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Sari 0:00
You started this business because you love your product. You love making it. You love the joy on other people's faces when you sell it to them or give it to them. And so you decided to start a business, and now the business is running over you like a Mack truck. You are wondering, when the heck are you ever actually going to make any money? When do you finally get that freedom and fun? That was the whole reason why you started this business in the first place! When will you stop being in the day to day of the business and running around like everything is on fire, where the business doesn't work if you're not in it? It is time for that to change. If you have proven your concept and you know this is a good idea, then it's time for you to start learning how to be the boss, to become the CEO that your business requires of you to actually work, to create money and profit without you being in the day to day. And we do that through Master Your Business. Listen, you could go spend a lot more money on a MBA and learn the same things that I'm going to teach you in this program. This is all about creating systems and processes and knowing your numbers. We're no longer going to be afraid of our numbers. And we're going to create an intentional path for your business to succeed, to stand the test of time and to work for you. We are starting a new cohort very soon. Go to masteryourbiz.co and get yourself registered. Prove to yourself that this is going to be a business that works and you are going to be the CEO your business needs.

Welcome to your Food Business Success. This podcast is for early stage entrepreneurs in the packaged 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!

Hello, and welcome back to the podcast. I'm so glad you are here. Some of you are dreaming way too small. You have no vision for your business. You're kind of just putting one foot in front of the other and sort of falling forward. But there's no direction. And I was at an event last night. I'm very fortunate to live in an area that does have networking events for the food industry. And I get to go and talk with lots of people who are doing those work, right? Who are creating packaged product businesses and really trying to scale them and grow them. And so it's really fun for me, I get to talk with a lot of people. And I was actually talking with somebody, I was on my way out the door very like focused for the door. And he grabbed me and he was like Sari, and it was somebody who I've run into a couple of times. And I look at him and I'm like, we're going to work together. When can I help you? Why are you waiting? But we got to talking and he was sharing with me some decisions and where the business was headed. And he was doing, he's doing amazing. He's only five months in business and his sales online are incredible. And he was trying to make some decisions about going into stores or not. And I kind of just without permission, I guess, I did sort of step in as a coach and I started to ask him some questions about that decision and why he was doing it. And I said, you know, as a coach, I don't care whether you do X or Y or Z. I just want you to like your reason. And as we explored a little bit more, it was like, maybe I'm shutting this down so quickly to say no because there's some fear there. Because I don't exactly know what I'm doing. And it was funny, he kept saying, I mean there's a lot of paperwork like so we're not going to go after a potential opportunity because there's paperwork? Every part of your business is going to have things that maybe aren't the funnest things for you, right? But they're things that we have to go through and we just kind of hunker down and say, I'm going to figure it out, I'm going to find out who can help me, and I'm going to get through this. And I started asking him about his three year vision. And it was so interesting because he actually was like, I don't really like to go out that far. I'm just kind of like trying to see if I can just get to the next place. And there's nothing wrong with that. I think when you first start, I mean, pre launch, I just want you to get launched. That's your vision. Now, it is helpful. And I talk about this in a lot of my workshops, you can grab the Whip Up A Business Workshop for free, I think it's foodbizsuccess.com/whipupabiz, and you can go get that and I talk about the importance of having a three to five year vision. But really, when you're pre launch, we just got to get you launched. And that longer term vision can help you make decisions. But let's just get it launched and going. Once you are launched, I think this is one of the biggest mistakes that I see that brands make is that they don't have a clear destination, that one that's further out on the horizon that says this is the big thing that we're going for. There's a stoic quote that goes something like, if you don't know the destination, if you don't know the port that you're going to, every wind is a foul wind. Like if you don't know where you're going, it doesn't really matter which way the wind is blowing because it's not going to take you in the direction you're going because you don't know where you're going, right? It just spins you around. And I think that's what happens a lot of times after people get launched is they don't kind of lock into a bigger vision. There's a lot of fear there of like, what if I don't accomplish it, right? And that's where I talk a lot about, we got to separate success from results. And we have to say I'm successful because I'm taking action and not whether I actually achieve the goal. I want you to create a vision that is compelling, that is juicy. A future that is delicious and pulls you forward, something that excites you and gets you out of bed and like, yes, I want to get to work! I want to do the heavy lifting and be really focused and intentional on what I'm working towards. I see a lot of founders making decisions based on very short term goals, if they even have any goals that are clearly defined at all. There's always the vague big goal like I want to have a successful business. But what does that mean? And then they're just taking like, well, let's try this, and let's try this, and let's try this, right? And we're not applying any constraint because we haven't actually define the goal. My students who are joining me in Master Your Business, which starts today, and I want to offer is still open, if you want to come join us. I would love for you to do this vision work. This is exactly where we start, is creating that bigger vision like really understanding what is your why and then what is that vision three to five years out. And here's what I have realized after talking with a lot of people because I have very clear visions for my business, for my life, for my future. I am willing to go there a lot. I spend a lot of time thinking about the future. I'm in the present thinking about the future and a lot of you don't know how to do this. And it's so fascinating to me because, you know, I go to events like the event last night and I asked people about their vision and their future, and people are kind of blank. And if that's you, that's okay, I think that we just don't have practice at it. And somehow I don't know why I'm more wired to be able to really go there. But we need a guide a lot of times and I've had a lot of guides that have helped me to craft my vision and really shape it on purpose and do it with more intentionality. And so that's exactly where we start in Master Your Business is to start thinking about the future three, five years from now. Now, I think one of the hang ups that I get, and this was the objection, even last night when I was talking to this person is he said, well, I don't want it to be a money goal, like I don't want $10 million business. That's not necessarily what I'm after. And I think that's super valid, I have actually made that decision for myself, like I don't actually want a $30 million business or anything like that. I actually have recreated my vision to be, there is a wealth component of it because we do need something, a measuring stick. But for me, it is about what is my life like? How am I showing up? What is my well being like? Like how do I wake up in my mornings? And am I excited to go to work? Am I excited for the day ahead? Is there whitespace? Is there downtime? Is there rest time? Are there exciting projects? So for me, my compelling vision is actually what like I said, there is a money component that is part of it. But it's more about just my general feeling in the world and the excitement and the passion and the contribution and the growth that's happening. And that there's a certain amount of freedom that I have. If I had to guess what many of your three to five year visions were, you probably actually would not like it very much. It would be the way you're operating now is creating a three year result of you being burnt out, overworked, losing all of your money, putting your heart, soul, your passion into this, waking up with anxiety, and overwhelm, and confusion and constant doubt. And really just never been able to take a vacation and have the business make money, worrying about it all the time. When you are with your family, you're thinking about the business. When you're in the business, you're thinking about all the things you should be doing outside of the business. And it is a mess, and you end up resenting and hating the very thing that got you started. And in three years, many of you actually would not be here anymore, you would have quit by now. And I don't think that's why you got into this business. This is not why you started your passion. This is not why you decided to turn your dream into a business. I know that was not your three year goal and yet that is the path that many of you are operating on because you're just in the business, flailing around with no guidance, with no direction on where it is we're heading. And when you don't set a direction, then things just happen to you. Instead of you going out and working towards something with a clear result, a clear outcome in mind, because you all started a business, most likely because you wanted more freedom. You wanted to have more ownership and guide your life, your ship, and be able to choose when and what you do. You want it to be empowered to choose the direction of your life. And then we're in it and we can't see the forest from the trees, we can barely see what's in front of us. And it's like you're a duck on a water and you're paddling really, really hard but it's like you're going nowhere. You're like, and you're making these decisions that seems shiny on the surface and like, oh, I could do this, I could do this, I could do this. And many of you are trying to do way too many things, right? And so a lot of times I have to pull you back. And that's what I offer as a coach is to help you see the forest from the trees and help you constrain. And so yeah, you can do it all, but not all at once. What are we going to focus on now? And then some of you, I have to push to do more. And it's a talent as a coach to know which one is which, right? But over the years, I've gotten really good at saying yeah, that goal is way too small, right? We're going to have actually 10 times that goal. And just a shout out to Maggie. Some of you guys have heard her talk about this that when she came to me, we met in January at Fancy Food and we're talking and she's like my goal for the year is 10 wholesale accounts. And I asked her why and kind of heard her out. And I looked at her and she's like, what is it, Maggie? Come on, 10? That's nothing, no, that is way too small! I want to use a 10x that, we are going to a hundred. And I said, let's put 100 down, and then what needs to be possible? And she's like, that's a lot, that's feels really impossible. Okay, so what needs to be true for it to be possible. And even if she doesn't hit 100, if she only hits 90 or 80, who cares, right? Because we're not going to attach success to results. We're going to say success is about taking the action towards the goal. And I'm so excited to announce we just had one of our MYOB calls. And that's the lingo, that's the cool kids how we say Master Your Business. And she said, I have 10 accounts, right? So here we are in, I guess it was in April, that she told us that she has 10 accounts, she has met the original goal because she made her future bigger. And it was compelling and interesting. And it forced her to take bigger action, to take bigger risks, to go for no instead of just playing it safe. And so I want to offer that many of you need to craft that three to five year vision and get really clear on your future. What do you want your life to look like? You came into this business with a vision, with a passion. You clearly had some goal in mind and then the business often overtakes us. And you do, you feel like you're that duck on the water paddling so hard and you are working so much, and you don't feel like you're getting anywhere. And the business is all dependent on you. And you having to be there all the time and take all the action. And it is so important that we both create that big vision that pulls you forward and lay a really strong foundation. So that as you grow, as you go towards that vision, if you're not hooked into some clear values, some clear goals, some clear strategies and processes and functionality of the business, then it just blows over. That's where it implodes, right? When we go after big goal but we haven't actually created the structure to support it. So both of those things are what we do in Master Your Business. I would love to help you craft that bigger vision for your business to either help you make it bigger, challenge you on that. And again, it doesn't always have to be a money thing. If you're like, yeah, my goal this year is to make 50k. I'm not going to necessarily be like, okay, it's 500k, right? That may not be the thing although it may. Because if I said, how on earth are you going to go make 500k? Which I was just doing this with a one-on-one client, I said, what if you had to do that? What is that? You know, it was imperative, somebody's life was on the line, how would you do that? And it does, it wakes you up to oh, this is exactly what I would do, right? Here's my next steps. Instead of bumping around in the land of confusion or just doing a little bit, a little bit, a little bit a little bit here, here, here, here. And really not getting any progress, right?

It's the the idea of kicking the soccer ball, you know, one soccer ball 10 times down the field versus 10 soccer balls lined up and you take one kick of each. It's going to take you a long freakin time to get down one of those balls down to the goal line. And so that's the value of what an experience like Master Your Business is, where as your coach and your guide, I can help you craft that. And then we're going to build the foundation. It's going to be super compelling, super juicy. We're going to talk about, you know, the deep why. And why you're excited about that, and you're going to really commit, and then we're going to lay the foundation, and it is an incredible journey. You've heard about Stephanie's journey, Chanel's journey, April and Earl sent out an amazing testimonial. They're crushing it with their business, I'm so proud of them. So many of the people who were in Master Your Business over the course of three months, totally changed the trajectory of their business. And I want you to imagine your future in three months, right? Fast forward to the end of July and you are set up. You are ready to go for the holidays. You have done the hard work, the necessary work of being a CEO and working on your business, not in your business. I've been going back and forth with email with somebody who's followed me a long time, I know her well. And I said, are you going to do this? She was like, I know I should. But I just, I'm so busy in the business. And I'm like, and then nothing will ever change for you. You will be handcuffed to this business if you are not willing to find the space to make the commitment to do this work. And there is a reason why so many people end up leaving entrepreneurship, they quit. They close their business because they're unwilling to become the CEO that their business needs. And that's not you! You started this business because you're passionate about your product and now it's time to become the CEO. And the first thing we do as a CEO is we create a really amazing vision. And then we line everything up. And it helps us make really great decisions. And it gives us clarity so that we like our reasons when we say yes or no to opportunities. It forces us to constrain and to start actually taking action that is scary. But it's action that's going to get us so much closer to our goal. I want that for you. I would love for you to come join us in Master Your Business. It is not too late. Go to masteryourbiz.co and get yourself registered. Some of the best things I have ever done for my life and my business is to say F it, and just push the button at the very last minute, right? And actually Chanel talked about that too. She just did another one of those where at the last minute she applied for a local program and she got in, right? So make that last minute decision. Like be like, yeah, I'm worth it. My business is worth it. F it, I'm doing it. I'm all in. Let's go! 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.