EPISODE 94 OF THE MARKETING SOLUTIONS PODCAST: WHAT' I’VE LEARNED AFTER 5 YEARS IN BUSINESS

Sonya:
We've been so busy over at Kiss and Linchpin for the past few months, I almost missed my business anniversary. That's right, I have passed a major milestone: five years in business. Statistics show that most businesses fail within five years. This is most often due to a lack of capital, inadequate management, faulty infrastructure, or simply having a product or service that doesn't meet market demand.

Sonya:
So for me to hit that half decade milestone, with no sign of slowing down, is a pretty proud moment. Starting a business has been one of the scariest things I've ever done, it's also been one of the hardest. And since knowledge is power, I want to share with you the lessons I've learned ... some, the hard way ... so if you're just starting out or looking to hit that next level, you won't make the same mistakes as I do.

Sonya:
Welcome to the Boom Your Biz podcast, a podcast for the movers, the shakers, and even bigger action takers in business. I'm your host, Sonya McIntyre-Reid, and each week I'll be exploring the question of what really makes businesses and organizations thrive. I'm on a mission to educate, empower, and inspire business owners and myself along the way.

Sonya:
They say that if you're not failing you're not growing, but that doesn't make it any easier when you make mistakes in your business. The first few years of my business, if something went wrong, I would have sleepless nights for days afterwards. And I would fret that everyone would hear that I'd messed up and I'd be canceled overnight. It wasn't until someone sat me down and said, "Sonya, if you hired someone to do something and they made an honest mistake, would your first reaction be to go nuclear or would you try to resolve the situation with them?"

Sonya:
Well, I certainly do have moments where I want to go nuclear. I know that, at the end of the day, nobody makes deliberate mistakes, and more often than not both parties have contributed to the situation. In my business, it's often a lack of communication that causes the issues: a vague brief, unrealistic expectations around deadlines or project timelines, or the old, "I don't know what I want, but it's not this," that happens every now and then. One thing it took me a while to get my head around was that the only way to really learn is to try something and fail. And if you want long-term relationships with your clients, teething issues are often part of the process. So here are a few of the problems I've faced in the past five years and what I've learned from them.

Sonya:
Number one: relationships are everything. If you've been following along for a while, you know that my business grew really organically at the beginning. I was working full-time for a not-for-profit when a family friend asked me to build a website for their business. I had no idea how to do it, but I figured it out and delivered a finished product. They recommended me to someone else, who recommended me to someone else, and the rest is history.

Sonya:
There are loads of digital marketing agencies out there so it's not enough to do a decent job anymore, you need to build genuine rapport with your clients. And that takes a whole team effort. Nothing makes me happier than getting a message at 4:00 PM on a Friday from a client who wants nothing more to then to say, "These ad results are amazing. I'm so glad I met you," except maybe the messages I get regularly from my team saying, "I love this client."

Sonya:
It's taken a long time for me to get to a place where I'm confident to say to those less than lovely clients, "This isn't a good fit." And it's a lesson I had to learn the hard way. But our no high maintenance client policy means that my team are much happier. And when we're happier, the quality of work we produce is so much better.

Sonya:
The next lesson: things won't happen as quickly as you want them to. I thought that I could start my business in January and have a massive agency by the end of the year. Not only is that sort of thinking incredibly unrealistic, but I am so grateful that that didn't happen. You need time to put systems in place. If you grow too quickly, it becomes one big old mess.

Sonya:
For us, I needed to figure out our onboarding process, invoicing workflows, and more. This is where trial and error comes in. If I had been juggling training team members, onboarding new clients, chasing up invoices, and trying to secure new business all at once, things would've fallen apart very quickly. It's like playing a video game; you don't start at level 10, you start at level one and work your way up. Things that you learned in level one will help you at level 10, but there's no way to shortcut your way there.

Sonya:
One thing that has helped me was to keep a wins list in my phone: when I had to register for GST, hiring my first contractor, then my first full-timer, every time I met a new revenue target, plus screenshots of messages and emails from happy clients. Keeping track of your progress and milestones, so you can look back and see how far you've come, will help on those days when you feel like you're a business failure. And believe me, no matter what business you're in, the day will come. Sometimes it'll come several times a week.

Sonya:
As I said, you don't want to grow too quickly, especially if you don't have a solid foundation in place. I'm seeing this exact thing happening to a friend of a friend, who has an in demand service and is growing her business at lightning speed. She has four times as many clients as I would expect someone at her stage of business to have, and maybe half the staff required to service those clients well.

Sonya:
Her churn rate of both clients and staff is absolutely staggering. And I can't help but think that if she slowed down while she's still in the stage of developing systems and processes, took a little more time to hire staff to make sure they're a good cultural fit, and waited until she had the money to invest in team training before introducing new services, she would be able to build that solid foundation. What she's doing right now is building on shaky ground.

Sonya:
If you're in the same place, I know you're impatient. Believe me when I say that the systems and processes will save your business and also your sanity. If something happens to a member of your team you want to make sure that the work can go on. So make sure that each team member's roles and responsibilities are clearly outlined, and that those day-to-day processes are documented and documented well. Systems and processes also mean that any new team members that come on board will have a clear roadmap for how your business operates from day one. And that enables you to provide consistency of results to your clients.

Sonya:
Next up is cash flow, and what I've learned about it. It's painful to look at your bank account and think everything's on track and then get a massive tax bill, and then invoices from your contractors, and then your team's payroll expenses. As I mentioned at the beginning of the episode, most businesses fail due to not being able to keep up with their running costs. And there are a lot of costs you may not have even considered when you sat down to write your business plan.

Sonya:
For example, we spend at least 4,000 a month on our tech stack. These are things like content schedulers, graphic design software, and other subscription, not to mention running costs when you have a team. I've always put at least 30% of every payment I receive from a client into a separate account. This means I'm not scrambling to find money, come tax time. That doesn't mean I'm a paragon of financial virtue. I made some poor financial decisions earlier in the year, and I had to have a good look at our expenses and where we could trim the fat without sacrificing on the quality of our work.

Sonya:
I know that many of us go into business for financial freedom, but I want you to take those rose colored glasses off for a second and really hear me. You may not get there in your first year or second or even third. I didn't even pay myself a regular salary for four years. And when I started my business, I didn't leave my full-time job until I knew the business could cover my living expenses.

Sonya:
Small business owners are often guilty of biting off more than they can chew, which, as we all know, can lead to burnout. Which leads me to my next point: your health comes first. I've done a few episodes on burnout, but if you're a new lister here are the CliffsNotes of my journey, from the brink of being very, very unwell as a result of going too hard for too long.

Sonya:
The timeline of what we've dubbed the disaster years started with me breaking up with my long-term partner of around seven years, followed by me moving back to Albury from Melbourne, being caught in not one but two major bush fires in the space of a fortnight, my mom passing away after a long health battle, getting caught in the UK right when COVID hit, and then trying to run a business with the uncertainty of COVID. Which all culminated in me getting pneumonia and being told that slowing down was no longer a suggestion, it was absolutely essential if I wanted to avoid even more serious complications down the track.

Sonya:
The ironic thing? This all happened before my team grew. And when I had to step away for almost a month, things kept rolling. Sure, there were hiccups, but it wasn't the dumpster fire I thought I was going to come back to on my return. Work is always going to be there. Your health is a little more precarious.

Sonya:
I had to take a really hard look, not just at my business, but at my entire life, to identify the habits and behaviors that weren't serving me. And there were a lot of destructive behaviors I had to give up. On paper, it might seem like I was doing the right things. But, for example, I was exercising a lot. Healthy, right? Not so much when you're running on just a couple of hours sleep and six coffees a day. I was doing loads of cardio as a mean to reduce my stress, without realizing that I was putting even more stress onto my body that was already running on fumes.

Sonya:
The thing that made the biggest difference to me: sleep. I know what you're thinking, "Duh, Sonya." But for a long time I would stay up as late as I needed to in order to get the work done, rather than keeping an eye on my workload, delegating more, and communicating to clients that tasks may take a little longer than anticipated. I subscribed to hustle culture, and I thought that people who prioritized sleep over their business were unambitious or lazy.

Sonya:
I am not too proud to say that I was wrong though. Now I am a card carrying member of the eight hours a night club and a frequent napper. Sleep is vital when you're running a business. You need energy, you need to be fairly even-keeled emotionally, and you need to be able to get through the workday without having to take a nap; most of the time. It sounds trite, but your health really does come first.

Sonya:
I also had to take a look at the business and how it wasn't serving me. I was constantly tired but wired, always on edge. I was anxious to take client calls. And it felt like the client calls just did not stop, all day long. Nowadays, as I mentioned, we only work with the clients we genuinely like, who respect our working hours and our boundaries. Plus, I have grown a team behind me.

Sonya:
Other the changes we've made include setting work hours. Sure, there are times when we all have to pitch in and work long hours. But, for the most part, we stick to normal business hours and try not to respond outside of those. We have our deep workday on Wednesday, where we don't take any client calls or meetings so that we can have interrupted deep focused time or to push some of our bigger projects forward. And just this week we made the decision to ensure our team all have at least one week of leave booked in so they have a real break scheduled and something to look forward to.

Sonya:
For me, personally, changes include: switching off notifications when I'm off the clock, working with a PT so that I'm focusing on strength training rather than cardio, scheduling in regular long weekends and time off, and reducing my caffeine intake, because ... and here's my next point, if you're jotting these down ... "What's good enough to get you there won't keep you there." This is one of my favorite quotes. In our industry, you must be innovating, learning, and looking for new opportunities.

Sonya:
Can you imagine hiring an agency who focused solely on blogs and organic content and ignored TikTok reels and Facebook ads? I look at other agencies that started off as traditional media agencies, think print media and PR, who have tried to move into digital and have fallen flat. While it was certainly a smart move, going into a space with unlimited growth potential, they usually don't have the flexibility and responsivity that is naturally baked into digital agencies. The landscape has changed, and that means that in order to survive you have to change with it.

Sonya:
It can be tricky though. It's hard to strike a balance between: how do I get through this workload and deliver, but also how do I stay up-to-date? There's no easy answer to this. But how we aim to navigate this is by making sure that, if a team member wants to upskill, we give them all the resources and the permission to free up time to do so.

Sonya:
We did really well for a month or two, upskilling, when our team was shiny and new. But lately, I'll admit, we have slipped back into old habits. And this is something that we do need to work on. Our plan is to block out a day a month for each team member to upskill and to work on a cross-pollination of our team's skillset. This doesn't mean that our advertising team will have to step in and create organic content if we get stretched too thin, just that when they're talking to clients about organic content they understand the basics and can contribute to our strategy sessions from a more informed perspective.

Sonya:
You have to be hungry to keep learning. If you're not, no matter what business you're in, maybe it's time to take a good look at what you're doing and ask yourself if it's really what you want to be doing. And if members of your team aren't keen to learn anymore, you need to ask yourself why. Are they overextended, and the thought of adding one more thing to their plate is too stressful? Are you asking them to learn something that's way out of their job description, without discussing additional compensation? There are a number of reasons why someone may not want to add more to their workload, so fostering a culture of communication that is honest is key.

Sonya:
Which brings me to my next point: your team is your business. It took me almost four years to employ a full-timer on my team. I wish I'd done it sooner. Up to that point, I'd been trying to piece together a team with contractors, outsourcing, and doing the bulk of the work myself. Here's what I learned: you're never going to grow until you level up. Hiring full-time staff was a rite of passage for me that signified going all in on my business. I wasn't just doing it for me anymore, I had people relying on me for a paycheck. And while, yes, I had to pay contractors and outsourcers, there wasn't the permanency of those arrangements that you have when you're a legitimate employer. Hire before you're ready, and you'll be amazed at how quickly your business grows.

Sonya:
I wasn't looking for an in-house web designer and photographer, but when Isabelle joined us as a part-timer to help out with organic content, she quickly stood out as someone we couldn't afford to lose. So we created a role for her and now she's with us full-time. And I wish I could clone her.

Sonya:
We're in the process of hiring two new staff members. And while it may make things tighter, cash flow wise, it does give us room to grow. And, believe it or not, we've actually signed about five new contracts in the last four days, meaning I've almost maxed out these new team members. So we're looking to hire again.

Sonya:
I believe you should grow your team before you need to, rather than hiring someone who isn't a great fit because you're desperate for staff. I've done that before and it's come back to bite me on the bum. You'll find that, as your team grows, you'll have people doing the same job who go about it very differently. Which brings me to a leadership principle I've recently learned that has been an absolute game changer: don't dip down. This is a reference from one of my favorite books, No Bullshit Leadership.

Sonya:
What don't dip down means, is if you are paying someone to do a job you don't jump in and do it for them. Just as I had to learn from experience, so does my team. And my role is to give them the space and grace to figure out things on their own, only stepping in when required. I have been guilty of dipping down, as I'm sure many of you have, and it's a really difficult habit to get out of. But at the end of the day, my team are incredibly capable. They wouldn't be on my team if they weren't. It also means that I can trust them to take complete ownership of clients and I can play more of an overseer role.

Sonya:
I'm very honest about the fact that my team is better than I am in certain areas, so it's better for me to step out. And I wouldn't feel comfortable letting go if they weren't capable. In fact, I've noticed that I become a bottleneck when I start jumping in and getting involved. So by acting in a supporting role, I can remain detached and give a bigger picture perspective than if I knew every single thing about a project.

Sonya:
Another thing I learned from No Bullshit Leadership, that ties in here, is the one head to pat one bum to kick principle, that is: the same person who's accountable when things go wrong is the same person who gets praised when things go right. It seems unfair to me that if things go wrong ... and they do, in any business ... the person that gets the blame is the one doing all the grunt work, but when things go right it's my victory, as the business owner.

Sonya:
One thing I've been working on lately is making sure that our clients understand that I'm there in a supporting role. I don't have ownership of their account, the team member managing their account does. If something isn't right, they need to be talking to the person who's going to fix it. Of course, if there's a real clash, I want to hear about it. But just as I give my team the responsibility and the credit, I want our clients to do the same.

Sonya:
This leads nicely into my second last lesson: no one has their shit together, despite what you see on social media. This is a big one for me. When I was going through a really tough period, 18 to 24 months ago, I thought everyone else had it easy in comparison to me. And that's just not the case. When people talk about business, they seem to be speaking with so much conviction that they knew what to do, that it really threw me off. I didn't know what I was doing a lot of the time, I was just going with the best options that I could think of with what was presented to me.

Sonya:
Hardly anybody tells you about the tough times when they're going through them. That's why you'll see so many posts and podcasts around what I'm talking about today: the lessons learned. You're never going to see me doing Instagram Live at 10:00 PM on a Friday night, talking about how I'm still at work because we've had a monster of a week and half the things on my to-do list didn't get done. But that still happens every now and then. I couldn't talk about the disaster years while I was in the middle of the disaster years because I didn't have the distance to identify and incorporate the lessons yet.

Sonya:
The truth is, everyone goes through this in business, no matter what your business is. The growth comes when you can take a step back and ask yourself the tough questions. I've been through a period of intense self-reflection, I don't want to be the type of person who thinks that they're not the problem. I want to observe my behavior and grow as a boss and a leader, which means taking a good, hard look at yourself. If something happens with a team member or a client, I ask, "How did I contribute?" Because I guarantee that you did, whether intentionally or not. Often, it's as simple as not making the effort to maintain the relationship with a long-term client or being too casual about a project that means a lot to them. Look internally before you look externally, because I can guarantee that you're not completely innocent in any situation.

Sonya:
And, finally: make sure you celebrate your wins. I mentioned it briefly earlier in this episode, but it bears repeating. It's so important to celebrate your wins. Which is why I thought we'd host a little competition to celebrate my five years in business. I wouldn't be where I am today without the support of my local community in Albury–Wodonga, so this one is for you.

Sonya:
Here's what we're giving away: a bottle of Vintage Cuvée Sparkling from our friends at Posh Plonk. A selection of take home meals from our friends at Clancy's. A session with the man who has turned me into a much stronger woman, my PT. A book pack of my favorite books to up-level your business knowledge and leadership skills. A facial and skin assessment from our amazing client, Lux. A 40 minute marketing strategy session with me. A thorough order of your social media accounts with our content specialist, Lib. A mini photo session with our photographer, Izzy. A Facebook ad's audit with our head of digital and my business partner, Nams. Five car washes from Suds City, Albury or Wodonga. A $100 Albury Brewhouse voucher. And a Dalcheri voucher valued at $100. This prize pack is valued at over $3,000, so make sure you look for the competition post on the Kiss Marketing Instagram and Facebook pages and follow the instructions. Enter there.

Sonya:
I hope this episode has been helpful and I can't wait to update you again when we hit the decade mark. Here's cheers to five years.