2338 - Common Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make and How to Avoid Them with Stafford Solutions' Lyndsay Stafford

0:04Well, hey, Thoughtful Leader. Welcome to the Thoughtful Entrepreneur. On this show, I interview purpose-driven founders, experts, and change makers who are making a real impact in the world. Want to be a guest? Simple. Go to upmyinfluence.com and click podcast. I'd love to promote your story to our audience of over 100 ,000 and across over 2 ,300 daily episodes and counting. Want to get booked on other great shows like this? Simple. Go to podverified.com and get your free guest authority score. Thousands of hosts are looking for high quality guests and Podverified connects you the right way. Now let's dive into today's episode.

0:58With us right now, it's Lindsay Stafford. Lindsay, you are the founder and CEO of Stafford Solutions. You are found on the web at lindsaystafford.com. You are also the host of the Lindsay Stafford Show. So to our friend that's listening to a podcast right now, guess what? If you like Lindsay, well, you can get a whole lot more by just searching for Lindsay Stafford Show. We have a direct link to that, and you can hit subscribe and start listening. Well, Lindsay, thank you for joining us. Yeah, thanks for having me. I've been looking forward to it. And before we kind of talk about your superpowers, the impact you have in the entrepreneurial world, you always love kind of learning what, you know, high level leaders or what they do in their off time, what they're passionate about.

1:39What have you been geeking out on lately? Yeah, well, you know, when I do a hobby or something fun, I tend to find myself in the space of I need to be productive. So I look for things that are going to make me better and grow, right, that are going to entertain and engage me. So recently I started taking golf lessons. My husband's a big golf fan. Yeah. Let me tell you, there's nothing more humbling than learning how to play golf in your forties. Um, but at the same time I'm taking tennis lessons and I had said to my husband, I'll do tennis lessons. Once I've gotten through, you know, this golf's kind of a little bit more seasonal, obviously can play tennis indoors.

2:18I guess you can technically play golf indoors, but, um, and then I started, I got got asked by a few other awesome business owner women to join a tennis group. And so currently taking tennis and golf lessons. So pushing myself and challenging myself. And let me tell you, Josh, last Friday I had tennis lessons and then we did nine holes of golf. And that was a very humbling day spending all day on something you're not great at, but going and pushing through it anyways, right? Yes. Yeah. You know, I think about, and how valuable that is because there, there obviously is an arc to be had, right? You know, it's like a redemption arc or character arc or something like that, you know, from a story perspective, you know, when I started picking up an instrument, you know, again, having just turned 50, you know, at this stage of my life and, you know, I'm picking up an instrument and I got kid fingers, like I can't play this thing.

3:14You know, those magical moments of like, oh, my gosh, like I just, you know, I just returned that amazing serve, you know, that there's no way I could have done that like a couple of months ago. Like that is so exciting. And I think that, you know, just behaviorally, psychologically, that's just so rewarding for us, not just as humans, but also, you know, as we kind of segue in here, you know, the entrepreneurial journey. Yeah, definitely. I feel like when you are constantly challenging yourself to learn and grow and do new things, it's going to impact you and raise your level in all aspects of your life.

3:52Indeed. Well, Lindsay, share with us a bit about what is Stafford Solutions? What do you do? Sure. So essentially, make it real simple. We help business owners to be more productive, more effective, more efficient, and more profitable. So we do that in a few different ways. So we offer coaching services for businesses. Ideally, they're under a million dollars in annual revenue, more of a one-on-one solopreneur kind of deal. And then businesses above that level, not that we can't coach with higher level businesses, but what we tend to end up doing is we do consulting work. Our consulting work is a little different than most consulting businesses.

4:27Most consultants will kind of work with you, do discovery, give you a plan and kind of set you on your way. We actually go in, we do the discovery, we help you create a strategy and a plan, and then we help you implement it. So what we find is a lot of business owners are missing some key foundational pieces to their business. And I've assimilated a team that is really strong in different categories. So we really focus on branding and operations. So that's the biggest piece of what we do is we support with branding and operations. And then we also do digital and print marketing services as well.

5:03So kind of landed in this space, Josh, because I spent 20 years in corporate retail working for big companies like Aerie, Nike, Bath & Body Works in the corporate side and realized as I started working with smaller local business owners, they didn't know the foundational things that they needed to actually be able to scale and grow and build a long-term brand. And so that's what we do. There are so many areas of expertise that earlier stage business leaders are really expected to sink or swim on. And I think you highlight too that I see a lot of early stage business owners really struggle with.

5:45And I don't know that they value just how critical branding is. And it really a great brand. Boy, can that make your life easier. and same thing with operations. Let's talk about branding for just a second. What do you commonly see around the clients that you work with regarding the common either pitfalls or where they've kind of come to on their own? And then you're able to come in and say, yeah, I see this all the time. And so what I'd like to do is maybe identify the bad thing, not the bad things, but the ineffective things that they have been doing. And are there patterns of things that you generally see yourself implementing?

6:32Is it just prettier pictures? Is it just better fonts and design? I'm throwing yourself out here. No, yeah. I mean, I think the biggest challenge that business owners face as it relates to branding is they don't understand it. And so they succumb to all of these opportunities that are presented to them, and they all sound great, but nothing is cohesive. And so what we do is we help businesses create a long-term brand strategy that helps them to be positioned as the industry leader in their target market and to build a brand that is going to be long-lasting and sustainable. What a lot of business owners do is they kind of just throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks.

7:16They get sucked into one thing that might be great, but the rest of their plan isn't great. And so their plan doesn't work because it doesn't come together. There is so much noise out there, especially in the digital marketing space. So what we do is we help brands identify with a brand kit, brand imaging, make sure that we're identifying with the current client that's our most desirable client. And then we position them across all platforms in their target market to be the go-to authority. We tend to take a let's focus, depending on what tier you are in business. And so we do work with new business owners, but honestly, business owners that have been in business for three to five years and are kind of like at that spot where they're like, I'm running the business, but it's actually running me.

8:02And I know I need to make changes, but I don't have the resources or the knowledge to do it. And I can't afford to hire a six figure person to come in and do these things for me. So we offer fractional work that's much more affordable for companies. And we work based on a tiered scale on where your business is at, number of employees and volume for your annual volume for your business. And we create a plan that works for you. So what we love is that we can offer something different to each business based on what their needs are. But to go a little bit further in depth, Josh, most businesses, they're not well represented online.

8:36Their website is not optimized. They're not optimized on all the digital platforms. They're not present in an active way on social media that builds them that credibility that we need online. And they're not doing any sponsorship in that community that they want to own. They are taking approaches like just pay-per-click or these super high paid campaigns that really aren't cohesive with who their brand is. And so we really like to help brands focus on building that long-term sustainable brand where you're the authority in what you do and you're accurate and active across all search engines. Your online presence is consistent with who you are and it speaks to your audience.

9:15And then they see you everywhere. They see you at the local schools, on the banners. They see you in your local magazine. They see you on impressions online. And so you're the first person they think of when they do, when they need your service or your business. And so that's a hard puzzle to put together as a business owner because you didn't start your business as a marketing expert. You started your business to do your craft. And so that's where we come in and kind of take the noise out for business owners and help them make sense of it all. Well, Lindsay, adjacent to branding and marketing and all of that, I want to ask you about this.

9:49And that is, I see you performing like you do very, very well on Instagram. You've got that dialed in pretty well. But I noticed one thing that you had shared and you talked about your own social media detox. Do you can you share just a bit about your thoughts around if we are entrepreneurs, we are creators and we feel like, well, listen, I do have a responsibility to to share my message with the world. But at the same time, social media kind of sucks sometimes, sometimes, often, just because people, unfortunately, you know, there's just a level of behavior that is not normal. That's not normal.

10:34But yet it's normalized on these platforms. And largely, it's, you know, it's mostly unwell people that are kind of, you know, unfortunately amplified. And it keeps, you know, the normies from sometimes engaging on. And I'm, of course, referring to maybe things that might be a little bit more provocative. Where are you on all of that right now? On social? Sure. So I did a social media detox for over a year on Instagram and about two years on Facebook. Yeah, like I shut everything down. I was just in a place in my life where I needed the headspace. I had been in a direct sales business where social media was everything.

11:14And I let the lines get too blurry. It was taking over and it just became this habit of just too much, right? And so there were a few things that happened. I just said, I need a break. And I totally detoxed, still saw a ton of success in business. And when I was ready to come back, I came back with different boundaries. And I think that's the thing that business owners need to have. One thing, one tip I share consistently, and I bet it will help. I know it will help anyone who implements this. I bet you the majority of the audience, probably in the upwards of 80 to 90%, maybe not necessarily for this audience because they probably have some disciplines in place, but the majority of folks listening - Speaking for myself.

12:00Right. But what I find is the first thing we do in the morning is we pick up our phone and we let the outside world come at us. We check DMs, text messages, social media, email. And so I don't do that. I don't touch my phone other than things that I'm choosing to do for me. I listen to my Bible. I do my devotional. I text my dad. We work out together every morning. So I say, yeah, I'll meet you outside. We're ready. We live next door. And social media does not come into play until it's time for me to put out something, not consume it. And it's the same thing with communication with other folks.

12:37And so the boundary of saying, I'm going to separate social media is great for content output. What you have to watch is how much you consume. And so that's the first thing I would tell a business owner. The second thing is, you know, you can have boundaries in your life and still be present on social. You just have to be intentional. Earlier before we recorded, Josh, I said, you know, we're talking about my podcast. And one of the reasons we have it is to create content. And I love this content creation. I don't love the have my phone and stage and record myself at home doing things. So I figured out how to work with social in a way that works for me and for what I enjoy.

13:17And I think that's what business owners have to find. The third thing I'll say about this. So one, guard your time and have boundaries. Two, you know, you got to put content out that works for you. And it's more about output than what you consume. But the third thing for business owners to think about is hire someone to help you. don't try to be the one producing your content. You are, your time is so much more valuable than you being the one to put all your content on social. And so find someone we do, we offer that at my company, but we do it for businesses and it makes a huge difference for that business owner.

13:49They're either not present or they're so consumed with it that it's taking over what they're doing, what they should be doing with their time. And so apply the philosophy of who, not how, one of my favorite books by Dr. Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan and hire someone to do it. I love it. I love that. You know, I did just something came to my mind. So I was a broadcast journalist in the United States Navy way back in the day. And I just remembered this is when we were in journalism school and you're kind of learning like how to, you know, produce and all this other stuff, you know, and one thing they would say when you're in a live TV environment is, you know, if you're watching TV, you're not making TV.

14:24So it's you always have to insulate yourself, like, don't, don't get, don't watch your pro don't watch your own programming. Like you have to stay meta. Like you have to stay, wait a minute, what's going on? What's next? And, and being aware that I got to tell you, that's like a major aha moment for me right now. But like, wait a minute, you know, thinking about how we use these platforms, how we use these stages, but without getting sucked in, uh, as the consumer, when maybe, uh, you know, we have a job to do as creators. I love that. Lindsay, your website is lindsaystafford.com. This conversation has gone so quickly.

15:06When somebody goes to your website, what would you recommend? And I want to make sure that we share great resources so someone can continue this relationship with you. And then, of course, there may be an opportunity here where they want to take that next step. Can you kind of share next steps from here? Yeah. I mean, I think Instagram is probably the best place to find me because I put so many short content clips out there that are helpful that are, you know, under a minute. So that's probably the best. If you just want like a quick dose of something, I interview awesome business owners myself.

15:38And so that's a great place to find me. But if you're on my website, you know, look at which category you fall into. And just, I've got some videos on there kind of explaining what we do, but coaching, consulting, marketing, and branding work on the website. So reach out with questions. You can certainly schedule a free discovery call. I do that complimentary discovery call. I mean, honestly, even in a 15 minute discovery call, I'm usually able to give some good nuggets to help a business owner as we determine whether it's the right fit for my company and their company to work together. But I think if you're looking for, you know, the podcast is also a great place to just get that free content.

16:16I love providing that free content for business owners. So Lindsay Stafford Show. So my name is spelled weird. So if you're listening to it, it's L-Y-N-D-S-A-Y. So the Lindsay Stafford Show and then Instagram is probably the best place to find us for that free content. Lindsay Stafford, your website is lindsaystafford.com, the podcast, the Lindsay Stafford Show at lindsaystafford.com. You can connect to everything, Lindsay, that you've been talking about, including, of course, Stafford Solutions and the work that you do. Lindsay, thank you so much for joining us. Yeah, thanks, Josh. It was my pleasure.

16:50Thanks for your work.

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