What I'd Do Differently in Year One (Say Yes and Figure It Out)
Contributed by SBOC Member:
Pat Miller
Founder of the Small Business Owners Community
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Someone asked me: “What’s one thing you wish you did differently in your first year of business?”
When I think back to year one, I had no idea what I was doing. No clue what I was gonna sell, how much it cost, nothing.
I left as an executive at the radio station, started my own business, and the very first paying job I had was making sales calls for a soccer game organizer. 150 cold calls to local businesses.
It felt like hazing. But getting through it made me realize I really wanted this.
What I'd Do Differently
Looking back, two things:
First: I would've embraced sales more.
A lot of you remember this feeling when you started—”I don’t wanna be a slimy salesperson.” Then two weeks went by without a paycheck and suddenly I was selling. Hell yeah, I was selling.
Second: I would've said yes faster.
Stop Hiding in Busywork
When you think about starting a business, it’s like a bottomless pit of execution:
- Set up Google My Business
- Build a website
- Create social media profiles
- Perfect your templates
- Design your logo
- Write your strategy
You can spend months messing around with all that crap. I did.
Looking back? You don’t need any of it.
What you need is one paying client. That's it.
You wanna be a business? Go sell something. Meet a person who has a problem you can solve and ask for their credit card.
Say Yes and Figure It Out
When people offer you an opportunity, even if it’s outside your scope, just say yes.
“Hey, could you do that?”
If the answer is technically “I could”—say yes and figure it out.
We can’t take Fridays off because we’re too busy pretending that we’re busy. All this performative busyness is one of the big pieces holding us back.
So whether you’ve been in business one day or ten years, ask yourself: How much of your time is spent selling?
If the answer isn’t “a lot,” that’s not enough.
Go sell more things.
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Contributed by
Pat Miller
Founder of the Small Business Owners Community
Pat spent two decades in broadcasting management and hosting. After leaving the radio industry, he spent time consulting small businesses and realized the support system for entrepreneurs was broken. Where could you find help for improving small businesses and building real connections with other like-minded people. In June of 2020, the Idea Collective Small Business Community was born.