By: Hannah Becker
They say hindsight’s twenty-twenty, and my entrepreneurial journey certainly has proved this age-old adage right.
Reflecting over the past few years — years characterized by embracing entrepreneurship — I find myself contemplating, “What I wish I knew before starting a business.” Some of my entrepreneurial wishes are rather benign, like learning a little more about SEO (search engine optimization) before purchasing my blog’s domain. Other wishes are a little more serious, like getting a sales tax certificate before I made my first online sale.
As with any new venture, experience is enlightening. Here’s a line-up of the top three things I wish I’d known as a military spouse before starting my business:
Research Resources
The military and veteran community offers a variety of entrepreneurial resources specific to helping military spouses grow their organization. Identifying available resources (many of which are 100-percent free) relevant to your business can save the military spouse entrepreneur both money and headaches!
Here are a few resources I’ve found helpful during my start-up season:
- Milspousepreneur,
- National Veteran Owned Business Association,
- Syracuse University Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF),
- The MilSpo Project, and
- Rosie’s List.
Check out these business directories, online resources, local chapters, and upcoming workshops!
Don’t Go It Alone
Finding mentors didn’t come naturally to me. I’ve always been a do-it-yourself kind of person and such mentality carried over into my own business. For several years, I struggled to figure out everything on my own, only opening myself up to mentorship after I’d experienced several sizable business failures.
Working with mentors turned out to be total game changer for my career; they opened doors that seemed locked, provided objective perspectives leading to simple solutions to (formerly) complex problems, and empowered me (and my business) to reach new heights.
Need help finding a mentor? Check out our recent blog post 3 Secrets to Finding the Perfect Mentor for military spouse-specific mentor matching resources!
Tune Out the Naysayers
Regardless of the type of business you start, the industry, or the location, there’s one thing all entrepreneurs have in common, we’ve all encountered skeptical criticism for our trailblazing ideas. Here’s a sampling of the negative feedback I received when launching my company:
- What a dumb idea — that will never work.
- My cousin started something like that, and it failed.
- Do you really think you’re smart enough to start a business?
There’s just something about starting a business — deviating from the 9-to-5 norm — that tends to elicit quite the onslaught of criticism from the nonentrepreneurial masses.
Today, I only listen to feedback from people with whom I’d want to trade places; people who demonstrate character qualities I wish to emulate and have achieved what I hope to accomplish – and tune out the majority of unsolicited (and often, unqualified) criticism.
Conclusion
While starting any new venture presents new challenges, I hope you can learn from the ups and downs of my entrepreneurial journey. These three things I wish I had known — research resources, don’t do it alone, and tune out the naysayers — could have saved many headaches had I implemented them earlier in my career. By utilizing start-up resources, connecting with a mentor, and focusing on the encouraging members of your network, you can help minimize entrepreneurial stress and maximize success!