10 Things to Know Before Starting a Business (I Wish I'd Known Sooner)

This year marks 10 years of being self-employed, firstly as an Early Help Coordinator in schools and then as a Transformational Life Coach online. Looking back, I do so with a sense of pride and achievement, yet there are so many things I wish I'd known before I took the giant leap onto the entrepreneurial path. Building a business has been one of the most rewarding, challenging, frustrating, empowering, and transformative experiences of my life, which has taught me more about myself than any job ever could. So, here are 10 things I wish I knew before I started.

1. The Gods Favour the Brave

There's no escaping it, it takes serious balls to birth a business idea into the world. You and your product/service will be seen, judged, criticised and, yes, rejected, even by well-meaning friends and family, some of which have never come close to setting up their own business. And while the idea of exposing yourself to public scrutiny and being vulnerable can be enough to make most people want to turn away and never look back, the bottom line is that courage is the doorway to greatness.

Once you step out of your comfort zone and into the unknown, something amazing happens. Opportunities that were never available to you start becoming possible, and you begin tapping into internal resources you never knew existed within you. Whether it's deciding to start a side hustle, putting yourself out there on social media, creating a unique product or service, or going all in on promoting what you do, the moment you take the risk, stepping into your courage and the unknown, both your internal world and the world around you will start shifting in the direction of whatever it is you are creating and growing. This is called alignment, it requires faith and self-belief which are key to navigating the challenges and resistance that will arise on the journey.

2. Your Business Will Evolve Repeatedly

Most people want everything to be 100% ready and perfect before they share their products or services with the world. Which would be great if it were possible...but it isn't. The reality is that everyone has blind spots, you don't know what you don't know, lessons are learnt through trial and error, and challenges and failures teach as more than wins and successes ever could. Businesses evolve constantly. Products and services get tweaked. Branding changes. Websites get updated. Marketing strategies shift. Systems, policies and procedures develop over time. Every challenge that arises forces the business to evolve. There's no point spending hours, days, months, or years trying to get everything perfect before you start. Just start. Allow your business to evolve naturally, stay flexible, and adapt as you go.

3. You Will Be Forced to Face Your Limitations and Overcome Them

This is a harsh one - what I call the shadow side of business development. As a species addicted to comfort, being faced with things we don't know, aren't naturally good at, or would rather avoid altogether, is often enough to make us run in the opposite direction. This is one of the main reasons people never start a business or give up too soon. Learning and growth are mentally uncomfortable, and most of us hate feeling vulnerable or clueless.

Growth requires energy. Learning demands effort. Neither feels particularly comfortable, but for those who ride the wave and stick with it, something incredible happens. You learn things and develop skills you never thought you were capable of. You build resilience, strengthen your self-belief, and discover a level of personal growth that few experiences can provide. The sense of pride and achievement that comes from building a business is unrivalled. But you have to be open to filling the gaps in your skills and knowledge by either outsourcing them to people with the expertise you are lacking, who you can learn from and will bring value to your business (this usually requires financial investment), or mastering these skills and tasks yourself.

4. You Can't Do It Alone

This is a lesson I had to learn the hard way. It took me three years to accept that hard work and dedication alone were not enough to keep my toddler of a business alive. There were simply too many blind spots, too much wisdom and experience I hadn't yet acquired and I became very overwhelmed with the world of business development, content creation, marketing strategies, funnels, lead generation etc. I'm pretty sure I nearly gave up coaching at least twice a year during that period. Then finally the penny dropped...I needed help and guidance!

Everything changed once I started investing in business coaching and seeking guidance from people who possessed the knowledge, skills, experience, and values I lacked and needed. Offloading to your mum doesn't count. Whether it's business strategy, marketing, mindset, habits, confidence, leadership skills, or energy work, find people whose message resonates with you and be open to investing in your learning and your business. This will save you endless blood, sweat and tears and fast-track your path to success. Trying to do everything alone will inevitably result in either painfully slow progress or giving up altogether.

5. You Will Have to Face a lot of Resistance

Resistance comes in many forms: Lack of self-belief. Negative opinions from friends and family. Allowing yourself and your work to be visible either online or in the physical marketplace. Investing money in your business. Sales and marketing (which still makes my skin crawl). Spending hours in front of a screen. Learning software and apps that don't come naturally to you (I still hate Canva). Then there are the tech glitches, the quiet months, the complaints, unhappy customers etc.

These challenges are unavoidable and a natural part of the entrepreneurial journey. The key is to address challenges as soon as possible, seek support when you need it, and do whatever is necessary to keep yourself healthy, motivated, and moving forward. That includes making time for rest and fun, which are the antidote to stress and struggle. Maintaining a sense of balance is imperative in building any business, because all work and no play will in time lead to burnout. This will have a negative ripple effect on every area of your business and personal life, so book your annual leave, utilise your free time, do the things that make you feel alive and keep your energy positive and high, because your business will demand it!

6. You Will Need Delusional Self-Belief

That's right! At the beginning, you'll need to believe in something before there's evidence to support it. Not "fake it till you make it" but FAKE IT AND YOU WILL MAKE IT!! Because how can you feel confident about succeeding in something when you've never done it before and have no proof it's possible? The only way to navigate this is to think, feel, and act like someone who will succeed no matter what. That means no hiding, no playing small, no endless procrastination, no avoiding decisions or difficult actions. It's about going all in and trusting that something amazing is waiting on the other side. The vision you hold for your business has to be powerful enough to pull you forward. Your self-belief has to be strong enough to carry you through the inevitable challenges and resistance. Because in the process of building a business, you will shed an old version of who you were, and evolve into an upgraded version of who you have the capacity to be. So when you look at yourself in the mirror every morning, don't forget to roar!

7. The Rewards Are Bloody Worth It

Yes, there are financial rewards. But it's the invisible rewards that make entrepreneurship worth the blood, sweat, and tears. The autonomy. The empowerment that comes from bringing an idea into the world. The impact you get to have on the lives of others and the world around you. The people you connect with. The knowledge, skills, and wisdom you acquire. The freedom to do something you love. To choose your hours and perks. To provide for yourself and your family. To create abundance. To build a legacy. There is no monetary price that can be placed on these things. The beauty of the entrepreneurial journey is that you get to create your vision in whatever way aligns with you, which includes the rewards and benefits. In fact the rewards is where your journey should begin, because when you can see how your business vision will enrich your life, and the lives of the people you care about, this will catapult you forward in bringing it to life.

8. The Only Person You're Competing With Is You

Comparison is completely natural when you're building a business, as you need to do your due diligence and be aware of your competition...plus it helps raise the bar and the standard of what it is you want to bring into the world through your business. Comparison, however, can also hold you back when you use it as evidence to jusitfy the idea that you or your product/service are "not as good" and unlikely to succeed. The bottom line is there will always be someone with better branding, more polished social media content, a bigger audience, more clients, or a longer list of goods/services with unique selling points you wish you could have come up with. It's easy to feel intimidated. But comparing yourself to someone who's been working on their business for 10 years when you're only one year in is unrealistic, unfair, and completely unhelpful.

Millions of new products and services enter the market every day. With over eight billion people on the planet, there is room for yours too. If you're going to compare yourself to anyone, compare yourself to who you were last week, last month, last year. Look at what you've achieved, what you've learned, what challenges you've overcome, and what you'll do next to keep moving forward. Everything else is a waste of energy. And if you are going to be snooping in on what the competition are doing, try and use it to inspire your own greatness and new ideas...many great innovations have been birthed into the world by those who have stood on the shoulders of giants.

9. "There Is No Such Thing as Failure, Only Feedback"

This is one of my favourite quotes. I used to take failure and mistakes in general very personally (it comes from a strict upbringing where mistakes meant severe consequences). But lets face it nobody knows everything about everything...not even Gemini or ChatGPT! When we're learning something new, the chances of getting things wrong are incredibly high. And that's okay, mistakes teach us what doesn't work. Reflection helps us decide what to do differently. Eventually, through enough trial and error, we figure out what the path to success is, and we get to level up! Building a business involves making plenty of mistakes, every single one is a lesson, every single one is a stepping stone. So take the booboo's with a cup of tea, learn from them, and adapt...they make always make inspiring stories in the end.

10. 80% of Success Is Down to Your Energy, Only 20% Is Strategy

This may trigger people who believe operating in their doing/masculine energy 24/7 is the only route to business success. But my personal experience - and what I wish I'd known from day one - is that my energy impacts my business more than anything else. By energy, I mean my beliefs (including limiting beliefs), thinking patterns, emotional wellbeing, daily habits, environment, relationships, and the way I care for and love myself. When my cup is overflowing, I have more energy to pour into my business. I make better decisions. I experience less resistance. I show up more consistently. Opportunities flow more easily. It also means I can give 110% to the strategy side of things when it is needed.

One thing I've noticed personally, over the years is that I've never gone on holiday and not signed up at least two coaching clients in the first week after I return; travel has therefore become part of my business strategy and I try and get away as often as I can. I have developed daily practices which include yoga, meditation, journaling, gratitude, walking in nature and listening to personalised affirmations to reprogram any limiting beliefs I may be holding onto. Energy work is a job in itself and requires dedication and consistency and needs to be prioritised in your work schedule just as much as any other business development task.

One of the perks of owning your own business is you get to decide how to fill your own cup - how to take care of yourself, the habits and routines that nourish you (avoiding those that deplete you), spending time with like-minded people who raise and support you, or better yet inspire you to reach for greatness; and having clear boundaries with those who drain and bring you down. Your business is the physical manifestation of the vision you hold in your mind; when you nourish your mind, body and soul, you allow your business to come to life and flourish with the very energy you pour into it, so do what it takes to protect it.

Final Thoughts

If there's one thing I've learned over the last decade, it's that building a business is never just about building a business. It's about building yourself. The courage, resilience, self-belief, adaptability, wisdom, and confidence you develop along the way become just as valuable as the business itself. So if you're thinking about starting something, or you're in the messy middle wondering whether to keep going, take this as your sign: Be brave. Start before you're ready.

Trust yourself. And keep going!

My Name is Nichola Pyrkos and I am a Transformational Life Coach based in Hertfordshire. I work with men and women online from all around the world, who are feeling lost, stuck, overwhelmed or deeply unsatisfied. Over the last 10 years I have worked with people from a wide range of industries who have wanted to take the giant leap into entrepreneurship including: e-commerce, business solutions, interior design, holistic therapies, photography, and life coaching, to name a few. Business Coaching can include:

• Exploring career options and gaining clarity,

• Bringing a business vision to life through business audits and reviews

• Working on specific business skills including: time management, organisation, staff management, leadership;

• Work around confidence, imposter syndrome, "boss" mindset

• Money mindset work which is connected to self-worth

I've had the privilege of supporting my clients throughout their entrepreneurial journey via monthly accountability sessions and check ins, allowing them to bring their visions to life and grow their businesses from seedling ideas to sustainable profits.

If you've been thinking about starting up a new business or side hustle and would like coaching support to get you started (or to the next level) clink here request a free consultation.

I hope to connect with you soon.

Nichola