Another year has come and gone and I have learned a lot of things in 2017 about starting a business. I also learned things about myself and how I wasn’t contributing to my business growth the correct way. I was making several mistakes that inevitably prevented my business growth in 2017. Actually, there are 5 Business Mistakes I made in 2017 that I want to share with you today. In case you are running into similar situations with your business. No one said it would be easy, but there are ways to make the process a little less painful. I am sharing 5 Business Mistakes that I made in 2017, how I am avoiding them in 2018 and how you can too.  

Mistake #1:

Having DIY Disease

I call it the DIY disease, what is that exactly? Well, that was the idea that I believed that I had to do everything by myself. DIY stands for do it yourself and a lot of times we can get so caught up in trying to do everything ourselves that it can lead to procrastination. This happened to me for several months in 2017, until recently. In September I realized that I don’t have to do everything on my own. There are others who are talented and skilled in the areas that I am not. Now, this doesn’t take away the fact that I should learn how to do certain things just in case I need to. But until that time comes, I can get the help I need from other professionals. It is very wise to know the ‘in’s and out’s’ of certain processes that help your business run.

If you’re getting started you don’t have to do everything yourself.

You can have people do certain things for you and therefore you don’t have to spend a lot of time trying to figure things out, learn new systems and therefore pushing you further and further behind from a goal or a particular task that you want to complete by a certain due date. For example, my biggest struggle was designing graphics for my website and free resources. I could not make a decision on what I wanted. I would spend days, weeks even months trying to decide and constantly change it.  and before I knew it half the year had gone by and I had made no progress. Then I found an online service called  Fiverr.    This service is amazing because talented people from across the world offer their services at a low cost to you. Anything from graphic design, business cards, and even social media managers. I found Fiverr to be super helpful in getting things done! 

Mistake #2

Lack of Consistency

I wasn’t consistent. This directly affected my influence in 2017, I find that when I show up every day there are many benefits. What I mean by being consistent,  I am talking about doing the things that matter like communicating with my audience, sharing meaningful content and engaging with them on a deeper level. Whenever I take time away and I’m not as consistent I immediately see that affected in my business because it is kind of like out of sight out of mind. If you are needing a jump start I recommend signing up for The Consistency Cleanse created by one of my favorite bloggers Mattie James- The Consistency Cleanse.

5 Business Mistakes I have Made in 2017 – How to Avoid them in 2018

Mistake #3

Powerless Procrastination

Oh, how I  procrastinated in 2017.  I should have an award for the best procrastinator. I’m so serious! I was so lazy and procrastinating, kept putting off goals, pushing off tasks and I ended up not getting anything done. Procrastination affected my business growth in 2017, so I’m taking my power back in 2018 and I’m not going to procrastinate. I have already started to do things to help me be more successful and accomplish more things in my workday. For example, each day I make a list of three things I need to get completed in the day, yes just three things.

This works so much better for me versus having this long list of things to do and then when I don’t do one of them I feel ‘oh my goodness I’m never going to get done’ or by me making a list of just three things and me accomplishing those things, I end up saying ‘oh wow I got that done, what else can I do?’ So, therefore, I add three more things to my list. This has helped me tremendously and I have been able to get things accomplished within a day than I have ever done in 2017. 

Mistake #4

Self before Service

I’m just going to keep it real you all. One of the main reasons why I wasn’t as consistent on social media as I was really trying to find my purpose in sharing online. Because I was simply posting to be posting and just taking pictures to be taking pictures which it ended up not being as fulfilling. The purpose of my presence online is why I started my business altogether. To share my story so it inspires other young girls and women to let nothing stop them on their way to achieving their dreams, not even their height. This is what I want to bring to my community and audience this is why I do it. Taking time to realize all of this helped me tremendously. 

As I bring the focus back to what is truly important and why I am here, well then tons and tons of ideas started coming to mind I was able to create over 5 different free resources for you! 

There is so much that I want to share with you, and that made me happy.  I was able to put it out there and it helps me to be more consistent because I wanted to focus on service versus self. Although 2017  started out one way, I’m not crossing the finish line the same way I started. It doesn’t matter how you start, it’s all about the finish.  way but I’m not ending that way, so in 2018 it’s going to be all about my audience and what I can give to you because that’s the best way that I can operate.

 

I am at my best when I’m helping other people and that’s what I want to do in 2018. 

 

Mistake #5

Research Overhaul

Oh my gosh! I did so much research trying to learn new things. From reading blog posts, sign up for webinars which were extremely helpful but I got into a trap of not wanting to call anything to action. After completing a webinar  I would tell myself, ‘Oh I need to learn how to do this to before I can do my website before I can actually start my business or before I can send out my rates or before I can… the list went on and on.

I found myself doing so much research that I didn’t put anything into action.

After a while, I look back and say ‘Oh wow I have all this knowledge but I haven’t done anything. So I had to just, stop. Stop researching everything, signing up for every class, downloading every checklist. All I needed to do was take all the knowledge that I already possess and start applying it.  Trusting that eventually once I get everything up and running with the knowledge that I currently have there will be a time and place for me to learn more. 

We all know that starting a business there will be steps that are a little more complicated than others. This doesn’t mean we should make things harder for ourselves. By doing the small things, those are the most important and everything will start to fall into place.  

2018 is going to be a great year!

 

Tell me in the comments below, what is one habit you will be leaving behind in 2017?

 

Happy New Year.

DeAna Fierce

 

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