r/smallbusiness • u/highstreetdigital • 4h ago
What’s one thing about running a small business that nobody warned you about?
I’m curious what other small business owners think. 👀
What’s something you didn’t expect when you first started your business?
Could be something funny, frustrating, expensive, or even something you’ve ended up loving.
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u/coach778more 3h ago
Chasing down overdue invoices.
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u/TheBugSmith 1h ago
This is what killed me. I was owner/operator and getting burned 2-3 times ment not paying my bills. At least I got the satisfaction of telling them to go fuck themselves when they called me again for something else in a panic last minute.
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u/Fortestingporpoises 1h ago
When I was trying to keep my business and personal finances separate I had a client who was trying to pay me through Venmo and I was trying to be good so I was like I can’t but you can pay this this or this way (this was before Venmo even technically had business accounts). Anyway she owes me a couple of thousand and has got 5 years. She was one of my best clients. Referred many people. Then she stopped and wouldn’t respond to me.
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u/EsisOfSkyrim 1h ago
I don’t even run a business with invoices but ended up needing to be reimbursed by another business 💀 supposedly i get the money next week. Its been a year so… we will have to see
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u/Original-Macaron-639 3h ago
how alone you’ll feel
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u/Emergency_Pound_944 2h ago
My dog is the worst employee. His only job is to watch for the mail, and he often falls asleep.
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u/Enneagramreflections 19m ago
One of the loneliest positions is at the top. Finding clubs, groups, round tables, master classes, coaching to help you feel connected can help tremendously, but it still is very lonely.
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u/Ok-Homework5533 3h ago
That distribution/marketing is the most essential and hardest thing to do.
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u/Tiny-Shovel-48 2h ago
I explained to my mom that running a business feels like you’re trying to impress people you have no interest in being friends with.
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u/sugarwatershowers 2h ago
How few friends and family will support or be proud of you.
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u/TheBugSmith 1h ago
They'll support you by asking you to hook them up with whatever you're doing tho.
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u/JeffTS 2h ago
This right here. I came here to post this.
Fellow business owners from Chambers and business organizations may, and will, support you if you build a relationship. But friends and family?
There are plenty of times that my friends and I have gone out to dinner or had get-together. They'll ask one another how work and careers are going, how retirement is looking, etc. Yet not a one will ask about my business or career. They even, at one point, strongly tried to encourage me to go back to being a janitor like I did part time while in college and, at the time, throw away a 22+ year career and 20+ year business.
And I've only had 1 friend and 1 family member ever refer clients my way. Fellow business owners, on the other hand, have referred tons of clients my way over the years.
One exception would be my much smaller side business of landscape/nature photography. I have one friend who is always sending me announcements for craft fairs and other vendor opportunities. But, that is by no means where I make my living.
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u/Fortestingporpoises 1h ago
I mean I’ve found they’ll be supportive for the first day or week but that doesn’t mean they’re gonna patronize your business. Ultimately your biggest supporters will be your best most thankful customers.
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u/mermaidmamas 29m ago
I think that a lot of friends and family try to be supportive, but they have no idea what it actually means. I actually had a family member tell me “just take the month off you work for yourself“.
Uhm, working for myself and owning my business means I’m working every day all day. I don’t get “days off“ let alone an entire month?!?
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u/TinyPomegranate9354 2h ago
That it would actually work and that I’m making a better living now with a much more flexible schedule than I’d ever dreamed. Getting over the imposter syndrome is something I’m working on. Also - employees and hiring are the hardest part.
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u/Sickranchez87 3h ago
Honestly the hardest part has been not being in a shop full of buddies that you can joke and have fun with all day. I left a large body shop to start my own and while it’s been successful i do miss the camaraderie that comes with being in the trenches with the homies. I would never go back as the freedom has been invaluable, but I do miss it.
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u/Plus-Professional-84 2h ago
People warn you that you do it all, but marketing takes a lot longer than you expect, and agencies are mostly ass
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u/Emergency_Pound_944 2h ago
Clients ask me questions like I'm an expert, but I'm just winging it most of the time.
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u/ModelCentric 2h ago
Clients not paying, or paying so late (many months later) that the work was never worth it. Also, grown adult clients (other business owners, in my case) being toddlers in general. It still blows my mind.
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u/Fortestingporpoises 1h ago
I always worried about hiring people and trusting people and mostly was pleasantly surprised for the first 10 years. Hired an ex girlfriend as my first contractor because I trusted her and she was somewhat of a security blanket. Then Covid hits, she leaves fully for school (she’s a vet now good for her!) and the world goes mad and I don’t know if I just attract applicants with latent personality disorders or what but holy fucking shit.
I never had these stories in my dating life that other people have about crazy exes. It I have them in spades for my business.
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