278: 10 Things I Wish I Knew Earlier In Business

Hi there. You’re listening to the Leading Lady podcast. I’m your host, AliceAnne Loftus, and I’m a certified professional coach specializing in leadership and work-life balance. I work with clients to shift their limiting beliefs, insecurities, and self-doubt. This podcast will be filled with tools and strategies to help high-achieving women like you feel connected, empowered, and in the lead of your life, both personally and professionally. Let’s transform your life starting now. Lead yourself, the rest will follow.

Welcome to today’s episode. I’m going to be pulling the curtain back and being super honest about lessons I’ve learned along the way, and sometimes the hard way. I wanna offer this episode as an encouragement for women entrepreneurs who are maybe still in the early stages of business or navigating growth.

My background, if you’re new here, is I own multiple businesses. My first business, I started when I was 22 years old, 10 days before I gave birth to my first child. So that was over 20 years ago. And my coaching business, where I work with high-achieving women in business and leadership, is almost 10 years old. I can’t even believe that.

I really focus a lot on building community within my businesses and making sure that I’m sharing what I learn along the way, so that if it can help another woman reach her success, then I am happy to be a resource for that. So as I’ve been reflecting on what I wanted to share in this episode, I thought of 10 big lessons that I have learned, and sometimes I’m still learning as I navigate running my businesses.

Growth Brings Criticism

In my last episode, actually… I’m gonna touch on lesson number one. Growth brings criticism. Not everyone will cheer for you. The bigger your platform, the more visible you are. Criticism? Guess what? It’s part of the deal. And I’m not here to say, “Hey, get thicker skin. Deal with it. Accept it.” I just wanna point out that it is real, and my encouragement to you is try not to take it personally and don’t let it slow you down.

I’m coming off of a month where I’ve had some pretty substantial criticism, some constructive, some not great. And I will share with you that sometimes it makes me want to stay small. It makes me afraid to grow. In my last episode, I shared kind of the why behind it and how it emotionally impacts us and how we can lead through that. That is probably the lesson that’s screaming in my face loudest right now.

Revenue Does Not Equal Profit

Number two, revenue does not equal profit. Early on, you can celebrate sales without realizing how little you’re actually taking home. And the lesson here is to focus on your profit margins, making sure that you have smart money management and that you have true financial literacy.

The biggest mistake I see, and that I even experienced, is that, I remember one of my earliest big months in business, I saw that big number of revenue come in and I was ready to pop the champagne and celebrate. But then, looking at payroll, rent, software, subscriptions, taxes, suddenly I realized that I barely had any money left, and that was a hard truth.

Sales numbers look glamorous, but profit is what actually pays the bills and gives us freedom. And I actually see this a lot when women are undercharging for their products or their services as well, because they don’t have a full understanding of what it actually costs them to deliver that product.

And so I would say I wish that earlier in my business, I had really spent more time in financial literacy, understanding my cash flow, being able to read a profit and loss statement, and knowing enough to really be able to make educated decisions on how and when I was spending money and what I was charging. That’s probably the biggest thing that I see when I’m coaching women today, is that they really don’t feel comfortable or knowledgeable in their finances.

You Can’t Do It Alone

Number three, you can’t do it alone. I actually hate the myth of Superwoman as an entrepreneur. It’s exhausting. The lesson here is to make sure that you have support, that if you do hire, you surround yourself with people that really can step into their strengths and support you in areas where you’re not as strong.

You shouldn’t hire people that think and work and do exactly like you. Hire the people that can support you in the places where maybe you aren’t so great, so that you are able to have that support. Having the support in areas where you’re not so great, I feel like I’m being redundant, but it’s actually kind of a pattern I see.

I saw it in myself. I would hire people that were a lot like me or had similar strengths to me, and then, guess what? Now we just had two people that were really good at one thing and not great at another thing. And so I’ve been really fortunate in that I have built a really supportive team that thinks differently than me, that works differently than me, that can hold me accountable in some areas that I struggle, and that I’m able to delegate some of those tasks that I’m not great at to them and feel completely confident that they are competent and able to deliver in those roles.

Boundaries Are a Business Strategy

Number four, boundaries are a business strategy. Saying yes to everything leads to burnout. Fact. So the lesson here is learn to say no. No is a complete sentence, and it’s one of the most powerful ways to protect your energy, creativity, and business growth.

I recently had someone reach out to me. She wanted to carve out some time to go through something, and I knew we weren’t in alignment. My whole body was telling me that this was not a path I wanted to go down, and I really struggled with that. I struggled with telling people no. I never wanna be perceived as someone that doesn’t compromise or doesn’t hear people out or isn’t open.

But I just knew with my whole chest that this was not in alignment with me, my business, my values, and I struggled. I struggled with saying no to that. And I knew that momentary discomfort of saying no was going to be so much better than the long-term discomfort of saying yes to something I really didn’t wanna do, and then having to follow through with it, or even worse, start it and then have to back out.

So learn to say no. Protect yourself, protect your energy, protect your creativity, and focus on your business growth that is in alignment with your mission and your values.

Your Network and Your Brand

Number five, your network is your net worth. Okay? Business success is deeply, deeply, deeply tied to your relationships. The lesson here is to intentionally build community, give generously, and surround yourself with people who get it, who want to participate in that.

I am beyond thankful for the Leading Lady community that I started and have built with so many other incredible women who truly show up with that mindset of community over competition. We’re looking to support one another. We’re looking to amplify each other’s businesses. We’re talking about each other positively in rooms even when the other woman isn’t there.

We really carry that mission to uplift each other, and I’m so thankful for that community and for the women that participate in Leading Lady, whether it’s online in the free Facebook group, or in the Hub, or in person at our Annapolis Collective, the Ambassador Mastermind. Those communities were not an accident. They were built because I truly, truly believe in quality connection with like-minded women who believe and live to uplift one another.

Number six, your brand is more than your logo. Your brand is the way people feel when they interact with you. I have said it probably a million and three times. I feel very passionately about how I want people to experience me or the spaces that I create, whether that’s physical or online, or just anything. I want people to know that they are valued and that they’re welcome and that it’s a safe space without judgment.

And the lesson here is to be consistent in values, in messaging, and really focused on the customer experience more than your fonts and your colors. I mean, don’t get me wrong, your fonts and your colors are really, really important. Everyone that’s worked with me on my branding and my marketing and just the consistency to make sure that it’s recognizable, okay, that’s just the foundation of it.

There’s so much that goes into the experience and the feel of the brand, and I’ve been so fortunate to work with experts like Maureen Porto and Jenn Osterhouse and Heidi Schmidt and Chrissy Rey and Jen Howat on all of those pieces, making sure that it’s cohesive and that they understand the feel of it too, and that it translates both in person and online.

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Rest Fuels Results and Systems Are Sexy

Number seven. This is a big one. Rest fuels results. Hustle culture is glorified, but let me tell you, exhaustion is not sustainable. I have burnt myself out. I did subscribe to the work-hard hustle mentality. I am a high-achieving woman. I think if you’re listening to this podcast, you are a high-achieving woman.

We often put rest at the bottom of the priorities, and I have to tell you about when my body told me that it could no longer go, when I was kind of forced into rest. I got really sick at the end of 2022. I spent 2023 basically allowing my body to heal, and I needed that. I needed that wake-up call. I needed that slap to the forehead, like, “Hey girl, sit down, rest.”

And the lesson here is that you cannot survive and thrive at the same time. We need to prioritize our health, our family, our joy, because that’s what keeps us in the game long term. I used to feel so guilty about rest and sleep and not being productive. And once I was able to mentally flip that script and say that rest is productive, that we need the rest in order to be able to show up whole and energized and prepared, I don’t have the guilt. Well, I have some guilt, but I don’t have as much guilt. Rest fuels results.

Number eight. Okay. Systems are sexy. Yeah. I don’t know, I love systems. I think that chaos is what kills our businesses. It’s not to say that I don’t have chaotic moments. My brain is chaos, but because my brain is chaos, I need those systems more than ever.

Systems allow us to remove decision fatigue and emotion. They allow us to calm the chaos. The lesson here is to invest in your processes, really understand your SOPs, your standard operating procedures, and put automation in early to free yourself up for vision and leadership. There are so many great tools out there. There are a lot of really bad tools out there too.

But it’s important to do frequent and thorough audits of your systems and understand that systems are living, breathing beasts in your business that you don’t just set and forget. You need to go back and look at your systems and do those audits and do those assessments, and check in with your tools to make sure that things are working as smoothly and as efficiently as necessary, because you don’t want to create bottlenecks in your business that are going to block you from progress.

Keep Learning and Remember You Are More Than Your Business

Number nine, keep learning. Expertise can become a trap if you stop being curious. We talked about this in the Hub recently, about really leaning into your expertise but still having an open mind and being open to feedback and being a lifelong learner. Guess what? Leaders are learners. So the lesson here is that you have to nurture and adopt that learner’s mindset.

It’s what keeps us evolving. It’s what keeps us adaptable. It’s one thing to stand in your expertise, and your expertise gives you credibility, but the learning keeps you relevant. And I just strongly believe in having rituals in place that nurture your learner’s mindset. What are you reading?

What kind of content are you consuming? What professional development are you doing? How are you nurturing your hobbies? How are you making sure that you’re well-rounded and balanced, and that you’re keeping an open mind? How are you giving space to receive feedback? Do people feel comfortable in giving you feedback?

You’re either learning or dying. And I just think that that learner’s mindset is something that is so crucial in the longevity and the success of our businesses and the scaling of our businesses.

And number 10, the final lesson. Your business is an extension. It is not your identity. It is so easy to tie self-worth to success or failure. The lesson here is that you are more than your business. Okay? Even as high-achieving women, especially as high-achieving women, our worth is not in what we produce. So hold space for your life outside of work.

As a 44-year-old woman, I am so thankful for my hobbies, for my friendships, my friendships outside of work, for experiences in my life that take me away from problem solving. I just want to build a life that’s filled with joy, and joy is so much more than our profession.

I think it’s so easy for women especially to be tied to these roles, such as wife or mother or business owner or community leader, instead of just looking at ourselves as a whole person, separate from those different roles, and that those are just small parts of who we are wholly. And that was a big one.

I really am very intentional about who I am as a person and who that person is outside of my preschool business, outside of my coaching business, outside of the Leading Lady community, outside of my role as a mother. AliceAnne has dreams and aspirations and hobbies and joys and loves and all of those things, and I lost her at points in my life. And I will say that when I’m able to reconnect with myself and who I really am, it kind of puts everything else into perspective.

Be Better, Not Bitter

So what I’d like to do is encourage you, the listeners, to reflect on which of these resonate most with you today. Hindsight is a gift, but foresight is even better. So hopefully these lessons can help shortcut some of the struggles that you have, or that you have been going through, or that you might go through.

I invite you to share your own “wish I knew” moment with me. I do read and respond to every message, so reach out, let me know. What’s something that you wish you knew earlier, or that you are recently learning, that you would love to share with others?

There’s a motto that I kind of live by. I was recently interviewed by one of our interns for a class that she’s doing, and she asked me what advice I would give to someone starting out and creating a group or a community like Leading Lady. And I just said the goal is to always be better, not bitter.

Because lessons are hard, and sometimes they can leave kind of a bitter taste in our mouth, and we can be hardened by the world. You might feel like you’re getting knocked down with all of these lessons, and it’s like, “Golly, what’s even the point?” And the point is to be better, not bitter. Don’t let these lessons harden you so much that you don’t adapt and grow and evolve into the best version of yourself.

Don’t give up. Give yourself time to process these lessons, to assess, to pull the insight, to refine, and then get up. Get up, be resilient, and get up and be better. Do better. Be the best version of yourself. So I’ll close with that. Be better, not bitter. If this resonated with you, I’d love to hear from you.

Until next time, take the lead.

Thanks for tuning in for another episode of the Leading Lady podcast. You can find all of the links and information mentioned in this episode at www.leadinglady-coaching.com. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to follow the show so you don’t miss any future episodes. And while you’re there, it would mean the world to me if you would take a few seconds and leave me an honest review. This will allow me to help other high-achieving women find inspiration, connection, and develop strategies to live and lead with purpose and intention. See you here next week.