Back in 2012, we opened up our doors for business and I thought on this year’s anniversary I would create a podcast sharing seven lessons learned over the past seven years!
1. Work hard, play hard. A lot of entrepreneurs fall into the trap of working a gazillion hours a week. You’re always on, your phone is always on, and you really never turn that off button off. We are a big believer of work hard and play hard. For example, at the beginning of the year when we’re sitting down to plan for the year ahead, one of the things that Paul and I do is we look at what dates are non-negotiable, what dates are nonnegotiable that we just block out of the calendar.
2. Surround yourself with great people. I have to say that I feel really blessed that we’ve had some amazing, great people who’ve worked with us, who are working with us now and have worked with us in the past. You can’t do it all. Figure out how you bring the most value and then look for people who can fill in the gaps!
3. Make your yesses, yesses and your “no’s” NO! If we say yes to something, it is a heck yeah, 100% all in. A lot of times when we were sort of on the fence with something, we find that you have to be all in and really fired up for something. Or maybe if you’re not, maybe that means that it’s not the right opportunity
4. Money is not everything. Now, money is certainly important. It’s the reason why we’re in business. It’s the reason why anyone is in business. But I’ll also say it’s not the end all and be all, you know, if we get a request to do something for a large sum of money, if that request is not in line with our core values, with what it is that we believe in as a company, as an organization, then it goes back to what I just said. It might mean that that is a no right? And maybe that’s an opportunity for me to refer business out to another colleague or to someone else who might be a better fit for that person. So money’s important, but at the end of the day, it’s not the most important thing really, what is important is that quality of life.
5. Love what you do, do what you love. Holy moly, we’re not guaranteed any more days, so you better really love what you do. When I look at my business seven years ago, my business today is a lot different than what it was seven years ago and that’s okay. Part of that was going through the process of saying yes to a lot of things because I wasn’t quite sure what it was I wanted to do. I wasn’t quite sure what our company was going to look like in five or 10 years.
6. Have systems in place. You’ve got to have systems in place. And again, when we first started, to be honest, all of those systems were in my head. They were on a lot of post it notes! We love using Asana. As our team has grown, it’s been really important to systemize what we do. The more you can systemize your business, the more organized you will feel, the more in control of your business you will have. And the more you can start to grow your team because you will start to see what areas of your business make the most sense to outsource, or to grow your team by.
7. It is not what you earn, it is what you keep. This is one of those tried and true lessons that I have learned from my parents. I’ve learned from my grandparents and I have learned from just about every other successful person who has ever run a business because you can make a ton of money, but at the end of the day it matters nothing if you have nothing in the bank. Money’s not everything, but it’s certainly really important and as I often will tell my kids, money is not important, but money does give you freedom in life.
I just want to take a moment and really thank everyone who’s been a supporter of myself and Paul and our company and our team. You know, it truly is a village in so many ways and I think so often we look at people who are doing things and we think, wow, that’s really great. Look at what they’re doing. But there are so many moving parts to what we do, especially with our company. So I just want to give a big thank you to our team. We have some amazing folks on our team! I want to give a big thank you to all of our clients and everyone inside of our #GetSocialSmart Academy and just really all of you who are listening in, you’re part of our community.
I’m so grateful for our community – thank you! Cheers!
Additional resources:
- Visit me at KatieLance.com for more info about my speaking, consulting and our #GetSocialSmart Academy (use the promo code PODCAST to save $30/month)
- Follow me on Instagram for more behind-the-scenes into my life and business @katielance (Enjoying this podcast? Tag me on IG and let me know!)
- Asana
