BIRD WILLIAMS: You're listening to Bird Means Business Episode 59. 

Well hello, hello! And wherever you're tuning in from, I want to welcome you to the Bird Means Business podcast. Now I know you tuned in today because you're asking the question, “How do I know if my business won't work?” And what you're really asking is this business idea that I have worth pursuing? Or this side hustle or this freelancing I'm doing. Could I really build it into a sustainable business, such that I could leave my 9 to 5 one day? That would be the dream. That's probably what you're thinking. Right? Well, we're going to explore exactly that, my friend. And rest assured, you are in very good hands. 

But before we jump in, you're going to want to make sure you join my weekly emails, so that you're the first to know when I host workshops or events and just all the goodies. It's where I really go in and give deeper insights as well. So go to birdwilliams.com/join to sign up for the weekly and non-spammy emails.

All right. So step one is listening to this episode, which you're already here for. Hey hey hey. You're already making a good step in terms of investing in your business, and really kind of trying to figure out what to do next. So, good for you. It can really be a viable business. You can really take the first step in making your dream business a real thing.

Well, let's jump into the episode. How do I know if my business won't work? Okay, four things. Number one, let's start from the very beginning. Your business will not work if it is not a struggle or sacrifice you are willing to tolerate. Whew. I'm gonna say it just one more time for the people in the back. You know, the people in the back, who have this idea in their heads that entrepreneurship is this sexy #I'mmyownboss, ‘I'm gonna travel the world and be rich’ lifestyle. Your business will not work if it's not a struggle or sacrifice you're willing to tolerate, emphasis on struggle and sacrifice. Now I talked about this in Episode 54, which is actually one of my topmost recent episodes if you haven't checked it out, you're definitely gonna want to. There was so much good feedback, so many downloads of that episode. And I talk about how to choose your entrepreneurial endeavor. And I also give you these free downloadable journal prompts to help make that decision even easier and super clear for you. So one of the questions I ask in these journal prompts is, What struggle or sacrifice are you willing to tolerate? And y'all, this is what really highlights the difference between something you're passionate about, for maybe a season, to what you’re purposed to do for a lifetime. I say this not to scare you or deter you. But honestly, just to keep it real so you know what you're getting into. Entrepreneurship is hard. It is so beautiful and fulfilling and incredible in so many ways. Y'all know I feel that way because I am a serial entrepreneur. I own multiple businesses. I keep doing this again and again. So it is amazing in so many ways, of course. But it's also really hard. And, like I shared in a really powerful Instagram post recently, you gotta choose your hard. Because just like marriage is hard, so is divorce. Just like getting fit is hard, so is living an unhealthy lifestyle. In the same way, staying at a 9 to 5 is hard, and being in entrepreneurship is hard. Choose your hard. 

There are countless stories of my husband Terry and I having to fix clogged toilets at our gym business. Or patch up holes in the walls from kettlebells gone wild. I can't tell you how many all-nighters I've pulled to grow my business strategy firm, Bird Williams, as a one-woman show. And I would have honestly preferred to not get messy with the toilets or to get more sleep at times. But I choose to do it because there's purpose to it. And because it's bigger than me and because I identified upfront before we launched either of those businesses. I knew that the why behind what I was doing was a sacrifice I was willing to tolerate. So where are you in this when you think about your brand? Is it something you're willing to really fight for, for a while? To really work your butt off for and to be consistent with, day in and day out before there's ever any real reward or platform or millions of dollars in the bank? Because y'all that's what it takes. If you don't feel this way about the business idea you're considering or the side hustle you have right now, I would gently encourage you to kind of sit with this. Like sit with this moment and really explore why you don't feel that way about it. Get really self-aware on where you are, where you really want to go, and what it's going to take to get there. And again, listen to Episode 54. It's going to help you just really shape or redirect some of your thoughts around how to choose your entrepreneurial endeavor. Okay? 

So, that was number one. Number two, your business won't work if it doesn't solve a specific problem in a unique way. If people don't need or want what you have to offer, it's going to be a struggle to sell it to them. Let me give you an example. When we launched our gym business, The League, back in 2013, we nailed it when it came to identifying the problem our ideal client had, and our unique approach to the solution to their problem. So we didn't just say, people need to go to the gym or people need a place to work out, they need to be fit. No, we dug deeper into the psyche of the type of person who would frequent our business, to really identify their needs and their wants and created our business around that. There wasn't a workout program that existed at the time to meet those needs. So we created our own PAC(K) training is our proprietary circuit training program that is exclusive to The League. And I cannot tell you how many times we've heard, “This is exactly what I've been looking for.” So, as you plan your business, think about how you can go deeper to be the perfect solution to the people you serve through your brand. 

All right, number three. Your business won't work if you don't have the right team in place. So, I'm gonna be really careful with this one. I want to make it really clear that I'm not saying you have to have a certain level of education or certain certificates to run your business, in most cases. For example, I didn't go out and try to get a business strategist certificate or even an MBA, before I launched Bird Williams. I've been an entrepreneur for eight years now, and my practical lived experience, I promise you, is so much better than any theoretical teaching could give me or it could give you, or my clients for that matter. Like having lived it is much more powerful than reading it in a book, right. But at the same time, there are of course certain industries where you do need to have a degree or certification. I'm not hiring a lawyer, that hasn't been to law school, for example, and even, financial planners. They have to have a certification to do that. What I mean by you have to have the right team in place is this. If you want to start a restaurant, but you can't cook. You're gonna need to either learn how to cook and validate it, through taste testing with your friends and family. Or hire an impressive chef onto your team. 

When I decided to become an entrepreneur in 2012, this is when I was working on Wall Street in New York City. I loved parts of my job but I wasn't really fulfilled, ultimately with what I was doing. I decided I wanted to become an entrepreneur. I actually talk a lot about this in Episode 54. One of my first big issues was, but I don't have a thing. I don't have a specific talent or a specific type of business I want to run. I just want to run the behind the scenes of a business. And this is where you have my husband, Terry enter. He had this incredible talent of not only training your average fitness enthusiast but also pro athletes. And that my friend is how The League was born. It was a fitness (Terry) business (Bird). And we had such impressive growth because we got to crush it in our own lanes as a team focused on our own individual strengths. And y'all the business just took off. 

I really love to think about businesses through the lens of an investor. Whether or not you have investors for your business. You might be bootstrapping, which is awesome. This is a great practice to really get into thinking about your business from the lens of an investor because it helps to really remove the emotion. And it helps you to take an objective look at decision making in your business. 

We didn't have the personal capital we needed to launch the league. The equipment and the flooring, and the renovations that we would need to have to make to the building. Whew! It costs a lot more than we had in our bank accounts. We had to pitch to family and friend investors. And I actually talk a lot about this process in Episode 8. It was one of my first episodes on how to raise funding for your business. And I'll make sure I link that in the show notes as well. So, when we asked those investors at the end, those that ended up coming onto our team and investing in our business, “Why did you invest?” Their number one answer was the team. They believed in Terry and I. We had no historical financials. So they couldn't say, “Okay, well you’ve already been in business a little bit, and this is how much you've been making, and once you do X, Y and Z you can take it to the next level.” No, we didn't have any of that. This was a baby business. But they saw us. And they believed in us. Terry's background in fitness and my background in business showed them that, “Hey, y'all can make this fitness business happen.” So when you think about your business, consider your team. 

I know many of you are solopreneurs right now, and that is okay. I don't have a business partner for Bird Williams, my strategy firm, either. What you should do is identify what it's going to take to really bring your business to that next level. I'll just be honest and super transparent. Y’all know I love to do that. I mean there's so much more I want to do with Bird Williams. I have so many ideas, but I'm a one-woman show right now and so it's okay. I’ve phased out my business so I can see, once I reach this level of profitability, once I do X, Y and Z, I'll be able to really take my business to the next level. And if you need to think through those phases of your business as well, we do that in Prove It Plan. That's my signature business plan development course that I mentioned earlier in the podcast. I will help you walk through how to set goals, how to think about how your business will be phased over time. And I promise you that exercise is huge for someone who has all the ideas and wants to do all the things but will cripple their business if they try to do it all in the beginning. 

I want to say this too. We all have different resources available to us, and by resources, I mean time, money, and energy, in particular. For example, with time and energy, I am a mom of two boys, and I have a baby girl on the way. Yay. And I run multiple businesses. My husband and I are super involved in our church and community. Y'all, we have a lot going on. So, my time and energy factor is much different than it was when I was 25 launching my first business, right? Some of us have more access to capital than others, which means that the timeline of when we can hire people onto our team or scale our business can look different. But none of this should be an excuse. We are all able to do the very best that we can with what is in our hands and be willing to take some risks. Comfort is your enemy friend. It will keep you exactly where you are right now having you in the same place next year, just hoping and wishing it were so. So no excuses. I want you to identify the team you need to have to really grow your business and then put a plan in place to make it happen. 

And finally, number four.  Your business won't work if the numbers don't work. I find this is the area that so many newbie entrepreneurs avoid. And I'll even say not even just the newbie. I know an entrepreneur who's been in business for years and has been making multiple six figures in his business every year, and hasn't really thought through this. And so you might think, “Oh that's great. You probably don't really need a financial plan to be able to make six figures in your business.” No, this person is nervous and sweating and losing sleep at night because things aren't lined up in their business properly. And so they don't really know how to take it to the next level until they figure this piece out. So like I said, I find this is an area that many entrepreneurs avoid. They don't have financial projections. Their pricing is just completely random. And they haven't assessed if the numbers in their business actually make sense. Guys, if your business can't sustain itself financially, it will not be here a year from now. Which means that you won't experience the freedom and flexibility and fulfillment you so desire as an entrepreneur, or as someone who's running their own business, because your business won't be here anymore. And also super important, you won't be able to continue to serve your audience anymore. Remember your product or service is a solution to someone's problem. It eases a pain point or fulfills a desire. It brings a smile to someone's face and practically changes their world. So you ignoring the numbers, and in doing so setting your business up to fail, or waste tons of precious resources, is doing your community a disservice. Make sure you drill down on the numbers, beyond just what you're dreaming of in your head and all the cute stuff like with your logo and all the fun stuff. Drill down to the X's and O's, because this is going to set you up for true success. 

So to recap, here are some of the top reasons your business won't work. It won't work if it's not a struggle or sacrifice you're willing to tolerate. It won't work if it doesn't solve a specific problem in a unique way. Your business won't work if you don't have the right team in place. And finally, your business won't work if the numbers don't make sense. In my Prove It Plan course, we cover all of this, and so much more, because your strategic business plan is all about giving you clarity and direction so that you can move forward confidently in your business. 

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I'm so glad you've taken time to tune into the Bird Means Business podcast today. Be sure you subscribe on Apple Podcasts, and follow us on Spotify. And don't forget to share this episode with every entrepreneur, you know, so that they too can learn if their business idea could work. All right, talk to you all next week.