Lessons Learned From Owning A Business At 21

September 5, 2018 6 Comments

Handling a business involves a lot of ups and downs especially when you are a one-man army without any strong source of investment or business background. I started my first venture- Blend It Raw Apothecary at the age of 20 without any knowledge regarding the business world, without any contacts and without any source of investment. The only thing I knew was that I had to make it work..no matter what.

During this course of time, I did make a lot of mistakes and I did learn a lot of things & lessons. Since you guys wanted me to write about how I started my business or my life story, I decided to start writing on topics like these which will give you an idea about how I went about starting and managing my business and side by side I can give you my tips on taking your own business ahead.

So, today I want to share the few lessons (tips) I learned during these 1.5 years.

PATIENCE is the key – You have to accept the fact that things can go wrong and the entire plan you made can all go in vain. But this doesn’t mean that you will stop working or give up. Gaining profits might take time, you might get a bad review, your product supplies may not get delivered to you on time, you may receive completely wrong supplies, your first idea does not work or the product you curated with all your love may not get sold out (trust me, I have faced and I still face all these issues ). Just don’t stop working. Do it with all your love, keep creating and leave the rest on the universe. DO A GREAT JOB AND IT WILL SELL ITSELF. Be passionate. Set out to do something big.
INVESTING money is important to EARN money – Back in 2015, here I was thinking I could just start a blog, then get “discovered” and get a great deal, have sponsors throwing money and ohh I will sell out all my products as soon as I launch them. But, I was WRONG. Starting a business costs money. Developing products, running your website, creating content, serving your customers, getting a workspace all require money. The list is not over yet because once you are selling, you need to pay taxes too. Also, getting things done requires money too because you have to hire employees (I try to cut my cost here by trying to accomplish as many tasks as I can all by myself). So, don’t fear to invest your money if you want to stay in the market for long.
Reading, learning, researching never stops – I have seen a lot of brands on Instagram selling without any knowledge and I have also come across many suppliers of organic raw materials in India who don’t know any damn thing about their products. I strongly believe that you should have in-depth knowledge about your products because in the long run, your knowledge will reflect and people will only trust you over other sellers. Learning never stops. Keep studying and you will be able to create better content and products. (The reason why I invested in my course from Formula Botanica) I also keep learning other things like designing labels, fixing website issues, photography etc. to save on costs and getting tasks done. DON’T FEAR WEARING A LOT OF HATS.
Be genuine and valuable – Always put your best foot forward. Offer value for the money your customer is paying you. Stay true to your values. Always be transparent. Create products that you know are worth the people’s money.
In the process, don’t forget YOURSELF – When we start making money, we start hyper-focussing on business, getting work done and creating more to attract more orders. This is UNHEALTHY. Let everything happen at its own pace. Focus on your health, your wellbeing and your nurturing. If you suffer, your business suffers. Use a certain percentage of the money you are making on your own health, happiness, and travels.

What all have you learned from owning your own business or blog?