June 1, 2025 • 35 mins
Step into the world of small businesses as we navigate the profound distinctions between entrepreneurs and business owners. On this episode of the Light Up Your Business podcast, host Tammy Hershberger shares insights that go beyond the definitions; she explores the mindset and resilience required to thrive. Whether you’re already an owner or contemplating starting your own venture, this episode sheds light on what it truly means to be an entrepreneur in today’s economy.
Join us as we discuss how small businesses make up an incredible 99.9% of the U.S. economy, playing a crucial role in job creation and community support. From the growth and innovation they bring to their localities, to the unique challenges they encounter, listeners will leave with a deeper appreciation for the impact small businesses have.
Tammy also shares essential traits of successful entrepreneurs, including the ability to adapt, take calculated risks, and lead with vision and integrity. If you've been inspired to consider your entrepreneurial journey, this episode is packed with motivation and practical advice.
Are you ready to explore the potential for financial independence and creative freedom? Tune in and discover what it takes to make a lasting impact through entrepreneurship. Don't miss out; subscribe, share, and engage in this conversation that celebrates the spirit of small business ownership!
Say goodbye to overwhelm and self-doubt, and hello to confidence and success. Join the Faith Filled Coaching family today and step into the abundant future you've always envisioned.
Visit FaithFilledCoach.com to schedule your free 30-minute consultation. Let's make your business dreams a reality, together.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tammy Hershberger (00:01):
Welcome to the Light Up your Business
podcast, the show where we divedeep into the world of small
businesses.
I'm your host, Tammy Hershberger, and each episode will bring
you inspiring stories, expertinsights and practical tips to
help your small business thrive.
Whether you're an entrepreneurjust starting out or a seasoned
business owner, this podcast isyour go-to source for success in
(00:21):
the small business world.
Let's get started to source forsuccess in the small business
world.
Let's get started.
Hello everyone, I want towelcome you back to another
episode of Light Up yourBusiness podcast.
I'm Tammy Hershberger and todayI want to talk to you about
entrepreneurship and how it hasshaped my career.
For anyone who doesn't know me,I'm a female entrepreneur.
(00:43):
I also work as a small businesscoach.
I help people grow theirbusiness, help people fix the
problems in their business.
I also do bookkeeping.
I kind of have a lot of thingsthat I can do.
But today I wanted to sharewith you kind of the difference
between being an entrepreneuryou know, just owning a business
and how much small businessreally does shape our economy,
(01:03):
and then what it looks like tostart a business right, and so
some of you maybe own a businessand then this episode will just
be like kind of interesting andmaybe you skip it.
But some of you maybe haven'tstarted a business or you're
thinking about starting abusiness, and so I kind of just
want to go into some of whatgoes into it.
And so if we kind of just startright off the bat, if you think
about, okay, well, who do youknow that's a business owner?
(01:24):
Well, maybe you don't knowsomeone personally, maybe you do
.
Usually, business owner andentrepreneur are kind of words
that are used interchangeably.
There is a little bit of adifferent mindset though that
goes in between the two.
So some people think businessowner and usually my mind goes
to like your grandfather was abusiness owner and he owned a
hardware store.
My grandfather on my dad's sidewas a plumber and he had his
(01:46):
own plumbing business for awhile, and so that is kind of
more of a different mindset thansomeone that's an entrepreneur
that you know maybe ownsmultiple businesses or kind of
whatever.
So let's dig into that first.
So what is the mindset and therisk-taking difference between a
business owner and entrepreneur?
Well, business owners, theyusually focus more on managing
(02:09):
their existing business.
You know, they may take somecalculated risks, but their
primary goal is usually to like,maintain and grow a stable,
established business, and theyusually tend to follow some kind
of proven model or practiceright.
An entrepreneur, on the otherhand, often, I would say, takes
more risk and they're usuallymore driven by innovation.
(02:30):
Entrepreneurs are typically morefocused on creating new
products or new services orgoing into new markets, and they
thrive on challenges and theuncertainty that comes with
launching new ventures.
And they typically own multiplebusinesses in different fields.
So, for example, at one time Iowned the barnyard, which is my
current shed manufacturingbusiness.
(02:50):
I had a window cleaningbusiness at the same time.
I also do coaching right now,which is Faithfield Coaching a
very different business thanbarnyard.
And so usually they havedifferent ventures happening.
Then there's the innovation andvision.
So a business owner while theymight introduce improvements or
incremental changes, usuallythey have different ventures
happening.
(03:11):
Then there's the innovation andvision.
So a business owner.
While they might introduceimprovements or incremental
changes, their main focus is onrunning and sustaining their
business effectively.
They often rely on existingframeworks or models.
Where entrepreneurs, they'redriven by the desire to innovate
, they disrupt industries,they're creating something
entirely new.
Entrepreneurs are visionarieswho seek opportunities where
others might not.
Then you have growth and scale.
So business owners growth intheir mind might be important,
(03:35):
but it can often be more aboutmaintaining kind of a steady
operation, keeping profits upand minimizing their risks.
Right, they're more riskadverse.
They might not always befocused on scaling.
You know, some people are justhappy with the business they
have and there's nothing wrongwith that.
You know, maybe it's just themand a couple people, or maybe
it's just them and that's agreat, honest way to make a
living.
Now an entrepreneur.
They're typically more focusedon rapid growth.
(03:57):
They want to scale the idea orthe business.
They want to scale it,franchise it, sell it, whatever.
They're always kind ofresearching new markets and new
ways to go into business.
Like myself, currently we'relooking at a new business
opportunity and I think we'regoing to go for it, and so we're
in the research phase and we'rekind of seeing what's out there
, who's our competitors and whatwe can do with it, and they're
often seeking to build somethingthat can have large impact.
(04:25):
Then you have approach tooperations.
You know how the things areoperated.
So in a business ownerperspective, typically they're
focused on the day-to-day stuff.
Right, you got to run thebusiness.
They have to ensure that thingsrun smoothly and efficiently
right.
The more efficient, the moremoney you make.
They may be more hands-on withthe managing the staff, the
finances, customer relationsmeaning like they maybe are the
only guy doing all of it.
Maybe they're still doing thebookkeeping, maybe they're still
running the money, maybethey're still doing all the
(04:46):
sales typically entrepreneurs.
They're more strategic and lessinvolved in the day-to-day.
Now sometimes they could befully removed, but usually
there's some somewhat involvedright.
So, like in my case at thebarnyard, I still do all the
money.
I run that and I do someordering.
But, like all the sales, I havesalesmen for that.
I have an office administratorwho handles a lot of the office
(05:07):
stuff.
I have builders.
I have a delivery man.
I don't do most of the workthere because I have other
ventures.
I'm working on thinking more,delegating the task and building
systems that will supportlong-term growth.
If you do not have systems,your business will not grow, you
(05:29):
will not be able to do it alland it will be kind of messy and
unorganized and you're notgoing to love your life.
Now, if you're lookingshort-term versus long-term
goals, the business ownertypically have long-term goals
that are more focused onsustainability and profitability
and they want to ensure thatthe business remains viable and
successful for years to come,because they're usually going to
(05:49):
own it probably untilretirement.
Entrepreneurs typically may bemore focused on the short to
medium term goals, right,creating new products, capturing
new markets, and theneventually they kind of their
vision is to sell the businessfor profit at some point.
I guess.
For me I don't envision myselfrunning all these businesses
till the end.
I would hope someday to sellthem and then either move on to
(06:11):
other ventures, do somethingelse.
So that's kind of my goal Now.
I've owned the barnyard nineyears.
I'm not really ready to sell ityet, but I'm still 42 years old
as well.
So that's kind of more thedifference in mindsets with that
stuff.
And then the financial goals thebusiness owner typically aims
to make more of a stable incomeand kind of grow wealth steadily
(06:32):
through their business.
Performance and profit is oftengenerated by steady operations
and efficiency, where theentrepreneur often is willing to
invest significant time andresources with the goal of
achieving a large financialreward.
Right, they may take on moredebt or equity financing to fund
kind of aggressive growthstrategies, and there can be
overlaps, obviously, betweenentrepreneurs and business
(06:54):
owners.
I'm not saying one isspecifically hard.
Yes, this, yes that Some peoplekind of overlap, but the key
difference lies in theirapproach to the risk, the
innovation and the long-termvision.
But the key difference lies intheir approach to the risk, the
innovation and the long-termvision.
So you got to rememberentrepreneurs don't just operate
businesses, they create themright.
And so I want to talk a littlebit about small business.
(07:15):
So if anyone out there runs asmall business or is thinking
about running a small business,or even just shops at a small
business, you know we thank youfor supporting us.
There's some really interestingfacts and statistics I want to
read to you, and I got thisinformation because, like last
week, I think it was, I spoke toa high school class here and it
(07:38):
was career exploration and theywanted someone to come on
that's an entrepreneur.
And I've done it two years in arow and I talked to these you
know, high school kids aboutbeing an entrepreneur and what's
it look like and the goodthings, the bad things and all
the things I think about.
And it seems like when you talkto these kids, you ask about
business.
You know they think Nike, theythink Starbucks, they think all
these huge companies, they'recorporations, right, and we
(08:05):
think, oh, that's what drivesthe economy.
The truth is that's not reallyaccurate.
So that's kind of the numbers Iwant to dig into just to kind
of waken you to the fact that,like, small business is a huge
part of our economy.
So, basically, if you look atthe SBA's website, I mean and
this is all kind of mostlycoming from there the small
business is generally defined asan independently owned and
operated company that is limitedin size and revenue, depending
(08:25):
on the industry and location.
So small business typicallyhave fewer employees and lower
annual revenues compared to,like, large corporations.
The specific criteria for whatconstitutes a small business can
vary based on factors such ashow many employees it has.
So, according to SBA, themajority of small businesses
have fewer than 100 employees.
(08:46):
That's still a lot of people.
I mean, managing 100 employeesis a lot.
In fact, about 75% of smallbusinesses in the US have fewer
than 10.
And the average small businessemploys around 10.
So myself, barnard hascurrently let me think one, two,
three, four, five, six.
Right now we have there, youknow, my coaching business is me
(09:06):
and I'm looking to hire on asecond person right now.
So my window business at onetime I think we might've had six
to eight, I can't remember forsure before we shrunk it back.
That's the average business,right, that's the people you
know.
That's your mom's business,your dad's business, your
uncle's business, like they'rejust everywhere.
And then, as far as annualrevenue, small businesses
(09:28):
usually are a huge part of theindustry, but an average small
business in the US earnedbetween $1 million and $10
million in annual revenue, andit can, you know, be much lower
or higher depending on the typeof business, the location, the
market.
Now let's talk about theindependent ownership for a
minute.
Small businesses are privatelyowned and not controlled by a
larger entity or corporation.
(09:49):
Right, so that'd be my company.
I'm not owned by some bigconglomerate.
I am me.
I make my decisions, I don'thave to go to corporate.
Small businesses can range fromlocal shops you know, flower
shops, coffee shops you knowlittle cleaning shops, whatever,
and continue all the way up toservice providers such as
startups, tech firms, but themain defining characteristic is
(10:10):
the size, making sure they'reindependent and the personal
involvement of the owner inday-to-day operations.
Okay, so let's look at theeconomy now, with small business
, and we really kind of saw thisduring COVID, when they were
shutting down all these smallbusinesses and let all these big
corporations like Lowe's andCity Market and Elbertsons you
(10:31):
know, all these places got tostay open while the mom and pops
, the gyms, my businesses, theyall got shut down.
Now there's a story I couldtell you about that.
You can hear it in anotherpodcast.
I'm not going to go into ittoday.
But if you look at that impactof small business on the US
economy, small business makes up99.9% of all business in the US
.
Do you realize that?
(10:51):
Did you just hear the number?
I said 99.9%, that's almost100% of the US economy is small
business.
So when COVID hits and thegovernment shuts down, 99.9% of
the small businesses right,that's a huge piece of the
puzzle.
Small businesses employ nearlyhalf of the American workforce
(11:13):
half and they represent 43.5% ofAmerica's GDP, which is gross
domestic product.
There is 33.2 million smallbusinesses in America.
That's a lot of businesses, man.
I mean that's if you lookaround.
The more I start to look aroundand talk to people, I'm like
there's a lot of people I knowthat own small business.
(11:34):
I think I love that, because Ilove that they're not just, you
know, working for the manthey're, they're creating their
own future in their own life andtheir own path.
So when you think about that ona more local level, when
there's that much business inthe US that's privately owned,
that small business, what doesthat mean and what is the impact
on your local economy, thelocal school system and the
(11:57):
general community you live in?
Right, without small businesses, we lose those local jobs, we
lose the local tax revenue, welose those personal connections
and unique services that makeour community so special.
And then it says here in fact,many of the large businesses we
know today, like Apple,microsoft, starbucks they all
started in small business at onetime.
So it's clear that smallbusinesses are critical to our
(12:19):
economy's growth.
And then the diversity.
This is something I lovebecause I'm a female
entrepreneur.
Now I have a business partner,my husband, who owns, you know,
half the business with mebasically.
So I'm not the only owner, butI also own the Faithful Coaching
, which I am the only owner.
I am the only one in that.
And so when you look at thisand you think, well, I can't own
(12:42):
a business, you know I'm.
I don't know I'm not white orI'm black, or I'm too young or
I'm too old, or I'm female orI'm male.
Whatever your excuse is, let'slook at the numbers.
The innovation and diversity ofsmall business reflects the
entrepreneur behind it.
Over 39% of small businessowners are women.
(13:05):
That's a huge part.
Four in 10 small businessowners are foreign born and one
in five are owned by racialminorities, with Hispanics
making up a large portion ofthat number.
So to me, there's no excuse whyyou can't own your own business
.
You're telling yourself reasonsthat are probably not even true
.
So get out there and start thatbusiness.
And then it talks about smallbusinesses are innovative.
This is kind of interesting.
The SBA data shows smallbusinesses have historically
(13:27):
applied for a large portion ofpatents.
Businesses with five to nineemployees receive more patents
per employee than any otherbusiness and nearly double the
patents received by a largebusiness in 2016.
I mean, that is amazing.
And that same year, microemployers, which are only one to
four employees.
They applied for more than 270patents per employee, or 10% of
(13:49):
all patents applied for thatyear.
Small business, not Nike, notMicrosoft, not Apple.
Small businesses Now I have tothrow this out because I am a
woman, so if you don't like this.
Maybe close your ears for asecond, but as female
entrepreneurs, I think it'sreally important to talk about
how women are changing thebusiness world.
And in 2023, women-ownedbusinesses in the US had
(14:12):
experienced significant growth,both in the number and economic
impact.
So it says there areapproximately 14 million
women-owned businesses,representing 39.1% of all US
businesses, which is a 13.6%increase from 2019 to 2023.
And those same businessesemploy about 12.2 million
(14:33):
workers and generate $2.3trillion in revenue, accounting
for 5.1% of all US employerfirms.
So there's a massive, growingnumber of female entrepreneurs.
They're starting and increasingand growing their business at a
rate that's just like exploding.
According to recent reports,women-owned businesses are among
(14:53):
the fastest-growing segment ofthe entrepreneurial world.
Many women are leveragingtechnology to create innovative
businesses, especially inindustries like e-commerce,
health and wellness andtechnology.
So obviously, you know you think, okay, well, this all sounds
great.
What is the reason I want toown my own business?
Because I've heard some peopletalk about just the bad stuff.
(15:17):
And you know it is hard, it isstressful, it is financially
scary, it's, you know, you gotto kind of put yourself out
there.
But there is a lot of benefitsof owning your own business, so
let's talk about those.
If you're out there and you'rethinking I kind of want to start
that plumbing business, I wantto kind of start that whatever
um sewing business or coffeeshop or fruit stand or whatever
(15:39):
you know and you're not sure,like, should I do it or not,
well, let me tell you somereasons.
You should, besides all thestuff we've just talked about
with you know how it helps thelocal economy, how it's growing
the US economy, how it's puttingpeople in jobs.
There's for you personally.
There's financial independence.
Now, obviously, starting abusiness is financially scary.
(15:59):
You're putting a lot of yourown money into it, but owning
your own business allows you tokeep the profits and then you
can reinvest them in yourbusiness or your personal wealth
, which then leads to greaterfinancial control and
independence compared to beingan employee.
When you're an employee, youhave that ceiling Like you're
not going to bring home profits,you're going to get your
paycheck and that's it, andwhatever the government doesn't
take on your taxes, you get left.
(16:20):
There's flexibility as abusiness owner.
You can set your own hours.
You can make your own decisions.
You decide when you want tooperate your business, allowing
for more time at home, betterwork-life balance and the
freedom to pursue personalinterests.
So think about that Now.
If you never work, you're goingto have no clients.
(16:41):
That's a fact.
But if you don't want to workweekends, don't work weekends.
If you don't want to worknights, don't work nights.
If you want to take Fridays off, take Fridays off.
I mean, at this point in mylife I work four days a week
because I get so much done inthe four days I have.
I can now take my fifth day off.
For years I worked the fivedays and I would spread my
workout for five days and Idetermined for my mental health,
(17:01):
my own physical health, for myown happiness I'm tired of
working all the time.
So I decided in four days I'mgoing to take my eight hours and
I'm going to get so much done,I'm going to be so hyper-focused
that I can get everything doneand still have that extra day
off.
And I'm telling you it's thebest move I've ever made.
But I can do that because, one,I'm not an employee and two,
because I have workers that areamazing and they take care of
(17:22):
the business when I'm not there.
You have creative freedom.
So running your own businessgives you the freedom to bring
your ideas and your visions tolife without needing approval
from the higher ups.
This is ideal if you're verycreative and innovative.
I'm not super creative, butit's so nice.
When I want to do something, Ido it.
If I want to change the policy,if I want to write a new system
(17:42):
, if I want to change prices,whatever we make the decision
and we call it done, you havecontrol over your future.
When you own a business, you'rein charge of the direction it
takes.
You can decide whichopportunities to pursue and you
have the power to change thecourse if things aren't working.
You are not stuck in a dead-endjob because you own the job.
You decide what you're going todo with it, what you're going
(18:04):
to do, how you're going to do it, the way you're going to do it.
There's personal satisfaction,so building something from the
ground up can be reallyrewarding.
Seeing your hard work pay offand knowing you're making a
difference in the community orindustry.
It brings huge fulfillmentpersonally to you.
There's something about knowingthat I'm building something for
(18:25):
me and my family, versus likewhen I worked for Walmart or
Target or whoever, when I wasyounger I had to work for
someone else.
I was building their dream.
Well, I learned from them thatby doing this and doing it the
right way, I can start buildingmy own dream.
And that's what I'm doing.
I've been doing that for like12 years now.
12, 13 years I've been doing myown businesses, running my own
stuff.
And then you talk about thepotential for growth.
(18:46):
There is no glass ceiling,because you decide where the
glass ceiling is.
As your business grows, youropportunities grow.
You can scale up.
You can diversify your productsor services.
You can increase earningssignificantly.
Right, you decide what isenough, not the boss telling you
well, you've maxed out on payand if we have to pay you
anymore, we're going to get ridof you because we'll replace you
(19:07):
.
There is none of that.
There is no one telling youyou've maxed out, because you
decide when you've maxed out Ifyou want to go up.
You get more clients.
You come up with a new product.
You find another way to sellbetter whatever.
There's tax benefits.
Business owners often have moretax deductions than normal
employees.
These might include things foroffice space.
There's deductions for businessrelated expenses, travel,
(19:29):
things like that.
You can build wealth.
Owning a successful businesscan be a great way to build
wealth over time.
If your business growssignificantly, it can increase
your net worth and be a valuableasset for retirement Legacy
building.
Owning a business allows you tocreate lasting legacy.
You can pass it on to futuregenerations.
You can sell it.
You can use it as a platform tomake a broader impact in your
(19:51):
community or industry.
So, basically, ultimatelyowning a business means more
autonomy, the chance to turnyour ideas into reality and the
possibility to reap the rewardsof your efforts.
If that doesn't sell you onowning a business, I don't know
what will.
Now let's talk really quicklyabout the struggles of owning a
business.
Right, there is some realstruggles.
So there's financial strugglesas a small business.
(20:14):
Funding to start your businessor grow your business or just
keep it going can be hard.
It can be stressful.
It's not always easy to get themoney you need to restart, to
start or grow, and you don'tknow what stress you have until
you're kind of there.
I always say that like untilyou have to face payroll and you
don't have any money, that'sstress.
That like until you have toface payroll and you don't have
any money, that's stress.
But that's also when you findthe resilience in yourself to
(20:35):
figure it out, and I thinkthat's when you're like you burn
the ships and you say this iswhat it is.
I got to figure it out now.
And then starting your business.
You know there's so muchexpense sometimes that goes into
that.
Some businesses more thanothers Window cleaning, super
cheap to start Barnyard, not socheap to start right.
So I'm going to go throughthese kind of quick, I won't
spend too much time on them.
(20:56):
But some basic startup costsyou have to form your business,
whether it's an LLC corporation,that can be $50 to $100.
Legal and licensing, you know.
Getting your EIN, your permits,your federal registrations,
that kind of stuff that can be,you know, $100 to $500.
Trademark or patents can cost$250 to $2,000.
(21:17):
And then you have to do websitehosting and creation.
All that stuff that can beanywhere from $500 to $5,000.
Getting CRMs, accountingsystems, management programs $50
to $500 a month, depending onwhat you do.
Office equipment, you know.
Computers, desks, depending onwhat you do.
Office equipment, you knowcomputers, desks, monitors, blah
(21:37):
blah $50 to $500.
More if you're obviously buyinghigh dollar computers, I mean
that could go up to three grand.
If you're buying really nicedesks, it could be way more than
that actually, depending on howmany you need.
But there's raw materials.
You know, 80 grand can be justwhat I kind of spend on average
for shingles and nails andlumber and siding and all that
(21:59):
stuff, and then you have.
If you need inventory, you knowhow much inventory do you have
to have?
Do you have to have a bunch tostart, do you not?
Sometimes my inventory is three$400,000.
It just depends.
Then you need logos.
Basic logos are 500 bucks.
You can spend up to 10 grand ona logo.
You need some kind of marketing, right?
You're going to do advertisingbillboards.
I mean one year I spent 50grand in billboards.
(22:21):
You need an office to rent.
I mean you may start in yourgarage and that's okay.
But eventually you're going togrow and office space can be
very expensive Anywhere from 500to, well, on average, 3000, but
it could be huge.
Utilities can be reallyexpensive.
Just my electric bill lastmonth was like 500.
You have labor for employees,right, that can vary from 30 to
(22:41):
100 grand or more.
Contractors and freelancersthose can be in that same range.
You got to have insurance.
Business insurance, liabilityinsurance is through the roof
these days.
Uh, that can be anywhere fromthousands of dollars to 50.
I mean, it just depends on howbig your business is or what
you're trying to start and howdangerous it is.
There's all these things thatyou need to think about.
(23:03):
You need a contingency fund,you need to have some savings.
You know 10 to 20% of thestartup excuse me, startup costs
that we have a buffer and thenyou go into like, well, what
else is kind of bad about owninga business?
There's always the option offailure.
Right?
Not every business works out theway you plan.
My window business did not workout the way I planned, but when
I look at that, there's a quoteby Maya Angelou that says I can
(23:26):
be changed by what happens tome, but I refuse to be reduced
by it.
Well, that, to me, is huge.
You don't let failure stop you.
Right, you got to look at it indifferent ways.
Learn those lessons, reframe,rechange, do what's different,
do whatever you got to do.
There's always uncertainty.
Yeah, it may not work out.
You don't know what the futureholds.
Right, is the business going tomake it?
Is there room for growth?
(23:47):
Is the business going to fail?
But if can't is a word you useoften you're not going to make
it.
As an entrepreneur, dealing withuncertainty is, and can be,
overwhelming, but there'spractical ways you can manage it
and regain a sense of control.
Right, focus on what you cancontrol, watch for flexibility,
break down the big problems.
All these things can go intolike overcoming this, because
(24:09):
you can't just rely on like wellit's, I'm not doing it.
Man, stop being a wussy and getout and do it now.
This last thing I'm going to gointo I find interesting.
It's talking about thequalities of a successful
entrepreneur and I find I have alot of these.
Right, if you know me, youwould, you would understand, but
I'm going to kind of go throughthem.
So, if you're thinking like Iwant to do the business, I have
(24:30):
the plan, I the money, but do Ihave what it takes inside of me?
Well, let's find out.
Let's look at some of the stuff.
Do you have visionary thinkingand what does that mean?
It means that you have theability to, you know, see
opportunities.
Maybe others don't.
You can think long-term aboutwhere a business could go.
You kind of see that vision oflike it may be small now, but I
could see it really big.
Why does that matter?
(24:52):
Well, entrepreneurs need aclear vision of what they want
to achieve and a roadmap for howto get there.
Vision helps guide decisionsand motivates your team.
Then number two is resilience.
And I'm telling you, I had tohave so much resilience to
survive the window cleaningdebacle is what I'll call it.
And then just day to day, likesometimes the money is not there
or things fall through orthings don't go as planned.
(25:12):
And then just day to day, likesometimes the money is not there
or things fall through orthings don't go as planned.
You need resilience.
And what is that?
That's the ability to bounceback when you have setbacks,
when you have failures, when youhave challenges.
Why?
Well, entrepreneurship is fullof obstacles and setbacks are
going to happen.
Resilience allows entrepreneursto stay focused, keeps you
persistent even when there'sadversity.
You have to have risk tolerance,right.
(25:33):
You may not be a big gambler,as they say, right?
So you need to go out and youneed to be willing to, like,
take a risk, because it couldfail terribly.
It's a possibility.
Now, why?
Because willingness means youtake calculated that's the word
calculated risk in order to getto grow and succeed.
Calculated means you don't justgo throw five grand on the
(25:54):
roulette table.
You're probably going to loseCalculated means.
You've looked at the market,you looked at pricing, looked at
the structure and you make sureyour business can actually make
money before you start.
Why does that matter?
Well, starting a business doesinvolve risk.
It's financial risk.
Your reputation could be on theline.
There's emotional changes thatcould happen to you if it fails.
But you have to be comfortablewith uncertainty and making
(26:17):
decisions with confidence,knowing the potential for reward
and failure is both there.
But that's what makes it so fun, I think, because you, I don't
know I just don't go into stuffand like it's gonna fail.
Well, why are you doing it then?
Don't even waste your time onit.
You got to go in believing it'sgonna work and then you friggin
make it work.
Adaptability Are you adaptable?
Think about that for a second.
(26:38):
What does that mean If youdon't know?
It's the ability to pivot, toadjust, and when things are
changing, when circumstances ormarket conditions are changing,
you adapt.
You saw that during COVID.
Why does it matter?
Because the business landscapeis constantly evolving.
Entrepreneurs must be able toquickly adapt to new information
(27:01):
, customer feedback, changes intechnology, market shifts.
You have to have some kind ofdecision-making ability.
I can't imagine that you don'thave that.
If you don't, I don't know howyou're alive today, because we
all have to make decisions.
It can be as simple as likewhat sock am I going to wear?
That's a decision.
Am I going to stick my hand inthe fire and burn my hand, or am
(27:23):
I going to do something stupid?
No, that's a decision.
Right?
So it's the capacity to makequick, effective decisions with
limited information at times.
And it matters becauseentrepreneurs face constant
streams of decision making andbeing able to make the right
calls under pressure is crucialfor business growth and survival
.
My favorite leadership right.
(27:44):
You have to be a leader.
You have to be able to inspire,motivate and lead your team
towards achieving the goals thatyou guys set together.
And it matters because, as asuccessful entrepreneur, you
have to be able to build andmanage and retain a talented
team.
Strong leaderships help createpositive culture.
They align team members withthe vision and then they guide
them through the challenges.
(28:08):
Excuse me Persistency andtenacity.
You have to be persistent, youhave to have tenacity.
I always say I don't take nofor an answer.
I'm going to be so persistent.
Where I come from, we say thesqueaky wheel gets the grease.
Well, you better freaking.
Believe I'm going to squeaktill I get that grease right.
I'm not going away.
The willingness to keep going.
Even when things are difficultor progress, progress seems kind
(28:31):
of slow, you don't give up.
It matters because you're goingto face rejection and failure
before achieving that majorsuccess.
Tenacity ensures that youcontinue pushing forward despite
difficulties and you remaincommitted to your goals.
You have to be a problem solver.
That is just meaning theability to identify problems and
find a solution as quickly asyou can for it.
(28:52):
And it matters because you'regoing to face challenges.
You You're gonna be expected tofind innovative ways to
overcome obstacles.
You're gonna need to be aneffective problem solver because
it keeps your business movingforward.
What else do you gotta have?
Well, I can keep telling you.
Here we go.
Here's number nine financialsavvy.
You have to be good with money.
You have to understand thebasics of managing business
(29:15):
finances, including budgets,forecasting and investing, and
it matters because you have tomanage cash flow.
You have to manage profitable.
You know profitability, makingsure you're profitable and you
can make decisions that aregoing to be able to be paid for.
Right, you can't order a bunchof material or inventory if you
have no money.
You have to know if you havemoney to order that stuff.
(29:35):
Sound financial management isessential to the survival and
growth of your business.
Then you have to build amanaged time.
If you're always late, that'sgoing to be a problem.
If you don't know how to managetime, it just means you can
prioritize tasks and manage timeeffectively, because as an
entrepreneur, you wear many hats, especially in the very
beginning of the business.
Time management is key tostaying organized and ensuring
(29:57):
that important tasks arecompleted efficiently.
You have to build a network andbuild relationships.
If you can maintain friendshipswith customers, investors,
mentors and other keystakeholders, that's going to
help grow your business.
You often rely on those samenetworks for support, for advice
, for funding and sometimes newopportunities.
Strong relationships can opendoors and provide valuable
(30:21):
insights.
You have to have passion andcommitment.
Things are going to get tough.
Business is going to get reallytough sometimes and if you
don't have any passion orcommitment, you're going to quit
.
It's really just a deep beliefin the business and a strong
drive to make it successful.
Passion fuels motivation.
It helps you stay committedduring challenging times.
(30:41):
It's also contagious andinspires employees and customers
and investors to get behindyour vision.
You have to have kind of acustomer-centric mindset.
You have to be able to focus onunderstanding and meeting the
needs of your customer.
That's what a business isYou're solving a problem.
It matters because to besuccessful, you have to know how
to make those customers happy.
(31:01):
You have to listen to theirfeedback.
You have to anticipate theirneeds, and delivering value is
key to building customer loyalty.
Innovative thinking the abilityto come up with new ideas,
products or ways to do business.
Entrepreneurs often thrive oninnovation, whether it's
creating new products, improvingexisting ones or finding new
ways to reach customers.
(31:22):
It basically helps set youapart from your competitors.
You have to have confidence.
You have to have a strongbelief in your own abilities and
the business idea that youcreated.
It's essential when you go forfunding, when you negotiate
deals and you're leading a team.
It helps you persuade others tobelieve in your vision and
supports them in making thatbold decision.
(31:43):
You have to have emotionalintelligence.
Some people are like I don'tknow what that means.
Well, it means the ability tounderstand and manage emotions,
both personally and in others.
It's a high emotionalintelligence that helps
entrepreneurs navigaterelationships, manage stress,
communicate effectively and leadwith empathy, which all means
long-term success.
The last two is vision forgrowth and scalability.
(32:06):
So it's being able to plan andmanage your business so it can
grow.
Successful entrepreneurs thinkbeyond the initial stages of
their business and work tocreate systems, strategies and
infrastructure that allows thebusiness to scale efficiently
and sustainably.
Lastly, integrating and ethics.
This one is huge to me.
They're integrating.
I meant integrity, jeepers,sorry, I have a headache so I
(32:28):
apologize to you.
It's integrity and ethics.
This one is number one on mylist.
Being honest, being transparentand ethical in all business
dealings is a must.
I will not work with you if Idon't have that.
Whether I'm your, you know,doing your phones, or I'm doing
your bookkeeping, or I'm yourbusiness partner, I have to have
that or it will not work for me, because trust is a critical
(32:50):
factor in business.
People who, especially inbusiness, who demonstrate
integrity, they build strongreputation, they earn customers'
loyalty and they attractinvestors and partners who share
the same beliefs.
So I kind of want you to thinkabout this what would you do if
you had a chance to start yourown business?
I encourage all of you to thinkabout what problems you see
(33:12):
around you in your school, inyour community or even online,
and how could you be the personthat solves them?
Remember, being an entrepreneurisn't about having the answers.
It's about taking risks,learning from failure, never
giving up.
Whether you want to run yourown small business one day or
you just want to use anentrepreneurial mindset to kind
of advance your career, theskills you develop in this space
(33:34):
will be invaluable.
So I thank you all for listening.
I hope you go out and startthose businesses.
If you're thinking aboutstarting a business and you're
concerned, have questions, needcoaching, I do all that.
I always encourage you guys togo out and make your best life
man.
Don't just sit around and waitfor something to happen.
Go out and make it happen.
I ask you to like, share,subscribe, tell, subscribe.
(33:55):
Tell your friends about me,share my podcast with people you
know, let people know I'm outhere.
I'm trying to do what I believethe Lord has told me to do, and
so I just thank you.
I ask you to have a great dayand I'll see you guys next time.
And remember, in the world ofbusiness, every success story
(34:15):
begins with a passionate dreamand ends with a strategic
billion-dollar handshake.
Stay ambitious, stay innovativeand keep making those deals
that reshape tomorrow.
Thank you all for tuning in anduntil next time, remember.
Proverbs 3.3 says Let love andfaithfulness never leave you.
Bind them around your neck,write them on the tablet of your
(34:36):
heart.
That way you will win favor anda good name in the sight of God
and man.
And remember if you like whatyou heard today, click the
follow button so you never missan episode.
Welcome to the Light Up your Business
podcast, the show where we divedeep into the world of small
businesses.
I'm your host, Tammy Hershberger, and each episode will bring
you inspiring stories, expertinsights and practical tips to
help your small business thrive.
Whether you're an entrepreneurjust starting out or a seasoned
business owner, this podcast isyour go-to source for success in
(00:21):
the small business world.
Let's get started to source forsuccess in the small business
world.
Let's get started.
Hello everyone, I want towelcome you back to another
episode of Light Up yourBusiness podcast.
I'm Tammy Hershberger and todayI want to talk to you about
entrepreneurship and how it hasshaped my career.
For anyone who doesn't know me,I'm a female entrepreneur.
(00:43):
I also work as a small businesscoach.
I help people grow theirbusiness, help people fix the
problems in their business.
I also do bookkeeping.
I kind of have a lot of thingsthat I can do.
But today I wanted to sharewith you kind of the difference
between being an entrepreneuryou know, just owning a business
and how much small businessreally does shape our economy,
(01:03):
and then what it looks like tostart a business right, and so
some of you maybe own a businessand then this episode will just
be like kind of interesting andmaybe you skip it.
But some of you maybe haven'tstarted a business or you're
thinking about starting abusiness, and so I kind of just
want to go into some of whatgoes into it.
And so if we kind of just startright off the bat, if you think
about, okay, well, who do youknow that's a business owner?
(01:24):
Well, maybe you don't knowsomeone personally, maybe you do
.
Usually, business owner andentrepreneur are kind of words
that are used interchangeably.
There is a little bit of adifferent mindset though that
goes in between the two.
So some people think businessowner and usually my mind goes
to like your grandfather was abusiness owner and he owned a
hardware store.
My grandfather on my dad's sidewas a plumber and he had his
(01:46):
own plumbing business for awhile, and so that is kind of
more of a different mindset thansomeone that's an entrepreneur
that you know maybe ownsmultiple businesses or kind of
whatever.
So let's dig into that first.
So what is the mindset and therisk-taking difference between a
business owner and entrepreneur?
Well, business owners, theyusually focus more on managing
(02:09):
their existing business.
You know, they may take somecalculated risks, but their
primary goal is usually to like,maintain and grow a stable,
established business, and theyusually tend to follow some kind
of proven model or practiceright.
An entrepreneur, on the otherhand, often, I would say, takes
more risk and they're usuallymore driven by innovation.
(02:30):
Entrepreneurs are typically morefocused on creating new
products or new services orgoing into new markets, and they
thrive on challenges and theuncertainty that comes with
launching new ventures.
And they typically own multiplebusinesses in different fields.
So, for example, at one time Iowned the barnyard, which is my
current shed manufacturingbusiness.
(02:50):
I had a window cleaningbusiness at the same time.
I also do coaching right now,which is Faithfield Coaching a
very different business thanbarnyard.
And so usually they havedifferent ventures happening.
Then there's the innovation andvision.
So a business owner while theymight introduce improvements or
incremental changes, usuallythey have different ventures
happening.
(03:11):
Then there's the innovation andvision.
So a business owner.
While they might introduceimprovements or incremental
changes, their main focus is onrunning and sustaining their
business effectively.
They often rely on existingframeworks or models.
Where entrepreneurs, they'redriven by the desire to innovate
, they disrupt industries,they're creating something
entirely new.
Entrepreneurs are visionarieswho seek opportunities where
others might not.
Then you have growth and scale.
So business owners growth intheir mind might be important,
(03:35):
but it can often be more aboutmaintaining kind of a steady
operation, keeping profits upand minimizing their risks.
Right, they're more riskadverse.
They might not always befocused on scaling.
You know, some people are justhappy with the business they
have and there's nothing wrongwith that.
You know, maybe it's just themand a couple people, or maybe
it's just them and that's agreat, honest way to make a
living.
Now an entrepreneur.
They're typically more focusedon rapid growth.
(03:57):
They want to scale the idea orthe business.
They want to scale it,franchise it, sell it, whatever.
They're always kind ofresearching new markets and new
ways to go into business.
Like myself, currently we'relooking at a new business
opportunity and I think we'regoing to go for it, and so we're
in the research phase and we'rekind of seeing what's out there
, who's our competitors and whatwe can do with it, and they're
often seeking to build somethingthat can have large impact.
(04:25):
Then you have approach tooperations.
You know how the things areoperated.
So in a business ownerperspective, typically they're
focused on the day-to-day stuff.
Right, you got to run thebusiness.
They have to ensure that thingsrun smoothly and efficiently
right.
The more efficient, the moremoney you make.
They may be more hands-on withthe managing the staff, the
finances, customer relationsmeaning like they maybe are the
only guy doing all of it.
Maybe they're still doing thebookkeeping, maybe they're still
running the money, maybethey're still doing all the
(04:46):
sales typically entrepreneurs.
They're more strategic and lessinvolved in the day-to-day.
Now sometimes they could befully removed, but usually
there's some somewhat involvedright.
So, like in my case at thebarnyard, I still do all the
money.
I run that and I do someordering.
But, like all the sales, I havesalesmen for that.
I have an office administratorwho handles a lot of the office
(05:07):
stuff.
I have builders.
I have a delivery man.
I don't do most of the workthere because I have other
ventures.
I'm working on thinking more,delegating the task and building
systems that will supportlong-term growth.
If you do not have systems,your business will not grow, you
(05:29):
will not be able to do it alland it will be kind of messy and
unorganized and you're notgoing to love your life.
Now, if you're lookingshort-term versus long-term
goals, the business ownertypically have long-term goals
that are more focused onsustainability and profitability
and they want to ensure thatthe business remains viable and
successful for years to come,because they're usually going to
(05:49):
own it probably untilretirement.
Entrepreneurs typically may bemore focused on the short to
medium term goals, right,creating new products, capturing
new markets, and theneventually they kind of their
vision is to sell the businessfor profit at some point.
I guess.
For me I don't envision myselfrunning all these businesses
till the end.
I would hope someday to sellthem and then either move on to
(06:11):
other ventures, do somethingelse.
So that's kind of my goal Now.
I've owned the barnyard nineyears.
I'm not really ready to sell ityet, but I'm still 42 years old
as well.
So that's kind of more thedifference in mindsets with that
stuff.
And then the financial goals thebusiness owner typically aims
to make more of a stable incomeand kind of grow wealth steadily
(06:32):
through their business.
Performance and profit is oftengenerated by steady operations
and efficiency, where theentrepreneur often is willing to
invest significant time andresources with the goal of
achieving a large financialreward.
Right, they may take on moredebt or equity financing to fund
kind of aggressive growthstrategies, and there can be
overlaps, obviously, betweenentrepreneurs and business
(06:54):
owners.
I'm not saying one isspecifically hard.
Yes, this, yes that Some peoplekind of overlap, but the key
difference lies in theirapproach to the risk, the
innovation and the long-termvision.
But the key difference lies intheir approach to the risk, the
innovation and the long-termvision.
So you got to rememberentrepreneurs don't just operate
businesses, they create themright.
And so I want to talk a littlebit about small business.
(07:15):
So if anyone out there runs asmall business or is thinking
about running a small business,or even just shops at a small
business, you know we thank youfor supporting us.
There's some really interestingfacts and statistics I want to
read to you, and I got thisinformation because, like last
week, I think it was, I spoke toa high school class here and it
(07:38):
was career exploration and theywanted someone to come on
that's an entrepreneur.
And I've done it two years in arow and I talked to these you
know, high school kids aboutbeing an entrepreneur and what's
it look like and the goodthings, the bad things and all
the things I think about.
And it seems like when you talkto these kids, you ask about
business.
You know they think Nike, theythink Starbucks, they think all
these huge companies, they'recorporations, right, and we
(08:05):
think, oh, that's what drivesthe economy.
The truth is that's not reallyaccurate.
So that's kind of the numbers Iwant to dig into just to kind
of waken you to the fact that,like, small business is a huge
part of our economy.
So, basically, if you look atthe SBA's website, I mean and
this is all kind of mostlycoming from there the small
business is generally defined asan independently owned and
operated company that is limitedin size and revenue, depending
(08:25):
on the industry and location.
So small business typicallyhave fewer employees and lower
annual revenues compared to,like, large corporations.
The specific criteria for whatconstitutes a small business can
vary based on factors such ashow many employees it has.
So, according to SBA, themajority of small businesses
have fewer than 100 employees.
(08:46):
That's still a lot of people.
I mean, managing 100 employeesis a lot.
In fact, about 75% of smallbusinesses in the US have fewer
than 10.
And the average small businessemploys around 10.
So myself, barnard hascurrently let me think one, two,
three, four, five, six.
Right now we have there, youknow, my coaching business is me
(09:06):
and I'm looking to hire on asecond person right now.
So my window business at onetime I think we might've had six
to eight, I can't remember forsure before we shrunk it back.
That's the average business,right, that's the people you
know.
That's your mom's business,your dad's business, your
uncle's business, like they'rejust everywhere.
And then, as far as annualrevenue, small businesses
(09:28):
usually are a huge part of theindustry, but an average small
business in the US earnedbetween $1 million and $10
million in annual revenue, andit can, you know, be much lower
or higher depending on the typeof business, the location, the
market.
Now let's talk about theindependent ownership for a
minute.
Small businesses are privatelyowned and not controlled by a
larger entity or corporation.
(09:49):
Right, so that'd be my company.
I'm not owned by some bigconglomerate.
I am me.
I make my decisions, I don'thave to go to corporate.
Small businesses can range fromlocal shops you know, flower
shops, coffee shops you knowlittle cleaning shops, whatever,
and continue all the way up toservice providers such as
startups, tech firms, but themain defining characteristic is
(10:10):
the size, making sure they'reindependent and the personal
involvement of the owner inday-to-day operations.
Okay, so let's look at theeconomy now, with small business
, and we really kind of saw thisduring COVID, when they were
shutting down all these smallbusinesses and let all these big
corporations like Lowe's andCity Market and Elbertsons you
(10:31):
know, all these places got tostay open while the mom and pops
, the gyms, my businesses, theyall got shut down.
Now there's a story I couldtell you about that.
You can hear it in anotherpodcast.
I'm not going to go into ittoday.
But if you look at that impactof small business on the US
economy, small business makes up99.9% of all business in the US
.
Do you realize that?
(10:51):
Did you just hear the number?
I said 99.9%, that's almost100% of the US economy is small
business.
So when COVID hits and thegovernment shuts down, 99.9% of
the small businesses right,that's a huge piece of the
puzzle.
Small businesses employ nearlyhalf of the American workforce
(11:13):
half and they represent 43.5% ofAmerica's GDP, which is gross
domestic product.
There is 33.2 million smallbusinesses in America.
That's a lot of businesses, man.
I mean that's if you lookaround.
The more I start to look aroundand talk to people, I'm like
there's a lot of people I knowthat own small business.
(11:34):
I think I love that, because Ilove that they're not just, you
know, working for the manthey're, they're creating their
own future in their own life andtheir own path.
So when you think about that ona more local level, when
there's that much business inthe US that's privately owned,
that small business, what doesthat mean and what is the impact
on your local economy, thelocal school system and the
(11:57):
general community you live in?
Right, without small businesses, we lose those local jobs, we
lose the local tax revenue, welose those personal connections
and unique services that makeour community so special.
And then it says here in fact,many of the large businesses we
know today, like Apple,microsoft, starbucks they all
started in small business at onetime.
So it's clear that smallbusinesses are critical to our
(12:19):
economy's growth.
And then the diversity.
This is something I lovebecause I'm a female
entrepreneur.
Now I have a business partner,my husband, who owns, you know,
half the business with mebasically.
So I'm not the only owner, butI also own the Faithful Coaching
, which I am the only owner.
I am the only one in that.
And so when you look at thisand you think, well, I can't own
(12:42):
a business, you know I'm.
I don't know I'm not white orI'm black, or I'm too young or
I'm too old, or I'm female orI'm male.
Whatever your excuse is, let'slook at the numbers.
The innovation and diversity ofsmall business reflects the
entrepreneur behind it.
Over 39% of small businessowners are women.
(13:05):
That's a huge part.
Four in 10 small businessowners are foreign born and one
in five are owned by racialminorities, with Hispanics
making up a large portion ofthat number.
So to me, there's no excuse whyyou can't own your own business
.
You're telling yourself reasonsthat are probably not even true
.
So get out there and start thatbusiness.
And then it talks about smallbusinesses are innovative.
This is kind of interesting.
The SBA data shows smallbusinesses have historically
(13:27):
applied for a large portion ofpatents.
Businesses with five to nineemployees receive more patents
per employee than any otherbusiness and nearly double the
patents received by a largebusiness in 2016.
I mean, that is amazing.
And that same year, microemployers, which are only one to
four employees.
They applied for more than 270patents per employee, or 10% of
(13:49):
all patents applied for thatyear.
Small business, not Nike, notMicrosoft, not Apple.
Small businesses Now I have tothrow this out because I am a
woman, so if you don't like this.
Maybe close your ears for asecond, but as female
entrepreneurs, I think it'sreally important to talk about
how women are changing thebusiness world.
And in 2023, women-ownedbusinesses in the US had
(14:12):
experienced significant growth,both in the number and economic
impact.
So it says there areapproximately 14 million
women-owned businesses,representing 39.1% of all US
businesses, which is a 13.6%increase from 2019 to 2023.
And those same businessesemploy about 12.2 million
(14:33):
workers and generate $2.3trillion in revenue, accounting
for 5.1% of all US employerfirms.
So there's a massive, growingnumber of female entrepreneurs.
They're starting and increasingand growing their business at a
rate that's just like exploding.
According to recent reports,women-owned businesses are among
(14:53):
the fastest-growing segment ofthe entrepreneurial world.
Many women are leveragingtechnology to create innovative
businesses, especially inindustries like e-commerce,
health and wellness andtechnology.
So obviously, you know you think, okay, well, this all sounds
great.
What is the reason I want toown my own business?
Because I've heard some peopletalk about just the bad stuff.
(15:17):
And you know it is hard, it isstressful, it is financially
scary, it's, you know, you gotto kind of put yourself out
there.
But there is a lot of benefitsof owning your own business, so
let's talk about those.
If you're out there and you'rethinking I kind of want to start
that plumbing business, I wantto kind of start that whatever
um sewing business or coffeeshop or fruit stand or whatever
(15:39):
you know and you're not sure,like, should I do it or not,
well, let me tell you somereasons.
You should, besides all thestuff we've just talked about
with you know how it helps thelocal economy, how it's growing
the US economy, how it's puttingpeople in jobs.
There's for you personally.
There's financial independence.
Now, obviously, starting abusiness is financially scary.
(15:59):
You're putting a lot of yourown money into it, but owning
your own business allows you tokeep the profits and then you
can reinvest them in yourbusiness or your personal wealth
, which then leads to greaterfinancial control and
independence compared to beingan employee.
When you're an employee, youhave that ceiling Like you're
not going to bring home profits,you're going to get your
paycheck and that's it, andwhatever the government doesn't
take on your taxes, you get left.
(16:20):
There's flexibility as abusiness owner.
You can set your own hours.
You can make your own decisions.
You decide when you want tooperate your business, allowing
for more time at home, betterwork-life balance and the
freedom to pursue personalinterests.
So think about that Now.
If you never work, you're goingto have no clients.
(16:41):
That's a fact.
But if you don't want to workweekends, don't work weekends.
If you don't want to worknights, don't work nights.
If you want to take Fridays off, take Fridays off.
I mean, at this point in mylife I work four days a week
because I get so much done inthe four days I have.
I can now take my fifth day off.
For years I worked the fivedays and I would spread my
workout for five days and Idetermined for my mental health,
(17:01):
my own physical health, for myown happiness I'm tired of
working all the time.
So I decided in four days I'mgoing to take my eight hours and
I'm going to get so much done,I'm going to be so hyper-focused
that I can get everything doneand still have that extra day
off.
And I'm telling you it's thebest move I've ever made.
But I can do that because, one,I'm not an employee and two,
because I have workers that areamazing and they take care of
(17:22):
the business when I'm not there.
You have creative freedom.
So running your own businessgives you the freedom to bring
your ideas and your visions tolife without needing approval
from the higher ups.
This is ideal if you're verycreative and innovative.
I'm not super creative, butit's so nice.
When I want to do something, Ido it.
If I want to change the policy,if I want to write a new system
(17:42):
, if I want to change prices,whatever we make the decision
and we call it done, you havecontrol over your future.
When you own a business, you'rein charge of the direction it
takes.
You can decide whichopportunities to pursue and you
have the power to change thecourse if things aren't working.
You are not stuck in a dead-endjob because you own the job.
You decide what you're going todo with it, what you're going
(18:04):
to do, how you're going to do it, the way you're going to do it.
There's personal satisfaction,so building something from the
ground up can be reallyrewarding.
Seeing your hard work pay offand knowing you're making a
difference in the community orindustry.
It brings huge fulfillmentpersonally to you.
There's something about knowingthat I'm building something for
(18:25):
me and my family, versus likewhen I worked for Walmart or
Target or whoever, when I wasyounger I had to work for
someone else.
I was building their dream.
Well, I learned from them thatby doing this and doing it the
right way, I can start buildingmy own dream.
And that's what I'm doing.
I've been doing that for like12 years now.
12, 13 years I've been doing myown businesses, running my own
stuff.
And then you talk about thepotential for growth.
(18:46):
There is no glass ceiling,because you decide where the
glass ceiling is.
As your business grows, youropportunities grow.
You can scale up.
You can diversify your productsor services.
You can increase earningssignificantly.
Right, you decide what isenough, not the boss telling you
well, you've maxed out on payand if we have to pay you
anymore, we're going to get ridof you because we'll replace you
(19:07):
.
There is none of that.
There is no one telling youyou've maxed out, because you
decide when you've maxed out Ifyou want to go up.
You get more clients.
You come up with a new product.
You find another way to sellbetter whatever.
There's tax benefits.
Business owners often have moretax deductions than normal
employees.
These might include things foroffice space.
There's deductions for businessrelated expenses, travel,
(19:29):
things like that.
You can build wealth.
Owning a successful businesscan be a great way to build
wealth over time.
If your business growssignificantly, it can increase
your net worth and be a valuableasset for retirement Legacy
building.
Owning a business allows you tocreate lasting legacy.
You can pass it on to futuregenerations.
You can sell it.
You can use it as a platform tomake a broader impact in your
(19:51):
community or industry.
So, basically, ultimatelyowning a business means more
autonomy, the chance to turnyour ideas into reality and the
possibility to reap the rewardsof your efforts.
If that doesn't sell you onowning a business, I don't know
what will.
Now let's talk really quicklyabout the struggles of owning a
business.
Right, there is some realstruggles.
So there's financial strugglesas a small business.
(20:14):
Funding to start your businessor grow your business or just
keep it going can be hard.
It can be stressful.
It's not always easy to get themoney you need to restart, to
start or grow, and you don'tknow what stress you have until
you're kind of there.
I always say that like untilyou have to face payroll and you
don't have any money, that'sstress.
That like until you have toface payroll and you don't have
any money, that's stress.
But that's also when you findthe resilience in yourself to
(20:35):
figure it out, and I thinkthat's when you're like you burn
the ships and you say this iswhat it is.
I got to figure it out now.
And then starting your business.
You know there's so muchexpense sometimes that goes into
that.
Some businesses more thanothers Window cleaning, super
cheap to start Barnyard, not socheap to start right.
So I'm going to go throughthese kind of quick, I won't
spend too much time on them.
(20:56):
But some basic startup costsyou have to form your business,
whether it's an LLC corporation,that can be $50 to $100.
Legal and licensing, you know.
Getting your EIN, your permits,your federal registrations,
that kind of stuff that can be,you know, $100 to $500.
Trademark or patents can cost$250 to $2,000.
(21:17):
And then you have to do websitehosting and creation.
All that stuff that can beanywhere from $500 to $5,000.
Getting CRMs, accountingsystems, management programs $50
to $500 a month, depending onwhat you do.
Office equipment, you know.
Computers, desks, depending onwhat you do.
Office equipment, you knowcomputers, desks, monitors, blah
(21:37):
blah $50 to $500.
More if you're obviously buyinghigh dollar computers, I mean
that could go up to three grand.
If you're buying really nicedesks, it could be way more than
that actually, depending on howmany you need.
But there's raw materials.
You know, 80 grand can be justwhat I kind of spend on average
for shingles and nails andlumber and siding and all that
(21:59):
stuff, and then you have.
If you need inventory, you knowhow much inventory do you have
to have?
Do you have to have a bunch tostart, do you not?
Sometimes my inventory is three$400,000.
It just depends.
Then you need logos.
Basic logos are 500 bucks.
You can spend up to 10 grand ona logo.
You need some kind of marketing, right?
You're going to do advertisingbillboards.
I mean one year I spent 50grand in billboards.
(22:21):
You need an office to rent.
I mean you may start in yourgarage and that's okay.
But eventually you're going togrow and office space can be
very expensive Anywhere from 500to, well, on average, 3000, but
it could be huge.
Utilities can be reallyexpensive.
Just my electric bill lastmonth was like 500.
You have labor for employees,right, that can vary from 30 to
(22:41):
100 grand or more.
Contractors and freelancersthose can be in that same range.
You got to have insurance.
Business insurance, liabilityinsurance is through the roof
these days.
Uh, that can be anywhere fromthousands of dollars to 50.
I mean, it just depends on howbig your business is or what
you're trying to start and howdangerous it is.
There's all these things thatyou need to think about.
(23:03):
You need a contingency fund,you need to have some savings.
You know 10 to 20% of thestartup excuse me, startup costs
that we have a buffer and thenyou go into like, well, what
else is kind of bad about owninga business?
There's always the option offailure.
Right?
Not every business works out theway you plan.
My window business did not workout the way I planned, but when
I look at that, there's a quoteby Maya Angelou that says I can
(23:26):
be changed by what happens tome, but I refuse to be reduced
by it.
Well, that, to me, is huge.
You don't let failure stop you.
Right, you got to look at it indifferent ways.
Learn those lessons, reframe,rechange, do what's different,
do whatever you got to do.
There's always uncertainty.
Yeah, it may not work out.
You don't know what the futureholds.
Right, is the business going tomake it?
Is there room for growth?
(23:47):
Is the business going to fail?
But if can't is a word you useoften you're not going to make
it.
As an entrepreneur, dealing withuncertainty is, and can be,
overwhelming, but there'spractical ways you can manage it
and regain a sense of control.
Right, focus on what you cancontrol, watch for flexibility,
break down the big problems.
All these things can go intolike overcoming this, because
(24:09):
you can't just rely on like wellit's, I'm not doing it.
Man, stop being a wussy and getout and do it now.
This last thing I'm going to gointo I find interesting.
It's talking about thequalities of a successful
entrepreneur and I find I have alot of these.
Right, if you know me, youwould, you would understand, but
I'm going to kind of go throughthem.
So, if you're thinking like Iwant to do the business, I have
(24:30):
the plan, I the money, but do Ihave what it takes inside of me?
Well, let's find out.
Let's look at some of the stuff.
Do you have visionary thinkingand what does that mean?
It means that you have theability to, you know, see
opportunities.
Maybe others don't.
You can think long-term aboutwhere a business could go.
You kind of see that vision oflike it may be small now, but I
could see it really big.
Why does that matter?
(24:52):
Well, entrepreneurs need aclear vision of what they want
to achieve and a roadmap for howto get there.
Vision helps guide decisionsand motivates your team.
Then number two is resilience.
And I'm telling you, I had tohave so much resilience to
survive the window cleaningdebacle is what I'll call it.
And then just day to day, likesometimes the money is not there
or things fall through orthings don't go as planned.
(25:12):
And then just day to day, likesometimes the money is not there
or things fall through orthings don't go as planned.
You need resilience.
And what is that?
That's the ability to bounceback when you have setbacks,
when you have failures, when youhave challenges.
Why?
Well, entrepreneurship is fullof obstacles and setbacks are
going to happen.
Resilience allows entrepreneursto stay focused, keeps you
persistent even when there'sadversity.
You have to have risk tolerance,right.
(25:33):
You may not be a big gambler,as they say, right?
So you need to go out and youneed to be willing to, like,
take a risk, because it couldfail terribly.
It's a possibility.
Now, why?
Because willingness means youtake calculated that's the word
calculated risk in order to getto grow and succeed.
Calculated means you don't justgo throw five grand on the
(25:54):
roulette table.
You're probably going to loseCalculated means.
You've looked at the market,you looked at pricing, looked at
the structure and you make sureyour business can actually make
money before you start.
Why does that matter?
Well, starting a business doesinvolve risk.
It's financial risk.
Your reputation could be on theline.
There's emotional changes thatcould happen to you if it fails.
But you have to be comfortablewith uncertainty and making
(26:17):
decisions with confidence,knowing the potential for reward
and failure is both there.
But that's what makes it so fun, I think, because you, I don't
know I just don't go into stuffand like it's gonna fail.
Well, why are you doing it then?
Don't even waste your time onit.
You got to go in believing it'sgonna work and then you friggin
make it work.
Adaptability Are you adaptable?
Think about that for a second.
(26:38):
What does that mean If youdon't know?
It's the ability to pivot, toadjust, and when things are
changing, when circumstances ormarket conditions are changing,
you adapt.
You saw that during COVID.
Why does it matter?
Because the business landscapeis constantly evolving.
Entrepreneurs must be able toquickly adapt to new information
(27:01):
, customer feedback, changes intechnology, market shifts.
You have to have some kind ofdecision-making ability.
I can't imagine that you don'thave that.
If you don't, I don't know howyou're alive today, because we
all have to make decisions.
It can be as simple as likewhat sock am I going to wear?
That's a decision.
Am I going to stick my hand inthe fire and burn my hand, or am
(27:23):
I going to do something stupid?
No, that's a decision.
Right?
So it's the capacity to makequick, effective decisions with
limited information at times.
And it matters becauseentrepreneurs face constant
streams of decision making andbeing able to make the right
calls under pressure is crucialfor business growth and survival
.
My favorite leadership right.
(27:44):
You have to be a leader.
You have to be able to inspire,motivate and lead your team
towards achieving the goals thatyou guys set together.
And it matters because, as asuccessful entrepreneur, you
have to be able to build andmanage and retain a talented
team.
Strong leaderships help createpositive culture.
They align team members withthe vision and then they guide
them through the challenges.
(28:08):
Excuse me Persistency andtenacity.
You have to be persistent, youhave to have tenacity.
I always say I don't take nofor an answer.
I'm going to be so persistent.
Where I come from, we say thesqueaky wheel gets the grease.
Well, you better freaking.
Believe I'm going to squeaktill I get that grease right.
I'm not going away.
The willingness to keep going.
Even when things are difficultor progress, progress seems kind
(28:31):
of slow, you don't give up.
It matters because you're goingto face rejection and failure
before achieving that majorsuccess.
Tenacity ensures that youcontinue pushing forward despite
difficulties and you remaincommitted to your goals.
You have to be a problem solver.
That is just meaning theability to identify problems and
find a solution as quickly asyou can for it.
(28:52):
And it matters because you'regoing to face challenges.
You You're gonna be expected tofind innovative ways to
overcome obstacles.
You're gonna need to be aneffective problem solver because
it keeps your business movingforward.
What else do you gotta have?
Well, I can keep telling you.
Here we go.
Here's number nine financialsavvy.
You have to be good with money.
You have to understand thebasics of managing business
(29:15):
finances, including budgets,forecasting and investing, and
it matters because you have tomanage cash flow.
You have to manage profitable.
You know profitability, makingsure you're profitable and you
can make decisions that aregoing to be able to be paid for.
Right, you can't order a bunchof material or inventory if you
have no money.
You have to know if you havemoney to order that stuff.
(29:35):
Sound financial management isessential to the survival and
growth of your business.
Then you have to build amanaged time.
If you're always late, that'sgoing to be a problem.
If you don't know how to managetime, it just means you can
prioritize tasks and manage timeeffectively, because as an
entrepreneur, you wear many hats, especially in the very
beginning of the business.
Time management is key tostaying organized and ensuring
(29:57):
that important tasks arecompleted efficiently.
You have to build a network andbuild relationships.
If you can maintain friendshipswith customers, investors,
mentors and other keystakeholders, that's going to
help grow your business.
You often rely on those samenetworks for support, for advice
, for funding and sometimes newopportunities.
Strong relationships can opendoors and provide valuable
(30:21):
insights.
You have to have passion andcommitment.
Things are going to get tough.
Business is going to get reallytough sometimes and if you
don't have any passion orcommitment, you're going to quit
.
It's really just a deep beliefin the business and a strong
drive to make it successful.
Passion fuels motivation.
It helps you stay committedduring challenging times.
(30:41):
It's also contagious andinspires employees and customers
and investors to get behindyour vision.
You have to have kind of acustomer-centric mindset.
You have to be able to focus onunderstanding and meeting the
needs of your customer.
That's what a business isYou're solving a problem.
It matters because to besuccessful, you have to know how
to make those customers happy.
(31:01):
You have to listen to theirfeedback.
You have to anticipate theirneeds, and delivering value is
key to building customer loyalty.
Innovative thinking the abilityto come up with new ideas,
products or ways to do business.
Entrepreneurs often thrive oninnovation, whether it's
creating new products, improvingexisting ones or finding new
ways to reach customers.
(31:22):
It basically helps set youapart from your competitors.
You have to have confidence.
You have to have a strongbelief in your own abilities and
the business idea that youcreated.
It's essential when you go forfunding, when you negotiate
deals and you're leading a team.
It helps you persuade others tobelieve in your vision and
supports them in making thatbold decision.
(31:43):
You have to have emotionalintelligence.
Some people are like I don'tknow what that means.
Well, it means the ability tounderstand and manage emotions,
both personally and in others.
It's a high emotionalintelligence that helps
entrepreneurs navigaterelationships, manage stress,
communicate effectively and leadwith empathy, which all means
long-term success.
The last two is vision forgrowth and scalability.
(32:06):
So it's being able to plan andmanage your business so it can
grow.
Successful entrepreneurs thinkbeyond the initial stages of
their business and work tocreate systems, strategies and
infrastructure that allows thebusiness to scale efficiently
and sustainably.
Lastly, integrating and ethics.
This one is huge to me.
They're integrating.
I meant integrity, jeepers,sorry, I have a headache so I
(32:28):
apologize to you.
It's integrity and ethics.
This one is number one on mylist.
Being honest, being transparentand ethical in all business
dealings is a must.
I will not work with you if Idon't have that.
Whether I'm your, you know,doing your phones, or I'm doing
your bookkeeping, or I'm yourbusiness partner, I have to have
that or it will not work for me, because trust is a critical
(32:50):
factor in business.
People who, especially inbusiness, who demonstrate
integrity, they build strongreputation, they earn customers'
loyalty and they attractinvestors and partners who share
the same beliefs.
So I kind of want you to thinkabout this what would you do if
you had a chance to start yourown business?
I encourage all of you to thinkabout what problems you see
(33:12):
around you in your school, inyour community or even online,
and how could you be the personthat solves them?
Remember, being an entrepreneurisn't about having the answers.
It's about taking risks,learning from failure, never
giving up.
Whether you want to run yourown small business one day or
you just want to use anentrepreneurial mindset to kind
of advance your career, theskills you develop in this space
(33:34):
will be invaluable.
So I thank you all for listening.
I hope you go out and startthose businesses.
If you're thinking aboutstarting a business and you're
concerned, have questions, needcoaching, I do all that.
I always encourage you guys togo out and make your best life
man.
Don't just sit around and waitfor something to happen.
Go out and make it happen.
I ask you to like, share,subscribe, tell, subscribe.
(33:55):
Tell your friends about me,share my podcast with people you
know, let people know I'm outhere.
I'm trying to do what I believethe Lord has told me to do, and
so I just thank you.
I ask you to have a great dayand I'll see you guys next time.
And remember, in the world ofbusiness, every success story
(34:15):
begins with a passionate dreamand ends with a strategic
billion-dollar handshake.
Stay ambitious, stay innovativeand keep making those deals
that reshape tomorrow.
Thank you all for tuning in anduntil next time, remember.
Proverbs 3.3 says Let love andfaithfulness never leave you.
Bind them around your neck,write them on the tablet of your
(34:36):
heart.
That way you will win favor anda good name in the sight of God
and man.
And remember if you like whatyou heard today, click the
follow button so you never missan episode.
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