Ep #124 Are you a maker or entrepreneur?

There is a big difference between a true entrepreneur and a maker who has a business. Most of the time we have created (or will create) a business from an maker state of mind. You just want to make your product and you wish you had other people to do all the other things.

I hear it ALL THE TIME.

It is somewhat easy to start a packaged product business, but creating one that lasts and doesn't require you to do all the things requires new skills and stepping into new roles that are outside of your comfort zone. 

But that doesn't mean you avoid it. You can't! This is not a hobby. This is a business. You must look at your finances, know your numbers, create a vision and plan your year and quarters strategically. To create a business that makes money even if you aren't there toiling away requires you to fall in love with entrepreneurship as much as making your product. 

In today's podcast I explain the three roles you MUST perform for your business to work and how most people are only performing one of them. If you aren't willing to step into the other two roles, your business will run (or ruin) you. I've seen it over and over again and I don't want that to be your story. 💔

👋We're Food Business Success®. We mentor early-stage founders with real coaching, strategy, tools, and systems to help them avoid common pitfalls and build a brand that lasts. We're also home to the Launch & Grow Accelerator.

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Sari  0:00  
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 gotta 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, everybody. Oh my gosh, do you ever have those moments in your life of just pure inspiration like pure epiphany where you're just like, oh, my gosh, it all came together! I found that key, that perfect ingredient in the recipe or that perfect technique that just pulled it all together and it made it all work and it makes sense. I think about Chanel with her puff pastry with Good Love Foods. And I do not know how she did it but I know it took endless, endless hours of R&D and all the testing and all the trials. But she makes the most amazing gluten free puff pastry that is to die for. It's like I would not have known and I used to teach people how to make puff pastry. Anyway, I digress. But that's kind of what it's like, been like here for me is like, it all has just come together. And here's what that is. I work with so many brands, businesses, you know, want to be entrepreneurs every year, I've been doing this, oh, gosh, I'm heading into my seventh year of being an entrepreneur having my own business. And working with early stage packaged, oftentimes food, but I also work with other kinds of makers who make a packaged product. And they're really passionate about it, and they want to go sell it and start a business, and see if they can make this work. And I've just been noticing that we're hitting some roadblocks, like I'm just seeing where there's this pain point where like people start a business out of this passion and then they just get so run down by the business, like the business is running them, and it's sucking the life out of them. And they're just so defeated, and hopeless, and frustrated, and just not having any fun at all. And I'm trying to figure out, like how can I help them? Like what is going on? How do we make this shift so that it's not that way? And it's like I can offer all of these tools and all of these things that you need to do but there's just something that's not clicking. And then it finally came to me. And it came through reading a book called E-Myth by Michael Gerber. And I highly recommend, it is definitely a high recommendation of a book for anybody. And so really today's topic about are you a true entrepreneur or are you an employee who started a business, is all inspired by this book. But it's like, the concepts in this book, it all came together, all of the work, all of the things that I've offered. It's like, oh, now I see how it all has to come together. Now I see how I can help people so much better to set their business up to really succeed. Not just like, yeah, I launched my product but actually to give them what they went into this business wanting. I mean, when you start a business, let's just be real for a minute, you are probably starting it because you are so passionate about your product that you're like everybody has to try this. I want to get this in everybody's hands so that they can experience the joy or the fun or the satiation or the pleasure or the safety, the confidence, right, that I feel when I use this product. And that's amazing. That's wonderful. I want you to start a business out of passion. I really do. But here's the problem is that most of us and I put myself in this category as well, we start our business from a makers point of view. We're stepping into it with, I just want to make my product and I want to get it out there. And it's almost like this business is kind of an inconvenience like, I mean, I guess I have to start a business, I guess I have to find a way to sell my product. Like, you're just like, I just want to make my product, I can't tell you how many times I hear that over and over again. Like it's like social media and the financials, and the marketing plan, and figuring out how to produce it efficiently, and making money. It's just like, it's a hassle. It's a, it's a secondary thing that you're like, really that thing I have to deal with that? And Michael says that, you know, most of the time, people are coming in with about 70% of doing their business from a makers point of view, he calls it a technician, but I like maker because that's what you are. For most of you, you are the maker. And then the other two personalities that do need to happen for a business are the entrepreneur and the manager. And the entrepreneur is the one who decided to turn this hobby, turn this home thing into a business. He calls it a seizure. An entrepreneur's seizure, I would call it maybe more of like inspiration, like a fit of inspiration that you're like, yeah, what if I could? How cool would that be, right? And we start this business thinking it's going to give us so much joy, we're gonna be so happy. And we're going to be making money and maybe you can get out of your job, that prison. I literally work with one woman who does work in a prison so we joke that like, she wants this business to get her out of prison. It's true, right, literally. So you all come in with like, I want to have freedom, I want to have flexibility, I want to have fun, I want to like be living into my passion every day. And so you have this little part of you and your mind that's like this entrepreneur personality, it's like, yeah, you could do this, we're gonna do this, and we're gonna do this, and it's gonna be amazing. And they're thinking about the vision and the future, and what if, and they're getting creative, and they're innovating and, and it's like, the entrepreneur and the maker, kind of get together. And the maker for a moment is like, okay, maybe we could do this. You know, I hear that voice, that entrepreneur voice. And I think I can make this work. And then the manager is a really necessary component of any business. I literally just bought three different hats from Amazon, when I get them off I have to do a little reel for you guys, but three different hats representing the maker, the manager, and the entrepreneur because it's literally like, you have a split personality, and you need all three of these to make it work. And the manager is the one who's creating order. They're creating processes, their systems, like they really value status quo and like efficiency, and getting the most out of the maker. They're like they're managing the maker and they're also kind of managing the entrepreneur, like they're the ones that see all the problems with what the entrepreneur is proposing. And the entrepreneur is oftentimes like, has that shiny object syndrome thing going on where they're like, yeah, let's do that, let's do that. And then it's like, the manager, there's a little part of you, that's the manager that tells the maker like, we're gonna do this. And then the entrepreneur, you know, a month later is like, but what about if we add this product? And what about if we do this, right? And I know clients like this, you know who you are. You're constantly trying to add new products, change the business, go in a different direction. Well, we tried that one thing and then only how, it didn't work one time, so now let's go do it over here.

And what Michael says in that book is that most businesses are operating with the entrepreneur is about 10%, the manager is 20%, and the maker is 70%. When I looked up the definition of entrepreneurship, I really liked kind of these two versions. Entrepreneurship is the process of developing, organizing, and running a new business to generate profit while taking on financial risk. And an entrepreneur is someone who has an idea and who works to create a product or service that people will buy, as well as an organization that supports that effort. They are seen as the visionary and the innovator and take on most of the risk and the initiative for this business, right? And so you may be like, well, what's the problem with me just wanting to be a make? And I'm gonna say that there probably really isn't a problem, it's just when the two conflict. If you just want to have a hobby where you're like, I just make these delicious cookies on the side, and people like call me up, and I don't have to do any of the sales, I don't really have to do any marketing, I don't have to figure it all out. I just am pretty much going to make the product. And people know me and they're like, yeah, make me these cookies, right? That's a hobby business. And there's nothing wrong with that. If that's what you want, please, by all means do that. But what happens is that a lot of people start a business because they have that entrepreneurship inspiration. They're like, I could really make this work, I could make this big, I could replace my salary. And big, I don't mean like, you need to be the next Justin's Nut Butter and sell your business for $286 million. That's not what I'm saying. It's like, whatever is big for you. It could just be like, I'm just creating, you know, I'm replacing my salary, or I am creating other jobs for people and creating a business that allows me to take, you know, four vacations with my family that are paid for by the business, whatever that is for you. It's just that a lot of times, you go in with an idea of what the business can provide and it doesn't actually match with what you're actually doing, right? Like if there's a mismatch there and so there's conflict. Because a maker just wants to make, do the work. And even if you're not making your product, I wanted to just say like, it could be just like, I just want to do the social media, I just want to do the sales. But what is happening is that we haven't taken a minute to step back as the entrepreneur, as the manager, and really defined the business intentionally. Because here's what happens. And you can just, like, just listen and see like, does this describe me? If you already have a business, I'm guessing many of you can relate. If you have a business being run by a maker or you're an employee, essentially, who owns a business, here's what happens, here's how it goes, you're gonna stay small because you cannot scale yourself, you have a limited number of hours, a limited amount of energy, a limited amount of money. So you are always going to stay pretty small, it is always going to depend on you. You are at the center of your business, you cannot ever stop making or doing the work because it all depends on you. You're the only one who knows how to do it. You're the only one who can do it right. And, you know, you're just like, yeah, but it's just me. Like I said, this is a little bit more of a hobby business. I've been talking with some folks who are ready to, they had that realization like oh, yeah, this is totally me. And they did some math, did a little bit of, you know, spreadsheet work and did a couple little number crunching, nothing insignificant but enough to know that she is only making about. She's like, I think I'm making about $800 a month after everything. After all my cost of goods sold, after all of my expenses. She's like, I'm working really hard for $800 a month. Like yeah, you are. Is it worth it, right? And this is kind of the one of the symptoms that I see of when we have a maker run lead business. Your customers are buying you. Now I am all for you being at the center of your business from a marketing standpoint, like there is a lot of value when you are a small business to have the founder's story and understand like why you started the business but ultimately like your customers need to buy the product. They need to be like sold on the business not sold on you. You cannot always be at the center, we need to start creating a business that is more about the business and the business and the customers interacting, than the customers and you interacting. And you're pulled in 1000 directions, you're not doing anything really well, even your product, what happens is that your product quality will start to slip because you can't keep it all up. You can't do all of it, wear all the hats, right? The social media, and the sales, and going to the farmers markets, and making the product, and doing the deliveries and oh, the books like usually that just doesn't even happen. But if you do it and you try to do the bookkeeping, it's not done very well. And maybe you even try to bring in help. But it's really haphazard. It's like, oh, you're a warm body that I think has a really good personality that could figure this out. And so you bring them in, and you just plop them in, you're like, yeah, here's what I want, go do it, go figure it out. And we're hiring people based on personalities, like they seem smart, they seem to know what they're doing. I actually worked with somebody a little while ago that brought on like, triple her staff because she only had one person and then brought in three. And much of the hiring was done based on personality. Like she has a degree in marketing, she can figure it out, and so there's a lot of delegating through abdication, you're just like, you know, like, you're just like, I just gotta get rid of this thing, I can't do social media anymore, or I can't do the books anymore. Let me bring somebody on who knows what they're doing instead of having a system and a process that you know exactly what the result needs to be, and you've figured it out. And then you could bring in anybody to just work the system. It's not based on personality. And what happens is, when it's based on personalities, people leave, people change. And then it's like, and I did this, you guys, you know, if you've, if you've been around me, you know, I brought in somebody to really help me with my business. And it was totally a hire on personality, I really thought that she had what it takes to like get me to the next level and support me in the way I need to be supported. But I didn't really know what that looked like. And so I just was hoping that she would figure it out. And it was terrible for both of us. I mean, at the end, it got really messy and it was not fun. And ultimately, I got I was left with like, oh, like, I was reliant so much on her to figure it out and there was no processes, there were no systems. And so when she left, I had to go figure it all out myself and it was terrible. And now with my VA, and I have a couple of other people that I work with remotely. There are like very, I had to go do the work, I had to create the processes and the systems. And now it doesn't really matter whether it's Vinness or it's somebody else. I mean, I love her. She's amazing. But I could plug in a different name and the process, the outcome would still be the same because the process works. Whoever's doing the actual work. And so you kind of feel like a ping pong ball, right? You're just like, somebody says I should do this and somebody says I should do this and like, what about that? And oh, my gosh, and then oh, tax time. Oh, gosh, you know, and, and meanwhile, the very reason why you got into this is being crushed, that passion, right? Because now you are literally underwater is like putting together a presentation. It's like that underwater like you're just gasping for air. You're feeling the pressure. I know this feeling really well.

I can feel it right now. When I think about it. It's like that pressure of your business. It's like a board with weights on it just crushing us slowly, right? It's that feeling of just drowning and you're like just gasping for air. And when you're with your family, you're feeling guilty because you're not doing the business and when you're in your business, you're feeling guilty about not being there for your family or your relationships, your health suffers. Your sleep suffers like you become a complete wreck. And that is where, unfortunately, where I meet some of you where you finally come and get help. And it just breaks my heart because it doesn't need to be this way. Here's the alternative, instead of resenting your business, instead of loathing your business, there is a possibility, there is a different way to do it. And it's about falling in love with your business, falling in love with being an entrepreneur, not just a maker. It's about creating a business that actually works, whether you're there or not. And it's a business that actually makes money because I don't care how many of you say, I'm not in it for the money, in order for the IRS to declare you as a business and let you take a tax, you know, do all the taxes with it, you have to be making money, and your soul will start to suffer, your psychology will break down if you are always losing money. You will not want to do this business very long if it's always a loss, always a loss, always a loss. It's defeating, it feels terrible. You're like, wait, something's wrong here. And unfortunately, that's when a lot of you guys come to me as you're like, I think I maybe started an expensive hobby, help me Sari. And yes, I can help you and that's exactly why I created Master Your Business. And it's not too late if this is resonating with you, and you're like, oh my gosh, Sari, you're describing me and my feelings towards my business to a tee, then it is definitely not too late. We start on January 18th, if you're listening to this podcast live, and my plan is to run this program multiple times a year, and we'll do more with it. But this first round will start on January 18th. So you have a little over a week to get into this program. So what does that look like to step into being a true entrepreneu? It's going to require you to learn new skills, right? To get out of your comfort zone, you know how to make your product, good- sold, like of course, it better be a great product- done. Now running a business, one that works for you, is going to require you to learn about financials. It's going to require you to create an organizational structure. It's going to require you to look ahead and say, does this kind of business align with what I actually want? What is my mission? What is my future vision of my life? And sometimes it doesn't like we got to get honest with ourselves. But if you feel like yes, this business could equal that, right? And I'm willing to learn the skills. I mean, here's the really good news is that there is no entrepreneur gene, thank goodness because I was not born into an entrepreneurial family. Now I do think people who grow up around other entrepreneurs definitely have a little bit more ease with this. But most of us don't. And in this age, right, where we have access to the internet, and things are relatively, it's relatively easy to set up a business. And everybody tells you, you should do it, you should be an entrepreneur, it's so easy, so fast. You can just be on the internet, you can be in a market, or you can be in stores, right? Everyone just tells you it's so easy. And you're like maybe it is. And I do find that people who do grow up around other entrepreneurs have a little bit more risk tolerance, they have a little more ability just to kind of step back and see how the business all functions together as a whole system. But the great news is you don't have to be born with that gene. And I recently took an entrepreneurial quiz to see like, and it was like a really good one. It wasn't just like a Cosmo magazine or something. And it was so fascinating because I actually only scored a high C, 77 out of 100. So I've been doing those for seven years. I would say the last three I have actually started to fall in love with this business as an entrepreneur and like love figuring out how to make the business work and run, and have more fun, and be more profitable and not have it all be reliant on me as the sole person doing all the work. But you too, if I can do it with a 77 score 77, you can definitely do it too. And an entrepreneur is going to stop, and they're gonna look at what the future vision is, right? So like I said earlier, you need to say, what is my vision? I'm going to replace my salary. I want to be able to experiment. And a lot of you guys, I find are just like, but I just want to do new development, I want to do the R&D. And, frankly, making your product over and over again, once it's been perfected, like once you have a system and a process and a formula. It's kind of boring. For some of you, I'm like, oh, my gosh, are you not so bored of making 1000s and 1000s, and 1000s of the same granola or same salsa, or whatever it is, right? It gets actually kind of boring. And so most of you, I think, just want to actually be able to create new ideas, new products, you want more flexibility and freedom, you want a business that supports the life that you want, right? I know each of you has that vision that there is a real connection emotionally to what you think your business could give you. And you're also wanting to create that customer experience, right? That when a customer buys your product, that they're going to have that joy and that hope and that confidence, and that experience, right? That's mostly why you even do this business in the first place. Because you're like, it worked for me. I got so much of X Y Z feeling out of it. I want to help give that to more and more people. And so starting with that end in mind, we have to work backwards. And we have to actually be like, I'm excited to figure out the business. Look at your business as if you would a recipe like you're trying to figure out how to make that puff pastry, that gluten free puff pastry work. It's the same feelings, it's the same thoughts about your business. I wonder how this is all going to come together. I wonder what kind of organizational structure would support creating a business that works for me? I like you get excited about it, you want to learn about it, you're like, it just it's because it feels so foreign, like you're out of your comfort zone, and it feels scary and dangerous that you're like, I will avoid it at all costs, I will avoid creating any structure, I will avoid looking at my financials, I will avoid figuring out my expenses. Right? I will avoid the process documents and the employee manuals and doing all of that stuff. It's because you're looking at it wrong. That's not a drag on your success. That is the key to your success. And once you learn how to do it, like some of the just like, just like learning how to how to do a cash flow statement, or what is my cost of goods sold. Once you learn it, you're like empowered, like I can figure this out. It's not that hard. Yes, people go get fancy MBA degrees to do this. But you don't need that. I don't have one of those fancy degrees but what I have done is I hire people, or I bring people onto my team who helped me learn. And I don't just turn it over to somebody out of abdication. I'm like, hey, can you just go do it for me? Can you go manage my financials? For me, don't do that. You need to learn it. And then you're empowered. And you feel like I actually do know how to run my business, I am the CEO, I am able to, to be strategic in my business and create these processes that will free you up, right? That is what's so cool about doing this work, is that pressure, there is this tremendous relief, there is a release of like, I know what I should be doing. I'm making the time to do it. I'm building the habits I'm learning, I'm doing this work, and it becomes fun. And it becomes like calm. There's a confidence there, right? We've conquered the chaos as I've been saying of your business and it's like there's order now it all starts to make sense. And so instead of trying to build the business as the maker where you're in the airplane or in the air, trying to build the airplane, let's actually create the structure. And guess we're going to fine tune things as it's in the air but let's do it ahead of time. Let's go get you most of the way there. Are early on in the process of your business so that you're not just in the air, just so over your business and ultimately, so many people do quit. There's a reason why half a million businesses go out of business every single year. And that's exactly what Master Your Business is all about is like, I'm going to give you the tools and we're going to go through all of this the strategy, like you're going to create your organizational structure, you're going to start doing your cash flow, you're going to learn about it, and then start doing it. And now you have me ask your questions about, and there's accountability there because we're a group, and you've invested some money, and you're committing to investing time. When we invest financially, we are willing to actually put in the work, right? Strategic accountability is a really good tool to use as a business owner. And so I'm really going to help you to increase those percentages of your manager and the entrepreneur. They need to be much more balanced. So for instance, I thought it's a great way to close. What business are you in? So when I asked you that question, the first thing that probably came to mind is I'm in the business of making salsa, I'm in the business of making granola, right, coffee, whatever it is. Wrong. That is a makers point of view. That is, that is you being a maker going in and starting a business, that is not the business that you are in, that is your commodity. The business you are in is the feeling, it's the customer outcome when they interact with your business. So when somebody buys Chanel's gluten free puff pastry to rounded out here. When somebody buys her puff pastry, she is in the business of selling confidence, and like nostalgia and deliciousness, right? Like this experience of, I didn't think I could ever have this product again, right? This this joy and the feeling of safety like, I'm celiac and I can still eat this. It doesn't matter what the product is. That's what she's actually the business that she's in. It's the feeling. And so now you get to decide, am I going to actually be the entrepreneur and the manager who creates that business of selling those feelings? And if that doesn't interest you then that is the best news ever, that you figure that out. And maybe just keep your hobby business, it's not a problem. There's nothing wrong with it. But for so many of you who do want to create something big, who you do want to create something that gives you more freedom, that supports the life that you really want, that gets you out of prison of the jail. Please, you need to step into being an entrepreneur because what a maker does when they start a business is they create a new jail B with a more insane boss. And that doesn't work. It won't work for very long. I am on a mission in 2023 to help more entrepreneurs create a product business that works for them and that they absolutely love. They love their business and they love their product. It all comes together and it's all going to support your future vision for your life. There is hope my friends, I promise there is a better way to do it. And it is possible for you to create a business that works for your life, for you to get control of your business. And for you to actually fall in love with your business with both the business itself and the product that you're already so passionate about. I would love to help you in Master Your Business, we start January 18th. 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 to 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.