The #1 mistake I see DIY entrepreneurs making is:

Mistaking marketing tools for business.

If this is you don't worry, I did this too.

It's an easy mistake to make.

I'd have an idea, register a domain, DIY a logo, and throw up a quick landing page. Maybe create an email address and a social media account for this brilliant idea of mine. And...voila!

I have a business now!

I'd sit back and wait, and...rudely, no one banged down my door to give me money.

Anyone else?

If you're focused on followers, stressed about what to post on social media, feeling at wits end about how to bring money in, and constantly tweaking your website but you don't have customers, you may be mistaking marketing tools for a business.

If you have a website (or a youtube channel or a blog or a podcast) but no offers, no payment systems, no sales calendar, no sales/marketing strategy, no contracts, no bookkeeping, and no/very sporadic money coming in, you may be mistaking marketing tools for a business.

When you haven't learned the in's and out's of business, it's easy to get confused about what business really is.

I laugh at my past self, who had such certainty that all I had to do was throw up an instagram with 1 canva graphic and clients would just come pouring in; how frustrated I got every time it didn't happen.

What did I expect!?

This would be like assuming that since I've seen a lot of houses, hell, I've lived in a lot of houses...so obviously I know how to build a house!

Um...no!

I'd never presume to know what goes into laying a foundation, putting up framing, doing electrical wiring and plumbing and all that shit!I know what houses look like on the surface.I know nothing about constructing a safe, sturdy house that will stand in all weather.

I'd never think that because I've seen houses I know everything about building one.

But this is exactly what people do with business.

We think since we've worked at businesses, and interacted with so many businesses as customers, that we know how to build one.But usually all we know is the surface level of business, because building a solid company that can stand the test of time actually takes some specialized knowledge that goes beyond what we can see.

I've seen this surface-first approach work out one of two ways:

1. The person creates their logo, makes a website and an instagram, and...nothing happens.
   They quit, or they fruitlessly toil on perfecting graphics and mucking about with their website, growing increasingly more frustrated that they aren't making any money and then they quit (or hire a coach to figure out what's not working).
   
   
2. They create their logo, throw up a website and an instagram, and due to a mixture of charisma, good aesthetics, luck, and magnetism, they do attract some clients and start making money.
   After a while, they find themselves in a situation where they have extreme anxiety and imposter syndrome because the lack of foundation causes instability...(they're running with no contracts and they have a client default on payments, it comes tax time and they've never separated their money or tracked their income and expenses, they need help but they have no systems, the initial offer they sold stops selling and they have no clue what to do next, etc)....and they quit (or they hire a coach to help them go back and build a foundation — this one is what happened to me, and happens to many FIRE Dominant Entrepreneurs).
   
   
   

If you're in either of these positions, the solution is the same:

You have to learn about what makes a business, and you need to build a solid foundation that can stand the test of time.

You can’t skip the basics.

Big Love,

Cera 

PS. You know where you can get all of that information, presented in a way that's fun and engaging for squiggly/creative brains, and get coaching support for implementation, and get emotional & nervous system support for doing new scary things, annnnnd  find a community of supportive, like-minded creatives who are also doing new scary things so that they can have a life of joy and purpose and sovereignty with their time & labor and financial self-determination (as much as possible in the waning days of Babylon)?

The Elemental Entrepreneurship Coven.

That's where.

Join us inside and start learning everything you need to build a solid, financially healthy creative business with less stress, and get bi-weekly coaching with Cera, all for just a couple hundred bucks a month.