Starting a packaged food business is HARD! But guess what, you can do hard things! In this episode I give you seven concrete things you can do to push through and get to the other side.

I am not saying it will get easier, there will always be new challenges in your business, but when you stop trying to resist doing hard things and lean into it more with these tools, it eases up a bit and you will build confidence that you can do hard things!

After you listen, head over the Food Business Success Private Facebook Group and share with the group what your hardest thing is right now and how you will overcome it.

If you want more help turning your delicious dream into a real, profitable food business, apply for FoodBizSuccess.com to see if it is a good fit for you. 

0:04
I'm Sari Kimbell and I've done just about everything in the food industry. I have helped hundreds of packaged food business entrepreneurs. And now I want to help you make your delicious dream a reality. Whether you want to be successful at farmer's markets, online, or wholesale on the store shelves, Food Business Success is your secret ingredient. I will show you how to avoid an expensive hobby and instead run a profitable food business. Now let's jump.

0:39
Welcome back to the podcast week two. Really excited to have you here. So I have been thinking a lot this last week about doing hard things. Last week, the first week of the podcast, I talked about consistency and gave you a 30 day consistency challenge. But that is a hard thing in and of itself. But starting and growing your packaged food business dream is really hard. Let's just be honest. I'm going to try to not curse on this podcast. But let's be honest, it is really freaking hard. I have just really gravitated to this phrase that I heard a while ago. I can do hard things. You can do hard things. It is absolutely required of an entrepreneur. And when you are starting or growing this package food business dream, there will be a ton of hard things that you need to do. But we are not made to do hard things. We know that we feel good after we do them. Think about a hard workout.

2:01
Or really anything like

2:03
going to college or graduating with, you know, with your degree. Those are hard things to do. And yet as adults, we really shy away from doing hard things. So we have such a push-pull of, I have this dream and I'm really excited and I want to go for it. And then immediately your brain is like, no, that's a terrible idea. It's going to put us at risk, we might die. Let's stay safe and warm, and not rock the boat. And so you talk yourself out of it instead of doing the hard thing. I also love Brene Brown recently came out with her own podcast and her very first episode is called FFT.

2:50
And again, I'm trying not to curse on this podcast, but she does so be warned. But it basically stands for freaking first time with a little bit more of a curse word in there. But you will have a ton of FFTs when you go after your dream. Again, we just are not made to want to do hard things, but they are absolutely required of us. So how are you going to get through your hard things? How are you going to get through these FFTs? So I wanted to offer you some ideas and

3:30
tools that I use and I encourage my clients to use to help them push through hard things. It's interesting, I actually just got off of a phone call with a client, offering her some words of encouragement as she is also trying to do the hard work of relaunching her kimchi business. She's also been homeschooling her kids, right and trying to figure out her work situation, as well as making product and getting it out into grocery stores. And she was really having a block around getting her product. She just moved on to a different Island in Hawaii. And she's already in, we counted them up and

4:21
it was like eight or 10 stores on the Big Island of Hawaii. So she's actually already done this, but she was really nervous about approaching small stores on the new island that she's on. And so we talked about this concept about doing hard things, but it's also good to remind ourselves of how far we have come whether in your current business or just in previous experiences, and that you can absolutely do hard things. So here are my ideas and concepts and tools that have definitely helped me do more hard things like this podcast. As a great example of an FFT for me, I have no idea how to do a podcast, but I'm going to figure it out. And I'm going to use these tools. And just like you, you have maybe no idea how to get into new stores or how to start making your product legally. You are going to have a ton of FFTs too.

5:31
So here we go. So my first one is to start your day with five to ten minutes of filling up your brain with something positive. A positive meditation, a mantra, put a sticky note by your bed that reminds you that you can do hard things. That you are capable. That you are successful.

5:59
That you can figure hear things out. This will date me a little bit, but I know it can seem a little cheesy. I grew up with Saturday Night Live with Stuart looking in the mirror saying, "You're good enough. You're smart enough and Doggone it, everyone likes you." But science shows that having affirmations and filling your brain with positivity really does work. I love the app Insight Timer and they actually have a six minute-it's free to download-and they have a six minute business success affirmations. I love that one. I've also really like Gabby Bernstein. She has a morning meditation that's like nine minutes.

6:48
But if you can just lay there, the first thing you do is like fill up your well, fill up your brain with positivity and self confidence. You are going to have to stretch yourself. You're going to have to do hard things. Do things that you don't really want to be doing and the more positive that you can approach your day and like launch into it, I really think you're going to be setting yourself up for success. I also would add that YouTube would be a good option to go find some great positive affirmation meditations. The second idea that I want you to consider is doing my Consistency Challenge, and writing in your journal every single day for 10 minutes, your goals for your business dreams. It'll really help you reinforce your Why. Why are you doing this hard thing and what the results that you really want in your life and for your life?

7:52
It'll help you align that positivity that you started out your day with, and align it with the goals that you really want to achieve and start your day with a great intent and feeling confident to tackle some of those hard things. I know that's about 20 minutes and not everybody has 20 minutes to afford in their morning time. I'm going to suggest to you that you make it a priority and you get up 20 minutes earlier and make this time for yourself. This could be everything to really grow or start your business. The next thing is to join a group for support. So, join the Food Business Success private Facebook group. It's free. And I put a ton of resources and ideas in there that I don't share anywhere else. But it's also a place for you to engage, to ask questions, to support each other and really find that community piece. Again, it's going to help you feel more positive. It is really lonely work being an entrepreneur sometimes so find your tribes, find groups for support. There are many more out there of course besides mine. Alright, the next one, I want you to really consider getting a coach. This will change your life. It will take you to the next level. Get a coach. I have one. I value our time and my access to him so much. It has been, I really believe, the key to my own success and doing so many more hard things. Coaches are your cheerleaders. They help you with perspective. They give you accountability, structure and focus. They really can help you develop your confidence and your willingness to do hard things. Especially When you know you're accountable to somebody, and they are cheering you on and they want to hear about it, and they know what you're going through. So I want to really encourage you to consider getting a coach. Okay, moving on. Change your attitude. You can do hard things. Let's stop making it harder than it needs to be. We're already doing hard things. And then we like layer on more hardness to it, we layer on suffering, and we procrastinate and we make it sound so terrible. Instead, can we just embrace the suck of it and like

10:43
hard things are hard. And it actually gets easier when you stop resisting and pushing against it. Think about the, you know, the temper tantrums that we like to throw about things we don't want to do instead of just kind of changing our attitude to be like, yep,

11:02
this is going to be hard. And I am all in because that is what I do to achieve my dreams. You realize that you have done this before, that you can figure it out. And doing hard things is really what helps us as humans grow and evolve. And I really do believe we want to do that. We start stagnating. Think about how antsy you get and you start wondering what your purpose is, and and maybe even is what led you to this point, thinking you should start a food business because you weren't growing and evolving. And even, consider this, even if you never achieve your goal you are still going to learn and you're going to grow as a person. You will become better for it and it will open up new ideas and opportunities for you. So let's stop being so Worried about the big fail, and actually like, just be like, I'm doing this and I'm gonna figure it out. And it could actually be a rewarding thing to to do hard things. So that leads to the next one, which is about being willing to fail. I am going to encourage you to fail more. I know that seems crazy. But honestly, the more you fail, the easier it gets. And so I think we put so much pressure on this big word, this fail, right? But if you kind of start setting yourself up to have little fails, you start to realize that it's actually not that big of a deal. Like, so what? We don't need to make it mean that you're a terrible person and nobody likes you. Like start setting yourself up to have small fails. So for example, like as a funny one,

13:07
be a little bit bold. So the next time you're at

13:09
a restaurant or you order something, you know, I know we're doing a lot of online shopping and contactless things but when you are out next time, ask for something kind of crazy. Ask for a 20% discount, ask for a free meal, ask for a you know something in addition to your purchase. Start putting yourself out there and setting yourself up to fail in small ways. So that if they come back and they're like, no, we're not giving you a discount. No, we're not giving you a free meal. You're like, okay, but you tried. You put yourself out there. Technically you failed. And you realize like, Oh! it's really not such a big deal. The other way you can twist that is to take on a what are called worthy fails. So set something big, like have a big goal, a big idea, like, maybe it's that you want to have, you want to be the number one sale in your category on Amazon, or you want to do X number of dollars in wholesale sales this year. Whatever it is. And so have it be pretty big in that your brain will be like, That's impossible. And you're like, Yeah, I know. And then think about what are the things that you need to do to get you to that point. And if you go after those big fails, like so one could be for me, like, I maybe want to have a huge guest on my podcast. Well, if I know that it's kind of unlikely that I will actually get them on my podcast, but I do it anyway. Then, who knows? I mean, they'll probably say no and it's a fail and it's like, okay, no big deal I tried. Or you never know, they could say yes. Right? So that goes back to even if you don't achieve your goal, you are going to have a lot of pride just for being willing to fail. So start teaching your brain that it is okay to fail, normalize discomfort. You're not going to die from this, I promise you. So, that leads me to the last one. And I love this one. That you decide you're going to commit. Are you in? Are you in on doing your food business dream, then commit to it, decide that you're going to do it, and then you need to start taking action. It's great to fill your head with your goals and positivity and join a group. Change Your attitude. But until you actually start doing something, things are not just going to fall into your lap, right? That's not how we actually get through hard things. We actually have to do something. So Jack Canfield says, "The first step is that you commit, and then you need courage". So now that you've committed, you're in, you're gonna do this. You need to have courage and take the next action that you know how to do. You don't need to have it all figured out. You don't need to have 100 steps down the road figured out and on the next podcast, I'm going to give you a great tool for overcoming obstacles and turning those into strategies. But for now, just know that you you just need to do something. Anything. What is the next thing you can do to get to the next place you want to in your business. Do something, evaluate it, and then try something else if that's not working. So I want to encourage you to not just be like, I need to feel inspired or I need to be in the perfect mindset and feeling really positive and high vibes. You need courage right now. Can you muster up some courage to take some action? Now more than ever, I want you to embrace your idea, your business dream. To take your package food business to the next level. To launch it. I want you to be living your best life and living it fully. But that is going to require discomfort and doing hard things. And I would just offer that what are you waiting for?

17:49
Right? Like

17:50
actually I am having so many more people want to start or grow their business like, they finally are all in and committed because

18:01
what are we waiting for a pandemic? I mean things,

18:05
crazy things are happening in the world. And if not now, then when?

18:11
Now is the time to start your business dream, there will never be a good time. There will never be a time when it all just comes easy. You can do hard things and I would love to help you. I hope you're feeling really inspired to go out and do something hard. I would love for you to post about it in the Food Business Success private Facebook group. And until the next podcast I hope you have an amazing week. And I can't wait to talk with you soon.

18:53
Are you ready to start that delicious idea that you make in your home kitchen or grow your existing package food business and take it to the next level? The most successful food business entrepreneurs have support, guidance, focus and accountability to help them make it happen quickly without wasting time or money. Plus, I think starting your packaged food business should actually be fun. Food Business Success is your secret ingredient to creating your food business dream. Please don't go this alone. Check out the private free Food Business Success Facebook group to connect with other foodprenuers. Get your questions answered quickly. Share your wins and receive special training and tools I only share inside the private community. Just search for Food Business Success on Facebook, or get the link in the show notes. Curious about how Food Business Success can help you? Head over to FoodBizSuccess.com and fill out the application to see if you're a great fit. For the program together, let's make your food business dream a reality.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai