Why Are You A Business Owner
Download MP3Hello and welcome to the Service Based Business Society podcast. I am your host, Tiffany Ann Botcher. On our weekly episodes, we will dig into everything you need to know about scaling your service based business without losing sleep. With my experience in creating over 7 figures per month and a passion for marketing, finance, and automation, this show will provide tangible tips and techniques for scaling your business. Let's get started.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Hello, and welcome back to another episode. Today, we're gonna be talking about something slightly different, slightly less specific about your business, and we're really gonna be talking about remembering why you started. So I was recently scrolling social media and saw a post that said, if you are a parent who can sit in the crowd and cheer on your kid no matter what time, you are successful. And it really hit me, and it really reminded me of why I left the corporate space and started my own business. And a couple of weeks ago, we were talking a little bit about my time leaving corporate.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We were talking, you know, loosely about how I had been bought out and started my business and how it was kind of a big scary step. And it really reminded me as to, you know, that discussion and then seeing this post really kind of reminded me in terms of why. Why do we start our businesses? Why do we even do this? And when I saw that post and I it it kinda hit me.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:You know? Yeah. I am able to sit and watch my kids' practices. I am able to pick my kids up from school and drop my kids off. But does it mean that I actually work any less?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Like, when I really kinda get to thinking about it, I think I do do all of those things, and I feel so fortunate to do that. And whether or not you have kids or whether you don't have kids, it doesn't really matter. It's whatever you do with that time. Maybe it's that you are super into fitness, and it means that you get to go to the gym multiple times a day if that's what you wanna do. Maybe it's your professional sports player, and it means that you are able to do your sport and do some kind of business.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:It whatever that is. Mine is my kids, but it could be anything. It really comes back to why did why did you start? Why did you do this? Why are you on this crazy ride?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Couple of weeks ago, we were talking about how business is very uncertain and how it's really an uncertain time. And then it kinda gets us into thinking like, why do we wanna have our businesses? What is the driver to want to be on this crazy journey that is all called entrepreneurship? And the fact of the matter is I felt like I worked really hard when I was in corporate, and I did. And I worked really hard in a different way.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I did more travel for work than I do now. I do still travel for work, but it's on my terms. It's booked around when I want. There's actually this really amazing opportunity that I really wanted to go do, last fall, and it just didn't really work around everything our family had going on. And and so I got to make the decision, hey.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I'm not gonna do it this year. Maybe we'll plan it better for next year, but it wasn't just really in the cards. But it kinda comes back to that where we get to be the driver. I'm I'm gonna share. I'm I'm recording this podcast quite late.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:My my kids are are sleeping. My my husband is is working, actually. We both work late at night. Now my husband doesn't have he he's he's a partner in his business, but he he definitely works more kind of traditional hours, less freedom than I have. And I think freedom as a business owner is often one of those things that we laugh about because being a business owner, people, oh, you set your own hours.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:You do your own thing. You have so much freedom and flexibility, and I I do. I do have flexibility and freedom, sort of. I'm free to work as many hours as I want to, which means I can totally be recording this podcast in the middle of the night instead of doing, I mean, I don't know, anything else. But I wanna be recording this podcast right now, and it's quiet and it works.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:But there's this this kind of weird piece that comes with it. It's we're free to stuff all of the hours in. We're free to do it however we want. But I don't know any person that is truly leading an extraordinary life that is doing more than average that isn't doing all the things. So, yes, I'm in the stands cheering my kids on.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We have a tournament coming up, and I didn't I didn't stress about the fact that the tournament starts on the Friday. I didn't have to worry about it. I just simply put a block on my calendar that said no meetings. But it doesn't mean I'm not gonna be able to I'll answer the phone. I'll probably be chatting with the team.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I'll email clients back. But am I gonna be sitting in front of my computer? No. Will I be at the field? Yes.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I guess that really does kind of shapes what does success really mean to you. We talk about it in a, you know, what does business I I talk about usually, like, what does success mean to you from a business growth and profitability and and all these types of things. But when it really comes back to what is what does it really mean on a deeper level? What does it mean when it has nothing to do with scaling your business to a specific size or hitting your revenue target or a specific number of leads you want coming in? Because it's, I mean, my brain goes that direction.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:It's very analytical. It likes the numbers and the data and the metrics and all of these pieces. But at the end of the day, when we really dive in and say, what is it all for? It's it's so much more than that. And for me, it really is the fact that I can be there and do all the things that I want for my kids.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I I think that so often when we're building our businesses, we start with something in mind. I've talked about it many times over four seasons on the podcast. When I started my business, I wasn't gonna work on Fridays. And I it came from a place of I worked ridiculous hours before I started my business in corporate, and I was gone. I was not at home.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We had a full time nanny. I've shared this before. Missed out on I look back, and I I feel like I missed out on a lot of my first two kids being really little. And so I started my business when my third baby was a baby. And so I I feel like I got to be there for so much more.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And so when I was like, I don't wanna work on Fridays, And I still have meeting free Fridays, but I I very much am still working. But I feel like as a business owner, I'm really always working. Whatever that, you know, good, bad, or ugly. I I work a lot. I'm available a lot, but I don't resent that.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:In fact, I just really feel like it's just part of it because it means that I can be there when I'm sitting in the school lineup waiting for pickup. It means that I can do that when my kids are warming up. You know? As they get older, you have to get like to these sporting events earlier and earlier and earlier. And so there's like this kind of a lull.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Like you drop them off, they go in, they do their thing, and then you're kind of waiting. Recently, I was at a competition for my daughter and dropped her off. And it was, like, gonna be, like, almost two hours until she was actually performing. And I was like, okay. Well, I can go find a corner and, you know, find some good Wi Fi and hit it.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:It was like a Saturday afternoon, and I sat in the sun and and I worked for a while. And it was kinda it's it's finding balance. And I think that building a business often comes with those kind of perks. You know, couple of weeks ago, we were talking about the uncertainty of being a business owner and and that kind of negative side of it. But the flip side of that is, like, really remembering why you started your business.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And sure, maybe it was because you were super passionate about your product or your service or whatever you were bringing to the world, and you wanted to change the world. You know, I I follow someone online. She is also in the accounting space and she is so incredibly passionate about helping women specifically with their finances. Understanding finances, empowering people to do amazing things with them. Her passion truly comes through everything that she shares.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And that's so incredible. And so for her, that might be why that that's part of why she started, but there's a whole element to why you thought it was a good idea to start a business. And it really often has very little to do with whatever you're selling. And there's this deeper piece as to why you wanted to be a business owner. I didn't know that I wanted to be a business owner.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:In fact, I often said I was a much better partnerpreneur than I was entrepreneur because I felt like when I started that the and I I think this probably comes from being spending so long in corporate, corporate conditioning as I refer to it as. But I felt like those who led organizations had to be these very charismatic, masculine type energy leaders that were huge visionaries. And that isn't really my skill set. That isn't I'm not often I'm not I wasn't I'm gonna correct myself here. I wasn't as much of a visionary as I am now.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I truly felt like I needed that skill set to start my business. And I actually learned that you become more of a visionary as you kind of trust yourself, as you try and fail, try and are successful. And then you almost start to have this this bigger vision. And I think, you know, when we're looking at our journey, sometimes we're comparing our chapter one with someone else's chapter 50. And it's so easy to do in the online space because people share.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I I, of course, grew like, I mean, I I'm a millennial, and so I didn't grow up with social media. But in my adult life, social media has definitely been a thing. And so I can't imagine growing up and not really seeing these kind of looks into people's lives. This is just my normal. And and I think we always have to remember that our normal is whatever our normal is, but that's very different than what someone else's normal is.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:But there was a time in life where people did not share. There were a time in life where people did not you did not get the behind the scenes look. You did not get the the vision of whatever they shared. And I think that social media is less polished than it once was and people do share more authentically. But when that wasn't the case or in the case where people appear to share something authentically but maybe it isn't, you really are it's their highlight reel.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:You're comparing your struggle with their highlight reel. And so it's it's this variation of kind of life and reality. But my vision of what you had to do and be to be a successful leader is is different now than it was before I was leading a successful organization. And so it's it's interesting how that kind of piece shapes and shifts over time. And so while I do think that you need to be able to create a vision in order to lead and grow and do things, I think that it comes with time.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And so if you're ever feeling like I don't have the right, I can't be that, I would say that you can. And I would say that not to limit yourself because I have I can share personally that I have. I felt that I was like, but I don't have that. I'm not super charismatic. I'm not super, you know, like visionary.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I'm I'm more realist. I'm more, you know, what is the the the strategy? What is the the pieces that we need to do? You know, I was more focused on like the tangible structure and less about the big vision. And I felt like that would always hold me back because I truly do believe that you can only ever grow to as big as your vision can be.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:You know, what is the difference between someone who has small and when someone who, you know, has a small success in doing their thing and someone who has huge success? It's ultimately just someone's ability to think bigger. You know, if you're a one pop, you know, maybe you're a two person coffee stand. Okay. Well what's the difference between being a two person coffee stand and and and having, you know, a nationwide chain of two person coffee stand?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I it's just the ability to think bigger. It's the ability to to see that you can do and be bigger. There's this crazy statistic and I I don't know. I I have not been able to fact check this statistic of where it came from. But it says that 12% of women owned businesses get to 6 figures, and 2% of women owned businesses get to 7 figures.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:2 percent to seven figures. And so often you see these coaches online, just get to six figures, just get to six figures. I'm glad that I never saw those statistics. And I guess I never really saw the understanding or this infatuation with getting to six figures. I'm gonna be completely honest.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:We blew through six figures in our first year. I didn't even realize it was a ceiling because in my mind, it wasn't a ceiling. It wasn't a thing. We just did it. But as I've shared before, I came from a time where I made great money and I didn't have the ability to to not make great money because my life was already built on making great money.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And so, you know, I I'll be honest. I it took a really long time to be able to make in my business what I used to make in corporate. But I also remember in corporate when it took a really long time to get paid, what I used to make serving in a restaurant when I went to school. That was that was a really tough struggle actually, that that journey. Because I made, you know, it's like I made good money serving, going to university, and then I started working in an office.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I I started basically as an admin you know, an administrator to start with. And I was like, oh, this money is not very great. And I kept working and I kept working. I thought, but I have a university degree. And I was like, I did well in school, and I just kept working and kept working.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I I it took a long time. And, it was like, okay. This is this is not easy to to just okay. We're we're on a journey. And so same thing.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Now you're you're you're starting your business. You're on a journey. And I think anyone who comes from, like, a consistent paycheck and then takes the leap into, you know, owning their own business and doing their thing, it's it is a leap of trusting yourself and faith. But it it comes with this piece of of deciding what is the ceiling. 6 figures was like it was like a well, of course, we're gonna do 6 figures in a year.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Of course, we are. And I guess so the first the the first the first six months of my business, I was still finishing up doing my masters. I was writing my dissertation, and I didn't really do anything with my business. I was like, you know what? I need to finish my dissertation.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:So I I started going to grad school when I was pregnant with my third. I felt at that time I was unfulfilled in my previous corporate role and I knew I wanted more and I didn't I couldn't really put my finger on what that was. I knew that I just I wanted more. And I decided that, you know what? I it must be more education.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:I'm gonna do my master's. Pregnant, very sick, I was gonna do my master's. Crazy crazy. It was a crazy blend. And then so I started and I did it and I had my dissertation left to do which was like a 70 page paper.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And so by the time I, you know, left the corporate space and decided, you know, I was gonna start my own business and I was like, you know, I'm just gonna finish up my dissertation. I've talked about it before. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done was finishing that dissertation because I was a lot more affected by leaving corporate than I anticipated in just, like, mindset wise. It was like leaving this crazy time in my life and I had a baby like, my third baby and it was crazy and he spent a whole time in the NICU when he was born. There's just like a lot going on and so then but I I needed to, like, write this paper.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And, so I got it I finally got it done and then I got started with my my business. And ultimately from that moment of like, Kate, now we're now we're it was like this next chapter, and I haven't really let off the gas at all. Like it's just been go go go go go since then. And and so, I mean, now I don't really have any babies anymore. My my youngest is almost six.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:So it's it's crazy. It's a crazy time. But all of that all of that kinda just say, you know, you have to decide why you take this on, why you think that being a business owner is a good idea. Because ultimately, being an employee, it is easier in a way. Sure.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:You don't get to pick your times and whatever else. But there's there's this just certainty. You just go. You just you you get paid. You carry on.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And so I I want to ask you to really sit and think, why did you start this? Because as we talked about a couple weeks ago, it's 2025 might be a little crazy for you, maybe a little crazy for everyone. And so I think really remembering outside of outside of your actual business. You know, if it goes to there's this book that Simon Sinek wrote that says starts with why. And, like, really, you know, why?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Why did you why? Who why are you? Who you are? Why is this important to you? Why?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:All like, it it really goes back into the why. And, so same thing for you and your business. And so for me, it is the ability to be able to be at the sports practices. It's the ability to go pick up one of my kids when they're not feeling well. It's the the piece that I I have this life that works together, and I love all of the parts and how they work together.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Would the way that I do it work for everybody? Probably not. And I don't think that there's any two business owners out there that do it exactly the same, and that's what makes it so special to be able to do it exactly the way it works for you. And I get it. Sometimes it doesn't feel like it works for anyone or at all.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:And I think that as business owners, we all go through that cycle too. It's oftentimes being a business owner can be a bit of a solo journey, and sometimes you don't necessarily have that piece or the the people to talk to about. Because as a business owner, everything is great. Everything is amazing. We're doing awesome.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:All of these things. And so then you there's this vulnerable piece to saying like, hey. I don't really know if I can do this. It's like there's these moments of doubt or where things just feel like it's it's heavy load to carry. So know as a business owner that you're not alone, that everyone has moments of wondering if they're going the right way, if they're doing the right thing, if it's really working.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Every single business owner has those moments. And if they tell you that they don't have those moments ever, I don't think they're being a % honest. Because as a business owner, you have all of the power to make those decisions, but there's a lot of question of whether you're making the right one. For me, I know that any decision that I make that leads to building this life that I absolutely adore is the right one. And, yes, there are moments, we all have them, where you think, gosh.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Is there an easier way? There's gotta be an easier way than what I'm doing right now. I get it. I get it. But you know what?
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:It's a crazy ride, but it's totally worth it. So just remember. Remember why you started. And don't just lean into the, I wanted to bring this product service to the world. I wanted to change people's lives with it.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Sure. But why did you think that starting a business to do it was the way to go? I would love to have those conversations. So as I've shared before, you can reach out to us on LinkedIn at the Service Based Business Society LinkedIn page. We also have Instagram.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Reach out. Drop me a DM. I would love to hear and chat about why you started your business and maybe you'd like your story to be featured on a future episode. We're gonna be doing more of those discussions and sharing some of the discussions that we have in the DMs with others on the podcast. Because I think that building a business and growing and doing anything extraordinary, whether that is in sports, whether that is in business, whether that is some passion that you want to do at the next level, whatever that is.
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:Doing anything extraordinary has its challenging times. So buckle up. Get ready because it will be worth it. So that's all for today. We're all out of time for today, but
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:the fun doesn't stop here. Make sure to subscribe to the Service Based Business Society podcast on your preferred podcast app. If you're hanging out over on YouTube, search for Tiffany Ann Botcher. Your likes, shares, and reviews really do help the show. Until next time, have a
Tiffany-Ann Bottcher:great week.
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