4 Business Essentials You Can’t Ignore If You Want to Be a Successful Entrepreneur

During a recent engagement for a client event, I was eager to work with a new and talented creative partner. Unfortunately, this collaboration never happened because they did not have, nor could they obtain, insurance — a non-negotiable to enter into most venues. 

As I reflected on how we ended up in this situation, it occurred to me that more and more people are operating their business as a side hustle. In fact, 72% of Americans either already have a side hustle or are considering starting one, and 37% of US workers currently have a side hustle, while another 35% are actively considering one.

As a full-time business owner, I always welcome the chance to collaborate with qualified businesses (side hustle or otherwise), but I feel the need to encourage every small business owner to have the following things in place, no matter the size or type of business you have. 

1. Clear understanding of your value proposition

Many businesses, including my own in the beginning, specialized in everything — which was really sending the signal, “Hey, I need the work, I need the work now, and I need it badly.”

Lack of a value proposition means you lack vision. Every business should have a clear value proposition. Every business should have an understanding of its capabilities, and there is no one business that should be available for everything.

When you do that, you are telling your consumer that you have no strategy and are eager (or desperate) for the next transaction. This is not the business a thoughtful consumer will buy into because you don’t even know what your purpose is.

When considering the importance of the value proposition, craft your value proposition in two questions. In short, you should be able to answer: 

• What exactly does your business do? 
• What is the problem your business solves? 

When you lack a clear value proposition, you end up personally exhausted — doing everything for everyone while neglecting the work you’re actually passionate about. You also breed client resentment because transactional (rather than values-aligned) business attracts people who simply expect you to deliver.

And your growth becomes unaligned: you either scale fast into burnout and declining quality, or you stall entirely because no one understands your “why” and moves on to someone whose value and communication are clear.

2. Business insurance

First, a caveat: you should talk to a qualified business insurance expert about your specific needs. That said, here’s what I can tell you insurance generally does — it legitimizes your business, unlocks access to certain opportunities, and protects both you and the people working with you.

Progressive Commercial adds a few more: it helps you avoid lost income, gives your property a safety net, and shields you against lawsuits. When you do sit down with a specialist, don’t be afraid to get multiple opinions and choose something that fits both your business needs and your financial reality.

3. Clear financial tracking

I’ll be honest: early in my business, I didn’t have this together. I accepted money, however it came — including checks that would occasionally bounce. Over time, I learned from those mistakes. It became clear that to truly understand my revenue, I first had to understand my expenses and build an easy way to receive payments.

At LaJoy Creative, we now use Gusto and take all payments via wire transfer, though many of our clients rely on systems like Bill.com, QuickBooks, and others. I’m not partial to any particular platform — but I am partial to this advice: have a system.

In my experience, a reliable financial system allows you to: 

• Track what you are making per project to identify if you are charging appropriately. 
• Make the business case for you to go full-time or to bring on someone else. 
• Automate, allowing you to focus your time on business development or client projects, trusting the system (and as you grow, your bookkeeper) to manage it for you. 

4. Professional development

I know what some of you may be thinking: you do not have the money. Look, I have been there; I spent my last bit of funds on a game-changing training many years ago and had to sleep in my car for a night because I could not afford the host hotel the entire time.

Was it worth it? Absolutely, which is why I am encouraging you to invest in yourself. The reality is that business is changing. What you did last quarter may not work next quarter, and in an effort to remain knowledgeable, you have to be willing to refine your skills. If budget is an issue, try one of these strategies: 

• Go to every free professional development opportunity. I did this. Some are better than others, but at a minimum, you walk away meeting some interesting people. 
• Write to the opportunity you are interested in and see if you can work out a payment plan or apply for a scholarship, and yes, I mean this even if it is not on the website. 
• Gather with some of your colleagues and see if, together, you can do a braintrust over a coffee or lunch. 

Small businesses fail at an astonishing rate: More than one in five collapse within their first year, and half are gone by their fifth. The ones that endure share a common trait — leadership that treats professional development, both its own and its employees’, as an essential investment rather than an afterthought.

This brings me to a final point. My original outline included several additional ideas, but I’ll close instead with a challenge.

Over the next 30 days, select one of the growth areas outlined above and commit to building a plan tailored to your side hustle — one designed to deepen your professional fulfillment, reconnect you with your purpose and help you attract the right clients. In doing so, you position yourself to one day join the small business community full-time and to thrive.