2022 has begun. Everything certain, has become uncertain. The things I’ve grown to know, transform into the unknown. The comfort and safety of predictability has quickly faded away. I am now a business owner. The responsibilities I must now bear, the many hats I must now wear; I welcome my new life with courage, faith, and a lot of hard work.
I had been preparing to open my own tint shop over the last year, and although I researched and studied all the necessary things like taxes, inventory management, profit and loss, balance sheets, employee retention, and so much more, I could never have prepared enough for the mental aspect of becoming a business owner. All the books I’ve read, the classes I’ve taken, and podcast I’ve listened to over the years on personal development and growth have been a tremendous help with this journey, but the real work is happening now that I’m implementing all the information I’ve learned. It’s almost like learning to tint. You can read instructions, watch videos, take classes, but the real challenge begins when you step up to your first window on your own, squeegee in hand, putting all the information you learned into action. The only difference is that it’s a little harder to redo a business than it is to redo a window. But there are worse things than missing a target, it’s not even taking the shot at all.
There is a mindset shift that a business owner must embrace that is just as important as the technical knowledge they must acquire to succeed. I could spend every waking hour trying to analyze, predict and map out every step to take to avoid making mistakes but I’m finding it beneficial to use some of that energy to prepare my mind to accept the unknown, welcome the uncertainty and be fearless in the presence of discomfort. On that same note, I can’t just sit around, hoping and wishing that my business is successful. This must be done in conjunction with all the physical work that has to happen because where would I be if I didn’t know how to manage my inventory or know what cash flow is. This month has put this all to the test. So many things did not go as planned and are out of my control. What I can control is my mindset. I can be relentless. I can be consistent. I can be hungry for more knowledge. I can wake up when my alarm goes off the first time. I can schedule out my day to be as productive as possible. I can work on my personal growth and on my business. On the other hand, I can also choose not to do any of those things and that is where the business owner mindset must be present. I can choose to spend my day at the beach in the beautiful Hawaii sunshine instead of working on the business. I can choose to pay myself a large paycheck that I can spend frivolously. I can choose to spend hours on social media. I think we can get a pretty good picture of where I would be headed if I did those things and that is why it is so important to me to make sure I’m adopting this new mindset. With no write ups for showing up late, no steady paycheck to pay the bills, no way to predict how much business I will get for the week, I must activate my business owner mindset and turn the complacency, worries and fears into persistence, opportunities, accountability and of course, hard work.
As a new business owner, I’ve taken on many new roles. I am marketing, I am accounting, I am a shop designer, I am HR, I am another persons’ paycheck. I am a role model. I am a tinter. These “hats” are constantly switching and overlapping throughout the day, and I wear each one with passion to improve and tenacity to succeed. Come along with me as I share the journey of my first year in business and my experience and growth from moving from employee to business owner.