So many of us have that lofty dream of one day starting our own business. We think about it, we research it, we have it in the back of our mind…but a lot of times it takes something happening to us, that crossroads where we say “I’m ready!”. I’m here to tell you ANY day can be your day “one”, and in this podcast episode we are diving into 4 ways to get you there.

Transcript:

Jen (00:00):
Hello, hello, and welcome to the Talking Tech Podcast, the sonographer’s guide to entrepreneurship. I am your host, Jennifer Lindsey, and this is episode number one. Wow, guys, I’m so excited to start this podcast. I know our audience consumes content in so many different ways; I do too. Sometimes I want to just quickly skim through something online. Other times I really want to listen to a full podcast on my way to the office or while I’m going out of town and just be able to hear the person’s personality and passion for their craft. I hope you all see that in what I’m presenting, and I’d love for you to let me know what else you’d love to hear. I do all of this for you, and I want to serve our audience well. Okay, so for episode number one, I want to talk about putting plans together to turn your dream into a reality.

(00:52)
If you’re listening to this podcast, following along, or reading these show notes on our blog, you have considered starting your own business. So to give you a quick background on myself for this to kind of all come together and make a little bit more sense, I am a small-town girl. I grew up on a farm. I didn’t come from a rich family or business family or have anything handed to me. And although I didn’t know the definition of the word entrepreneurship when I was a kid, I always knew I wanted to have my own thing. I wanted to be in control of my destiny. I wanted to not have a glass ceiling that I had to work under, but like most everyone else, fear, complacency, whatever it is, sets in, and you end up doing the things that are comfortable.

(01:38)
So I went to college. I got a great job making great money. If I had stayed there, I would never have had my own business. And so this was kind of that tipping point for me because my fiance got an incredible job offer in another state. So we got married, we moved, I got a new job, and I absolutely hated it. And when I say hated, I mean hated in the strongest sense of the word. Like I would eat my lunch in my car and cry. Okay? I am not proud of that statement, but I’m trying to keep it real. So this was my crossroads. And I have to say. Honestly, I think there has to be that tipping point for most people because if being in business for yourself was easy, everyone would do it. It’s not easy; it’s hard, confusing, and scary.

(02:34)
But before a lot of people take that leap, they usually have to have that one moment, that crossroads where they say, no more. I’m done. I’m out. I’m doing something on my own. This is when the excuses stop, and action begins. And you guys, this is usually someone’s day one. So all this to say, I am not someone special. I didn’t have anything handed to me. I’m not someone who had worked with someone who had done this before and just followed in their footsteps. I’m saying that if I can do this, anyone can; I am no one special. That’s why I love what I do so much because I can take all the mistakes that we made starting our business, all the hard work we put into all the wrong things initially, and put my nearly 20 years of experience into a tried and true plan for others that are in my same situation, others who are ready to take the plunge to say no more.

(03:33)
I want something for me and my family. And I want to give them something that allows them to put all their hard work into steps that actually work. A tried and true plan; it makes me so happy. I love, love, love what I do. Okay, so enough about me. Let’s talk about you. I am here to tell you today that any day can be your day one. Everyone has a day one; just like I told you, mine, I was fed up. I said, nope, I’m done. I’m going to sink or swim, but it’s going to be on my own. So let’s talk about the four steps to get you to your day one. Okay? So today, we’re going to talk about number one, convincing yourself that you can dream big. You’ve got this; you can do it. You’ve just got to take that leap. Number two, we must get our spouse or family on board, right?

(04:23)
Those close people to us that we want to be in the boat with us when we start to paddle, right? Number three, we want to turn plans into action. And number four, we want to always be evolving so we can start small and grow into it. Done is better than perfect, okay? And then, really, I’m going to add step five here. We can start before we’re ready because you can come up with all kinds of excuses. Don’t be haphazard about it, but just do it because, like I said, done is better than perfect. So how many of us have had the dream of starting our own thing, answering to ourselves, and forgetting that corporate stuff? No more calls, no more graveyard shifts. The list goes on and on. And don’t get me wrong, being a business owner, like I said, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns.

(05:14)
I laughed today with my business partner. He was building crates for a few ultrasound machines and just going crazy in the hallway because that’s not his area of expertise building crates. And I was in the office cutting out name tags with scissors for a seminar we were putting on—so almost 16 years in. And we are not afraid to get our hands dirty with all those little mundane things you would think you know someone’s assistant would do. However, especially when you first start your business and years later, you can still be everything to that business in the beginning, especially when you’re the salesperson, you’re the marketer, you’re the business executive, you’re the janitor all in one. It is crazy, but man, it’s the coolest experience in the whole world, and looking around at what you’ve created and saying, this is mine. Wow, it’s incredible.

(06:05)
So I’m here to tell you, any day can be your day one. So let’s talk again about those four things that are going to help you get there. All right, the number one I mentioned is believing in yourself. So really, having that mindset of yes, I can. I don’t know about you, but my parents have been trying to tell me I’m awesome and I should believe in myself since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, as they say here in the Midwest. And I don’t understand why this concept is so hard for us all to grasp. I mean, I do this myself. You know, I’m here to tell you, though, you have to block out those negative thoughts. And the negative people. Starting your own business is scary. And your brain is going to tell you that. Scary equals dangerous. It is our innate animal senses, right?

(06:52)
Fight, flight, or freeze. So scary equals dangerous in our brain, but this is not always the case. Scary can just equal change, and change and growth are always uncomfortable. There’s never going to be something you do where you’re changing or growing that isn’t a little uncomfortable. And if they weren’t uncomfortable, we’d all have our own multi-billion dollar companies, right? In the end, it would be easy. We wouldn’t have to worry about it. It would be just a piece of cake, a walk in the park. We’d all be where you know, we want to be. It will always be uncomfortable. And that’s when you know you’re moving towards great things. How do you get there? Okay? So we have to educate ourselves, and this is something that is so hard to grasp. Our brain is wired to focus on the negative. It is.

(07:43)
There have been a billion studies out there; look it up online. Our brain focuses on the negative. It’s actually harder to make connections in our brain for positive thoughts than it is for negative thoughts. So we have to teach our brain positive thoughts, and why are those connections on purpose? So how can we do this? We can listen to specific podcasts and lectures, read books, and have motivational mantras we say to ourselves every day, and even though these sound silly, whatever will help you, this is the first place you need to start. Because listen, if you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else is going to believe in you. Who else would believe in you if you don’t believe in yourself, right? So we’ve got to believe in ourselves; that way, we can convince our spouse and family that this is a good idea.

(08:37)
I’ve got the plan; I’ve got things set out. I know I can do this, and here’s why. So that segues into our number two section here, getting our family or spouse on board, okay? I have to put this out there first. When you start a business, or really honestly, when you do anything out of the ordinary, you are going to have haters people. It is inevitable. So we as humans think about this, we like for everyone we’re close to be on the same level as us, right? Think about this. You move up a level, strive to do something different, or heaven, something extraordinary. Get me out of my comfort zone as your friend or family member. I’m going to tell you; it’s ridiculous and silly for you to try that now; why? Because it scares me. So usually that hate, and that can be something little and tiny that they’re saying all the way up to something big and terrible that they’re saying.

(09:34)
But the hate that’s spewing from others has nothing really to do with what you are doing it are. It’s those people’s own insecurities. So know that this is going to happen when you go out on a limb and do something they deem most people would deem as crazy, like ditch your boss and do things for yourself. Okay? So let’s chat about getting that spouse or family on board. How do we kind of overcome that? So you’ve got to become a vision caster. So casting that vision of what you see, what the plan is, you know what we are going to see beyond that initial when they’re thinking, wait, what are you going to do? What are you talking about doing that response? You know, most people have crazy ideas. So we have to have a plan. What if we start slower than we want to?

(10:24)
What if things don’t grow as fast as we’ve predicted or as fast as we like? Or, heaven forbid, what if we fail? So having a plan to pick yourself up after each of these scenarios and sharing those with our loved ones, what’s going to happen if these things happen when they ask those questions, to have that plan in place and explain to them, this is what I would do in this case or this case scenario. This is going to make them feel more at ease with your decision. If you’ve thought about these worst-case scenarios, fix this beforehand. But I have to tell you, you also have to protect that vision because there will always be naysayers, and those naysayers, unfortunately, may be the people closest to you. So you’ve got to follow your gut; you’ve got to follow your dreams and intuition. But there are so many ways to start your business slow and responsible enough that it won’t be so crazy. You know, when you’re trying to talk to your spouse, and you’re saying, this business is going to cost a million dollars to start up, that’s a big argument. You’ve got to make doing something like starting your own ultrasound business is not one of those things. So having that plan in place to start slow and responsibly is a great way to get your spouse or family members on board. All right, so number three, we’ve got to turn our plans into action. Okay, guys, this is where most people get stuck. We think that planning and researching.

(11:53):
And discussing and conceptualizing and making pros and cons lists and to-do lists, we think all of these things move the needle. It moves us towards something. But, most of the time now, not all the time, but most of the time, these are excuses. So when we dilly dally around and make all these lists and spend months and sometimes years doing that, we can say we’re working on our business without actually having to do anything. That puts us out of our comfort zone. And when we do that and are just busy, those aren’t actual income-producing activities. Income-producing activities are those that are going to move that needle forward. Those are the ones that are going to create that revenue stream in your business. Now, I’m not saying to go into business willy-nilly without a plan or a care in the world far from it.

(12:48)
I got anxiety from even saying that. I think a well-thought-out plan and a detailed idea of how to get from A to B is essential. We’ve built a business around just that, helping others start and grow their ultrasound businesses with a specific tried and true plan. But the researching and planning and detailing of all of that, if it’s perpetual, if it’s over and over, it can hinder you. For years, I’ve seen it way too many times. We’ve been doing this for like I said, almost 16 years. It’s rampant. I’ve seen this a million times with people who are excited, but all they do is talk. They don’t ever put that talk into action. So don’t let yourself fall into that trap. You’ve got to put that plan into actionable steps and hit the ground running, even if it’s just a jog.

(13:39)
Just go get out there and do put that plan into action. Okay? So number four, done is better than perfect. Remember, you can evolve. This is something that’s hard for me personally because I am a perfectionist. So I know a lot of you are probably feeling this way. When I start something new, like this podcast, for example, it’s scary; it’s nerve-wracking. I don’t know if it’s going to go well. I’m hoping that it does. What if it doesn’t? What if people say that it’s terrible? You know it, it can be very nerve-wracking and scary in the beginning, but that’s because I’m out of my comfort zone. So it’s something that brings me thinking things like this, okay? Specifically about this podcast, okay, I’m, I’m talking about business, I’m talking about starting a business, growing a business. How am I going to tie all this together into meaningful podcasts over months or years?

(14:35)
What topics am I going to cover? What if I want to branch out later and, you know, add different types of businesses into this? Oh my gosh, my head is spinning just thinking about these things, and I could write down 40 more questions I’ve asked myself. But the point is, you can start small and evolve. I know right now what my audience needs, the people watching what I’m doing, following us on social media, following us on our website, and getting our emails; they are ultrasound techs who want to have their own business. They’ve researched or maybe even started but realize it’s a lot more in-depth and difficult to navigate than they originally thought, and they need some guidance. So I can start with that in mind and build upon it based on what my audience likes. So I can pivot, move, and change with the market when I start seeing what my audience likes and wants.

(15:26)
So for you as an ultrasound tech, maybe you start super slow. Maybe you start with just staffing a couple of doctor’s offices. They’ve got their own equipment. You’re just going in there staffing, and then you realize there are quite a few physicians that don’t have ultrasound equipment or tech, and you can pivot into providing those services as well. That’s something that’s brewing over here in my mind. I think it’s a great way to start if you’re looking to do something super gradual. Growing and evolving is a part of any business, so we shouldn’t be scared to start small. Start with that. We can grow and evolve from there. Okay, so let’s recap. Convince ourselves that we can dream big, have this, and do it, is step number one. Then we must get our spouse or family on board, right?

(16:15)
We’ve got to convince them that, hey, I’ve got a plan in place. I know what I’m doing. I’m ready to hit the ground running. Then we’ve got to turn our plans into actionable steps to get out there and start moving that needle. And we’ve got to realize that we can evolve, start small, start with one idea, and grow upon that. Done is better, then. Perfect. Okay, guys, well, that was my fir first podcast. What did you think? This was scary for me. It was hard, but you know what? I did it, and I know that change in growth requires those uncomfortable moments. I hope that became clear to you today, and I hope you’ll join me on the next show till next time.