10 Things I’ve Learned In Running a Business

Hello, my name is Daisy, I’m a 27-year-old entrepreneur, a YouTube vlogger, and a beauty addict by nature. I have a multi-million dollar business that I grew from scratch, 5 years ago. We are a team of 14 women right now, based all over the world. Our office is in Los Angeles, but I consider myself a ‘digital nomad’ and travel around the world. If you asked me a few years ago if this would be my life, I would have laughed. I want to inspire to other women that if you have a dream, you can go for it! Here is what I’ve learned in running a business.

1. It’s possible to have a team full of women. I never set out to have an all female company, it just happened based on whom we brought on and who had the best cultural fit. I was apprehensive because I thought having too many women will make a bad environment. Would having all females make the work culture catty, gossipy? There’s always the ‘mean girls’ or backstabbing stereotype of having too many women working. However, I realized that that’s a cultural misappropriation reinforced by movies and TV shows. At work, that’s never the case-we all get along very well and treat each other with respect. We are not domineering and there’s no harassment of any sort. It’s pretty cool to see how ladies support each other and know that they all want the company to succeed. Running a business has changed my personality and who I am.

It made me see a different perspective of girl power and what it means to have a team of ladies — — smart, creative, and passionate!

2. Do it now. A lot of people think that there’s a right time for something. “I’m not ready” is always the excuse. I’m not ready to quit my job, I’m not ready until I get my MBA, I’m not ready until I can pay off my car. However, life is never going to just open its doors and wait for you. I make an analogy of an Olympic Diver. Do you think they are ever ready to jump off the high dive backwards? They just go for it! The same is true for business. You are never completely ready-you just gotta take the plunge! I wasn’t ready for a lot of surprises in my business, however, I trust myself I’m smart enough to figure them out as they come. So far, everything’s good!

Let me tell you about Kairos (Caerus), he was the god or personified spirit of opportunity and the youngest of the divine sons of Zeus. He was depicted as a youth with a long lock of hair hanging down from his forehead which suggested that opportunity could only be grasped as he approached. Running swiftly, balancing on the razor’s edge, bald but with a lock of hair on his forehead, he wears no clothes; if you grasp him from the front, you might be able to hold him, but once he has moved on, not even Zeus himself can pull him back. This is a symbol of Kairos, the brief moment in which things are possible.

Kairos is the perfect example of saying, “If you want to do something and it’s your dream to start a business, do it now! Or else, the opportunity you have right now may pass.” You will think that you have no time because you have a job and maybe scared to lose it because you have a mortgage to pay, but that doesn’t tell you the perfect time to do something. There are a lot of people who started the company when they were older and established. The worst thing to do is to drag yourself to work for 50 hours a week without the love for what you do anymore. Time is your most valuable asset! If you want to do it, do it now. There is never a right time. In Hawaii, either you do it or you don’t. Just take that plunge!

3. Focus on your strengths, delegate the rest. As an entrepreneur, your to-do list would take 10 years to complete. There’s always more to do, and you don’t have a boss enforcing the deadlines. Because I am human and I only have 24 hours in a day, I have to focus on my strengths and delegate the rest. As an entrepreneur, it’s best to know the value of time and spending it on things that only YOU can do and nobody else can. Know your weaknesses as well. Delegate other things that you’re not really good at; so in that way you can focus on the more important things that you should do. There are many times when we as an entrepreneur want to do everything just to make sure it’s done the way we want it to be. That is why it’s best to find the “suitable” person for each role in your company; so you can trust your colleagues that their finished task will pass your standards. In that way, you don’t have to spend your time on things that aren’t productive for your business anymore.

4. Figure out what brings more energy in your life. As an entrepreneur, your business and income aren’t based on how many hours you work (or pretend to work). I read a study saying that people only ‘work’ 30% of the time because they waste their time chatting or they’re just web browsing, Facebook-ing. Your business success is based on what you focus on. You have to figure out what eats your time and from there remove ALL the unnecessary activities that you do daily. I have had to cut a lot. Cut people, cut activities, cut anything that isn’t bringing me energy or focus. I have had to make difficult decisions and ask myself, “What are the things/people/activities that suck my energy daily?” Then from my answer, I spend more time on things and people that make me more inspired instead of spending my time with people and things that leave me drained and lifeless. One example that brings me great energy is by going to classes like Barry’s Bootcamp and SoulCycle. I love these classes! They’re really expensive classes but the music gets me inspired and I feel like I can accomplish anything for the rest of the day after having the class. To me, that $30-class is worthy of my time and money so it can realign my thoughts and keep me moving throughout the day. Understanding what brings you energy will make your life and business more productive than the usual.

5. No health, no wealth. Avoid getting sick at all cost. I saw the movie, “The Intern.” It is very funny because I feel like I’m Jules Ostin (played by Anne Hathaway) in “The Intern.” She always have a hand sanitizer with her and sanitize whenever, wherever. I’m the same way! Getting sick is the worst, as it’s a lost of productivity. For example, on my flight back from Asia last year, I came down with the flu for 3 weeks. I presume it was because I booked my travel plans too tightly, didn’t take time to sleep, didn’t eat healthy foods, and just forgot to relax because I was on ‘go, go, go’ mode constantly. Out for 3 weeks was a huge loss of money and productivity; so as much as possible now, I do my best to avoid getting sick at all cost. Keep your health a priority. Eat fruits and vegetables, take your vitamin C, and get enough sleep! Everyone thinks that you’re an entrepreneur and you must be very busy — like work for 20 hours a day. That’s not sustainable, not even possible! There’s no way anyone can do that and still be in good shape.

Prioritize your health because without good health, you won’t be able to create wealth, can’t enjoy that wealth, and you’ll just see yourself crying for what is “left.”

6. See it as a journey and learning experience. Running a business is hard. The hardest part is keeping your expectations and reality aligned. The most heartbreaking part is working and sacrificing everything to only realize your business didn’t come out the way you expected to. Perhaps that’s why many entrepreneurs get depressed or have mental illness. Therefore, to keep myself mentally positive and disciplined, I see everything as a learning experience and try my best not to keep expectations too high. Understand that your business has its own journey; don’t compare your journey to someone else’s highlight reel. Don’t be frustrated when things don’t happen in the way you expect it to be. It is not the end! I’ve had some contracts where I paid a lot of money to someone to accomplish something; but there was actually no difference and it even ended up being worse than I thought it was going to be. I was so frustrated and I noticed that it just drained my energy. Before, this was my mentality: I pay and spend an “X” amount of money so I’m going to get “Y” result back. Now I think of it as a learning experience to see whether that contract was worth it. Don’t be too hard on yourself for making mistakes; you will make mistakes. Learn from every experience.

Instead of investing all your eggs in one basket — — forcing it to work when it doesn’t and cannot work, dip your toes in different (basins) things and see which water fits your needs best.

7. Learn how to prioritize. Again, if I wanted to accomplish everything on my to-do list, it’d take 10+ years. Therefore, you need to figure out what your priorities are and focus on that. AND Spending time on Snapchat, Facebook or Instagram isn’t a priority. Have a list of what you should accomplish daily and stick to it. When you see yourself off-track, go back to your list and follow it thoroughly. Understand that being an entrepreneur is about focusing your energy on what you want to accomplish. Do not let your least priorities catch you off guard and eat all your time throughout the day. Stick to your goals for that day!

8. Delegate tasks. Earlier, I mentioned about knowing your weaknesses. Once you learn what your weaknesses are, delegate that “weakness” to someone who has that “stronger” skill. I am good in making YouTube videos and creating a brand inhibition for the company. I assign myself in those tasks then from there delegate other tasks to my colleagues. For example, I’m not very good at Photoshop so I have someone else create graphics for me.

9. Prestige does not equal better performance. From my experience, I noticed that people who fit well our culture are not always the applicants on paper. Don’t just scan resumes (especially if you’re a small business) based on the pedigree/prestige or even when someone mentioned about brand companies. Focus on these questions instead — “Can this person learn?”, “Is he excited?”, “Is he willing to do what it takes to get the job done?” My biggest pet peeve is when someone is entitled. I’d rather have someone with no work experience and a positive attitude than an expert in her field with an entitled attitude. Hire base on attitude and culture vs. prestige.

10. Know what you stand for. There will be a lot of stress and uncertainties that you will encounter along the way. You might have some crossroads too. What will be the basis in making these tough decisions? It’s about knowing what you stand for. You gotta know yourself. Know who you really are, what it is that you believe in and stick to what you really want. If you don’t know what you want, go and isolate yourself in the woods and spend time introspecting and figure it out. Once you know your values, you have to make sure everything you do, everyone and everything you surround yourself around has to align with those values. And Be firm!

You have to cut off those people who don’t fit in your values. If that means firing someone, then it means firing them. I’ve read that life is based on the hard decisions you have to make.

So those are the top 10 things I’ve learned in running a business. I hope that I get to inspire young ladies to dream big and to always reach for the star. I had no idea that this is going to be my life right now. I’m so happy it happened. Is it tough? Yes! Is it worth it? Totally! All it takes is the willingness to be open in learning one step at a time, to be brave and courageous. Go take that plunge! Don’t over think and scare yourself in doing something you’re unfamiliar of. All entrepreneurs start from scratch. Learn the lessons I learned and the mistakes I made. I wish everyone the best of luck.

Want to know more about me and my business? Its name is Banish Acne Scars, we offer a natural skin care solution for skin care problems, please visit our website: Banish and my YouTube channel, The Acne Channel. I hope to see you there!