I joke, if you can't explain to me what you do in one or two sentences THEN you may not even know exactly what your business is. I didn't truly appreciate the value of a well-thought out mission statement until I listened to recently retired PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi on a podcast simply describe how she viewed and chose to run PepsiCo's various businesses. The company's products range from salty snacks and sugary sodas to juices, water and breakfast food. On the podcast, I was memorized by how she artfully danced around the conflicting products by saying: "We make things that are Fun For You (salt and sugar), Better for You (Oatmeal, diet), and Good for You (water). In those few words, I could envision how they brought Doritos, Mountain Dew, Diet products, water, and breakfast foods all together under one umbrella. The genius in this vision is they want you to have a Pepsi product in your hand NO matter the event NOR time of day.
Owning Your Business
Take calculated risks and get your business up and running without trying to spend tons of money. I can't believe how often I ask someone: "Why do you have a fancy business card, calendars, computers, and chairs if your business is not making money?" Our challenge is NOT to worry about looking the part, simply hustle until you are doing so well that the business forces you to become more efficient. This theme applies to many things in life: Spirituality, Sports, Volunteering, Business...just compete | just serve | just do work.
I'll end with make sure you "Own Your Business". This is a crucial step in setting up your business, also called business formation. You must determine what business structure fits best for you:
- Sole Proprietorship
- General Partnership
- Limited Liability Company (LLC) - Solo Member or Multi-Member
- Limited Liability Partnership (LLP)
- Corporation structure - C Corp or S Corp
Invest in yourself and know the difference from a legal and tax perspective so that you can simply focus on your business. Many people forget that you can change the business structure over time as your company grows. My personal example is I have a very simple business and was perfectly fine being a Sole Proprietor because finding work as a consultant wasn't difficult and I wasn't taking on lots of risk. Well two years later, things are going well and talk of expansion and more growth means a different structure may be needed to manage the new risks I see on the horizon (bigger clients, more services, personal liability).
Why do I do this: Because a long time ago I told myself if I were to bet on anything, I would bet on myself. I know my strengths and weaknesses. Growing up not well off, I decided if I'm going to lose anything (especially money) I only want one person to blame: Me. This was reinforced over time through the greats like Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Jay Z, Dr. Dre, Sean Combs, Master P and now even J. Cole. They've talked about being independent, owning your own masters, negotiating your own deal, being bout it bout it. That what drives me because I've been working most of my life to get to a point where I can make deals on my own terms. Reducing debt, passing up on "wants" as much as possible, valuing every dollar, and investing in yourself will put you on the path that says: If I ever feel like my salary isn't right, my offer is too low, or I'm being disrespected, I'm gonna GO OUT AND NEGOTIATE A BETTER DEAL FOR MYSELF. And if you can do it better: GO BUILD THAT NEXT BUSINESS AND YOU CALL THE SHOTS. If the timing is not right, don't worry...be patient and improve your skills constantly until you're ready to take the next leap.
