Q2 Business Update + Goals For The Next Quarter

Hello and welcome to Q3 of the year! So what if it started over 20 days ago...better late than never, right? Right! 😜So if you’re new around here, I started sharing quarterly updates about my business to give you all a peek inside what it’s really like to start a business from the ground up.They say to write blog posts that you like reading and I love reading these types of blog posts.My hope in sharing these with you is to inform you on what it really looks like to intentionally build a business, encourage you when you’re feeling like you can’t go on, and help you realize that this ‘ish is a twisting rollercoaster that is always evolving and changing.If you want a bit more background on my business as a whole, check out my update from last quarter.

Q2 Business Update + Goals For The Next Quarter

Review of what happened in Q2

Lost a client

Unfortunately, one of my biggest retainer clients and I stopped working together. There was nothing bad or negative that happened, it just turned out that they didn’t need my services anymore.To be honest, I felt relieved. It was a social media client and in full transparency, my overall business goals and vision has shifted from offering social media management as a service.I’ve been doing social media management for 7 years, yes, that is literally since the beginning of time for social media management for businesses, and I feel like I’ve moved on professionally from creating social media content and managing company profiles.Now that the PR side of my business is exploding (more on that later), I don’t have the mental capacity to also be keeping up with the latest social media trends and all of the different platforms. My passion for social media isn’t there as much and I’d rather focus on other services.Lesson learned: A huge lesson I’ve learned this year is just because I can do something doesn’t mean I should do something. While that’s not the most unique thought anyone has ever had, I had to learn the hard way.

Gained 5 new clients

Holy cannoli how did that happen?!Nearly all credit goes to my current clients. They are awesome and refer me to their network and I’m so, so grateful for that.This isn’t to say I had nothing to do with it. Obviously, I had to be doing great work for them to refer meLesson learned: Deliver awesome work to your current clients and they will refer you to their network. Also, talk about want you want out loud (whether it increases your number of clients or sell more of one of your products) and watch what happens.

Hired a Virtual Assistant

Say what? Yup, I now have a VA and she’s awesome. Her name is Jessie and you can check out her Day in the Life here or check out her website here.Hiring out to an independent contractor is not something I take lightly. I struggled with this for months, just ask my mastermind about it 😂But one day, they challenged me and asked: “Do you want to continue being a solopreneur….or do you want to build a team?”At first, my answer was, “Umm...I don’t know?” But right after the call, I knew what my answer was.I wanted to build a team. I didn’t want to do everything on my own. I didn’t want to be a solopreneur.I struggled with this realization though, because that’s kind of what I built my business around, being a solopreneur that can "do it all."And by golly I can’t EVER change my mind because then what would the world think...that I’m flaky? Inconsistent? Indecisive?Yes, I thought people would think all of those things and maybe some people do, but you know what? I DON’T CARE ANYMORE.I’ve been working through some MAJOR mindset roadblocks because I realized I was constantly working from a negative headspace and having negative thought patterns and low confidence in my abilities to run a profitable business. I even started seeing a therapist earlier this year because dudes, if your mind isn’t well, how can you expect the rest of your life to be?There were other reasons I struggled with hiring out and can be narrowed down to three mindset shifts I’ve had to make (and am currently making to be honest).

1. I don’t like giving up control: Yup, I said it. I think many business owners don’t like giving up control whether it’s because they think they’re the best person to do every job or they just straight-up don’t trust other people. For me, it wasn’t me thinking I was the only person that could do the job well, it was that I overcomplicated outsourcing help, thinking it would take me for-ev-er to teach but the time it’s saved me after those initial few weeks after hiring has been so worth it.
2. I didn’t want to part with the money: Yup, I said that too. This statement is kind of the elephant in the room that I find not many people want to admit, but it’s the truth. Investing my money in someone else is a lot of pressure for me to continue at least making the same amount of money. Since I don’t outsource lightly, I don’t intend on only working with these people a few months and then letting them go. Investing more money into my business is scary but I know it will be worth it in the end.
3. Who am I to be hiring someone?: This is the biggest mindset shift I had to make. I had always dreamed of one day building a team of my own to help me grow my business, but I never really thought of what it would be like when I actually did it. I’ve often had the feeling of “well who the heck am I to be hiring someone? I don’t make millions. I should have to suffer through and do it all on my own.” You want to know what that is? Freaking ridiculous! Why am I punishing myself when I have the ability to outsource? Why shouldn't I take advantage of building a business that has the capability to comfortably outsource a few tasks each month?

Lesson learned: Don’t be afraid to hire and don’t let the fear of the unknown keep you from outsourcing. Also, be confident in your abilities. You can do more than you think you can.

[bctt tweet="Check out my business update for Q2 and what my goals are for Q3! #smallbizhttps://brittneyllynn.com/q2-business-update/" username="BrittneyLLynn"]

Review of Q2 goals

Let’s quickly review my Q2 goals before we get to the good stuff: what’s coming up for Q3!

1. Get one more PR clientWell...you can say I DEF accomplished this one. Not only did I get one more, I got 5!
2. Launch a podcastNope, didn’t launch but took A LOT of steps toward making this dream a reality. More on that below!
3. Grow my affiliate income streamsWhile I did increase my affiliate earnings, it’s not anywhere near it could be. I didn’t have enough capacity to focus on this.
4. Launch a digital productI launched my first paid masterclass on August 2nd, so I’m counting that as a goal win, even though it’s two days short of the end of the quarter. If you want to learn more about using PR to grow your business, you can check it out here.

What’s planned for Q3

Podcast launch

Guys, the podcast is launching. Like, for real launching. Omg it’s like a dream come true!To say I love recording the episodes is an understatement. It feels so natural to me.K but let’s back up a second. What the heck is the podcast about, Brittney?!Glad you asked :)The podcast is called Day in the Life and will be launching on September 26. You can sign up for my launch email list if you’re interested or you can join the Facebook group to get sneak peeks of the episodes.What’s it about?Well as you probably I know, I have the Day in the Life series on the blog, where I feature business owners from all over the world, in every kind of industry, sharing what a day in their life is really like.The podcast is based off the series, but features a wider variety of people, including people in all different industries (not just small business owners).I’ve been interviewing people over the last few months, including a Speechwriter for the Dept of Defence, a counterterrorism expert, a DJ, an online life coach, an entertainment assistant (like Lloyd from Entourage), a productivity expert, and more.I’m SUPER excited about this passion project of mine and I can’t wait for it to launch.Join the launch email list or the Facebook group if you want the inside scoop!

Find me time again

It’s no secret I’ve struggled with finding a balance between being a business owner and being an interesting human being that does stuff outside of their business.There are a lot of things I’ve pushed back to the back burner in my personal life that I’d love to get back to.I don’t have a desire to build a huge empire where my life is solely focused on my business. It works for some people but that’s not the life for me.I’m excited for an upcoming vacation in September so I can take some time to reflect and figure out how I can better balance everything. I know there isn’t a perfect solution to balancing everything at once, but I’d like to be in a better mental space after this quarter.

Work smarter, not harder

I know there are a lot of missed opportunities for me to work smarter, and not harder and I really want to hone in on this area, which I think will, in turn, help my goal of finding me time again.I’ve never really setup workflows for my business and to be quite frank, have basically flown by the seat of my pants for the past year and a half and I’m tired of doing that. I need to set up some order and structure for my business so I don’t have to waste brain space on tedious, repetitive tasks.I also think this goes hand in hand with focusing on some affiliate/passive income strategies. Most of the work I do is currently tied to my time, so if I’m not working = I’m not earning money.While that’s fine and dandy to start, I think it’s time for me to look over all of my potential opportunities and be a bit smarter about the tasks and projects I do take on.

Final Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed my Q2 business update and getting a behind the scenes look at what's coming up next for my business.It's interesting, because my word of the year is "Growth" and I am definitely growing in a variety of ways: outsourcing, bringing on new clients, mentally, and emotionally. I can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds!