Full Transcript

Sari 0:00
Welcome to your Food Business Success! This podcast is for early stage entrepreneurs in the package food industry ready to finally turn that delicious idea into reality. I'm your host Sari Kimbell. I have guided hundreds of food brand founders to success as an industry expert and business coach, and it's got to be fun. In this podcast, I share with you mindset tools to become a true entrepreneur and run your business like a boss, interviews with industry experts to help you understand the business you are actually in, and food founder journey so you can learn what worked and didn't work and not feel so alone in your own journey. Now, let's jump in!

Welcome back to the podcast. So happy to have you here today. I hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving. If you were running Black Friday or November sales or holiday sales. I hope they were awesome. It has been so fun to celebrate with the members inside my programs and memberships. And if you are celebrating, know that I am celebrating with you in spirit. And if maybe it wasn't a stellar or it wasn't what you hoped, that I hope you will take the learnings from that and that you don't beat yourself up about it. I was talking to one founder who was really beating herself up, and I just said, listen, none of that helps, right? None of that helps you take the right kind of action next. It keeps you in this place that's feeling really stuck, and that the action that you do take from the thoughts of, like, oh, I failed, or I should have done this, and what's wrong with me, like, that kind of action is not going to get you the results that you want. So the best thing we can do, whether it's a success or it wasn't as good as what you hoped, that we just take the lessons from it, and we're a goldfish, right? I love that analogy of like being a goldfish, having a really short term memory, taking the learnings, taking the lessons, learning from it, and then forgetting. And just keep going. Keep swimming, keep moving forward. On today's podcast, I want to talk about how you actually make a big leap in your business. When this comes out, it's kind of mid December, and hopefully the frenzy of a lot of the holiday stuff is starting to wind down, and you are looking ahead at what is next. When this podcast airs, it'll be what is next for 2025.

And whether you are still incubating, and it's just an idea phase for you, and you're thinking 2025 is the year I'm going to launch, or whether you already have a business. And you're like, how do I go big? How do I make that next big leap? Sometimes, you know, we call it the 10x leap. Or, I love Gay Hendricks book, The Big Leap, right? How do we not just progress in a small, like, kind of plotting a long way, but how do we make big leaps for our future and take the necessary effort to make that happen. Here's the thing that I have noticed in my own business and working with hundreds of people in their businesses, is that we greatly underestimate the energy that it's going to take to create the success that we want. And yes, there are ways to speed it up. Yes, there are ways to get out of your own way, to tolerate your success, to make space for it, to bring on support, to bring in help, to help you make big leaps. But there is a greater amount of energy that it's going to require than you are planning for I promise, and I'm going to be bringing on some founders on the podcast who have seen some incredible successes in 2024 and I know that they will attest to the fact that it took way more energy, way more effort than they anticipated at the beginning of the year that we always underestimate, how long, how much energy, how much effort, how much investment things are going to take. It's a human nature thing. There's something called Hofstadters Law, where the hofstadters law says things will always take longer than you think, even if you take into account hofstadters law. So being patient, being willing to kind of ride that wave, while still putting in more effort than you thought you would have to. So given that you do have to put in so much more effort than maybe you even want to or you're prepared to do like you don't know what you don't know. And what I have seen from working with hundreds of people over the last five years, six years, is that coaching, making investments in programs, making investments in support, is the way to speed things up.

You can imagine that your business is like a rocket ship, right? And if you've ever seen a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral or wherever they do that, that they need all of this power to get started, right? It's like so much energy and effort and resources to just get off the ground, right? And then once it's up and into the atmosphere, then there's momentum there, then there's a little bit more ease, right? We can then go to the next thing, right? Every time you take a new leap in your business, it's going to require a lot more energy and a lot more effort and commitment on your part, and that's exactly why I named the membership for Food Business Success Fuel, because we need that fuel to get us off the ground. And what I see over and over again is when people don't make an investment in a program, in coaching, is that they flail. They don't have enough fuel in the tank to get them off the ground, and so you kind of get this like, crash and burn, right? And maybe you pick yourself back up and you try it again, but eventually you're going to give up, and I don't want that for you. This is the year that we can make a big leap. You can launch, you can scale, you can grow. You can make this your full time thing. We've had several of our members in Fuel and the 10x mastermind who have quit their jobs, their full time jobs, and they are at a point where they're like, I am all in. I am focusing on my business. I've created a runway, and I am investing in coaching. I'm investing in a program, because I know that that is going to be the secret sauce that gets me to where I want to go. The biggest mistake I see is that people wait too long. They keep waiting until they're ready. Like, quote, unquote, right? Like, don't clean the house before the housekeeper gets there. Make the investment before you think you're ready. There's so many times when I'm like, oh, I wish you would have come earlier. We could have saved you so much time. We could have saved you money. We could have told you what are the priorities to focus on and not be so scattered and all of this time that has been wasted now we're not going to focus on that, right, but I want to encourage you to get support before you think you're ready. That's going to be the fuel in the tank that's really going to help you with the lift off, with getting to the next level. And when we see progress, we're going to want to keep going. And the reality is, is that we greatly underestimate how much energy it's going to take, but when we make investments in support and accountability and community. We are so much more bought in.

For example, I invested $12,000 in 2024 into strategic coach. I wanted to go to the next level with my tool kit to be able to bring back to my program attendees, my students, and really help them create self managing companies. And so I made a huge investment. And you better believe, when you invest something like $12,000, you show up, because that investment is huge, right? And it doesn't matter the level of investment, whether that's, I mean, that was a big investment for me. I have also invested in coaching programs. My first coach, well, actually my second coach was $18,000 for the year, and I paid in full. And was like, let's go. I am all in like when we make an investment, we are now attached to something. There is more at stake, and we are going to be more willing to do the hard thing, to follow through, to take the necessary action and put in the necessary energy to get that lift off to get to the next big leap, and it's working with our human nature to there's something called loss aversion, that once we have invested something, whether it's time or money, we feel more ownership of it. When you start making investments in your business of all different kinds, you're going to feel more ownership. Now there's something to lose, and we're always going to fight harder to not lose something. And so I want to really encourage you, if you have, like, just been petering along, or you're just wishing that things were moving faster, or you're lost in confusion and overwhelm and doubt and imposter syndrome and analysis paralysis. This is the time to make an investment. It's December. Make a commitment for next year, for 2025 that you are going to go all in on your business, wherever you are in that life stage of your business. And I want to share with you how I think of making investments. And it is an investment. I want you to take away this word expense, because I don't think that's what it is. Yes, you can write it off as a business expense, but I look at these things as investments. I'm making an investment. So I made this big investment in strategic coach, and I go in with an attitude of full commitment and to get an ROI, to get a return on investment. And that's how I want you to think about any investment that you make in your business, whether it's my coaching programs, whether you're just starting out and it's Food Business Success because you need to get launched, or whether it's Master Your Business because you want to scale to 300 or if you have already taken Master Your Business, you have the opportunity to join us In the 10x mastermind, which is, like, the next level, right? It's really, like implementing everything in Master Your Business and really becoming the CEO and, like, let's go right, really taking ownership of your business and your success.

Or maybe it's not my programs, and it's Ali Ball's Retail Ready Program, or it's Jordan Buckner's Food Bevy program, whatever the program is. Because I love those guys, and I'm going to give them a shout out, because you got to go find the right program for you. Don't overthink it too much, but don't over invest. Don't do everybody's program. Choose one that you're like, I'm going to go all in. I'm going to listen to this person. I believe them. I trust them. They are my people. I resonate with them, right? Ali has always said, you know, I'm for some people and I'm not for others, and I really believe that, like I'm for some people, and some people are probably really turned off by me. Hopefully you're not listening to this podcast if you are really turned off by me, but nevertheless, like, if I resonate with you, then I'm your person. But if I'm not, go find another program so that you can get this kind of support. But anytime you make an investment, I go in, this is how I look at it. I'm fully committed. I am going to get a return on investment, meaning it's not just the $12,000 that I invested. I'm going to make more money. I'm going to make more impact in my business because I made that investment. It's going to up level me and take me to the next place. That's why it's not an expense, it's an investment that gets you to the next level. And then I go all in. I put the calls on my calendar, I book the, you know, I had to go to Chicago, so I booked the flights. I knew I was going to have to invest more than the 12k because I also had to pay for travel and and food and all of that. And I was like, I am all in. I'm going to use the resources, I'm going to do the work, and I am going to make it count. And so when you make an investment, which I just cannot emphasize enough, again, maybe it's not with me, but it's with somebody, it's with some organization that you are like, I am getting accountability, I am getting coaching, and I am getting community. Those are the three things that I see that will make a huge difference in where you end up at this time next year. These are the things you want in a program, right? You want accountability. You want to be making investment. I'm telling you, if you do a free program, you will show up and get that much value, right, or you won't show up at all. I seen it over and over again, when I offer things for free, people don't show up, or they don't do the work, make a financial commitment, make an investment, get accountability, because when we have accountability, we are 95%more likely to succeed. What? Why would you not make an investment in something that's going to make it 95%more likely that you succeed. All right? That was like a little bit of yelling, but I get excited about that. I'm like, yes! And I can tell you, from my experience, every time I've invested in a group program or a coaching program, I'm like, I'm going to show up and I do, I get the results. I decide ahead of time, I'm getting the results. And then when you have a coach who is industry specific, like I am, I'm both a life coach and a business coach, and I have extensive industry experience and connections and knowledge and understanding of how this industry is changing and the new ways that you can save time, and you can save money and do this, but don't do that right now. Like, those are the things that help speed you up and get you excited, right? It gets you on this, like, the the merry go round that starts going, and we're like, yeah, this is exciting, right? I'm making progress. And then community is so important. I know how lonely it can feel as a solopreneur, and many of you are, or maybe you have a partner, but it can be really difficult to find people in like your immediate family or friend group who get this whole entrepreneurship thing, who are maybe like why do you keep talking about this? Or can we talk about something else, right? You want to find community where you can, like, talk about this stuff all day long. I love my entrepreneur communities where I can just like, let's talk about this. Let's talk about the feelings that are happening. Let's talk about the the successes and the disappointments. Let's like, tap into this knowledge base of other people who are going through the same thing. It's an incredible linchpin to your success that people doubt. And I don't understand why people doubt it, but I do understand because I am more introverted as well, and I'm like, Do people really care? And I'm putting myself out there, and I'm being vulnerable in these groups, but I'm telling you, the more you show up and the more you tap into community, the faster you will go. And it's giving, right? You have to give, and you're also going to be getting so much. So I cannot stress how much you need community on top of great programs with great information and strategies and tools and everything you need for where you are at in your business, and then expert coaching.

So if you are listening to this in December, I want you to know that Fuel, the membership a la carte is open for a very limited time, and you can purchase an annual membership that saves you three months and there's some awesome bonuses, or you can combine that and get the full program like it's really hard sometimes when people come into Fuel and I'm coaching them and giving them information, but they you also really need the tools and the program. So if you have not launched yet, or if you are in very early stages, or your cottage food moving into commercialization, wanting to do wholesale, some other things, Food Business Success is the program for you, and it comes with Fuel. Or if you want to just try it out, you can jump into Fuel for a very limited time, but there's some big bonuses going on. And you go to foodbizsuccess.com/program for that. And then, if you already have a business, you already have sales, I would say, at least six months of sales, and you are realizing that, like this business is running you, and then you are running ragged, and you're trying to grow, grow, grow. But that's very different than scaling. Scaling is where it takes less of you, and you start to take yourself out of the business a little bit. You start to free yourself up because you've created really solid financial and operational foundations, and that's what Master Your business is all about. And then the 10x mastermind, for those of you who have taken master your business is that next level, and we're going to be doing some of the tools that I learned through strategic coach to create a self managing company. We're going to be doing more CEO mindset. We're also going to be doing challenge circles, and it's really an incredible community, and it's not for the faint of heart. I want people who are fully committed to showing up and engaging. So one of those programs, if you are listening to this, one of those programs is for you, and Ijust want you to sit with it and decide, is this the year you're going to make a big leap? Is this the year that a year from now, we are having a conversation, and you're like, oh my gosh, I grew my business by 3x 5x 10x, right? This is the year that I went on a vacationand the business still operated without me. It was incredible, right? Those are the things. This is the year that I quit my full time job because I was all in on my business, and I made it work. So if you've been listening to this podcast for a long time, or you've been watching the YouTube channel, you've been maybe you read the book, whatever it is, if you've been sitting on the sidelines, this is your invitation to get in the game. You cannot win. You cannot learn, you cannot grow until you make a commitment and you get in the game. And the most successful athletes, we'll just continue with the athlete metaphor here. The most successful athletes are the ones who get support. They need to improve their skills. They need to understand what they don't even understand yet. They need outside support who knows the game and who knows the skills and can help you skip the line, right? Who can help you grow and take the necessary action so get in the game 2025. Is your year to make a big leap. Go and check out the links below. Have all the links to all my programs, and this is your time. Do not wait. Make a commitment. AndJanuary 2025, LFG, I cannot wait to see you inside. I cannot wait to see you inside and help you get to the next level. Until next time, have an amazing week.

The smartest thing you can do as an entrepreneur is to invest in a who to help you with the how to speed up your journey and help you skip the line. When you are ready for more support and accountability to finally get this thing done, you can work with me in two ways. Get me all to yourself with one on one business coaching, or join Food Business Success, which includes membership inside Fuel, our community of food business founders, that includes monthly live group coaching calls and so much more. It's one of my favorite places to hang out, and I would love to see you there. Go to foodbizsuccess.com to start your journey towards your own food business success.