How I Built My Small Business
Welcome to 'How I Built My Small Business,' where we dive deep into conversations with guests who've carved out their own path to success. But, we're not only about the creation of businesses. Alongside entrepreneurs, I also chat with experts offering perspectives that'll benefit anyone striving to lead, learn, or improve.
This podcast is both a creative outlet and a platform to share knowledge from incredible people. My guests open up about the raw, heartwarming details of their journeys, offering expertise, simplifying business know-how, sharing money-making ideas, and imparting life wisdom—all through the power of storytelling.
By listening to these interviews and stories, my hope is that you find even one little takeaway that sparks or inspires your path.
While most of my guests make $1 million to $20 million net profit a year, some make more and some make less, but there is a lesson worth learning in each one. I also bring in special guests from brokering and mergers, mindset and meditation, entertainment and marketing, among others. So, the line-up is diverse in niche, experience and perspective - and so, so fun.
Special episodes include:
No College, No Problem
Big business founders with a focus on helpful small business topics
Expertise in hyper-niche fields
The connecting piece is that every one of my guests has started their own business at some point in their journey.
Thank you for listening.
Season 2 drops January 21, 2025. Follow the show so you don't miss out!
My Website: https://www.annemcginty.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemcginty/
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How I Built My Small Business
Bite-Sized Business Insights 4 of 4
Welcome to How I Built My Small Business: Bite-Sized!
I’m Anne McGinty, your host. While we take a break from full-length guest episodes for the holidays, I’ve curated a series of short, impactful episodes to keep you inspired.
Each bite-sized episode features a collection of powerful snippets from interviews, organized by topic for easy listening.
Stay tuned for quick insights to fuel your business and personal growth!
Season 2 drops the week of January 25, 2025.
Subscribe on Apple Podcast , Spotify or YouTube.
Let’s connect!
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Website: https://www.annemcginty.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annemcginty
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annemcgintyhost
Welcome to how I Built my Small Business. I'm Anne McGinty, host of the show. While full-length guest episodes are on hold for the holidays, I've prepared a collection of short, impactful episodes to keep you inspired until Season 2. Let's dive in. Let's dive in.
Speaker 3:Take a look at what you're good at, what brings you joy and what needs doing, and the intersection of those three things is your action. That's where you should be.
Speaker 5:People overestimate how much the mission of the company matters, meaning if you're like, hey, people are going to buy this because we're carbon neutral or because we're this or because we're that, doesn't work, never works. And I think it goes back to that aha around like people don't buy your, why they buy their own, why Now, I'm not saying it's not part of your story, it doesn't matter, but ultimately it's a distraction from the reason they're ultimately going to be buying it right. But ultimately it's a distraction from the reason they're ultimately going to be buying it right. Unless that mission is so tightly wound to people's why, in the first place, it doesn't work. I mean so many brands that once they start realizing that that's a cool part of their story, but not the reason that someone's buying it, can change their business quite a bit.
Speaker 3:Make attainable milestones. That 1% difference can add up and it does. It doesn't have to be this TikTok I got rich in 30 minutes situation, which I think that there's this trend that this is so easy and you could do it so quickly and you don't have to do anything and work two hours a week and you can running this massive business. I think that sure, I'm sure that's possible and I think that's amazing if you could do it. But I also think there's such a power in hard work and just doing, like making those 1% changes and constantly reevaluating yourself to see, like, how you could do better and looking within and saying like how could I be a better boss or how could I make my product better? Or listening to negative feedback, like don't be afraid of negative feedback because even though I'm super sensitive, so sometimes I would be like, oh my God, she like hated something or derived broken, which it's going to happen, but just using that more of like a tool of learning and approaching everything with like a learning mindset. I'm learning all the time.
Speaker 8:I think you got to ensure your spouse is aligned. If you're married or have a partner or financial people that are dependent on you, because it is risky and scary and you buy a business and it might mean you think you're getting a job but there's no 40 hour a week company ownership I've ever seen. So just make sure everyone's on board with this. Set up a time frame and some limits, like treat it like a job. If you have a regular job and you want to do this, then set up like. I'm going to do 20 hours a week for 18 months and see what comes of it and I'm willing to spend $100,000 in costs.
Speaker 3:Learning to let go and set your boundaries is really important. I put my phone away when I get home and I don't look at it.
Speaker 4:I think it's really important just to get experience in your field, whether it's from having someone to mentor you or a consultant like someone who is experienced in the industry, who can help guide you through all the bumps in the road and the struggles, or even just, you know, pick up a few shifts at a shop and see what it's like, because I think to be successful, you really need to understand how to do the job at every single level, starting with you know working the register, hopping on the bar and making sure that you understand what it's like for your team members and for your customers. Otherwise, I don't think you can really expect people to put out a really high quality product and provide good service if you're not capable of like doing it yourself and being a good example for those people.
Speaker 5:Truth is like if you grow something, you have all your clients who are like mini bosses, and then you have all your employees who are like little mini bosses and like you serve them all. And so I always laugh when someone's like, oh, did you want to be your own boss? I'm like not really. I'm like now I just feel responsible for way more people and way more things. But I would just say that, just really tapping into like why do I want to start this business? For a lot of people, it is also financially driven. Like I want that upside of like owning it and I love that. And I totally agree that, like the flexibility of time and the ability to grow your finances are both hugely cool opportunities and they are things that, like you only live once. It is cool to go and do it, whether you succeed or fail.
Speaker 7:Don't be afraid to try new things and be willing to go out and talk with people. I used to be very, very, very shy. Most people would not think that about me anymore, but being able to talk with other business owners, even owners that do the same exact thing, just being able to be open and candid with them, has really helped us and encouraged us to be willing to talk to people.
Speaker 9:Who you're actually competing against is mostly not quality, it's mostly noise. I think that people often overlook small competitive advantages that are actually true, great competitive advantages. Trust is a competitive advantage. Hustle is a competitive advantage. Responsiveness is a competitive advantage. Hustle is a competitive advantage. Responsiveness is a competitive advantage.
Speaker 10:Work hard, stay focused on what your vision is, you know, try to figure that out, which can be hard, and just stay focused on what it is that you want to do. Sometimes there's so many ideas you kind of do need to like narrow it down until one vision or one brand of what that is, and then from there you can expand upon ideas.
Speaker 11:If you're going to start your own business, you really have to be dedicated, and if you want it to be successful, you have to put the time in, figure out what you want to do, write it down, set a timeline and follow that. Write the steps out, what you want to do and what you want to get accomplished.
Speaker 2:Fill up your knowledge and skill buckets first. So if that means working for someone else, getting your knowledge up. But what you put in is what you get out. So I'm constantly educating myself so that I can create more value, and nothing comes to you on a silver platter. You have to work hard for it, and the more you put in, the more you will get out. One thing again, which is quite funny, because we've definitely had to deal with this one hire slowly and fire quickly.
Speaker 12:Get in the marketplace, stay in the marketplace. The answers are in the marketplace. Don't surround yourself with yes people and an entourage. Know your competitor, know your customer, understand your cost structure, the three Cs. But ultimately it's going to be about do you have an instinct and a fire in the belly to say I believe there's a gap, I believe I can tell a better story?
Speaker 2:The biggest challenge is definitely staff. It can be the most rewarding part at the same time watching staff members grow in that. But if you do have somebody in your team that doesn't align with your core values, then it can just bring the whole team culture down your core values, then it can just bring the whole team culture down.
Speaker 6:Don't let any surrounding members of your life tell you that you can't be something or do something. If you believe in it, follow that, and I've learned something at a late age in life. I've done a lot of things in this world that have been successful, but I wasn't successful because I wasn't happy. I did it because I thought that that's what would bring me happiness the first time you challenge yourself and you follow your dream. That's true, true success. And so I just tell people follow your dream, go for it. People out there want to hear your story.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to this bite-sized episode of how I Built my Small Business. If you enjoyed it, share it with someone who might find it helpful, and don't forget to subscribe so you're ready when Season 2 drops. As always, have a great day.
