Episode 25 | Starting This Mess

In this episode of the Messy Back-End of Entrepreneurship, our expert, Amy Rasdal shares how to avoid the 3 major mistakes and pain of starting a business.

“Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.”
-Eleanor Roosevelt

AMY rasdal

Business Consultant

I am hesitant to start my consulting business or grow it for fear of making a mistake. What kinds of things should I be looking out for?

Making mistakes happens to everyone, but often they make a big impact on your business.

She shares her 3 major mistakes so it can save you a lot of heartburn and money.

The first mistake is not charging enough. We need to charge what we are worth. We often don’t because of fear. It is the fear that if we price too high we won’t get the work. It is the fear that you are not worth it. The fear that they will throw up their hands and laugh in your face. It is always fear!

Have the courage to charge what you are worth. I earned it. I deserve it and I am worth it.

2. The second mistake is taking up residence. If you give one client 40 hours of your space then you become an employee. You don’t have the benefits of a real full-time employee, but you lose the benefits of being a consultant. People often do it for stability. Decide what your superpower (zone of genius) really is.

Be a superhero with superpowers earning super pay.

3. Mistake number three in consulting is thinking that you can bill more than 30 hours a week. If you think you are going to work 50 hours a week than there is a tendency to set your rate too low. If you are billing more than 30 hours a week you will not be able to take the time to build and grow your own business. If you choose to bill more than 30 hours a week you are going to stop networking, marketing, business development and some months down the road your pipeline is going to dry up.