No, this isn’t the world-renowned podcast of a multi-millionaire entrepreneur. If you want that, you need to change the ‘F’ to an ‘E’ and press enter again in Google. Or just type in ‘Steven Bartlett podcast’. But, if you’re interested in the trials, tribulations, and truths of a business owner in the South West who has recently opened a unique financial offering (Fractional Finance), then you’re in the right place.

What I’ve realised from building Fractional Finance and my top tips for starting-up

Have passion 

It’s funny. Any time I say to someone that I quit my job – a career that I had been doing for over 20 years – to start out on my own, they immediately start saying what an amazingly big and brave step I’d taken. In hindsight, yes it was a brave thing to do but, it also felt like the most obvious path to tread. It didn’t feel like a big deal because it felt like the right thing to do; I was passionate about making a change for others and I had the expertise under my belt, it was now about making something of my own.

Never stop learning

Whether it was the training I enrolled myself on or the conversations I was having with my mentor and other amazing businesspeople, I realised that I’d been setting myself up for the entrepreneur life for quite some time. I was constantly learning and evolving, there wasn’t an area of business that I didn’t want to explore. When I took the leap, I felt prepared. I had all this invaluable knowledge stored up that helped me flourish in those first few crucial months.

Write a business plan

One afternoon, I sat down with a good friend (who also happens to be an entrepreneur) and the rest is history. After lunch together in London, I found a sunny spot next to a fountain and for the next two hours became engrossed in a business plan. I had found my flow, and I had found my drive. In less than an afternoon, my business was mapped out.

A couple of weeks later, I had a day-long session with my mentor. The plan was to discuss how I was going to make partner in my previous role but, instead, it morphed into a ‘let’s put some meat on the bones of this business plan’ session. I had a solid plan, and I had the means to make that plan a reality. It was an extremely exciting time.

Don’t drown in the ‘what ifs’ (and get a mentor!)

I know that this entry is sounding overwhelmingly too good to be true, but don’t be fooled. It wasn’t all plain sailing. Imposter syndrome began to creep in just before I took the plunge. I kept playing out all the ‘what ifs?’ in my head, worst case scenarios clouded my vision. If it wasn’t for the supportive people in my life – especially my mentor – it could have been very easy to pack it all in and run back to the nine to five.

Thankfully, my mentor was brilliant at grounding me. She kept reminding me that I need to stop worrying about chapter four problems when I’ve barely reached the end of chapter one. She told me, by the time I got to chapter four, I’d have many more tools, skills, and the expertise to tackle the problems that arose. It was far better to focus my energies on the here and now.

She was right. I’ve gone from a having a vision only a year ago to a fully-fledged business with happy, successful clients today. What my initial worries have taught me is that reflection is the best tool in business to keep moving forward.

Launching a business is the best thing I’ve ever done. What makes it even better is that I get to work with start-ups and scale-ups and help them make their visions become a reality, too. If you want to know more about how Fractional Finance could help drive your business success, get in touch today.