I remember when I launched my Errand Service business back in 2001. I had just given birth to my daughter and was back at work after maternity leave. I remember feeling so distraught over the idea of someone else spending so much more time with my daughter than I. It made me feel like what was the point of having a baby if I wasn’t the one caring for her.
This frustration led me to finding away to create a business that would allow me to structure my work around my children. I came up with a catchy name, Lickity Split Errands, created a website, got some car magnets and I was quickly in business. My first few clients were from another local errand service who needed extra support and shortly there after I was landing my own private clients.
It was going great. I was making the same amount of money that I was at the job I left, landed myself on the local news and landed a few high profile clients. You could say I was a definite success, not to mention my daughter went with me to run the errands and I always took and picked up my son from school.
Looking back, it’s pretty easy for me to see what a success I was. I was making money and achieved my number one goal of having a business that worked perfectly around my children. But, if I am being honest, I didn’t feel that way back then.
It’s funny how when we are in the midst of running and growing our business that we get so caught up in the “what’s next” phase that we never really celebrate the success that we have in that moment.
The cool thing about launching and growing your own business is that you get to do things you way and define your own success. When’s the last time you asked yourself what success looked and felt like? Is it possible you have been chasing a success that maybe isn’t aligned with you in the first place?
I know for myself, when I recently asked myself this question, I found I was pushing myself for something that really wasn’t part of my authentic self to begin with. The foundation and core of what success looks like for me is freedom and flexibility. Both of which I have an abundance of. I also found that I was less inclined to chase the six figure business that many of my fellow entrepreneurs in the marketing realm talk about day in and day out and more about making a real impact in this world and giving back to the things that speak to my heart. Sprinkle fun and adventure into it and that is success for me!
What drives you? Have you been mesmerized by the external definitions of success and what it’s supposed to look like? It takes courage to claim your own unique path to success, but I say it’s what makes it all worth it.