Welcome to episode 63 of uncomplicating business for teachers helpers and givers. I'm so happy to be with you today. I am Sarah. I am the creator of selling for weirdos. I'm a business coach for all the teachers helpers and givers out there. I help you simplify all the things so that running a business is not as complicated and painful and all the things all at once.

 My job is to help you implement and be accountable and move forward and also have a life and enjoy all the things instead of it just being all miserable in all the directions. Today we are going to talk about a question that I saw go by in one of my Facebook groups that I'm in, like a couple months ago and that I just haven't been able to shake. So the question that someone asked was, What are the three things that you think every business owner needs, and you know, the the question itself is a really good question, but the answers were fascinating to me because they were all over the map.

 And so for a couple of months, I have been thinking really hard about what I think every business owner needs to be successful. And so today, what I'm going to do is I'm going to share the three that I think have been most instrumental, instrumental for me. They are the things that I would not want to do without. And they are not really things per se. They're habits. And I don't know, I don't know how to describe them, but they are really the things that are sort of at the core of keeping me moving forward. And when I sat and looked at the patterns in my colleagues, in my friends who own businesses, and my clients, in my most successful clients, they have these same patterns. 

And it was like, oh, okay, here are the things that I think would be really useful. And the list has changed a little bit, but it finally has settled over the last six weeks or so. So it was like, Okay, now I can talk about this, and I will add that there is one thing that I have listed on my paper today that I think is one thing nobody needs right out of the gate. So I'm going to talk a little bit about that, because it was an interesting thing in the comments of that post, how many people offered this one thing that I actually don't think anybody needs right out of the gate. 

So the first thing, and these are not in particular order. It's not like any one is more important than the other. So if there are three things, I think every business owner needs, the first thing is some version of outside voices we all need what one of my friends calls a board of directors, like even if they are not your board of directors, they're like your sounding board of directors. And when I think about Mine, mine is comprised of both people I pay to help me and people I don't right. At various times in my business, I've paid for coaching and coaching groups, coaching containers, one on one, coaching all different kinds of things. I've done it all. I've paid for courses, and they have all gotten me particular things, and all of them have been far more valuable than the money I paid for them, right? Because I got things that I would not have gotten otherwise. 

The other thing, though, is that I have people in my day to day, colleagues, dear friends, who I talk about business with in who own businesses, and where we talk about, you know, like, who's doing what, what this other thing you're doing is And why'd you do it that way? And how come you're doing it like this? And, well, that's dumb. Like, we're maybe nice to each other, but sometimes we're like, what are you doing? Essentially, what you need are outside voices. 

What I feel like everybody needs are outside voices that will, quite honestly, both believe in you in ways that you can't and call you on your bullshit when you don't know it's there. So it is that combination of somebody who really sees you and the good in you, in the talent, in the brain power and the absolute amazingness, and also who is like you are being ridiculous right now. What are you doing? And I think without that kind of sounding board to both hug you and kick your butt, we are all lesser for it, right? So success as a business owner comes faster. 

Can you do it without it? Right, I guess. But I don't know anybody that I think of as a strong success that I've seen grow at any kind of rate that doesn't have that kind of input on some level. And people may or may not talk about the inputs they have. Not everybody admits to having coaching. But everybody does honestly, and it makes a huge difference. I see it in the people I coach. I see it in the coaching I get. I see it in friends and what happens when they join programs or they and not every program is perfect.

 Not everybody gets what they need, not you know, there's a whole bunch of that's a whole separate conversation, the like, are you getting what you needed? Why are you getting what you were promised? Right? That's a separate conversation. I totally hear you not. Not every program is ethical. Not everybody gives you what they bet they sold you. All of that is true, and it really matters to have outside voices. That's really the key here, because having someone that you can lean on when you're unsure and who really, just truly believes in you, and also will be like, Oh my God, please don't do that again. You're nuts, like you're making yourself crazy, is worth its weight in gold, probably double, right? Because it saves us so much time and energy and drama. Okay, so that's number one. Number two is blank space. I know, I know you're like, What the hell is this list? But here is the thing, the people that I know that do business best, my clients that grow the most, the times I grow the most are the times where I am really intentional about scheduling time to think in my calendar. 

The people I know who do this really well are really intentional about scheduling time for quiet and to think in their calendar. Sometimes it's quarterly trips, sometimes it's just a day once a week or once a month or whatever. Sometimes it's a half day here and there. But I will tell you the people I know who are the most successful are the ones who pause, who take space for themselves, who kind of let things roll around, and then give themselves a little while to process and process out things right? And sometimes they do that with other people, with a coach. Sometimes they do that on their own. But the people that I know in business who are the most successful take space. 

They take up space, and they take space for themselves to think, and I think that is the most underrated thing in business, because if you don't ever get time to put your feet down, put your butt in your chair and just think for a little while and, like, sort out the stuff in your brain, and be like, Okay, here's my plan. Here's this thing. It's like, it's the same reason you come back from vacation with really good ideas, right? Because your brain got to turn off for a little bit, and you got to reset. We all need that. That is how we keep progressing in business. It's how we stay motivated. It's how we stay focused in the right direction. And without it, it just gets really hard to move forward, and things get muddy and we get kind of messy. I'm going to tell you, if there's one thing you take from this episode, it is scheduling time that is blank, that you hold, that you keep yourself accountable to, that you actually take, and you give yourself to think, or you give yourself to watch Netflix, and then you come back later and you have some good ideas, because you watch Netflix, it's amazing. 

Okay, so that's two, and the third one is, I think the most, the other most important thing for me and for again, people I know have been really successful, I keep saying that, and clients who've been really successful, is that all of those people have really quick and simple ways to reconnect to their why, and that sounds like marketing speak, but it's like little phrases, little journaling habits, Little whatever it may be, processes for coming back to like, Oh, I'm here to help people. Oh, I am here to help people in this way. 

This is how I make a difference. This is why I make a difference. Like, I know for me, I just have little phrases that are reminders of like, wait. Wait, this is what I do. I am here to be useful. That is something I must think a million times a day. I am here to be useful. And the way I am useful, the most effective use of my utility and brain power is in coaching people. Truly it is using the best combination of what I know about people in my teaching skills to help business owners grow and help more people. That's it. I am here to be useful. I also think all the time that I am a powerful creator, that one like kicks me right back into like, wait, I am a creator in the things I create have power. 

That is such a fascinating thought to me that it's like, wait, I'm a powerful creator. I gotta come back to that. It's like, I am here to create so that I can be useful. I have powerful creations that help people. And then the last one, I think all the time, is that I am not willing to be the barrier to someone else's success. So for me, it's like, if I'm starting to wander around, if I'm starting to get a little off course, if I'm just stuck, and we all get stuck and we all wander around, is the nature of being human? It just is. I'm not any different. 

The thing I think, is like, I will not be the reason to the people I'm here to help. Don't get the help they need, right? I cannot be the barrier to my success or theirs. I will not be the reason. So that makes me get up and be like, Oh, no, I'm going to go do this thing, because I can't be the reason they don't get what they need. I just can't, like, that's not okay. It's like, I don't know. It's like deciding not to feed your kids, right? Like, just not okay, I'm not going to be the reason people don't get what they need. And if I'm not sharing, people aren't getting what they need. Just is what it is. So for you, what are the things that sort of plug you back in to, like, Why you do this and what you what you're here to do? What are the things that are quick and easy for you to remember? 

The little mantras, the little sayings, the little habits, you know, minds in my journal that are like, Oh, wait, wait, wait, this is why I do this, right? Because those three things together having outside voices who love you and believe in you deeply and also won't tolerate your nonsense, having quiet time to think and then constantly replugging yourself back into what you're really good at, why you're here, why you're amazing. Those things together are everything, because it doesn't matter what you're trying to do, those three things will help you. They will help you move forward every single time. 

The one I did say at the start, there was one thing that came up over and over and over again in this like group thread where it was like asking people what three things every business owner needs that came up over and over again, and it was like no, and the answer was a like any given CRM system, like any customer management, Salesforce, dubsado, whatever it is. I'm not saying that there are not people who need those, but what I will tell you is a ton of people buy them way too early. So unless you have more names and faces and people and contacts than you know what to do with, like, literally, you can't keep track of all the people coming towards you. That's why you need that. But until you have that, you don't need that. And you don't need to be paying for it, right? Like, Oh my gosh, that's the one thing I'm like, please. We don't need those yet. 

Most people I work with don't need them, even the people that are making hundreds of 1000s of dollars. The vast majority, like I have one client in her fifth year of business right now, it's really what she needs. I have two actually. They are in the hundreds of 1000s of dollars, and they are in a place now where it's like, Oh, okay. But they're also building teams, and those teams need access. So that's really more about giving other people access than it is for them. Friends, you don't need every shiny tool most of these people. Most people don't even need a website right out of the gate, if you're talking about what you're doing, the rest of it works out so friends, don't worry about the tech, worry about the talking, worry about the people.

 Get people who are in your corner, and if I, if you would love for me to be one of them, I would love to be one of them. I promise I believe in you, and I promise I will call you on your bullshit. I don't take any nonsense, and I do it very kindly, but also I'm not pulling punches, because that's not my game. If you don't have any space, even just take an hour or half hour to just let yourself think a little bit, right? It makes a huge difference. And if you're looking for some little mantras and you need help, I'm here to help. So. So come. If you're not in the Facebook group yet, come join. It's called uncomplicating business for teachers, helpers and givers. We would love to have you. 

If this is a podcast that's been for you, if you really like these episodes, you belong, trust me. And if you are willing to review this podcast, to like it, to share it, to subscribe to it, we would love to have that, because this is what helps other people find it. And as I said, my job is to be useful, so the more people that we share with, the better. Thank you so much. It is a delight to get to share with you, and I look forward to seeing you in two weeks.