In this episode...

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Laura Hargrave: Welcome everyone here at Boss It. We would love to hear from you. Join us in our Boss It community by heading over to our website, bossitclub.com, and join our mailing list. As we grow, we will be launching our community of fellow Boss It BFFs, and we want you to be a part of it.

Okay, Sophia Noreen, let's dig into this. I can't wait to tell them all about how we got here.

Sophia Noreen: Welcome to the Boss It Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen and I took an Etsy startup and launched it in big-box retailers within 12 months. As a creative with an entrepreneurial drive, I left my full-time career in healthcare to find better harmony between career, family, and self-care. We believe you can have it all. Yes, you can launch and run a successful scalable business while maintaining harmony in all aspects of your life. We believe we can learn from each other and draw on many experiences to create the best life possible. During each episode, we will share proven life hacks that will keep you on top and striving every day.

There should be no hesitation. Make a plan. Take action. We are here for you!

Sophia Noreen: What's up guys? Welcome to another fantastic episode of the Boston Podcast. My name is Sophia Noreen, if you're new to the channel, and today we're gonna be chatting about your patients in business. Do you have what it takes to start a business and do you have patience to be able to run the marathon that we call business?

Now, I wanna start with the mantra that business is actually a journey. So it is definitely about the journey and not the Destin. And I feel like many individuals do forget that because they're always looking at that end goal. And as you should be, you do need to look at the goal. You need to look at the vision.

You need to be able to visualize where you wanna go, and then systematically plan the steps to get there. Now, the problem lies in that many people forget that it takes time to get to your business. You will hear about the overnight successes. Yes. People will talk about how they did it overnight. I believe we even talk about how we quickly got into big retail, and we do hang our hats on that because it happened and we execute it and we were able to figure out supply chain and all the rest of it.

So yes, it can happen, but for many it will not be that quick. It takes years and years of product development product. And it takes trial and error to see if you've hit the right product at the right time for the right market. And that's what we call product market fit. And do you have what it takes? You have to ask yourself, will you be patient in your journey or will you say, Hey, I just wanna make a quick dime and I'm gonna wash my hands up this and be done.

You have to decide in the end, it will not be as easy as people make it. Look. It's the iceberg. Remember the iceberg? You only see 10% at the top of what it takes to start and run and be able to go forward in business. That 90% underneath the ocean, you do not see it. And I remember very clearly, my brother-in-law once said this to me.

He basically said, You won't be able to do business. He goes, You think it's easy to turn a business? He did say this and we'll chat about it later. I'm sure he's gonna watch the video and be like, Thanks for calling me out. But basically he said, Because you only see the 10% on the top of the ocean and you think that's all it takes.

People make it look so easy to run a business, and that's what they'll sell you over and over and over again. They'll sell you the easy part of business and perhaps the reason why people are so eager to share with you that business is easy. Business is fast. I made a quick a hundred thousand dollars last year, or whatever you hear on the internet these days.

It's because they don't want to admit that it took them 10 times as long or 10 times as much effort as they thought it was going to. Chances are they're probably underestimating their efforts and I won't give a number, but they're underestimating their efforts by a lot. I generally say it will take three times the amount of time you think it will take to get something done, and probably even three times the amount of money.

So when you're planning a big project to be it your business or anything, pick something these days with inflation. Easily three times the amount that you've estimated just because there's always those unforeseen circumstances. The one time that I got lucky with forecasting and supply chain was when the container cost had gone up by five times, and then eventually they kind of corrected themselves, but that money wasn't in my pocket because something else came and took it to fulfill the order.

So the point I'm trying to make is if you are thinking about starting a business, you need to. Under the impression, and you have to be ready to not just start the business, but carry through with that marathon in business. Somebody did say once that starting a business is like chewing glass and looking into abyss.

I don't know who exactly said that, but that is the best quote. And I have a small, itty bitty product based business, and I know it's growing, but I can only imagine. The bigger businesses out there that go fundraise, get seed funding, get capital, because they not only have their own capital, likely at risk, but they have somebody else's and they're responding to boards and then eventually they go public and all the rest of it.

I'm speaking from very much, uh, business, A side hustle, which many of you I know are starting or thinking of. And if you have those big ambitious goals to perhaps make this position or make this business your sole income, earning, generating business, maybe one day adopting the model of fundraising capital, having a board of directors to report to, maybe even go public.

Again, anything is possible, but you have to ask yourself, do you have the patience, the momentum, and the stamina to continue moving forward? Because you only see 10% of what people will perceive to be the effort, multiply it because it's going to be much more effort and much more time and energy than what it may be perceived to be.

I'm gonna give you a few tips today on how. Increase your patience, give yourself momentum. And the things that I've been doing for the past few years, I've been in this business for coming up to four years now and doing it part-time, of course, because I do have my full-time position at the moment. We may be switching up that soon, but keep watching and we'll see what happens.

So let me get into a few tips to help you guys with preparing yourself not only from a mindset perspective, but also from the perspective. Time management and delegation and such. The first mindset trick I feel works really well is basically telling yourself it's gonna take longer than it's gonna be expected.

Multiply it by two, multiply it by three. It doesn't really matter. Drop the jargon of get rich quick. Drop it completely from your repertoire. Try to prevent yourself from watching those videos or listening to those talks where you are guaranteed income and you are guaranteed to make money within like a month, two months, three months.

And the reason why is because you'll be setting yourself up for that expectation. And if you do not meet those goals, then you have to ask yourself, is it that somebody was not being completely truthful with. Or is it that you were given the false expectation that it was meant to be with the steps they provided, or was it never plausible to begin with?

And so by adapting the mantra that it's going to take longer and your goal is meant for you to have, you are gonna make the proper steps to get there that will help you. That mindset will help you. I feel like if I thought to myself, I need to make an X number of dollars within a year of starting my business, and if I had not accomplished that goal, I would've quit.

And I don't want that for you. If this is something you really want to do, if the business is meant for you to do and you feel very much a draw to it, or you feel like you enjoy working on it, and you have the motivation and the energy to work on it, and whenever you start working on it, it actually gives you energy rather than taking it away.

Those are the things that you should be monitoring at this point. In the beginning, you need to understand if you have the energy, the willingness, the draw to do the business. Because if you're dragging yourself at the beginning and what's pulling you is money or that one particular outcome, say it is, I don't know, prestige or status, it's not gonna get you as far as you think.

So that is the first trick in order to be able to continuously move towards your big goals in a very patient. And I think that is the biggest trick that you can use is by shifting your mindset to understand that it's gonna take longer. And also understanding that if you enjoy the work, if you get into the flow of work and don't feel like it's work, and you're making those small microsteps towards your big goal on a regular basis, that consistency is gonna draw you to your big goal in the end eventually.

But you're just gonna have to be. Another great trick that many people don't use and you should use is asking for help. I did chat about this in past episodes where you can delegate out tasks to others who can help you along this journey. It is impossible for you to do it all yourself. It is impossible for you to be accountable to something all the time, and you have to really develop that mindset of doing it a few times and then trusting others to take it over for.

Obviously there is gonna be limitations when it comes to capital and cash flow, but you can ask for help from your family and friends as well if they're willing and able to help you. For example, in the home, if you share a home with somebody, it's okay to ask them to help you do things around the home.

Well, you divert your attention to your business for a few hours a. In the beginning, yes, it's gonna be hard for everyone in the house, but eventually they'll understand that you're not just doing the business for yourself, but you're also doing it for the family. So I believe that if you start early off in your delegation, setting expectations with others in your business and also your household, that will allow you to have the stamina momentum to continuously move forward.

Now, this really stems into a conversation around burnout. It's also for our nine to fivers, or people who are in a traditional job or career that they don't ask for help and then they burn out because everyone has a limit and then they quit. So in business, this is vital because you're in a marathon, you're on a journey.

It's gonna take years. It could take decades to get where you wanna go. And if you don't have the help at the very beginning, you are gonna burn out and then you're gonna call it quits. So start learning to delegate. We will link a video here somewhere about delegation. I think there's a really good one on the Ds.

I have tricks about the, So I'll link that one above us or below. And you should check that out, that video, because it will really help you with not only your productivity, but learning how to properly delegate out items and tasks, not just in your family life or home life or work life, but also in your business.

And the final thought I will leave with you today is to get individuals involved. Tell them your big goals. Tell them what you want to accomplish with the business. You do not need to hide. I know a lot of us are scared. We think people are going to go and take our business and do it themselves. I know we're always afraid of revealing our deepest and darkest ambitions, but if you tell somebody you trust or you tell your team what the vision and mission is, you are more likely to accomplish that goal because you've not only become more accountable to the goal now because not just inside of your mind, but outside in the.

I really do feel that that goal, vision, and mission does take on a life of its own when others know about it. I will be very honest. Before we got into Walmart for our product based business, I actually openly said it multiple times. I did make the products for the Walmart buyer because I realized that there was a lack of small season or ethnic products for party on the shelf for our minority seasons like Dewali, E and Ramadan, for example.

And our people, our community, our customers were looking for the products, and I knew that this was a need, and so I was one of those customers, obviously, and so I went ahead and designed the product with that customer in mind. I also said before I even met anybody from Walmart, that this product is going to be in Walmart.

I said it, I said it to mentors, I said it to my brother-in-law who I talked about earlier in this. Shout out to him and I said it to family and they all said, it's not gonna happen. They actually said it. They said it's not gonna happen, or that's a pretty big, bold goal. Or I got the eye rolling from my friend.

We won't mention her name right now, but we know her very well. And basically the point is that it took on a life of its own. It came to life without me doing much more than being at the right place at the right time, and the right people walking by and seeing the product and saying, Hey, that's in the wrong.

That needs to be on a shelf and a retailer not here in a little market. So the point I'm trying to say is amazing things can happen if you share your goals and your mission and your vision with others. You would be surprised. And it's not magic. I think it really is about being held accountable and doing those micro steps, taking those small steps every day consistently.

And if somebody else knows that this is your goal, this is your mission. They are gonna look at you and ask you once in a while, Hey, how's the business going? Or they're gonna say, Hey, how is this going? Or whatever your goal is, and it will start taking a life of its own, and it will help you stay more accountable as well.

Okay, guys. I know this is a really, I feel like this is a long episode today. I feel like it was a bit of a vlogger slash blogger slash podcaster slash YouTuber at the same. We went from, of course, talking about how you really do need to stay patient in business and it will take longer than you believe it will.

I gave you a few tips as well on how to continuously do that. So of course, your mindset is a huge factor. Understanding that it's not going to be get rich quick and understanding that you do need to ask for help. So you need to delegate, and we'll leave a link for the amazing video below this video or within the channel somewhere.

And then finally, You have to really understand that if you tell others, you will be shocked at what can happen. Don't keep it a secret. Tell the world about your goals and your ambitions. Don't be shy, and the more you tell and talk about it, the more likely you are going to jump into action and do something about it.

So remember, make a plan and take action. And yes, you can have it all and we'll catch you guys here again next week. Take care. Bye. So my fellow bosses, did you enjoy that episode? Now is time for you to make a solid plan and take action. But first, remember to subscribe and follow the boss at podcast so you receive a notification.

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