Do You Have a Business? Or Are You Hoping Your Hobby Will Support You?

If you are self-employed, but you don’t have the revenue you want, are you doing all the things a business does?

When you look at a business that has been around for a while, they have people or departments who specifically focus on sales/marketing, finance/accounting/legal, operations, HR, and strategy/leadership. If you are self-employed and your business is not thriving, which area are you not paying attention to?

A lot of people only want to do operations. Carpenters want to build things. Artists want to paint. That’s because that is the piece they are good at. The piece they are passionate about. And no business can thrive without talent and passion. But, no business grows and develops with only operations.

• If no one knows you exist and what problem you help them solve, they cannot hire you to do your amazing work. (Sales/marketing)
• If you don’t bill people – you don’t have money. If you don’t pay your vendors, they stop doing business with you. (Finance/accounting/legal)
• If you don’t take care of your people (yourself) then they get burned out, disgruntled, and bitter. They ruin your business instead of building it and serving your customers well. (HR)
• If you don’t set and connect to your goals and prioritize based on that, you don’t achieve them. (Strategy/Leadership)

You may only want to do your art or your calling, but without those other pieces, it’s not a business. It’s a hobby or a passion – which is a wonderful thing to have – but it is not a business that will support you.

If you think you hate sales, then stop selling. Seriously. My dad was a sales rep, and he was great at it. But that’s because he saw his job as helping people solve their problems. The sales were the natural outcome of that. Show people how you can help them. Stop selling and start helping. The revenue will come from that.

If you want to have your own business, then how much time are those things worth? Is meeting someone for coffee worth it if you don’t think they will hire you? Yes, your time is valuable. But, you have no idea who that person knows. They might not hire you, but if you go with your full self ready to be of service, then they may tell someone about you later on that day who turns out to be your best customer of all time. Is your business worth an hour a day of trying things like that?

And if things are not working? Again, use a large business as a model (please pick a good one). If a marketing campaign was not successful, do you think they just throw in the towel and say, “Oh well. I guess this business just won’t work. Let’s all pack up and go home.” No. They figure out what to do differently and try again. Commit to your business and keep trying until you find what works.

Owning your own business is hard. It is a lot of work and it makes you stretch in every area that you are uncomfortable in. No one in the corporate world is expected to be amazing at every piece of the business. I am so impressed by all of the amazing people I know who are putting their heart and soul and time and tears into creating a business. Treating your business like a business – all the pieces of a business – will help you create what you want.