6 Things I Wish I Knew Before Starting A Business

Call Me Lore's Tips for Starting A Business Entrepreneur

Although I am most known for co-founding Bloguettes, I’ve actually started several businesses. The most recent one being Majka, which just launched this month. I consider myself an entrepreneur, which is not as glamorous and is much more difficult than it seems but I could not imagine my life differently.

I think there is truly no school that can teach you how to be an entrepreneur. BUT I learned a lot from other entrepreneurs that I look up to. So, I wanted to share the most important things I have learned in hopes that it helps others that are on this journey or are thinking about starting a business.

The road to entrepreneurship is hard. It’s full of ups and downs, successes and failures, but it can be unbelievably rewarding.


My Entrepreneur Background

To give you a little history, we will start from the beginning. I moved to Arizona from Mexico City, where I was raised, to get my Master in Finance at Thunderbird  School of Global Management. For as long as I can remember, I wanted to be an investment banker, because it was a prestigious career especially as a woman but after I graduated I realized it wasn’t where my passion laid. I also ended up getting married and decided to settle down in Arizona instead of Mexico which also changed plans a little haha.

Shortly after I graduated got into real estate and helped build a real estate fund. But I quickly realized my passion was not there either. Shortly after I found my true passion: entrepreneurship and the digital space.

My next two ventures were an online magazine in Mexico and Bloguettes.

I started these two businesses at the same time, however, they went very differently. Each was founded with a different partner, which proved to be a very important part of the success or failure. Long story short, the online magazine in Mexico eventually failed but Bloguettes continued to flourish.

If you’re unfamiliar, Bloguettes started as an educational place for the digital entrepreneur. For years we put on 1 day to 3-day workshops all around the country where my co-founder Sakura and I taught attendees how to brand themselves and stand out in the digital media space. Along with these workshops, we taught online classes, hosted webinars, and sold stock photography. This year we hosted our first conference in Phoenix, The Workshop, that hosted over 30 different workshops ranging in topics anywhere from content creation, photography, social media, small business, blog monetization, marketing, and more with 34 different speakers.

And NOW my newest business is Majka.

Once I learned I was pregnant, I became so passionate about what I put in my body and creating the healthiest environment for my family. I was so excited to be a mother and thought it would be the greatest time of my life, which it is was BUT I was physically and mentally exhausted. I couldn’t find a safe, vegan, whole food based, protein powder that gave me all the nutrients I needed. I was constantly making my own concoctions and realized at least one other mom out there had to be having the same problem so then created Majka with a fellow new mother and good friend. It’s a line that offers nourishing lactation powder and lactation support bites that have nutrients everyone should have but especially breastfeeding mothers. You can check it out here! I would love all your feedback and of course support. 

Call Me Lore's Tips for Starting A Business Entrepreneur

 


6 Things I Wish I Knew When Becoming An Entrepreneur

Now that I’ve explained to you a little bit of my background, let’s jump right into it! Here are the most important things I have learned becoming an entrepreneur and things I wish I knew before.

1) Trust Your Gut

Some of the most successful entrepreneurs have ideas that sound crazy and unrealistic, because they haven’t been done before. If you have an idea, listen to opinions from others but in the end trust what you have a strong feeling for because that can take you over hurdles that other people just haven’t wanted to jump over before. Think of Uber, a concept that 10 years ago probably would have sounded crazy but the founders knew they had something and kept pushing the barriers of expected reality.

There will ALWAYS be people that do not like your idea. But you cannot please everyone, and you shouldn’t want to! Having a smaller niche that has a strong passionate following is so much more powerful than a broad audience that has little loyalty to a brand. If let every comment make you question yourself than you will be running in circles trying to catch a solution that isn’t existent.

2) Get Ready to Wear Many Hats

Now not literally many hats, BUT especially in the beginning be ready to be the Founder, VP, Marketing Director, Tech Girl, Handy Woman, Photographer, etc. you never know what you will be able to outsource and what you just have to figure out. You have to do whatever it takes to get things done and if that means learning how to do something you don’t know how to do, you have be willing and ready.

Problem solving is a huge part of starting a business. Even Fortune 500 CEO’s say that a large majority of their job is “putting out the fires”. There will ALWAYS be problems and the problems aren’t what often kills businesses but it’s the drive to figure it out the problems. But the more problems you solve the more you will understand your business and as your business grows you will grow. It takes time to learn how to manage, delegate, and understand how your business works best so be patient.

3) Find a Good Partner

A partner is optional, however I have found it to be so important to my businesses. A good partner complements your weaknesses with their strengths and vice versus but has the same long-term goals and work ethic as you.

A big mistake that people make, and I have even made with my first business, is that your best friend does NOT mean the best business partner. It’s hard to imagine since our best friends are the ones we trust whole heartedly and get along with seamlessly. However friendship has no pressure to be a certain way as a business does. You and your partner have to not only work well together but work well together for the entirety of the business, with the same outcomes in mind and priorities.

A good business partner can make your life 1000% easier and make your business so much more successful. When there is mutual respect and effort brought to the table partners can truly bring some amazing creativity and drive to a business. If you decide to take the route without a partner, at least having a strong support system that understands your vision can save your sanity.

4) Follow The Passion, Not The Money

Being an entrepreneur is AMAZING but it is not as glamorous as many think. Yes a lot of entrepreneur’s aren’t tied to the 9am-5pm schedule but that’s typically because they are working 24/7. I am so passionate about my business that it often keeps me up at night because I want to constantly better and better my businesses. That’s passion is what I love about it, but it can also be consuming.

There have been times where I have wanted to quit.

The only thing that stops me is thinking of the bigger picture. WHY I started my business and the fire that it lights in me. Not how much money I made a certain year. If you chase money and not passion you will fail. That mission you have to create and do what you want to do will be so much more infectious and stronger than any desire for material things.

Entrepreneurship is an emotional journey. This is all your blood sweat and tears and will feel like your child. So be prepared to be emotionally invested. This is both a blessing and a curse, as many things in entrepreneurship are. But being able to look at something YOU created and feel a sense of pride and value that you have brought to people, it priceless.

5) Know That Every Problem Has A Solution

Referencing #2, BE RESOURCEFUL. If you were the person that researched how to do something before asking your superior… you’re on the right track. Every business has problems, but chances are you’re not the first one to run into this problem. There is bound to be someone with prior knowledge that found a solution to their problem, that may not exactly solve your’s but can give you insight.

I know I mentioned researching and “figuring it out”, but another part of that is knowing when to look to someone else. If someone has been in a similar situation or is much more experience in a certain topic than you. It is going to take you SO much less time to ask someone then try to figure it out yourself. There is a fine line, but I have found that it isn’t too hard to tell in the times when a task is going to be exponentially harder for you and time consuming for you than someone you can reference.

Time is money. Sometimes you need to figure out how to fix your website bugs, and other times your time would be much better spent running your business than learning to code a new website for yourself when someone else already knows how.

Just be weary of the task at hand and know that every problem has a solution if you search smart enough.

6) Invest In Yourself

Last but definitely not least, invest in yourself.

You want your business to continually grow right? Well, you have to continually grow yourself. You are leading the business and should never cease to learn. Educate yourself on the new techniques, products, markets, etc. and be constantly aware of the world around you. The most successful companies didn’t just have a great product but they answered a societal / cultural need that society often didn’t know it was wanting.

I am constantly listening to podcasts, audiobooks, and trying new tactics from other entrepreneurs. There is something to be said about finding patterns in the people who have created been wildly successful. From the way you write out your to-do list, organize your email, to your morning routine, all of it plays a part in the results of your behavior.

Never ever stop learning.


Additional Resources

I want to hear about YOUR businesses! I am so passionate about helping other entrepreneurs. Comment below or on my latest Instagram with your business and if you took anything from this post. It would mean the world to me if I helped a single person out there.

Below are more blog posts on entrepreneurship, enjoy!

4 Comments

  1. Adriana
    April 3, 2018 / 5:41 am

    Thank you for sharing with us your journey! 🙂 I love hearing about your endeavors and learning new insights from a young entrepreneur. How did you narrow down different passions to focus on a particular one as a business? This is one of the hardest things that I struggle with because my passions lie in different areas and it’s hard for me to commit to one over another. I’ve been a business manager for years and feel that it’s time to pursue a business of my own but having trouble settling on an actionable plan!

    • Lorena
      April 4, 2018 / 4:15 am

      First, Thank you so much for reading the blog! It makes me so happy. Just like you, I have so many passions but some are more exciting to me than others. You Should start your business whatever it is you don’t want to go through life thinking WHAT IF! Pick a passion that you think you can do for a long time and also pick an idea where the mission of the business is even more important than your passion that will keep you going. As an entrepreneur, there are always ups and downs but when you know you are doing something that has an impact on other people you will keep going! I hope that helps and thanks again for reading the blog!

      Lorena

  2. August 30, 2018 / 4:19 am

    What a great blog! I have always dabbled in entrepreneurship. Last year I was let go based on them not feeling they could afford me anymore. It was so scary but it gave me the opportunity to open my own very small laser boutique and specialize in creating individualized skin programs. It’s pretty much a VIP experience. I definitely struggle in certain areas that I’m not as passionate about but I can not imagine doing anything else. Anywho, just wanted to say nicely done. I’m heading over to Instagram to follow you and just signed up for your emails.

    • September 14, 2018 / 7:08 pm

      Thank you so much! How amazing that you opened your own shop!

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