Top lessons from 3 years in business

BUSINESSSUCCESS

4 May

Written By Hugo Korhonen

I started my business on May 9, 2021.

Soon, it will be 3 years from that.

Time has not gone fast, lol. It feels like ages ago.

And during all this time, I've made both months of €0, and €17,500.

The journey has had a lot of ups and downs. And today, I'd like to share some lessons I've learned with you.

Let's start, my friends.

1) Qutting is a superpower.

Many think quitting is for losers. But it's for winners too.

You need to know when to quit stuff that doesn't serve you.

During these 3 years, I've been quitting many things. And putting other stuff on hold for the future.

When I started my company, I thought I'd want to work with businesses - take photos for them and so on.

Once I had worked with some, I realized, it wasn't for me.

So I quit it.

Nowadays, I rarely work with other companies - just because often I don't enjoy it.

I'm happy I quit.

If you don't quit things, you might end up where you do not want.

But Hugo... how do I know when to quit?

I'm glad you asked.

Steven Bartlett, the host of a popular Podcast The Diary of a CEO, has provided this kind of a formula to us.

Use this to determine whether to quit or not:

Ask yourself: Am I thinking of quitting?

If Yes...

Why are you thinking of quitting?

"Because it's just hard"

In this case, is the challenge worth the potential reward?

If yes, don't quit.

If not, quit.

What if you're wanting to quit because it sucks?

Can you make it not suck?

If not, quit.

If you can, is the effort it would take to make it not suck, worth it?

If no, quit.

If yes, don't quit.

That's the formula.

I'm proud of the things I've been able to let go of.

It's good to quit things that don't align with your vision.

2) "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain"

That quote always hits home for me.

If there is a skill every entrepreneur should master, it's that one.

Dancing in the rain.

The life of an entrepreneur can be wonderful. But at times, it sucks, lol.

At times, you'll feel immense pressure, you feel you've made "huge" mistakes, failed embarrassedly, and everything seems to go to sh*t...

But you can't flee.

Especially if you don't have employees.

If you stop working and go hiding, your business will go down.

Staying on your foot - and having faith that everything will work out, is crucial.

If I did not have faith everything would end up fine, I couldn't be a business owner.

3) Build a business around your dream lifestyle

This is something I didn't know at the beginning.

I've always loved travelling. And that's what I've dreamt of doing a lot. (And thankfully, I have got to do it quite a bit so far.)

But many can get trapped in building a business that doesn't match their dream lifestyle.

Such as, if I build my business based on working with clients in Finland... I'd be stuck here, wouldn't I?

But, if I educate people online, I can be anywhere, right?

The same thing when I'll be soon selling digital products. (Such as Lightroom Presets. Join the waitlist here.)

Then I can travel, take photos, and spend some time on my computer.

That's what I believe I'll really enjoy.

Why am I not doing YouTube consistently now?

Because I hate editing the videos.

Honestly, I can't think of a worse thing. Even finding invoices to my accountant sounds more appealing.

Would editing the videos be part of my dream lifestyle?

No.

Would filming them be part of it?

Yes.

That's why, I'm gonna find and hire a video editor at some point.

I want them to take care of everything about YouTube I dislike. This way, I can enjoy my life - and business more.

And when you do have a better time, you'll do this for longer.

And the longer you do this, the more successful you'll be.

Don't build a business around a lifestyle you do not want.

4) The importance of friends

I believe you know having friends is important.

But when it comes to running a business, I find it to be even more important.

Why?

Because this can get very lonely at times. And you'll be stressed, want to cry... and you wish someone else would understand what you're trying to achieve.

When I started, I didn't have many friends who shared similar dreams.

So when there were obstacles and hard times... it was tough to navigate them.

Now a few years later, I'm happy I have more people around me who I know I can talk to.

And people, who are also going for their dreams. So they understand me.

Finding like-minded people is one of the most important things when going for your dreams.

Don't ignore that, like I did.

5) It's not done before it's done

Whenever you're negotiating and trying to close a client, don't ever assume it's done before you have the money in your bank account.

There are many people I've tried to close, and we've agreed verbally to something.

But then, they've backed out.

The lesson?

Either, get the client to sign something. Or get them to pay at that moment.

If they back out and think about it, 99% of them won't come back. And you've missed out on earning - and helping someone solve a problem.

6) Hire an accountant

Getting an accountant is the single best thing I've ever done with my business.

I don't know where on Earth would I be without mine. And how much money I'd lost otherwise, lol.

An accountant isn't free, of course.

But an accountant will probably save you money - because they know what you can deduct from taxes and so on.

And - if you aren't a fan of doing taxes, you'll also save a lot of headaches.

If you don't have an accountant yet, and you have a business, get one. You won't regret it.

This brings us to number 7...

7) Are you bad at a thing? Don't try to get better.

Now, what do I mean?

Can't we humans improve?

Of course, we can. We have nearly limitless potential.

But - the better question is - does it make sense to try to improve?

Let's take singing as an example.

Am I good at singing?

Not at least yet.

Could I get ok or good at it?

I believe so.

Could I become the most famous singer?

Probably not.

Why?

Because I'm not naturally talented at singing.

I, personally, would rather focus on improving what I already am good at.

That's how one can become "one of the best".

I believe that's how one's energy is spent much better.

When it comes to business, the accountant hire was also because of that.

Am I good at accounting?

Well... no. But I've never tried it.

But - I know I hate the idea of it.

And when I can hire someone who probably enjoys the process more, why not just hire someone instead to do it?

My accountant:

1) is better than me

2) lets me focus on what I'm good at - and

3) saves me time that I can spend improving skills I want to get better at.

This is how I see it:

Like the thing and want to improve further?

Don't outsource it.

Hate the thing - and don't see why to improve?

Outsource it.

When you get someone to do the work for you, you might make more money. Even though, you must pay them.

This is because you get to focus on what you're good at.

8) Everything is moving towards chaos

The Law of entropy, the second law of thermodynamics, is something I find fascinating.

And I view this as in the context of business.

Everything is moving towards chaos. UNLESS you put energy into the system.

If you stop doing content (if your business does that), your business is heading towards chaos.

If you stop reaching out to clients, the business is heading towards chaos.

If you stop anything, the business, and your life, are moving towards chaos.

You either:

Head towards chaos
You stay still (you maintain your current position by putting some energy in)
You get further from the chaos

Understanding this opened up my world.

This is literally a law of physics. There's no way to go around this.

I understood that I must put energy into things that I care about. Otherwise, they're all the time one step closer to getting destroyed.

(The same applies to going to the gym. If you skip it, your body is more rapidly heading towards chaos.)

9) Rest is for winners

When I started my business, I thought I must work 24/7. And that it'd be "cool" to work so hard...

I could've not been more wrong.

Should you work hard?

Of course. But not all the time.

Those who understand the power of rest will have it easier in life.

Geniuses of the past have used them to their advantage - such as Charles Darwin and Leonardo Da Vinci.

Find moments to rest. Whether it is going for a walk, meditating, sauna or the gym.

(It is mental rest.)

This is how you recover better, you can focus better, and achieve more.

You're not a loser for resting. You're intelligent.

10) Know your numbers

If you do not know why should someone pay you X amount, why would they?

In the past, I offered to take random photos for clients.

If you got an email like this, would you find it valuable:

"Hey, I'm Hugo. I'm heading to North. I was thinking I could take some photos for you whilst there. Here's my work. Talk to you soon."

Now, I've never sent an exact email like that, lol.

But close to it.

What's wrong with it?

I don't say how they would benefit from getting my services.

I don't show how they would be able to earn more with better photos.

If I said instead:

I saw your photos in the ads you run on Facebook. I feel you could get 3-10x more leads by using my photos.

Why don't you let me come and take photos for you? And if you get better results, that's only when you'll pay."

And then you specify how much.

Often, a simple rule for this is, that you charge for 10x less as they'd be getting.

Such as, if you made a company €100,000 within 12-24 months, you could reasonably charge €10,000. That would be fair, wouldn't it?

11) Health, health and health

Health is something you must take care of. Especially, as an entrepreneur.

If you don't exercise, sleep well, eat well... you'll be tired.

And when you're tired, you'll get less stuff done.

And that affects your revenue.

I can't tell you how much I've learned about all kinds of health in the past few years...

from how glucose works, what foods give energy, what foods can improve your focus, help you learn better, when to stop eating, when to take in your caffeine...

it's a big rabbit hole you can dive deep into.

And I recommend to do so.

When you understand your health has a direct correlation to how well your business does, you'll latest then take it seriously.

12) Pricing stuff higher can be intelligent

When I made my 2nd course in 2023, I put the pricing low.

It was €77.

Later, I've come to learn something cool...

Those who pay more, pay more attention.

Those who pay more attention, care more.

Those who care more, are more likely to see results.

The more premium price you charge, the easier your life is too.

And the more you can invest in the clients' success!

It's a win-win for everyone.

When you price stuff low, some people won't even bother going through what they bought.

Instead of pricing yourself low, think:

How can I add more value so that I can increase the price?

This way, you'll get to your financial goals faster. And your clients will see results faster.

Of course, setting pricing low with some products is intelligent.

But it's intelligent to have higher-tier products and services for those who can afford them.

13) Setting goals is crucial

Not because of the possible achievement of it...

But because it gives you direction.

You know what to work on - and so on.

There are many ways to set your goals.

I set them in OKRs - Objectives and Key Results.

I have written more about them here.

But being specific about what you want, is important. And knowing how to get there.

I currently have an extremely specific business mind map (yes, a mind map) that shows me a high-level plan for years to come.

But I am working on 3-5 goals at a time.

That's how I don't spread myself too thin.

And that leads us to our last point...

14) Focus on 1 thing (ideally)

When I started posting on social media especially, I thought I must be on every platform.

I was on:

Instagram
TikTok
YouTube
X
LinkedIn
Facebook...

And I might be forgetting some other ones too.

I tried to be everywhere. As many "gurus" were recommending that.

But that couldn't be further from the truth.

If you try to do many things at once, you'll spread yourself too thin.

Rather, be amazing at 1 thing - rather than being "ok" at many.

Currently, I am doing IG as the only social media platform because of this.

And along with this, I am writing this Newsletter.

That's the content I do. And that allows me to master this stuff.

And I believe this will take me much further compared to trying to do everything.

And - it's much easier and more fun too.

Last words

Hope you found this interesting, my friend.

I'm grateful to have a business. It's tough at times, but it is also rewarding.

Are you looking into starting your own business (or growing it)? And using social media as a tool to market your stuff?

If so, consider applying to my Social Media 1-1 Coaching.

I happily help you build on social media - and help you grow your business faster.

You can apply and join the waitlist here.

I look forward to sharing more knowledge with you next Saturday. :)

Till then,

Hugo

P.S. If you enjoyed this, feel free to forward this to your friend.

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P.S.S. May the 4th be with you all, lol. Especially you fellow Star Wars fans.

Hugo Korhonen