Check out my websites: NancyJacksonAuthor.com NancyJacksonTraining.com Click HERE to get your FREE eBook How To Go From Hobby To Business For Next To Nothing Follow me here: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NancyJacksonAuthor Twitter: https://twitter.com/NAJackson Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/najackson/ Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/nancyannjackson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancyajackson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NancyJackson TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nancyajackson?lang=en In this episode, I will discuss the top 5 mistakes I made as an early entrepreneur. #1 - Lack of Confidence in What I Was Doing It has been decades since I began my first tiny business. It was way before the internet and the ease of access to do things yourself. I opened a small craft and flower shop in the small town where I lived. I didn’t have fresh flowers, only silk, which was a very big deal at that time. I spent my time doing the craft items and floral arrangements I made. I kept my bookkeeping up to date in a large ledger book, though. But, with marketing back then, you were limited primarily to local newspapers, radio advertising, and word of mouth. I tried newspaper advertising. My business was in a very small town that had no newspaper, so I tried the larger town about 45 miles away, and another about 30 miles away. The ads were display ads and were very expensive for someone with a small business like mine. I tried one or two and stopped. Because I knew nothing about marketing, I quit. I was convinced that they weren’t working and would not work. I never even tried radio advertising. It was much more expensive, and I cringed at the thought of spending more money on something that would not work. Most of my business came by word of mouth. The small storefront in that small town got noticed, and I had many curious people walk in. I was good at flower arranging and had done a couple of weddings for family and had pictures. I began to get quite a few weddings, and that was the majority of my business. Even though I knew I was good at floral arranging and knew how to do fresh flowers, I never ventured out to get the necessary permits and coolers for fresh flowers. It was a financially challenging time in our family, so I was trying to do everything on a budget. However, I believe that I just flat out lacked the confidence to spend that much money on the equipment. I think somewhere inside of me I just lacked the confidence that I would succeed and go the distance. And I didn’t. The oil boom busted, and our small town nearly dried up and blew away. And I gave up too. I was pouring all my money back into my expensive ‘hobby’ and not earning an income which our family needed. So I closed the doors right before Valentine’s day. People wanted to know where I was because they wanted to buy flowers from me. I didn’t understand the ebb and flow of business. I closed in January and would have flourished in February. I lacked confidence in what I was doing. I didn’t know enough and not knowing crippled me. #2 - Working as a Sole Proprietorship If you are a Sole Proprietorship, you are only one step above a hobby. You can deduct your supplies and some expenses, but the IRS gives you just a few years to show a profit or they deem you a hobby and you can no longer claim the deductions. In my opinion, being a sole proprietor is a sure sign of a lack of confidence. Give it a try for a few years and if it doesn’t work out, then quit. One foot in and one foot out. There is something to be said about the commitment of forming an LLC. Back when I had the flower shop, it was much more complicated. You had to have an attorney form it for you. Now you can easily do it yourself. The best, in my opinion, entity to form is an LLC. You can have the maximum tax benefits, especially if you request to file as an S corp. This lets your business work as a ‘pass through’ entity, funneling money to you. You are not taxed twice, once as a business and then as an owner. I am not a CPA, so I recommend you talk with your CPA about those benefits. But you can create an LLC by yourself and also file the 2553 form yourself. I did not have this luxury several decades ago. Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have done it anyway if I could have. That first business was honestly a glorified hobby. I knew nothing about running a business and it showed. Through the years, I had many more businesses, but never did an LLC until 2008 when I formed Dreams Do Come True, LLC for my real estate business as an agent. It was one of the smartest business things I’ve ever done. And yes, I had some nerves knowing there was a commitment to what I was doing. But, I have also learned that now an LLC is as easy to dissolve as it is to create. The fear of commitment doesn’t need to be there any longer. #3 - Not Persisting When Things Got Tough When you ...
