After a decade in business I’m often asked about my top advice if I was starting a business today.

1) Get clear on what you want: When I started I was only focused on earning enough money to leave my job. I wish I had spent a bit more time creating a big-picture plan for what the business should look like and why instead it evolved as I learned more and got clarity on what I wanted.

2) Be Selective About Influences: Be conscious of whose advice to follow. I found the online world overwhelming and invested in a lot of things which on reflection I didn’t need. I realised I was listening to others more than to myself and my own inner guidance.

3) Build Confidence and Identify Uniqueness: When I started I was pregnant, with a toddler and working full time and my life looked very different to what I saw online. I realised I needed to work on my own confidence and who I was rather than following the crowds.

4) Acknowledge Professional Background: Do not discount prior experience, such as leadership roles, past coaching work or your education: all of this is part of you so get clarity on building your personal brand including all of you.

5) Celebrate All The Wins: It’s easy to get caught up in daily tasks and forget to acknowledge progress. Make a conscious effort to celebrate every success, especially when starting out and this builds new neural pathways and helps re-wire your brain for success.

6) Manage Social Media Boundaries: I remember being told I had to be “on” socials and respond to comments immediately which made me become “hyper-vigilant” on social media by trying to respond to every comment immediately. What I realised is that it didn’t matter what others were saying I had to do what worked for me.

7) Prioritize Fun: Remember that the process of building and running a business is meant to be enjoyable so rather than waiting for things to work out prioritize fun now.