According to the US Chamber of Commerce, in 2023, 5.5 million new businesses were started.
In 2021, the World 
Economic Forum reported that 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs to become sole proprietors.
Whether this is triggered by the Great Resignation, or a post-Covid gig economy, or people simply taking inspiration from the many start-ups we read about daily, it’s clear that the allure of running your own show is powerful for many people.
This year marks the 15-year anniversary of running my consulting business. Over the last few years in particular, I’ve received more and more inquiries from people seeking advice and insights on how to launch their own businesses.
I won’t claim to be a business start-up advisor by any stretch! But I can share some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way. I hope my Top 10 list is helpful in getting you off the ground or in growing your business if you’re already out there!
- In the immortal words of Nike, Just Do It. When I started, I didn’t have a website. Or even a business appropriate email address. I didn’t spend months drafting a formal business plan or building marketing materials. What did I do? I defined my core services, determined my fee structure, then figured out where my ideal target clients would be. I went to those places and I engaged. I was simply me, listening to them, offering a perspective. And I informed my network about what I was doing. There are certainly basic elements or structures to put in place … and the lack of a website and business email address would never fly today! But don’t over-complicate things with a list of twenty items to tick off first. That’s a procrastination strategy. Taking real action is incredibly empowering. You’ll make some mistakes. We all do. But you’ll learn and be better for it.
- Beware of signing clients who you know are really not right for you just to get off the ground or start earning a paycheck. To this end, it’s important to distinguish the kind of clients you intend to contract. This gives you a clear profile of what’s in, what’s out and what’s at the margins to help you vet all opportunities. This might be unique to executive coaching or management consulting work, so take this with a grain of salt or adapt as needed if you’re in another space. I recognize that this is a tough piece of advice to follow, because at the start, we’re so anxious to get moving! Accepting an engagement that doesn’t feel right in your gut, though, can lead to unnecessary challenges and regret. On that note …
- If you have a good gut, then trust it. Especially if it’s been time and battle tested. A reliable inner voice, a radar, is pinging for a reason. And if you don’t have a good gut, then surround yourself with trustworthy people who have excellent judgment and the ability to accurately read people and situations. Seek their counsel when you’re unsure.
- Appropriately value yourself. Know what your competition charges for the same or similar services and price yourself competitively. Don’t cut your rate because you’re “new” to the game. Unless you’re jumping to an entirely different field than what you did in-house, you are not new. You have experience, knowledge, insights, and skills. Many of those will be transferrable regardless of where you’re headed.
And on the flip side, don’t overprice your services because you need to get your income going. A client recently shared an experience they had of a consultant who delivered an engagement at one price, then nearly tripled it when invited back for another project (identical to the first) only a few months later. The client decided never to work with that consultant again. The quality of their work no longer mattered, but the perceived lack of character and reliability did.
- Get comfortable saying “No.” There are many reasons to decline an engagement or work with a certain person, client company or project. I’ve had clients ask me to provide services that are outside my wheelhouse and I know I’m not the right resource. An HR Rep once told me to provide my coaching session notes from an engagement with a top executive or they’d pull their business (hard NO, bye-bye). I’ve had a client hit on me. And more than once, accepting just one more engagement was going to put me way over capacity and negatively impact my work-life balance and wellbeing. So know that there will be situations that surface where it will serve you to confidently deliver a “No.”
- Hire an excellent CPA and lawyer. Unless you are either of those things yourself, financial statements, tax returns and reviewing contracts are not where you should be spending your time.
- Re-evaluate your services and re-tool your capabilities on a timeline that makes sense to you. This ensures you’re bringing the most value to your clients while still continuing to do what you love. There are inflection points in all small business journeys. Learning to identify when you’re at one, and then stepping back to evaluate how it’s really working for you, is critical to a long-term, sustainable experience. My starting questions: Am I happy right now? Am I bored or unsatisfied? What do I want more of / less of / something different?
- Seek and take feedback. Be honest with yourself when you get feedback and examine your approach and effectiveness on a routine schedule. Is what you’re doing working? Great! Determine why and explore how you can multiply that. If something isn’t working, determine why and explore the various ways you can adjust. Human beings are terribly harsh self-critics, so guard against beating yourself up. Give yourself some grace while you learn and grow.
- Monitor your wellbeing. Being an entrepreneur in any field will be consuming. Dedicate time on your calendar for YOU just as you would block time for a meeting. Schedule walking, journaling, meditating, or whatever brings you peace and grounding – then be present in those moments. Set reasonable boundaries and honor them (this is also where being comfortable saying “no” comes into play). Decide what boundary structure supports you … maybe it’s no work on evenings or weekends; or lights out at 10pm so you can get eight hours of sleep; or limiting the number of engagements you carry at one time. Experiment with a variety of structures to see what fuels you. Then stick with it until you need to change it up.
- Accept help. You are not perfect and you don’t know how to do it all. If someone you care about came to you with a request for help, what would you do? You’d help them and you wouldn’t judge them. Remember that. Because chances are the people in your network will react the same way when you knock on their door.
Most importantly, have fun!
I hope my personal “lessons learned” provide a few thought starters that add value to your process ~ whether you’re about to launch a business or are ready for a refresh. Wherever you are in this journey, I wish you great success!