3 Entrepreneurship Lessons I Wish I Knew When I Started My Business (1:1 with James Laughlin)

I'd like to ship you a free copy of my book Habits of High Performers. If you come and join the 2026 goal setting workshop, I will ship you one of these today. The link is in the notes. Please come and join me to set up the very best 2026 you could imagine. If you've set up goals in the past or New Year's resolutions and they haven't substantiated, I'm here to help you across all the key pillars of your life nail your goals. I'll see you there. Welcome to Lead On Purpose. I'm James Laughlin, former seven time world champion musician and now executive coach to global leaders and high performers. Each week I'll publish a solo cast where I'll share my top high performance habits and methodologies to supercharge your life and career. If you enjoy the show, please take a short moment to subscribe and leave a rating and review. I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks for taking the time to connect today and investing in yourself. Enjoy the show. A very special thanks to NZ Mortgages for sponsoring this episode of the Lead On Purpose podcast. You can check them out at nzmortgages co nz if I was starting my business all over again, here's what I'd do. Look, I get asked often, what is it that you did to start your business? What were the tough things? What were the things that worked really well? Look, I want to share all of that with you and I feel like lots of people have pivotal moments when they're transitioning career or when they want to be an entrepreneur and get out and do it on their own. It's not easy. You look at the stats, about 6 to 7% of people's personalities are fit to be an entrepreneur, 90 plus percent are not. And it doesn't end too well. Usually it ends in burnout and exhaustion and business failure. The amount of businesses that fail significant after one year, 60, 70% or above in certain countries. Certainly here in New Zealand, we have a pretty high business failure rate. After year one we get the year 10. It's sitting in the 70s and 80s at times. So I want you to think about what does starting a business look like? Well, keep it simple. You know, I don't look at my business and go, there's any rocket science, there's any special secrets, there's none of that. But there's certain things that I did that I look back on and go, oh, that was helpful. Or that wasn't so helpful. So if you're at the stage right now where you've just started your business, or you may be in the first year, or you're about to, you're about to take the step, then this is the episode for you. And if you're not in that case, please forward this episode to someone that might enjoy it. So I just wanted to take a moment to go, you know, understanding your niche. And for the Americans and Canadians, you call it your niche, but understanding who do I serve? If you try to serve everyone, you'll serve no one. I meet a lot of people who, who talk a little about a lot, but the true experts that I look up to, they talk a lot about a little. So what's that thing that you're going to geek out on? What's the thing you're going to be known for, that people will refer you to their friends and colleagues and business peers? That to me is key. Just pause and get clear on that. Who am I? What do I do? What's the reason for me doing this? So when I go back, I was a drummer, came to New Zealand 18, 19 to help a school on their dream become the world's first from New Zealand to win the world championships in drumming and pipe banding. And also to help another adult team win their very first national title in their hundred year history. And that was a big challenge for me as a teenager into my early 20s. But I had a real clear idea of what I was about and brought my skill set and was clear on vision. Took a number of years, but eight years in the school. In the end I was part of the leadership team that helped them to win their world championship. Still the first and only to do that. However, that's not my secret sauce, that's just my awareness that there's three key things that need to happen for people to become the best in the world at what they do. And those three things, very simple, high performance skill set, a high performance mindset and a high performance heart set. Those three things are crucial. That's the stuff I geek out on with teams and organizations. I go in and help people with those things to make sure that they can be world class at what they do. There's nothing worse than meeting someone that says, yeah, we're world class in whatever it is, tiddlywinks, engineering, manufacturing, sales, and you take a peek behind the hood and it's mediocre. Got to get clear on that stuff. So that was my mission. I came down, did that, started a drumming retail business and then got to the point where I kind of achieved everything. I'd set out to and started to lose my interest and passion, started to become a bit despondent, maybe a bit flat, and decided, it took me about a year to figure this out, that I really wanted to help other people who were ambitious, other people who had challenges but big dreams and felt that I had a toolkit and life experience that could help. And so I went about figuring that out. So I got really clear on defining my niche. And today I help great humans become the greatest, whether that's in professional sport, whether that's in business, finance, politics. I help great humans who are already great at what they do become the absolute greatest. I get a kick from that. But also that gives me clarity around what products I create. It gives me clarity around what I'm putting in my upcoming book. In terms of content, I don't write for everyone. I write for the one person that I am there to help. And as you know, I help high performers like you. You're already awesome, but it's that 1% that you're looking for, or even more that 0.1%. I would go as far to call you a 1 percenter. You're focused on growth. You're focused on what better looks like. So that's the first step. Get really clear on your niche, who you are, who you serve and why you do what you do. So second step, build relationships. Some people call it networking. I hate that term. I hate going to networking events. It's so transactional. And I understand some people just have to do it and it's part of what they do. But relationships are richer than networks. I would do so much more for someone I had a relationship with than someone who was in my network. Get what I mean? So you're starting out in business. And certainly when I go back to the first year or so, it was about building genuine relationships with the right people, taking the time to get clear on who those right people are. Values come first here. It's not about status or, oh, that person could help me get this. Or that person could introduce me to. Stop there. You know, don't. Don't worry about that status. Get clear on, does that person align with. Some of my key values might not align with them all, but my key ones that are important, are they a good person? Do they do the right thing? Do they treat people well? Do they have a good reputation in the marketplace? Do I get a warm vibe from them when I connect with them? Those things are important. So build relationships slowly and consistently. Don't try and have a million relationships have 10 good ones. It's so important to build the right relationships. You know, I was taught something many years ago, to build your dream 100, and that's the dream 100. People you'd love to be connected with, do business with, support, collaborate with. That's something I'll challenge you to do. Get a piece of paper or get a note on your phone or drop an old spreadsheet. And who's your dream 100? If you're starting out in business, who are those 100 people that you want to do business with, that you want to collaborate with that might help you, that you might help? You know, I've got that list. And if you're listening right now, maybe you're even on my list, right? And maybe I'll make it onto your list. But think about who are the right people that align with your values, that can support you on your mission, and then start building that. I'm not a huge fan of those BNI business networking things. Some people love them, I get it. But for me, I feel uncomfortable. It's not my thing and other people love it. So get clear on what works for you. You do not have to go to a networking thing, event organization, weekly meetup to build a successful business. I will tell you that now. You do not have to do that. There are other ways to do it. There's always, you know, people say, well, that's the right way to do it. I'm like, yeah, you're right. But there's sometimes often more than one right way to get to an end product. So take the time to figure out what the right end way is for you. So important to get around the right people, sit in the right environment for you to grow your business. To me, that's crucial. Right? Here's the last piece, really crucial piece. And by the way, if you've enjoyed this or you're feeling this is adding value, please forward this to someone who's starting a business, thinking of transitioning from career to business, or they're a year into it, please forward this to them, this episode. So establish credibility through showing up. You've got to show up. What's the biggest killer of most new businesses? Obscurity. When people don't know you're there, they're not going to buy from you. When people can't see you, they're not going to jump in and order from you. When people don't know you exist, they're not going to do business in any form because they don't know you're there. Obscurity is the biggest killer of success. You've got to be out there. You've got to get that content rhythm happening. One of the greatest things I feel I was shown early in the piece was create a piece of content around something you're interested in, that you've got expertise in and that there's a need for others to learn about. So if you like video, great, fire your camera up. If you like audio, great, Just get your phone out and record a voice memo. If you like to write, great. Start a blog, put a post on LinkedIn, whatever it might be. If you'd like to take photos, you know, use Instagram. If you're humorous and entertaining, use TikTok. But get clear on what medium you want to use. I would suggest not trying to be everything. Don't try and do video, written audio, like, start with one, the one that you're most attracted to, the one that you feel is most natural. I hear most people saying nowadays, you've got to create video. Video's where it's at. I disagree. You've got to create what works for you. I know many successful people that have done no videos and they've written great books or great articles or magazines. Don't feel like you have to do video. Do what works for you. If you're a natural in front of the video, awesome. Get on in there and do that. But get really clear on what format and what medium you want to do. I hear a lot of people saying, I'm going to start a podcast. I'm like, high five. Awesome. However, the statistics of the number of people that start podcasts and quit after a handful of episodes is ridiculously high. Why? It takes a lot of time. It takes a lot of consistency. It takes a lot of often funding to promote it, to get the equipment for all the extra things that happen in a podcast. It's not cheap, right? My podcast costs multiple six figures to run a year. That's just the investment to make it happen. So you could be a guest on a podcast and you don't have to have the investment in it. So think about ways, if you don't want to start the podcast, about how else you can get access to the reach, but show up consistently if you can, once every week or a fortnight, create a longer piece of content, 5, 10, 15 minutes. Then use an AI tool like Otter Otter. AI is great. It can take the transcript and it can give you the highlights. It can write a little written piece and then you can go, okay, I can see what the key messages were from that audio I recorded. I'm now going to write a blog based on the overview notes that the AI tool took. Right away, you've got two pieces of content there. Now, maybe within that long form piece of content, there was three key takeaways. For example, in this I've shared with you, you've got to define your niche and your purpose. You've got to build really authentic relationships and you've got to establish credibility through content. So right away, I've talked about three different things in this. So potentially my team could take this recording and split it into three mini recordings, three mini articles, three minutes, blog posts, Instagram. They could create a little visual and a little bit of written text under it. That's where we start to repurpose our content. I'm not sharing with you something new. This has been around for a long time. It's not my idea. It's something that's really helped me though, to build rhythm, to build momentum, to build know, like and trust. If somebody's going to do business with you, they've got to be able to trust you. And the only way they can trust you is if they get to know you. You know, every time I go and speak on a stage for a business or an organization, I remind them that trust is everything. Internal trust and external trust. That internal trust of hey, within the team, whether you're a team of two or a team of 2,000, that trust of hey, we've got each other's back. I trust you to do your job, I trust you to follow through. And then the external trust of your customer or client, trusting that you'll show up, deliver the product, delight them, follow through, fix problems. Trust is everything. Now, for people to trust you initially, they've got to see you, hear you, read about what you're doing, read your insights. It might sound overwhelming. So just start with one step. Record your first piece of content or write it. Decide. Am I written? Am I audio, Am I video? Which one of those are you taking photos? I know great photographers that have great businesses that don't write anything. They just take great photos. So get clear on what that is. But business is not easy. I've had really tough times in business. I've had really amazing products that I thought were, well, I thought were amazing, that flopped. So take the time to get clear on what works for you. I've sometimes been guilty of sprinting too quickly towards an idea, a product, a sub niche that seems very exciting, only to realize I didn't pause. I didn't see the bigger picture and I didn't do the research. So if you're going to start business, or if you've just started, start slow. Be methodical, be curious, take your time. But I believe so many more of you have business ideas that need to come into this world and that the world needs right now more than ever. And if you do decide to start business or you've just started, please let me know. Tag me on socials, get on LinkedIn, drop me a line on Insta, send our team an email, let me know. And as you know, every month I run a high performance masterclass for free. Please keep an eye on that. Join our newsletter I'll make sure and put a link in the show notes so you don't miss out on those free masterclasses. It's a great opportunity to learn about some of the insights and tools that I share with my high performers who are in pga, who are top rugby players, who are corporate professionals. I just share all that stuff with you for free. Please come and join me with that. And as you know, next session is going to be a special guest coming to join us. So please keep an eye out. It's a very special one coming up next. But for now please get out there and lead your life on purpose. A very special thanks to NZ Mortgages for sponsoring this episode of the Lead on Purpose podcast. You can check them out at nzmortgages co nz. Thanks for tuning in today and investing in your own personal leadership. Please hit that subscribe button and I'd love if you'd leave me a rating and review. I've got some amazing guests lined up for you in the coming weeks and leaders. It's that time to get out there and lead your life on purpose.