What was YOUR biggest business/life lesson in 2015?

[Bouncing Soul]

I should've started a business a long time ago.

 

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[nomeus]

Don't follow other peoples dreams.

In the beginning they might convince you that by pursuing their dreams you will fulfil your's, but you have to know what you truly want and look at their ideas thru your perspective and your dreams and only then you should decide how to go about it.

That's what I learned this year. The hard way.

 

[SparksCW]

I learnt quite a lot last year, a culmination of reading, doing and general life lessons. Certainly made an impact into 2016 already in my mindset and attitude.

• Scale & Magnitude, it's just one of those punch-in-the-face obvious things that sometimes you overlook, but when you really understand the whole concept of it you can start to figure out how much you need to sell, at what price etc, to reach your targets.
• Less detours... I used to look at all different ideas, sub-sites, sub-niches etc... truth is my main niche is at no where near capacity, I'm now focusing on that niche in particular and keeping my businesses to the main two, avoiding all detours until I can afford to take the long route.
• If you make a deal with a company, 1) get it in writing and 2) speak to the monkey not the organ grinder. Some miscommunication has landed me with $45,000 of stock that I didn't really want upfront. (long story) had I got it in writing and spoken to the main man instead of the rep the situation would have been avoided. Luckily it's our best selling item so it'll be fine.
• It's all process and automation. Last year I got a commercial unit and employed someone, I've detached my time from one of the businesses already and the other one will be 95% automated as it's re-selling. Should allow for extreme scale without needing to grow too much in the back end.

I learnt a lot more too, but they are the main points which will make 2016 my best year yet.

 

[Andy Black]

It's a journey.

I'm loving the journey.

And it's MY journey, not yours.




This isn't a practice life.

Enjoy the journey.

 

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[SparksCW]

Oh yeah, and

Results Speak Louder Than Words.

 

[The-J]

My biggest business/life lessons of 2015:

1: Don’t be too nice. Your goals, your desires, your will is what REALLY matters. Provide value without sacrificing your sanity.

This one is a biggie, and cost me thousands of dollars this year.

I recently started moving away from web design and into other things such as copywriting. However, I wanted to fill my resume with projects that I believed in. So, when I saw an ad on my old university’s Facebook group, I responded.

I was the only one to do so, and I wrote a killer cover letter for her.

She hired me on the spot.

I told her my usual rate (which is HALF of what my rate is now) and she said she couldn’t afford it. No problem, I’ll work within her budget.

She then sold me on working for basically pennies, only slightly more than a typical inexperienced writer would work for.

Little did I know she would be my most difficult client, time-wise.

Now, payment was not an issue: she paid. But she’s the time to keep me on the phone for a long time… and I didn’t even charge her for those.

I began to resent her for it. But she doesn’t deserve the resentment… and I don’t need to resent her. She’s simply looking to achieve her goals.

What she thinks of me does not matter.

She’s still my client, but I don’t do much for her anymore, and will be ceasing any future projects with her after this one is done (which is the first project I did for her in several months).

That’s only one example. Here’s another:

One of my early clients tasked me to do some work for him. I gave him a price, which he gladly accepted. I did the work for him and… no payment.

???

This is common, this is an expected occurrence, so I just messaged him asking what was up.

He apologized… then proceeded to only pay me half.

Hasn’t gotten back to me.

This is not the first time a situation like this has happened, but usually they were for relatively small amounts. It didn’t bother me until now.

Non-payment happens, but don’t accept it as a regular thing. Collect, bother, threaten, and only write it off when it becomes not worth it anymore.

2: Give fewer F*cks. (Read Thick Face, Black Heart)

The first thing you need to face is your own self doubt. You believe that you’re not good enough because you don’t have any money, or you don’t have good credit, or you don’t have any experience.

Wrong. Everyone at some point didn’t have enough experience, and money is no substitute for it.

When you make a large payment on credit for the first time, you will be shaking and scared. That’s okay: but you must embrace that as part of the process.

You might lose your money, and if you do, you will have learned something.

Every dollar you spend in business teaches a lesson.

I learned this lesson in 2015 after being scared shitless and ultimately deciding not to take the more scalable path. I’m taking action on this in 2016, and I will exit 2016 a less fearful person.

The second thing you need to face is the opinions and criticisms of others. And yes, that includes FLF members, mentors, clients, and your own parents.

You must take action regardless of what others may think of you. You must take action that directly helps you achieve your goals, even if it means doing something seemingly stupid, cowardly, or insane.

This does not mean going against the better judgment of your intuition or of those more experienced than you. However, you need to accept that with inexperience, comes mistakes that would have been avoided by someone with a little bit more perspective.

This is hard. Really hard. And it’s something I learned in 2015.

Here’s to 2016. I’ve got big plans for this year, and if you don’t, you’re behind.

 

[Ubermensch]

The value of planning for the long term, seeing all the way to the end.

Actually living that is nerve wracking as hell, because no one else sees your vision.

Things get different when you get close to to the big win, though.

People start acting different.

All of a sudden, now the people that doubted you are "proud" of you.

People who once hated you are now happy for you?

All of this is so disorienting - if you really dwell on it - that I choose the path that I have chosen for years now: Focus on the end.

Focus on checkmate.

Focus on controlling the center of board.

Focus on controlling the entire board.

One move at a time.

 

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