The Fierce Business Babe Podcast Ep 134: Things I Would Do Differently
Today, I am diving into some of the aspects of my business that I would do differently. I will giving you a behind the scenes look at some of the bumps in the road I overcame and what you can do to avoid them in your business.
Things I Would Do Differently
By: Melissa Lin
Last week, my team and some of my clients put together some items that they wanted to know about. These were items that were specifically around how I would do things differently if I could. Over the years, I've definitely made my own share mistakes and have hit my own bumps in the road and I love that I can share my experiences with you to help prevent you from making any of the same mistakes that I have over the years. So that's exactly what we're diving into today.
If somebody waved a magic wand and took me back in time to redo some of these things, a question I get a lot is, “would you do things differently, Melissa?” and to be honest, probably not. I don't believe in having regrets and I wouldn't be exactly where I am today, right here, right now, sharing all of my experiences and all my road bumps with you if I hadn't made them. However, I would be much further along if I could have avoided some of those bumps as well. So go ahead, grab your favorite pen, your favorite notebook, a beverage. Get ready to take some notes.
Starting My Podcast
So here we go. Things I would do differently. So the first question that popped up was “Would you still have started your podcast when you did?” I love this question because this is something my clients asked fairly often, you know, things about my podcasts, every wants to know the insides and outs of all things in my business and I love sharing that with you. Now, my answer is yes. I mean, I started my podcast a little over two, two and a half years ago now. I've released a brand new episode every single week since starting, which is amazing. That means we have so many episodes for you. So if you're brand new to my community or brand new to my podcast, we have over 130 episodes for you ready right now, which is so cool. What I truly love about this podcast is that this is where I can sit down and really lay things out for you. I mean, I dive deep into my stuff with you on the podcast. If you've listened to other podcast episodes of mine, I share tons of the behind the scenes of my business and podcasts really were a big part of my journey.
When I first started my business, you know, back in 2014, I was full-time in my chemical engineering job. I was working 12 plus hours a day. Commuting, depending on traffic, I could be commuting one to one and a half hours each way. So yeah, two to three hours in the car every single day, just commuting to and from work, which is crazy. So I definitely leaned into podcasts. I had a lot of free time in the car and podcasts were definitely my go-to for business education when starting my business.
I will say there is one thing I would do differently about my podcasts. I would like to give some insight there. I would have had a podcast launch party of some sort. I literally just launched it without promoting it at all. I recorded some episodes, launched it, put it out, let people know it was available and just went with it, which is cool. However, if I were to redo it, I would definitely create more awareness around it before I had officially launched it to really prep my audience for it. There's lots of great stuff in the podcast for you. So I definitely would have had some type of launch party and had a lot of fun with it.
If you're not sure what a launch party looks like, let's go into all the details of what I would do and what exactly a launch party of mine would look like. So if I were to redo it, I would definitely have a launch party. I would prep for a few weeks of letting people know my podcast is coming. I would create an actual launch party, like a live zoom launch party with wine and champagne and like drinks and all of the things to really launch it off. I would have tons of giveaways and gifts for those first few reviews coming in. So lots of things like that. I probably would have even had a launch week. If I were to do it over with different gifts every single day. So that's what I would do if I were to do things differently for my podcast, in terms of the content wouldn't change too much. I love my solo episodes. I love all the details that I dive into with my business and how you can start and grow your businesses and move your businesses to the next level. I love how deep we dive in in the podcast.
Leaving My Nine To Five
Okay. Moving into the next question of things Melissa would do differently. So the second one that I've got here on my list is, "Would you do anything differently around leaving your nine to five?" This is something that I get asked about nearly every single day, especially on any kind of podcast or press interview I'm on. The answer, I would have left sooner, hands down so much sooner. I was really in my own head about what others would think, how they would react. I mean, the stories I told myself about what was going to happen, you know, at the end of the day, just my own limiting beliefs holding me back. So definitely would have left sooner.
So if you would like to actually learn more about my journey, how I left my chemical engineering career, how that shook out, how I didn't tell my parents until after I was two months out of my full-time chemical engineering job, I have an entire podcast episode around it. I may actually have a few, a few podcasts episodes... I do. I have a few podcasts episodes, one specifically pretty recently, a few months ago, um, within the last two months that you can just scroll up and find where I really dive deep into leaving my chemical engineering career. So for those of you who are currently in your nine to five still while wanting to grow your business and leave your nine to fives, that would definitely be something I'd recommend listening to is that episode, because that was me just a few years ago. I know exactly what you're feeling, how you're going through all of these emotions, those limiting beliefs that you've got, because it really wasn't that long ago for me too.
My Social Media
Okie dokie. So let's roll into the third on my list. So we've got, “Would you do anything differently around your social media?” So we have spent most of our time growing and adding value on Instagram and Facebook. Those are our two bigger platforms. If I were to do anything differently, it wouldn't have been around those platforms, it probably would have been around creating systems for social media. I would have done them even sooner. So such as a scheduling tool to automate our content posting, you know, I was doing that by hand the first few years and I just recently in the last few years learned that you can automate this stuff so it can be more hands-off for you. So definitely would have gotten into that a little bit sooner. Something to automate our content posting. So at the moment we use the app Later and absolutely love it. Now in terms of my content creation, one thing that I would do differently is I would have started to repurpose my content so much sooner and started to recycle my content so much sooner. A big lesson I've learned over the years is that we get to work smarter, not necessarily harder, and that includes content creation. So make your content work smarter for you. Not you working harder, but your content working harder, right? You can take one piece of content and also turn that into a few other pieces of the content. This podcast episode also gets turned into a blog and then we pin them on Pinterest and just different things. So you can create so much more content with one piece of content. So, I definitely would have started to recycle and repurpose.
What I mean by recycle is you're also allowed to reuse old captions that you created in the past. We do this, and if you're wondering when you can, like there's no rules. This is your business. It's not like Instagram has rules where you're only allowed to post each caption, like once every six months, you can definitely repurpose. If you're in the newer stages, I would say after about three months or so, you're probably good to start to recycle some of your content. So that incentive may be creating five new captions every week. You're creating four new captions or three new captions and recycling one older one. So you're definitely allowed to do so.
My Investments
Okie dokie. Let's go into the fourth thing that Melissa would do differently. So this next one, “would you do anything differently around your investments?” Now, I feel like this is my response for everything so far, and my response to this is sooner. Sooner, sooner, so much sooner. If I could sum it up in one word, it would be the word sooner. I didn't hire my first coach until after about my first year and a half or so in business. I wish I had much, much sooner. Having a mentor in your corner, really somebody for accountability, somebody who's been there and already gone through it. That would have saved me so much time, a ton of late nights, tons of bumps in the roads and really, since my first hire I have always continued to invest in myself and my business and I'll continue to do so. I'm always putting money back into the business. Always investing, always having someone in my corner. So I definitely would recommend hiring somebody who can help you get there even faster, because why not? Life is not a dress rehearsal like it's happening right now. So let's get more of what you want right now. So definitely would recommend hiring if you haven't yet.
Hiring My Team Members
Okie dokie. Next things Melissa would do differently. The next that we've got here is, “would you do anything differently around hiring team members?” This was not a team member that asked this question, this one was from a client. Yes, I would have done things differently around hiring team members. So, when I hired my first team member in 2018, I really didn't know what I was doing when it came to hiring to be honest with you, it was my very first hire. I felt like a deer in headlights. Number one, I would have hired much sooner and for my first few hires, I would have taken a bit more time to interview to see what other people and positions were out there and have more of a trial or test period with some of my longer term team members. So we have a process now, a pretty extensive process around new hires during the interview process. It really would have been amazing to have had that a few years ago.
So this is something I love to work with my clients on. It is really making sure that you're going through that interview process and that you know what's important to you and your business, right? Do they have the same values as you? Do they have that same vision? Are they going to be working towards that vision with you? If your guys' visions don't align or if their values don't align and that doesn't necessarily make sense for that person to join your team. So I definitely would have done a few things differently in that sense. My first team member hire was back in 2018 and by the end of 2018, I believe I had two team members. I was pretty slow at hiring in 2018. I was definitely taking baby steps, kind of tiptoeing around and I didn't really start to structure my team until about mid 2019. Then I went like bananas and hired a ton of team members, which was amazing. Cause I definitely get that support and it's been amazing to grow with so many team members. Now we have over a dozen team members and definitely continuing to grow. Definitely. Definitely.
My Lifestyle Balance
So next one, things that Melissa would do differently, “Would you do anything differently around lifestyle balance?”, Definitely. What I feel like my answer again, like everything, I definitely wouldn’t have made so many mistakes over the years and if I were to do things differently, I would have added so many more boundaries and have actually stuck to them. So yes, you can always create boundaries, but sticking to them and holding yourself to those boundaries. That's the thing that I know is a big struggle for me and I see other entrepreneurs, so I definitely would have created more boundaries.
I worked a lot in the very beginning when I first started my business and had that mindset to continue to grow, I would need to work even more, even harder. So I didn't really let myself have true balance. My first few years in business, I hit burnout like two really big times and I really didn't have that balance. My first few years in business, which is wild because like now, if you've spoken to me, if you've seen any behind the scenes of my business, it's the complete opposite, like true 180 of who I've grown into now, how my business runs now, I'm so strict with my boundaries now. I stick to those boundaries.
I definitely would, when it comes to lifestyle and balance, would have added so much more play into my day to day, my month to month and my business as well. So for example, Every single morning, the first two hours of my morning are strictly for me. My morning walks, workouts, like my me-time. Cuddle time with my boyfriend or with Pearl, my coffee, my espresso time. I get my espresso time every morning. I really have that balance, that time for me, before I get into any work or any client support for the day, right. I go into my communication portals, my client portals, my programs at certain times throughout the day and keep notifications off so that I truly can stay on task. So I definitely would add more boundaries.
I really would have tried to shift my mindset, reframe my mindset sooner, again, that word sooner, everything sooner, just around me feeling like I needed to hustle 20 hours a day to be successful. I'm at the point now where, and this is how it's been for over the last year, working 20 hour weeks, and continuing to grow the business. So, you know, if you have that mindset too, like some people love to work. Some people want to work 20 hour days. It's definitely not me. You don't necessarily need to work 20 hour days to be successful. So that was a big shift I made over the years. But again, my first few years it was like, I didn't even believe it. There's no way, I was working so much in my business and I felt the only way I could be successful was by putting in more time into the business, which to be honest, like isn't the case always, just because you're putting in a lot of hours into your business, doesn't mean that what you're doing in your business, the tasks, the things that you're doing are even effective. If I'm sitting here and I'm spending hours every single day, planning out podcast episodes for a podcast I don't even have, how is that getting me more of what I want? If I am not focused on some of my big focuses each week like supporting my clients, adding value to my community, selling, that if I'm not focused on those things, I'm not necessarily doing things that are going to help move the needle forward. So I'm going to need to spend more time there.
So as long as you're being intentional about what you're doing and know what it is you want more of, you definitely don't need to be working tons and tons and tons in your business. Will there be seasons and times where I'm working more than 20 hour weeks? Most definitely. If we're about to go into a huge launch or we're doing some revamps in the backend, I may put in a few more hours each week, that's okay. It's definitely a choice, but I know to grow your business, it gets to be your way, your business. It gets to start to grow and scale in the way that you truly want it to, and just know that you get to create whatever business and it gets to run the way that you want it to run. There's not one set way an online business runs, right. I have some clients, for example, who absolutely love one-on-one coaching, private coaching. So they have completely scaled their private coaching program. I have some clients who don't want to touch that. All they want now is passive incomes. They really want to serve more people and serve to the masses. So they're working on creating more courses and hands off items so that they truly can have more freedom, more time and have their business running while they step away for a few weeks at a time, because that's what they want more of and so you get to create the business of your dreams. I really wish I had had that understanding when I first started back in 2014, I do now. And I'm here to share it all with you now as well.
Bonus Key Items
So a few more things that I do want to add that weren't necessarily asked. These are some key items I would have done differently. Especially with my business growing as much as it has over the years. Something huge I would have done differently is hire more specialists in areas that I needed support with. So for example, an accountant that specializes in small businesses, my first accountant didn't necessarily specialize in small businesses. So it was definitely a bump in the road for me at that time. However, I have found an amazing accountant now who really specializes in small businesses and other people who are very similar to it, they do what I do. Same thing with lawyers that work in the same industry that understand what I do. Just hiring more people who are really good at that zone of genius, at that niche that they are in, is another big thing I would have really, really done sooner if I were to do things differently.
So those are a few things I would do differently. This was so fun. I would definitely do this again. If you've got more things, if you loved this episode, send me a DM and let me know other things that you would love to know about me, about my business, on how I would do things differently if I were to start over today. Feel free, send me a DM on Instagram @TheMelissaLin, let me know what those are and I will start to put those together for maybe a version two with other things that we can add to this. Because again, there's so much that we've done over the years and there's so much I want to share with you. I definitely want to make sure we're answering those specific questions that you have as well. So send me a DM. Let me know what that is. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. I’m always going to be your biggest cheerleader so you taking the time out of your day to spend with me truly means the world to me. I’ll see you next time!
Topics we cover include:
When I started My Podcast
Leaving My Nine To Five
My Investments
Hiring My Team
My Lifestyle Balances
And so much more!
Times to check out:
(6:52) When I Started My Podcast
(10:41) Leaving My Nine To Five
(15:22) My Investments
(16:45) Hiring My Team
(19:06) My Lifestyle Balance
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