Welcome back to Game Changers, I have a very exciting solo episode for you today. A couple of months back I did a solo episode on the growth I’ve made and how I’ve fallen back in love with my business, which received a lot of positive feedback. 

I also got a lot of questions about my free How to Live Your Best Entrepreneurial Life audio training so I felt as though I needed to record another solo episode on some of my biggest lessons learnt from running my own business.

My Biggest Lessons from Running an Online Business

I recently had my 29th birthday which provoked a lot of reflection on my life, in particular, the biggest lessons from running my online business. 

At this point in time, my business is a multiple six-figure business climbing steadily to a seven-figure business. Not only that my YouTube channel, podcast and online tribe is thriving, so I really wanted to sit down to discuss what has gotten me to where I am today and how you can do the same if you’re on a similar entrepreneurial journey. 

Showing Up Consistently Online

I know a lot of my success can be attributed to consistently showing up online and creating content; showing resilience and a passion for self-improvement and development.

I’m continually investing in myself and therefore my community but I wanted to know how you perceive my journey and therefore what questions you might have for me. So I asked my online community what they want to know about my journey, my success, struggles and everything in between.

Let’s jump into your questions!

What was your biggest struggle to date? 

I wish I had of known more about the struggles I would face when I first started so I think this is a very important question. For me, it’s the validation because I grew up in a household where everything was celebrated. 

There was always a sense of achievement regardless and my mum celebrated me a lot. This is where a lot of my confidence and zest for life comes from however, it’s not always a positive for running your own business. 

Any time I did something in my business I felt like it needed to be celebrated and that I need validation. This is one of the biggest things I’ve struggled with but I’ve worked through this by looking at this as a limiting belief and letting go of the parts that didn’t serve me. 

On the positive side of this, it did give me the confidence to put myself out there and as silly as it sounds, know that my family would still love me if I tried but failed. 

In the end, I’ve learnt how to celebrate myself without the need for validation from anyone else.

Do you ever feel like it’s too much? What kept you going?

Hell yes! I’ve had days when I feel like the whole world is caving in on me. There are some days when my emails have exploded, I’m being pulled in a million different directions and I’m extremely overwhelmed but what’s allowed me to get a handle on this is making some mindset shifts. 

The biggest mindset shift that’s gotten me through the feeling of overwhelm is that there will ALWAYS be something to do. There will always be a client who needs me or content to create or work that isn’t finished, it’s just the nature of entrepreneurship. 

There is never really an end in sight and so I had to come to the realisation that I’m only one person and I can only do so much. I don’t use this as an excuse not to get work done but I realise that my line of work is a continuous process so I need to stick to a routine and be ok with coming back to it the next day or at a later date. 

When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. – Wayne Dyer 

How long did it take for your YouTube channel to gain momentum? 

My YouTube channel started to gain momentum after around 6-8 months of creating content on the Kayla Itsines bikini body guide. This initially gave me a big boost in followers and engagement but after shifting my focus to business in 2016, I had a massive growth spurt.

After two years is when I saw things really start to pick up and gain momentum – moral of the story, growth takes time and you need to be patient.

  

Did you ever doubt that it would work?

I’m going to be honest, and say no. The sense of naivety is what got me through a lot I think because I never thought “what if it doesn’t work out?” Therefore, I didn’t put any unnecessary pressure on myself. 

I had the mentality that if my business or YouTube didn’t work out, so what? If this didn’t work, I could go out and get a job, life doesn’t end. I’d still have my friends, family and other options out there. 

I just know this is what I’m supposed to do, so I find ways to make it work for me at different times and for different reasons. Always try, try again.

 

What is the biggest mistake you’ve made in your business? 

For my answer to this question be sure to listen to the podcast episode! You can find the answer to this one at 19:30 as well as listen to the rest of the questions.

To keep the conversation going come and join our community on Facebook and Instagram – @erinmayhenry. I would LOVE to support you!

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