The 3 Mistakes New Business Owners Make

Being new to business means you’re going to make mistakes (and hopefully LEARN from them), but some mistakes can be deadly. 

The earlier you learn these mistakes from someone who has made them (ahem…not saying *I* made them *wink wink*), the earlier you hit the levels of success you know, deep down, you’re capable of.

Mistake Number 1: Adopting the Everywhere Method

Trying to show up “everywhere” spreads you thin and keeps your ideal clients from finding you because your content can’t come from a place of inspiration, but rather it will come from a place of “OMG I still need to post here and here and here!” 

If you want to double down on your marketing and get real results, instead of throwing spaghetti at the wall, do your market research and focus on ONLY 1-2 platforms where your ideal client hangs out.

Show up in those 1 or 2 places consistently and deliver massive amounts of value with each post and you’ll make a bigger impact on your ideal client.

The social media game is never won by someone who is trying to be everywhere all the time.

Mistake Number 2: Chasing Things That Don’t Concern You

Being distracted by Shiny Object Syndrome (yes, we all want that first 5K month, then 100K year, the new Tesla, weekends in Europe, etc etc etc…). 

But you don’t have to “live that life”, so to speak, to show your “success”. Don’t go chasing the things you see other people flaunting because you think you have to. 

Stay focused. 

Keep your head down and your eyes on the small celebrations along the way so you don’t end up frustrated, thinking you should be further along than you are. Because the moment you let that distract you, in that way, it can all fall apart. 

I know because I was once there. 

Coaches were flaunting their shiny things everywhere and I was like, “Oh! I need to do more of that!” And I fell down the rabbit hole of trying to do what they were doing, the next thing I know, I was in a slump so deep, I almost quit.

Then, I realized that I had not paid a bit of attention to what I HAD done for and with my clients. I didn’t realize I was ALREADY a success. 

When I got my head out of my a$$, my performance picked back up again and before I knew it, I was back to where I truly wanted to be with my business.  

Mistake Number 3: Playing the Diva

New business owners who are not willing to do the “grunt” work (aka the shit you don’t want to do) before they hire a VA or other niched hire often go into debt or even out of business because they try to skip over the heavy lifting at the beginning. 

You actually have to do the shit you probably don't want to do sometimes. 

I always say you have time or money at your expense, and in the beginning, it’s usually time. So that means you have to wear many hats before you, then, outsource some of it.

Of course, if there are things you cannot bring yourself to do or you’re not good at, I’m all about outsourcing, but just don’t be “too good” to do the not-so-fun shit, too, we’ve all done it.

It All Comes Down To You

Do the best you can. Focus on one platform and OVERDELIVER value on it. Focus on becoming the best that YOU can be without being swayed by everyone’s highlight reels. And lastly, focus on making the most of your money as a very precious resource by doing what you can and not outsourcing more than you need to in the beginning. 

Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

Stuck? How to Re-Energize your Business

When we are excited about what we do, we get that whole “YES!” vibe that people crave doing business with.

Likewise, when we are tired and overworked, overwhelmed, stressed out, people feel it. And that whole “Ew!” vibe makes people scroll past our posts or just say no to our services.

They need to feel drawn to us. And that’s nearly impossible when we’re tired and worn out. I promise, they feel it in your messaging just as much as you do in your life (cringe).

If you’re getting that “I don’t want to get out of my PJs” feeling, it may be time to re-energize yourself and your business so you can thrive and attract the clients you want to work with again. 

But how can you take that “OMG-if-I-have-another-call-today” feeling and flip it around to “HECK YES! LET’S DO THIS!” so people come running at your business with money in hand? Take a look at the steps below, then go take action!

1. Take Time Off

I know you may think this is the last thing you need or can do right now. But it’s the single thing you HAVE to do. The number one way to refresh is to walk away, take time to breathe, and come back, refreshed.

Go to a beach, a mountain, a cavern in the hills of Ireland, or even your bedroom for a 3-day nap… It doesn’t really matter. Just block off the time you need and take it.

Your business will be able to run without you. And if it can’t, then you need a better system in place (https://www.katelynehamilton.com/systemswithspeed).

All you need to do is set up your email to let people know you’re out or have your OBM or VA take care of managing your inbox while you're away.  

Let your clients know you’ll be away and who will be around to handle their needs, take care of any fires that your VA needs you to handle before going, and mentally prepare yourself for this break. Remember, your business will survive for a week or two without you in it! 

2. Vision board/goal planning for the year 

Knowing what you’re building helps you keep focus. Because you want to be really clear on the business and life you want, and WHY you want these things. Even when things get tough.

You can do this in a couple of ways. Setting goals, or creating a vision board, will help you map out exactly what it is you want, and what you're working towards. I want you to think beyond just "make 6-figures this year." Sure that can be a goal, but what will setting that goal do for you? How do you want to feel once you reach that goal? Why is this important for your business or your life? Then HOW can you start to cultivate those feelings NOW, along the way? 

Those feelings won't just magically appear when you hit that goal - it's all a part of the process, or the journey. So when those PJs days hit, they don’t hit hard or long. You take your break and you get back on course because your goals are leading the way. 

3. Revamp your service offerings 

Sometimes you just need to look at your business with a fresh set of eyes. If you’ve been consistently adding new products and services and have a ton of offers all across the board, it may be time to niche down to just 2-3. Take a look at all your offerings and evaluate what you enjoy doing and what your target audience NEEDS from you. Maybe you combine a couple of offers into 1 NEW offering. Not only will you give your people something fresh to devour, you’ll give yourself a renewed sense of purpose.

Create 1-2 flagship programs that really resonate with your audience and let the rest go. That singular heading will feel light and empowering. Re-energizing you fully and giving you so much less dead weight to carry.

4. Outsource more to team 

If you do not have a team, build one. The right team members not only make work light for you, but it also allows your business to thrive because you are focused on doing the things only YOU can do.

If you are proficient at helping people create change in their lives, but not proficient at graphics, you may waste an hour creating a beautiful graphic (yes, even in Canva! Have you tried digging through all those options??) that your designer could do in 5 mins. That’s an hour of your time that could have been spent connecting with your ideal clients over social or even in session with current clients.

Likewise, a team can do the posting to social, emailing your list, managing your inbox, sending invoices, setting up workflows and more efficient systems, etc for you. This ensures that you always have a consistent flow of clients coming in, and are extremely visible online, while you're taking care of serving those clients and leading from your zone of genius.

Having a team you can trust also means that you don’t get burnt out doing the tasks that you shouldn’t be doing. It means you get to take more time off because there are people to do the things you can’t do efficiently. 
Don’t let overwhelm and frustration zap energy from you or your business. Put these tips to use and discover how much you truly do love your work and the clients you work with...again. 

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

How to Use Acuity to Scale Your Business

If you’re looking for a quick and easy system to set up for your business that will truly transform it, look no further than Acuity. It will drastically increase your efficiency, automate more in your business and change the way you work. What is Acuity? It’s a scheduling tool that functions as your personal assistant to book appointments, and packages with ease.

One reason why I love Acuity is that the learning curve is small. It’s really pretty self-explanatory and it will save you SO much time in your business. You’d be surprised how much time you waste with the back and forth of trying to book a call with someone and not to mention the potential lost business from someone looking for your services if you don’t have an easy way for them to connect with you.

Here are 5 features of Acuity that will help you to scale your business:

1. Automatic Appointment Scheduling

This takes away the back-and-forth “what’s your availability next week?” followed by “what time zone are you in?” emails that then can take days to actually get an appointment scheduled, in which your schedule may have changed. This cuts down on potentially missed leads, delayed meetings and time/frustration for both parties involved. You can embed your scheduling link on your website, and/or share the links on social media, via emails or DMs, etc. It simplifies everything to just send a link and say “here’s my calendar link, book at a time that will work for you!” You can go in and set your availability, block off days/times that don’t work for you, so it will automatically give your best availability in THEIR time zone and then the call will be automatically added to your calendar.

2. Pre-Screen Calls with Forms

The number one concern people have with having their scheduling link publicly on their website is the ability to “screen” calls before hopping on them. I get it, your time is precious - I feel the exact same way. That’s the benefit to using forms to screen your calls for you. You don’t have to use these for every type of call option you have, but if you have a link for someone to book a discovery call with you on your website, you can absolutely add questions that they have to fill out prior to being able to book the appointment. This way, you’ll weed out people who don’t feel like filling out the form to get on the phone with you and just want the “free call” and it’s here you can ask the right questions to make sure it’s a good fit for both parties.

The questions you ask can also give you better insights into who you’re getting on the phone with, their pain points and how you can serve them. This makes for a more productive call for BOTH parties. 

3. Multiple Appointment types (WITH CUSTOMIZATION)

This is a huge benefit compared to other scheduling platforms. You can create as many different appointment types as you want within Acuity - and you can customize the links. You can create a link for free discovery calls, coaching calls, paid one-off calls, etc. and link different forms (or no form) to each appointment type. You can also set a different schedule of availability for different appointment types. For example, maybe you only want to take potential new client calls on Mondays, and then client calls only Tuesdays and Thursdays - it’s super easy to set up these boundaries for each call type.

4. Reminders & follow up emails

You can easily set up reminder emails to go out automatically to reduce the likelihood of no-shows and missed appointments. You can set up email reminders and/or text reminders before your scheduled appointment. Similarly, you can send automatic follow-up reminders if you want to request feedback or send additional info about your services. These automations save time, and a delay in making sure you’re collecting or sending the right information to potential new clients.

5. Selling Paid Services or Packages 

Acuity makes it really easy to sell paid services or packages. You can set a price for a single appointment type, or you can create a package which is a series of calls someone can redeem with that package option. The benefit? It tracks all the calls in that package for you for each client. It also connects with both Stripe and PayPal, making it easy for clients to pay you.

Truly there are SO many customizations you can make within Acuity and that flexibility is so helpful and what makes it a superior platform compared to other scheduling tools out there. Added bonus - it syncs with your iCal, Google calendars, Outlook calendars, etc. so there’s no “double bookings'' on your calendar either. I have used many other scheduling platforms out there with clients and every time I switch them over to Acuity because it’s just THAT much better.

The only negative thing I’ll say about Acuity is that they recently changed their affiliate program and they say due to “tax laws” they can no longer pay people in more than half of the US - which is unfortunate since I literally sing this platform’s praises every day… but here I am still sharing and promoting it - so you know it’s gotta be good!

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.

4 Must Do Things in Your Business Before 2021

At the end of every year, I always take time to reflect on my business. It’s important to celebrate all the success that year brought, as well as analyze what went well and what didn’t for the year. I set goals, the really big and scary goals, for what I want the next year to look like and figure out what kind of support I’ll need along the way to do just that.

We all look at the new year as a “fresh start” or “new beginning,” which it certainly is, but it’s important that we don’t write off the end of the year, and instead use this time to get organized and put some things in place that will set you up for success in the new year. 

I don’t think 2020 looked like any of us thought it would, but with the unexpected also came so many blessings and things to be grateful for. I’ve never been more grateful to run my own business. Even if I lost my entire business tomorrow, I’m confident that I could restart and get new clients in the door pretty quick. That’s a testament to how far I’ve come over the last three years. So instead of being wary about what 2021 will bring from a business perspective, I’m excited to invest in myself and my business in new ways in order to grow.

So what can you be doing with the last couple of weeks of the year to generate momentum going into 2021? Here are 4 things to do before the year’s up.

1. Get systems set up in the backend of your business

Before you dive into everything you want to accomplish in 2021, make sure those systems are set up, now. This means evaluating your business now and seeing what you can automate, and how you can be more efficient. What are the things you’re still doing manually? Is there a tool out there that can do it for you? (Hint: there probably is) If you have no clue what you can automate or how you can systemize your business, snag one of my last 2 spots for Dec with my Systems with Speed intensive. I’ll help you strategize what you can automate and what that would look like, then I’ll do the heavy lifting for you to get it all set up. Learn more here.

2. Evaluate Your Business from 2020

Have you taken a step back to look at the goals you set for 2020 and evaluated how far you’ve come? Those goals may have shifted as you pivoted in March/April when COVID hit, but what did you accomplish? Before you move forward, you must take a few moments to look back. See what went well, see what you could use improvement on. From there, use this info to guide your 2021 strategy. Some things to consider when you analyze: financial goals, client/service offerings, mental health goals, boundaries and time management, team hires/growth.

3. Create a sales strategy for Q1 & Q2

Now that you’ve evaluated your success and learning opportunities for 2020, it’s time to create a 2021 sales plan. Set those big goals, then go bigger. Then decide what you’re going to sell in the first 2 quarters. Which of your products or services are you going to focus on? I’m a huge proponent of focusing on just a couple offerings and then having the “supplemental” services. It keeps things really CLEAR for your audience as to what you’re an expert on. You can always offer the other services as an upsell, or another way to work with you in your funnel, but clearly identify those main service offerings to direct your time, focus and energy.

4. Hire support NOW

Support is critical for growth and success. If you want to be at that next level, it’s going to take more of YOU and you’re going to need to outsource some of what you’re currently doing to a team for support. So if you don’t feel ready, do it anyways. You can have a surplus of time or money, but often not both. Give yourself some time back by outsourcing the things that either a. you’re not good at or b. are repetitive in nature that someone else can do for you. Also, consider hiring someone who can help guide you to that next level. Hiring a business coach was the BEST thing I ever could have done to uplevel my business. It’s always nice to have someone who’s been there before, and gone through it to fast-track your results. If you are looking for 1:1 support, I am taking on 6-month clients right now and would love to support you. Learn more here.

If you focus on these things to wrap up the year, I promise you’ll feel organized and aligned in your business -- and there’s no better feeling than that going into a new year!

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Katelyn Hamilton is an Online Business Manager and Get Your Sh!t Together Strategist. She helps busy entrepreneurs organize, strategize and prioritize their business to go from overwhelmed to out-in-front.

After spending 6 years in the corporate world working with multimillion dollar companies, top-rated chefs and celebrities, she launched her own business to find more flexibility and freedom. She matched her corporate salary in just one year of starting her business.

Katelyn is also a wife, stepmom, dog mama of three furry friends, fitness lover, sports fanatic (Go Dawgs) and dreams of living at the beach.

Click here to book a free call to talk more about your business goals and to see if hiring an OBM is the right fit for you.