I can make you an overnight celebrity!

Let’s get rich quick!

Man makes millions trading bitcoin in 3 months!

Make fast cash flipping houses!

We have all heard the headlines and click bait - there are many so-called entrepreneur mentors that make high interest promises to the everyday person that they simply cannot keep.

The reality of building your own successful small business comes from many long hours, hard work, grit, and time.

That is why, during this consultation I want to take the time to remind the upcoming entrepreneurs that this is your race; you have to run it at your pace and with the limitations or accelerations that you are embodied with.

You have to do this with focus on the finish line and not on the other racers.

This seems easier said than done right? No worries, here are some pieces of advice:

Beware the Scammers: All that glitters is certainly not gold. Can you make money flipping houses fast? Absolutely! At the same time, without business knowledge and tax help you are probably going to be in some trouble doing it when tax season comes.

Can you just sell your product at street markets and through cashapp or hire people under the table to work for you to make more money, because that is what the guy on the internet suggested you do and he has a nice car? Sure, but guess what? It will catch up with you!

Scammers know how to make their lifestyle look good and how to make doing things the easy and improper way look like the best way.

Look out for them.

They prey on people who are running their race, working hard, and trying to do the right thing. If it's too good to be true, it probably is.

Keep your pace: Everyone is running a different entrepreneurial race.

You don’t have to go any faster than you can go.

You may be carrying a full time job on your back during your race.

You may be a single mom during your race.

You may not have any financial support, be a fulltime student, or have other ailments that slow you down during your race.

As long as you are running your race, you are still achieving. It would be foolish to try to run this entrepreneurial race at full speed ahead carrying tons of weight on your shoulders.

It is ok to take a metered approach and set goals and go a little faster everytime the weight eases off some. 

Do not worry about other racers: You should not worry about other racers and their races.

There could be a business that has lapped you three times - but you have no clue that they have no weight on their shoulders, have a little financial support, and could even have a parent that is able to mentor them in their business.

On the other hand, you may want to be snarky to the business owner that is having so much trouble starting their race, not knowing the abuse and trouble they faced growing up, the amount of weight they have on their shoulders, their lack of education, and the health issues that they may have.

For some, it is a miracle they made it to the race at all.

We do not know others' journeys or paths, so when we are running our races, we should take great care in helping others along the way and ask the most skilled racers for tips of the trade, so that we can all learn to run the race to the best of our abilities.

Goals and metered approaches: When you have a full schedule and want to start a business make goals and do things with a metered approach.

If you are short on time and need to get an education, take a class at a time.

If you need marketing tools and are short on funds, do one thing quarterly.

If you are not able to do every networking event, pick the most important two per month and really make a mark when you are there. 

Where there is a will, there is a way!

When you complete the race, the time it took to get there won’t matter because the end of the story will say you finished the race.

You did it, you succeeded!

 Kara Michelle Self is the owner of Inspired Events, by K. Michelle and the business developer and Market Manager at the New Rabbit Creek Market. Kara has a passion for helping Women achieve success in the entrepreneurial world, which has led her to pursue her Bachelor’s Degree of Arts in Entrepreneurship.

Inspired Events has led Kara to work with Women Wednesdays as coordinator of the “Her Business is Blooming” campaign.

Kara is in the Entrepreneurship Incubation Program at Domi Station. To feel you can not accomplish something or do not have the means, only means you should have a seat next to Kara to hear more of her story and the power of overcoming and making a way for yourself.