Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business services but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Ashlee Berghoff, Founder and CEO of A Squared Online, LLC., located in Aurora, CO, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
At A Squared Online, we buy back time for entrepreneurs who are too busy to get less busy. We design custom systems and hire ready-to-go virtual assistants for high-ticket marketers and experts so they can grow while working less.
Tell us about yourself
I started my business because I wanted the autonomy to build something I believed in and design my lifestyle around the needs of my family (I have two young children). It hasn't been easy (entrepreneurship never is), but I'm motivated every day by the people I get to talk to, the work that challenges me and allows me to lean all the way into my nerdy strengths, the ability to contribute to our family's income, and the opportunities I can model for my daughters.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Entrepreneurship didn't come naturally to me, so I see my biggest accomplishment as my endurance. I've kept going even when I was tempted to throw in the towel.
What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?
I didn't expect entrepreneurship to challenge and change me so much as a person. It's pulled out all of my fears, insecurities, harmful mental narratives, and narrow assumptions about myself. I've been forced to challenge those things and grow in areas that felt vulnerable. I wouldn't trade that messy process of growth for anything, but it's intense.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Remember that you don't have to be perfect. You just have to tell the truth and solve real problems for people.
- Try to avoid the trap of thinking that things will automatically calm down after X happens (your event is over, you hire someone, you reach a certain revenue goal, etc.). Entrepreneurial freedom is never automatic. The good news is that it's possible to design freedom into your business right now.
- Don't get distracted from this core equation: sales = offers - rejections. If you want sales to go up, make lots of offers! My own temptation has always been to focus on things that don't ultimately help this equation (like logos or working on the perfect bio). Those things matter, but only after the hardest work of getting in front of individual people and asking them to work with me is done.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://asquaredonline.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asquaredonline/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleeberghoff/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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