Starting Your Own Business: What I Wish Someone Had Told Me

Starting your own business is one of the most exciting, terrifying, exhausting and rewarding things you can ever do.

Everyone talks about the freedom. The ambition. The dream of building something that is truly yours.

What people talk about slightly less… is the reality.

The long hours. The sleepless nights. The responsibility. The unexpected chaos that comes with leading other human beings.

I started my first business at 22 years old.

I was hard-working, driven, highly motivated and determined to prove something to the world.

I had worked incredibly hard to master my craft and understand my industry. I knew how to deliver great service, how to make clients happy and how to build a reputation.

But running a business?

In many ways, I was absolutely clueless.

And strangely enough, that might have been my greatest advantage.

Because I didn’t yet have the fear that experience later brings. I just had determination and a very supportive husband who was fully prepared to jump into the madness with me.

If you’re about to start your own business, here are a few things I wish someone had properly explained to me at the beginning.

1. Knowing Your Skill Is Only Half the Battle

Most people start businesses because they are good at something.

A craft. A trade. A service. A product.

But being good at your skill is only the starting point.

Suddenly you are responsible for:

• hiring people

• managing people

• handling conflict

• paying bills

• managing cash flow

• dealing with taxes

• marketing

• compliance

• leadership

…and approximately a thousand other things nobody mentions before you sign the lease.

You go from being the person who does the job to the person responsible for everything around the job.

That is a big shift.

2. Staff Will Be the Hardest Part

People warned me about this.

Nobody truly prepares you for it.

Managing staff can sometimes feel a little bit like parenting - except you have lots of them and HR probably frowns upon sending anyone to their room.

When you start a business, particularly when you are young, something interesting happens.

You stop being seen as a person.

You become “the boss.”

To some employees this means:

• you must be making a fortune

• you must never feel tired

• you must never have emotions

• you must somehow be responsible for every inconvenience in their life

In reality, you are usually earning less than you ever have before while carrying all the risk.

It’s a strange shift.

And the newer generations sometimes arrive expecting to be CEO by the end of their first week.

Tasks like filing, cleaning, answering phones or doing the unglamorous work that keeps businesses running can feel beneath them.

But those tasks are often exactly where great careers begin.

3. Remember: You Probably Started at the Bottom Too

I certainly did.

For years I spent every Saturday morning climbing a ladder cleaning the salon windows.

In a short skirt. In the freezing cold. No coat.

Then I’d walk back inside trying not to look like I’d just spent half an hour battling the British weather - because I also had to be the walking advertisement for the company.

That was the job.

You learned humility.

You learned standards.

You learned that if something needed doing, you did it.

That mindset becomes incredibly valuable when you eventually lead others.

4. Set Your Values Early

One of the most important things you can do as a business owner is define your core values.

Ask yourself:

• What behaviour do we expect here?

• What standards matter most?

• What is non-negotiable?

Your values become the foundation of your business culture.

And when difficult decisions arise - with staff, clients or partners - those values help guide you.

5. Boundaries Are Not Unkind

Many new business owners struggle with this.

You want to be liked.

You want to be fair.

You want everyone to be happy.

But leadership sometimes means making decisions that others don’t enjoy.

Boundaries protect:

• your business

• your team

• your standards

• your sanity

Without boundaries, chaos slowly creeps in.

6. Learn to Manage Conflict (Because It Will Come)

Running a business means dealing with people.

And where there are people, there will occasionally be conflict.

Sometimes it’s misunderstandings.

Sometimes it’s personality clashes.

And sometimes it’s someone’s father storming into your workplace because their little darling has been asked to explain why they’ve been absent most of the month and taking two-hour lunch breaks.

Yes, that really happens.

One memorable incident even involved having to host a lecture about the science of hair colour molecules and why they behave differently on towels and white coats.

Spoiler alert: they don’t.

So when we say to be careful with that white towel because that bold red will run.......Its really not rocket science!!

Running a business will occasionally require you to explain science to angry parents.

Consider it part of the job description.

7. Ignore the Background Noise

When you start something of your own, people will have opinions.

Lots of them.

You’ll hear things like:

• “It will never work.”

• “You’re too young.”

• “It’s too risky.”

• “You’ll regret it.”

Sometimes those voices come from others.

Sometimes they come from your own mind in the early hours of the morning.

Learn which voices matter - and which ones are just noise.

Because if you listen to every opinion, you’ll never move forward.

8. Build Something That Can Last

Businesses that survive the long term usually share a few common traits:

They have strong values.

They have clear boundaries.

They have leaders who are resilient.

And they have people who genuinely care about the work they do.

Perfection is not required.

But persistence absolutely is.

The Real Truth About Starting a Business

Starting a business young was chaotic.

It was stressful.

It was occasionally absurd.

But it was also one of the most rewarding journeys I’ve ever taken.

Because building something from nothing teaches you things no job ever can.

It teaches resilience.

It teaches responsibility.

It teaches leadership.

And sometimes…

It teaches you how to climb a ladder in a freezing wind while still trying to look like the professional face of your own company.

And if you can start there…

You can build something that lasts.