Digitally She Does It Podcast

EPISODE 110: The truth about being an entrepreneur (that nobody tells you!)

• Karen Davies • Season 1 • Episode 110

Share episode

Send us a text

In this episode of the Digitally She Does It podcast, I dive deep into the realities of entrepreneurship - a side that often doesn’t get talked about enough. It’s easy to see the highlight reels of business success online, but what about the messy middle? In this episode, I lift the lid on what it’s really like to run your own business, sharing the insights and lessons that many people overlook when starting out.

From tech disasters that throw your plans off course to the self-doubt that creeps in at the worst moments, I open up about my own experiences navigating the highs and lows of building a business. 

Entrepreneurship is an incredible journey, but it’s also filled with unexpected challenges that can leave you feeling overwhelmed. That’s why I’m sharing practical strategies to help you push through those difficult moments, stay focused on your goals, and develop a resilient mindset that will carry you forward.

If you’ve ever felt stuck, frustrated, or like you’re the only one struggling behind the scenes, this episode is for you. My goal is to remind you that you’re not alone - and that every challenge is an opportunity to learn, grow, and come back even stronger.

So, grab a coffee, tune in, and let’s have an honest conversation about what it really takes to build a business that works for you!


THE DIGITAL CREATORS HUB

Access a treasure trove of freebies to help get you started on your digital journey. Click here for FREE access.

CREATE YOUR ONLINE COURSE

Join Sell Your Brilliance Online Membership - click here to get started!

GET IN TOUCH


JOIN MY COMMUNITY

Course Creators Hub for Beginners:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/coursecreatorshubforbeginners

GOT A QUESTION?

Want to ask me a question, suggestion for an episode or maybe you would like to be a guest?

Email me at ...

Karen Davies [00:00:00]:
Hello and welcome to the Digital She Does It Show. This is episode one one zero and in today's episode I'm going to share the truth about being an entrepreneur and what it's like to actually run your own business and share some of the things that actually people don't tell you when you're starting out. So let's jump right in and let's get started. Welcome to the Digitally Digitally. She does it show. I am your host, Karen, and I'm here to lift the lid on what it actually takes to create a successful business. 

If you are an ambitious creative ready to build a business on your own terms and without compromise, then this podcast is perfect for you. With my award winning approach to marketing and expert knowledge in creating online courses, this show will leave you feeling inspired, energised, and ready to bring those big dreams to life.

Karen Davies [00:00:55]:
Join me each week for a dose of motivation and marketing know how along with actionable step by step strategies to help you accelerate your businesses growth. So let's dive in and don't forget to subscribe to all my upcoming episodes which drop every Wednesday. 

Hello, and welcome. Thank you so much for joining me today. I am your host, Karen, and I really do appreciate you hitting that play button to listen to today's episode. So today, I'm going to talk about entrepreneurship, and I'm going to be lifting the lid to actually share what it's like running your own business. And I'm going to be talking about some of the things that when you are first starting out and thinking about running a business, People don't tell you. People don't tell you these things, and so I'm going to peel back the curtain and share what it's actually like.

Karen Davies [00:01:53]:
But before I do, this episode is sponsored by the Digital Creators Hub. This is your one stop shop for getting started online. This hub has so many resources and valuable tools that are absolutely free. So if you're not in the hub, then I encourage you to head on over to www.karen-Davies.com and go and get free access because there's no better time than now to start your online business, and the tools and the resources available are going to help you to take that first step. Okay. So back to today's episode. And today, I am diving into something that I think as entrepreneurs, really, what we would want to know before we start our business is what is it really like? How do we build businesses in a way that actually keeps us sane? Because I think there is a common myth that entrepreneurs seem to have things figured out. They seem to have the ideas and the way forward to make things happen, to bring their ideas to life, and to make money.

Karen Davies [00:03:15]:
And I think one of the things that is very common in amongst sort of with our other business owners is that a lot of what we do is is kind of figuring it out as we go along. Now if you've ever felt like you don't have the answers or you've hit roadblocks that have made you literally want to throw your laptop out of the window, and believe me, I've been there. I know all about that feeling of frustration. Or even if you're just dealing with tech headaches, self doubt, and, of course, unexpected challenges, then this episode is going to be for you. So I'm going to be sharing my own experiences, the good, the bad, and the downright frustrating, which is going to include tech disasters and moments of I literally have no idea what I'm doing and how, essentially, I've learned to embrace the the messy middle of entrepreneurship and to really kind of power through and create a business that I love and that I'm really proud of. So I'm gonna lift the lid on that. Now as I said before, I think one of the biggest myths when you are running your own business is that you you will have it figured out. You know what you're doing.

Karen Davies [00:04:37]:
You have the answers. And because of that, you're able to make money and to make what you're doing a success. And I think the reality is and and then this is something that I don't think people really talk about is that I don't think people do know what they're doing. I don't think people do have things figured out. I don't actually think anybody does. I think a lot of what we do is we make it up as we go along. We test things, we tweak things, and we adapt. Now I know when I first started my business back in 02/2017, I had this idea that I was going to join a networking group, and I was going to learn from the people around me because they were running businesses.

Karen Davies [00:05:23]:
They were successful, so they knew what they were doing. And by being a part of this group, I would be able to learn and pick up things from them that would help me on my own journey. And what I came to realize over the duration of me being within the group is that they're all just trying to figure things out as they go along. And I think that everybody runs their business different. I don't believe there is one blueprint for every business. Now I know there are a lot of books on the market, and there's lots of podcasts and YouTube videos and all of that good stuff that we have available to us now, but I don't think there is one single blueprint that you can lay over your own business and follow. I don't think that's how business is. I don't think it works like that.

Karen Davies [00:06:18]:
I think part of success is being able to figure things out as you move forward because there's always something new to learn. There's always something unexpected to deal with, and there's always something that's going to go wrong. It's just part and parcel of the journey that we're on. And so I don't think entrepreneurship is about avoiding problems and creating solutions to problems because you you're not experiencing them. I think it is about learning from the problems and the challenges that you face and being able to solve them in a way that benefits you. So I think that entrepreneurship is just about learning, learning on the go and also learning in plain sight as well. I don't actually think it is now possible to run a business and to be a perfectionist or to at least have success in your business Because I think success ultimately comes from trying and testing things, from actually making mistakes and experiencing challenges and dealing with issues. I actually feel that now that I am, what, sort of eight years into the journey, that my own personal growth and development has very much come from the experiences that I've had.

Karen Davies [00:08:10]:
And the business that I have today is very different from the business that I started back in 02/2017. And the decisions that I make today are most likely due to influences and experiences that I've had that have shaped the way that I see things and the way I think about things as well because it's a constant journey of learning and self development as well. You can't help but grow personally when you're running a business because in business, you are forced to step up and to be a version of yourself that maybe you hadn't been before. It forces you to really look at what it is that you want, what you're creating, and who you are going to be in order to make it happen. And I think sometimes we have to step out of ourselves in order to have that confidence and that self assurance that we can do what it is that we need to do to reach our goals. And I think being an entrepreneur, part of running a business is about accepting that part of that process is going to be really messy and that things aren't gonna be figured out and that you can't spend time trying to perfect things because all the while you do that, you're not progressing. And in order to move your business forward and to achieve progress, you have to take action. And the only way that you can really take action is by, trying things, testing things, adapting things, and learning.

Karen Davies [00:09:52]:
Learning from where when things go right, but also learning from when things go wrong as well. Now last week, I had such, a crazy week because I was experiencing quite a few tech issues. So I have a lot of clients say to me when they start working with me that they're not tech savvy, they fear tech, and they don't like using it because often they don't understand it or they don't like trying something new because they don't have that confidence in what they're doing. And I completely get it. And I enjoy tech. I'm I'm quite techie. I like learning things. I like developing my skills, and I won't think anything of diving in and learning a new tool or a new piece of tech.

Karen Davies [00:10:42]:
It's just that it's just part of who I am. So last week, I had a really awful week because I rely heavily on a tool. And on Friday, I was shut out of the tool, and I wasn't able to get in. And I found myself really stressing because I really needed to use the tool in order to get work done. And, honestly, when I say I was stressed, I really was because what had happened was that I'd had a previous, email. The email was no longer in existence. The tool had been set up using this email. My VA, I've got a new VA.

Karen Davies [00:11:25]:
She went into this tool in order to access my account. It basically shut down because it obviously picked up that somebody else was trying to use my account, and then it said that it sent the verification code that I needed to this old email address that was no longer in existence. So I was I was so panicking because I was thinking I really need to get in and how what am I gonna do? Because I can't access the email, therefore, I can't get a code. So I was trawling the Internet, asking Google, trying to locate an email, a support email for this company. Now I know a lot of tools don't choose to have email support. They want to do it via a chatbot, and I get that. However, sometimes you just need an email. And because this tool never had a chatbot, the only way I could actually get some support was by filling in a form.

Karen Davies [00:12:24]:
And then what the form said was that it was going to send the response to my email and that somebody would be in contact to my email. So, obviously, I'm stressing because my email is no longer in existence. So how am I gonna get access to the email, and how is somebody gonna communicate with me? Because I don't have access. So couldn't find anything online, and I was tooling everywhere and anywhere. And then I thought, well, let me just ask chat, chat g t p. Let me let me just go in there and ask a question. So I went in there. I asked chat.

Karen Davies [00:12:57]:
Chat brought up the email, which I was so incredibly grateful for. And then I was able to send the company an email. And then within about twenty minutes, I had a response. I had to verify who I was, and then they were on it. I had this gentleman working at the other end of the email helping to change my email address to get me back up and running. And probably within about two hours, I was ready to go. They'd set me up, a new email or I'd set up a new email and they'd they'd set it up on the back end, and I was once again firing on all all cylinders. But, honestly, for that morning, for Friday morning, I was so stressed because I was thinking, how am I going to do what I need to do because I'm locked out of this tool? And I really can't afford to be because I'm so reliant on it.

Karen Davies [00:13:55]:
So I've had that. I've had Xero. My my bank, my finance tool online, that locked me out, again, because it was linked to an older email address and because I didn't update it. It was completely my fault. But, again, that locked me out because I I couldn't, approve the verification process. So I've had that, and then I've had another tool fail on me as well. So I understand a % when people are feeling stressed about using tech and when tech fails because I feel like I've been there. I've got the T shirt, and I know firsthand what that's like.

Karen Davies [00:14:40]:
And it's highly stressful, and it's highly frustrating because when you just want to get the job done and use that piece of tech to help you do that and then you can't have access for whatever reason, it's it's awful because it's like, where do I turn to? And a lot of these tools now, they are not having email access. I mean, I was fortunate with this tool that chat gave me the email. But with Xero, for example, that was really stressful because I had to go through my bookkeeper and my accountant just to get access to an email address because I couldn't, again, find anything online. So these things happen. They happen out of the blue, and it's just an example of the things that, as entrepreneurs, we we have to face. There's no getting away from this. Tech is going to fail, and we're going to be confronted with issues that come out of nowhere. And we have to learn to deal with them in the right way.

Karen Davies [00:15:42]:
The other thing that I've had, last week as well was that my VA, handed their notice in because they're dealing with health issues, and they decided that they no longer wanted to continue working as a VA. And so that was really stressful because I was once again relying on them to be available to support me. And I'd lined up some work for them, and they literally just walked off the job. And I I got an email to say just to let you know, I'm I've handed in my resignation. I'm no longer working, and that was it. I wasn't given any prior warning, and I was left with a ton of stuff that needed to get done that I wasn't able to have done because I didn't have support in place. So highly stressful. I could have really done without that.

Karen Davies [00:16:32]:
I get the fact that they've made decisions to try for them, but it's another example of something coming out of nowhere that we're having to deal with. And I'm not alone with having to deal with this because I know this is just part and parcel of this journey that we're on. We have to be resilient. We have to figure things out, and we have to adapt in order to keep things going. And I think that is something that isn't really spoken about. In the excitement of starting a business, you're not necessarily going to know what questions to ask in terms of what does it actually take from you to make something successful. And I think you don't actually realize what it requires until you're kind of embedded in the journey, so to speak. So just the the stresses, the challenges, the issues, it's just a part and parcel.

Karen Davies [00:17:36]:
So how do we deal with things when they go wrong? Like, what is the best strategy to have in place so that we can pull ourselves out of that stress and frustration so that we can take back control? Well, I have learned over sort of my time running my business that that when you're in the thick of something and something is going badly wrong, you don't always have perspective to look at actually how it's all unfolding. I think sometimes when you're so in the thick of what you're trying to do, it's hard to see the wood for the trees because you're in the thick of it. So what I've learned to do is take a step back. So, for example, whenever something goes a little bit sideways and I'm starting to feel as though things are stressing me out, Now I just take a moment and I take a deep breath, and I just really kinda collect myself. Because what I try and do is move from that place of victim to that place of, right. Okay. How am I gonna fix this? And I think that's a really important shift to make, especially when things do go wrong because they are going to go wrong. I'm not gonna stand here and say that everything is peachy all of the time because it really isn't.

Karen Davies [00:19:03]:
You may come across things that you experience that, as I said, you just don't expect and then you have to deal with it there and then. So take a deep breath and go into the mindset of problem solving because what that'll do, it'll shift your energy. It'll take give you the control back, and it will start to empower you. And when we feel empowered, we are more likely to be able to fix the problem that's in front of us. So take a deep breath and shift your energy. The next thing I would say, especially if you are experiencing tech issues, is Google it or go to chat, g p t, and ask chat because so many issues can be resolved just by using Google, asking chat, or watching a YouTube video. And I have learned so much just by doing this. Also, who else do I ask? Because often, I don't I'm, you know, I'm here on my own doing my thing.

Karen Davies [00:20:13]:
So who am I gonna ask when I'm locked out of a tool that I'm using? I don't know. So then I have to be proactive and figure it out and find the answer. And Google, chat, YouTube, they are absolutely brilliant for providing content that helps us to, solve problems. My third tip is have a backup plan. So always think what's the worst thing that could happen. So for example, if you're running a webinar and something goes wrong, what is the worst thing that can happen, and what can you do to mitigate that circumstance? What could you have in place that's going to help you to avoid any real issue? So if you have a backup plan, you are always in control, and you can manage whatever issue comes your way. So, for example, if you record your webinar and something goes wrong, maybe you have a VA there to support you so that they can take the reins just in case something on your side doesn't work. So that could be a solution to that kind of problem.

Karen Davies [00:21:30]:
And then the fourth tip is about asking for help because it's okay not to know everything. We don't necessarily know everything that we feel like we should know to do what we do. So sometimes reaching out to a support team or an expert can save so much stress. The moment that this tool came back to me with a real life human on the end of it, my stress kind of almost sort of melted away because I felt reassured that somebody was looking into the problem and they were going to help me. So reaching out and getting that support went a long way to making me feel better. So if you can and you are experiencing a problem, reach out and get support. The point is we have to learn how to troubleshoot and then we have to pivot when things don't go as planned. And I think that is one of the biggest, most important entrepreneurial skills that you can develop.

Karen Davies [00:22:40]:
The other thing is that I think it all boils down to mindset as well. So making sure that your mindset is in the right place is going to be paramount to how you deal with those issues. I think one thing to think about, and I mentioned this earlier about shifting, mindset, shifting your energy when something goes wrong, Instead of thinking, why is this happening to me? Try and ask yourself, what is this teaching me? Because everything that is sent to us is a lesson. The universe is sending us lessons so that as we move towards our goals, we are learning the lessons that we need to learn on the way. So start seeing problems as just part of the process. It's not a sign you're failing because you're not failing. It is because you're learning. And when you start to think like that, it completely changes the game because you stop getting frustrated, and then you start feeling more empowered because you are in control.

Karen Davies [00:23:50]:
Everything is figureoutable. And I know that's something Marie Forleo says, but it's so true. Everything can be figured out. So if you are in the thick of something quite challenging right now, then I want you to know that you are not alone. You are most likely just experiencing something that you need to learn before you can move forward. And I think every single entrepreneur that you look up to has most likely been exactly where you are right now because they've had to learn the lessons needed in order to gain the success that they've achieved. And I believe that part of the journey we're on is all about learning in plain sight. We need to be learning in order to adapt our skills and elevate our experience.

Karen Davies [00:24:44]:
So the learning piece is so fundamental, there's no getting away from it. And and the thing is, I bet if you look backwards, you will realize or you will see for yourself how much you've learned whilst you have been an entrepreneur. Where you are right now is not where you was when you first started. You've had to learn. You've had to develop. You've most likely had to evolve. And because of that, you're here where you are right now. So it is just part and parcel of the journey.

Karen Davies [00:25:17]:
So here's my biggest takeaway for you today. Entrepreneurship is not about having all the answers. It's about learning, adapting, and just taking the next step even when you don't know where it's leading. So if you are experiencing a challenge or you're struggling to resolve something or you're just feeling as though you're just firefighting and constantly dealing with stuff, then I want today in this episode, I just wanted to take a moment and reassure you that it's perfectly natural and that everything that has been sent to you has been sent to you for a reason. And your job as an entrepreneur is simply just to figure out the next step. So reach out to whoever you feel could help you. Lean on your support. If you've got friends that are entrepreneurs, if you've got a support group, an accountability group, a coach, really do utilize them, get the support you need, and just know that you can do this.

Karen Davies [00:26:25]:
You have what it takes to achieve your goals and make your business a success. Now if today's episode has resonated with you, and I really hope it has, then I'd love to hear from you. I would love you to send me a DM on Instagram, and my tag is at karen underscore digital coach. I would love you to share a challenge with me, and let me know how you have resolved that challenge and what how you tackle challenges because you're not alone. We're all going through this, and it's always useful to learn from others as well. And if you have enjoyed this episode, it would mean the absolute world to me if you could just take a moment to leave a review either on iTunes or Spotify because that will help other entrepreneurs like yourself to find my show. 

Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. I hope you found this episode of value, and, of course, please do feel free to share it with others who you may think will also benefit from listening to today's episode.

Karen Davies [00:27:34]:
If today's discussion has sparked inspiration and you're ready to get started online, then visit my website, www.karen-davies.com, because you'll find free resources to help get you started. And if you're ready to take the next step and you want to create an online course that's going to bring you in income and give you your time back, then go to my website and find out all about my all inclusive membership, sell your brilliance online, which is designed to guide you through the process of creating your first online course. You can find out more at www.karen-davies.com/membership. 

I will be back next week with another episode, but until then, have a great week. I hope you enjoyed this episode of the digitally she does it show. Don't forget to check out the show notes for all the links and resources mentioned in today's episode. 

New episodes drop every week on a Wednesday, so why not rate and subscribe so you never miss an episode? Thank you for tuning in today, and I will see you next time.