7 Things I Learned in Business (That I Wish I Knew When I Started)

Entrepreneurialism

Oct 9

On October 9, 2013 I established MegaBug Photography, LLC here in my home state of New Hampshire. As of today, I’ve been in business (legally) for SEVEN YEARS! =0 WOW!

Because I’m trying to celebrate the little milestones, I’ve been reflecting on my seven years in business, how far I’ve come, and what I’ve learned. Particularly what I’ve learned that I wish I knew when I started!

So in the effort of maybe making your entrepreneurial journey a little easier, I’m sharing the seven things I learned in business that I wish I knew when I started. Let’s get to it!

Charge your worth.

This has been my #1 lesson in business. Charging the worth of your services/products is essential for being successful in business, and not doing so really held me back in the beginning. I’m actually still recovering from it.

Charging for photography was easy. I looked at what other photographers were charging and came up with my rate based on my skills and experience compared to theirs.

When I started my marketing business in 2016, however, there was no one to compare myself too. Nobody posts their hourly rates and very few post their project rates.

So I really screwed up when it came to charging. I thought $25/hour was fair. Seriously! Before I went self-employed that same year, I was making $15/hr as an employee. I figured another $10/hr would cover my expenses and taxes. BIG MISTAKE.

I only made $25/hr when I was doing client work, but I overlooked how long administrative tasks like bookkeeping, sending proposals, and marketing my own business took. All of which is unpaid. Pair that with my high efficiency and I was barely making anything per hour.

Now I charge per project, and if I do one-on-ones hourly, it’s $125. My current rate is based on my experience, the results my clients get out of one hour of working with me, and because I’m pretty booked up. (Remember the whole supply and demand principle in economics?)

Click here to discover five reasons why your business can’t afford to pay you.

Steer clear of bartering.

In the majority of my bartering experiences someone lands with the short end of the stick, and more often than not, it was me.

Unless your exchanging time at the same hourly rate (i.e. your rate is $60/hr and the person you’re bartering with has a rate of $60/hr), it’s not a fair exchange. Sure, you could calculate how much more time you’d receive in the exchange if your rate was higher, but who actually does that math?

And here’s the thing: bartering does not pay your bills.

Unless you’re bartering for a need (like groceries), don’t take time away from paying clients for a bartering agreement for something you don’t need.

It’s also super important - especially as women- to get used to being paid for our work. Whether we feel like we don’t deserve to be paid or have some other block, we women tend to struggle with feeling worthy to not only be paid the rate we set, but to be paid, period. So change that belief by accepting money for your time!

Photo taken 10/21/2013, two weeks after my LLC was official and after I had purchased a memory card for first professional camera. (Hence why this was taken in the Staples parking lot!)

Don’t take on every client that wants to work with you, or projects outside of your zone of genius.

We’re in business to make money, so it may seem counterintuitive to turn down business. That was my rationale when I began taking on website and logo design projects. Turns out I ended up loving website design and still offer it today, but logos? They took me FOREVER! So not only did the amount I earned per hour drop dramatically, I was so frustrated and stressed, and I had less time to take on projects that I was good at and enjoyed.

And whenever I took on a client I had a bad feeling about, it never ended well. They’d tend to be confrontational, would fight me on my rates, and would always be the highest maintenance.

It’s not worth it.

It’s better to take on a part time job than to take on clients and work that’s not right for you. I had a part time job for the past 10 months and it was the best thing I ever did to get myself on my current trajectory.

Psst! Check out why I’m no longer offering photography.

Set boundaries.

People either start businesses to solve a problem or because they want to be their own boss. But many fail to enjoy the full extent of what being your own boss means.

As an employee, it’s way easier to set boundaries between work and home. When your income directly comes from how many clients you take on or products you sell, however, it’s very easy to become a workaholic.

But that kind of mindset can lead to burn-out and feelings of resentment in your business. So set boundaries on the hours you work, the ways people can get in touch with you, and even when you schedule meetings.

Check out a few of my boundaries.

Oh! And you don’t have to hustle to be happy, successful, or worthy. ;)

You can promote your business without being Sleazy salesy.

In my business I’ve done whatever I could to not be pushy, because my interactions with pushy business owners never felt authentic. And who wants to be bombarded or guilted into anything?

But my desire to not be salesy led me to not promoting my business at all. Which isn’t good either.

While it’s not good to be pushy, not promoting what you offer is also a disservice to customers.

Hear me out!

Has anyone said to you, “I wish I knew about you before I hired ‘x’” or “I wish I had your product before I invested way too much money in ‘x’ for it not to work.” If you’re like me, you’re in business to help others. But you can’t help others if they don’t know about you, nor can your continue helping others if you can’t pay your own bills.

In order to not be too salesy in my business, I ensure that everything I write is authentic and comes from a caring place. I also don’t send a million emails a week (even if I’m having a sale on my online courses), or promote lofty goals, like “make 6 figures in 6 months.” Always be authentic.

Simplify to amplify.

This one I learned from Marie Forleo. Basically, it’s waaay easier to market a few things to a few specific people and get results than to market a lot of things to a lot of people and receive mediocre results.

When I started offering marketing, I was still photographing weddings. I thought the two had to be separate, so I had two brands: MegaBug Photography and Nutmeg Media. Each brand was also its own LLC.

Then I had the Serendipity Studios brand, which is what my former studio mates and I promoted ourselves and our separate services under.

And I had my personal blog, Miss MegaBug.

That was FOUR things to market and promote! It was overwhelming, took so much time, and I was struggling to pay myself.

When my studio mate left I ended up consolidating everything into Miss MegaBug (see post here), niched my services to website design and online marketing courses, and I’m working on niching my target audience so I can promote to a specific group of people.

Since simplifying my business, it’s way easier to amplify it. Marketing is quick, easy, and I’m earning more than I have in the past. In less time too!

You can do anything, but you can’t do everything.

This branches off of simplify to amplify, but it’s super important it has its own category.

I truly believe you can do anything you set your mind too. I’ve achieved several things that no one believed I could do, from graduating with my bachelor’s at 19 (and zero debt) to becoming self-employed right before buying a house. But in order to do the things that truly matter, prioritization has to happen.

We only have so much energy, focus, and time. It’s challenging to say no, but saying no is necessary to achieving the bigger picture. If we’re scattered amongst many different things, we’re fragmenting our ability to do what’s important.

Prune what doesn’t matter, whether in your personal or business life, and have a clear vision of what you want and where you want to go. Energy flows where attention goes.

I’m grateful for where I am today and the lessons I’ve learned. Even if I wish I’d learned them earlier, I know I’m where I’m meant to be. Cheers to seven years in my business, and I wish yours many successful years to come.

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Just getting started in business and looking for a roadmap? Check out my Begin Your Business online course. We’ll cover everything from pricing to forming an LLC, assembling your team to getting your first clients, and everything in between.

Been around the business block and looking to grow? My Self-Employed School online course provides a deep dive on topics including website SEO and design, e-newsletters, social media, public relations, and more. It all culminates in creating an easy and effective marketing strategy for your business. Learn more here.