5 Lessons From Starting My Company
- the legal stuff is hard
It is really hard. LLC or C Corp? Federal, State and City taxes with paperwork for each. I finished college and graduate school, consider myself reasonably intelligent and this was still one of the hardest things I have ever navigated. (I am still pretty sure I screwed something up.) All I can say is mad props to everyone who even gets through this step and has a business license to hang on the wall.
2. People are . . . nice?
If you are like me, the running commentary in your head is that people will hate what you put out. Your dresses are ugly, your writing sucks, you look fat. This is the negative voice within. The reality is most people are out there to support you. The day I launched my company basiccontent I was completely terrified of the negative feedback I thought I would receive. The day I published my first big medium article I was 100% convinced I would get hate mail, that I couldn’t spell and my article was dumb. You know what? All I got was wonderful love, kindness, and support from everyone.
3. It takes 2x as long and 2x as much money
Listen to me, get your head out of your ass on this one. Everyone tells you it “takes twice as long, and twice as much money.” You think to yourself, “I am smart, I have a bad-ass plan on lock, I am not like everyone else.”
Guess what? You are like everyone else. Just plan for it and you won’t actually be like everyone else.
4. Learn the difference between getting outside your comfort zone and listening to your intuition
I will give two examples to illustrate this:
- Publishing my first article on medium made me feel uncomfortable. I was not sure how people would respond. I was scared I would fail. I was afraid that people would be mean. I was outside my comfort zone, but I did it anyway and it was great.
lesson: I feel uncomfortable = I should probably do it
2. When I was first starting out with my company basiccontent I got a recommendation for a manufacturer. I went and visited him, talked about the project, got a quote. But the person I would be working with made me feel really awkward. When we talked he was rude, self-important, and mean to me. I had alarms bells going off inside every time we met. But I thought to myself, “this is business you don’t have to like him personally.” So I moved forward. Guess what? In the end, he completely screwed me and took my budget for samples in the process.
lesson: I feel bad = I don’t do it
5. think differently about how you invest in your business and yourself
I have a company. I buy URLs to squat on domain names (one of my favorite activities). I have sold candles. Now I am trying to create an ecommerce revolution selling dresses. Your overwhelming response convinced me I should make a website out of a medium article so anyone could find the content. I am moving forward, I am learning things, I get outside my comfort zone. I am becoming better. I don’t know where this path will lead me but the money I spend in taxes every year to have catherine ellen llc is well worth it. I used be afraid to spend money on a domain name, on inventory for dresses, or testing a $1/day facebook ad. But you know what? I don’t care anymore. And what’s the alternative? I would probably take $1k and buy some shoes but those don’t make me better, happier, more fulfilled.
If you would like to learn more about basiccontent visit www.basiccontent.co if you want to learn more about me visit www.catherine-ellen.com
