Do you think you need to have a certain something (insert x,y,z) before you can get started? Let me know below in the comments and I'll tell you if i had that 'thing' before I started 'RealChai' I betchya I didn't!

Big Love

Anthea (aka the just do it girl)

Peep Show Time!

Week 2. Ay yai yai! So much to tell you. Ready? Ok J

The actions: (in between continued renovating of our RealChai factory – which included digging up the brand new plumbing after I accidently filled the pipes with floor leveler a.k.a concrete! Don’t ask.)

1. Cracked it!!!!!!! I now have a plan. An awesome one at that too, if I don’t say so myself.  It’s so awesome I am doing a little happy dance as I type. I’m not kidding!
2. Recorded podcast with web celeb. Freaked out about podcast with webceleb.  Recovered from freak out about podcast with webceleb. 
3. Joined Amy Porterfield’s Facebook Marketing Profit Lab.  
4. Started experimenting with using facebook to get people to sign up to my newsletter.  Limited success so far. Need to learn more.
5. Met with real live beautiful people wanting to start their own businesses.  Thank you!
6. Brainstormed with my amazing b-school group of gals. Thank you too!
7. Obsessively checked facebook only 500,000 times this week (that’s down from last week)
8. Wrote and published a blog every day except for the weekend (for anyone checking we had a long weekend so technically Monday was still the weekend here.)
9. Published my 2^nd newsletter
10. Wasted a kabillion hrs wrangling technology. Still people can’t sign up to blog.  Kinda defeats the purpose of having a blog.  Grrrrr.
11. So… I’ve got myself a fairy blog mother peeps – Jane Copeland – can’t wait to get started. Monday. Abracadabra ugly blog that doesn’t work begone! Poooof!  Hmmm it’s still there. But not for long. Your days are numbered blogger!!! ***Huge HUUUUUGE important note here. I’ve only decided to spend some decent biccies on this now I’ve had my lightbulb moment and cracked the money making potential.  Part of me wants to test my idea while the blog is still hideous but the other part of me is so sure it’s a winner I’m backing it now. We’ll see. I actually don’t recommend getting all the bells and whistles before you are sure your idea will fly. But you know I’m a rule breaker so I’m breaking my own rules on this one. 
12. Reached out and invited the person I would Loooooooove to write the first guest post for iquitmyjob. Special person, if you are reading this right now, did I mention I would LOVE it if you said yes?  
13. Had my eyes opened by some amazing communities online eg.  http://www.mindvalley.com. My horizons have been infinitely expanded.
14. This made me look at my goals and multiply them by 12.5! Anything’s possible right!
15. Realised I’ve been missing out on some of my fav things in the pursuit of these goals.  Decided I better be sure to bring my fav things along for the ride.

The stats:

• 424 fb likes up to 712
• 42 people downloaded my Fear Busting Checklist up to 150
• Holy Sh*t.  Blog views 216 up to 1595!?!?!?! I did a double take myself. When I add up the individual posts I get 488 but it says 1595 page views all up??? 
• Two comments up to enough to stop counting J Over 30, I think. 
• Blog Subscriptions. Still Zero.

Dollars Spent

• $297 Amy Poterfield's course
• $1000 for my very own Fairy Blog Mother.
• $43.07 Facebook Ads

Time Spent

• A lot. At least 40 hrs.  My aim is to figure out a way to help you shortcut this process.

Dollars Made

• Wait for it….. still zero! 

What Next - Week 2

• Create a 2 month action plan.
• Approach 2 blogs to guest post on. To really start making a difference I need to build a community. Best way to do that – get amongst it!
• Do lesson one of Amy Porterfield’s course.
• Possibly move my blog over to wordpress.com (not org) as an interim solution before my blog is done properly. Just so it has some functionality. Like, oh I dunno, being able to subscribe! Depends on how annoying this is to do.
• Continue writing everyday.

Wow. Told you there was a lot. And that’s without going into detail about all the insights and ideas I’ve been having.  But, you’ve got plenty of your own things to do, so I won’t keep you any longer.  More next time! Thanks so much for reading and spurring me on.

Before you go,  let me know (below) two things you want to get done this week and we’ll keep each other accountable. Alright? Go on. Write em down. And then get cracking.

Big Love & Adventure

Anthea (aka the just do it girl) xx

How to get your happy on, right now. Not in the future. Without lifting a finger.

Last night I had a holy guacamole ah ha moment.  I’m super glad I had it only 2 weeks into my new business so I can share it with you straight away and lay some great foundations.

If you were a fly on the wall in our house, you’d have noticed I’ve been glued (super glued) to my laptop these last few weeks, often til the wee hrs of the morning.

I’ve pretty much stopped doing anything other than work related tasks.  I’ve been telling myself I don’t have time for all the other things I love.  Ummmm alarm bells!!

My focus has been soley on the future and the magic of the moment is passing me by. Kinda defeats the purpose right.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking something in the future will fulfill you.  Better job (in this case business), more money, more time, bigger house etc. Of course those things are appealing but I garatenee when you look around you actually have a truckload of aweseomeness in your life right now that you don’t have to lift a finger to create.  You just have to make space to notice and enjoy it.

I did a super quick brainstorm of my top 10 (non worky) fav things to do, things that make me feel ontop of the world (don’t over think it, just write)

1. playing with my nieces
2. reading in cafes
3. sleeping in with my partner *note that is sleeping in (not sleeping with, this is my PG list!)
4. yoga retreats/ kirtans
5. getting a massage
6. drinking chai
7. catching up with friends
8. getting outdoors
9. cuddles
10. listening to music

Then I went back over the list and looked at how often I’d done them in the last two weeks. And how often I’d consciously cancelled doing them because I was too busy working!!!

It’s safe to say every single one had gotten bumped at least once. No wonder I’d been gradually feeling more and more out of sorts.

Of course there is heaps to do when you are just starting out. And of course it’s important to have a vision for the future that you are moving towards but don’t forget about all the good stuff right in front of you.

Im taking my own advice and running with it too. This morning I spent 1.5hrs paying with my nieces and now after writing this I’m off for a massage. Ultimately doing these things will make me a better entreprenuer anyway. Time to recharge the batteries, stop and smell the roses, to juice me up for the bigger journey.

What tips have you got for keeping the balance and savouring the little things when you’ve got lots on???

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Big Love

Anthea (aka the just do it girl) xx

How a few simple words have changed my business and my life!

Today I thought I'd share five massively life changing things people have said to me since I started my RealChai business.

• 1 from an old boss.
• 2 from my partner.
• 1 from an ex employee.
• 1 from a famous role model.

Two weren’t even meant helpful.  But they were!

Here goes:

Old Boss: “You really don’t fit in here” said in stern voice with disapproval.

Me (on the inside): “Yes! You’re right. Thank God.”

And off I went backpacking where I discovered Chai for the first time and eventually got to quit my job and started my own company.  Nice one disapproving boss.

Partner (after years of me procrastinating about starting chai business): “Why don’t you just start small and see what happens”

And so I did.  Simple as that. Overwhelm removed. Action possible. I hired a trestle table and a space at a local market and tested the waters.

I’d been thinking I needed a factory or a café right from the get go. That seemed so huge and daunting that I found myself doing nothing.

Allowing myself to start small enabled me to create momentum. Eventually 5 years later I did get that factory afterall.

Another gem from my partner: Look for the “yeses!”  (If one opportunity is blocked look for the one that is flowing)

An early knock back on my journey, lead to the creation of a product that is now the heart & soul of my whole RealChai business. I applied for a market where I was not allowed to serve hot chai. Hot chai was all I had to serve so, on the face of it, this was definitely a problem!

Instead we developed a loose leaf packaged version of our chai for people to buy.  I went along to the interview. The market said yes. At first I was really put out as it wasn’t what I wanted to do but on my partner’s advice “Look for the yeses” I ran with it. It was an instant hit and the rest is history.

Ex Employee: “You’ll never find anyone as gushing as you are to replace me!” 

I’d hired poorly and attracted someone who was not a good fit for our RealChai brand.  I explained this to them and they said it would be impossible to find someone as gushing as me. I was taken aback because. A) I didn’t know I was ‘gushing’ or what that really even meant and B) I didn’t realise that I was actually looking for someone just like me. Turns out that’s exactly what I wanted. A team of warm, enthusiastic, upbeat, positive people. Now thanks to that comment (meant as a barb) I have my beautiful “gushing” team who fit perfectly with the brand.

Famous Role Model (think BRW’s Young Rich List) “Business is a marathon, not sprint”  When I heard these words direct from her mouth it was like a revolution inside my head. She wanted to impress on me there is really no such thing as over night success stories, you just keep doing what you do to the best of your abilities and prove your value.  This has been super helpful for me when I am not getting instant results. I now take a longer view and see I am laying the foundations. I’m more patient and less at the mercy of the moment because I have the big picture in mind.

Sometimes people say things with wisdom and consideration. Other times they are just passing comments but the effects can be life changing.  What are some comments that have changed your life when you look back over the years??