Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in business services but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Melanie Albright, Founder and CEO of Bright Moments, located in Brownsburg, IN, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Bright Moments is a technology integration and online business management service for creative coaches, consultants, and non-profits. My goal is a streamlined system that allows your clients to go from A to B while being nurtured.
Tell us about yourself
Bright Moments is a culmination of a vast knowledge of technology and business — and I am fully embracing my online and paper-free work life. We all have families, hobbies, and interests that we want to be a part of. That's why I care so much about creating space for my clients.
I founded the business with two things in mind: I wanted to help small businesses thrive, and I wanted to have a flexible career so that I could be present with my family. I was feeling monotony in my schedule. I wasn't feeling inspired, I didn't feel creative, and I just felt I had this feeling: Is this really all that I'm going to contribute? Is this all that I'm going to do?
I also felt a little guilty because when I first started Bright Moments, I was already running another business — a home daycare that I had started in 2012. I know it's wildly different from what I do now! When I started my daycare, it came from a need to be close to my children when they were little, something I hadn't been able to have in the past. Plus, it provided some income to our family. I threw myself into growing the daycare, but I also felt guilty because I wasn't using the education and knowledge that I had about business, technology, about the online world.
I really built it up, and it was somewhat successful. But I just had that nagging feeling in the back of my mind that I was not fulfilling my potential, not using my talents the way that I should have been. Then in 2017, when I realized my office and project management experience and marketing degree could be used to support entrepreneurs - on my own terms and schedule - I created this business. And if anything, I could spend almost all day every day serving my clients! Their missions and the work they do in the world inspires me every day.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
Working with a client for over 2 years, I was able to collaborate with her to build out all of the systems of her business coaching practice so that she had more space on her calendar and consistently made high five figures each month. And then we got to the point where she needed a dedicated online business manager, and I was able to support her through the hiring process to find a great next right-hand woman.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
There is always a never-ending list of things to be done. Without clear boundaries, systems, and processes, it can be very overwhelming. But I have found a rhythm and workflow that works for me holistically.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Boundaries: When we start a business, the tendency is to bend over backward and be ON 24 hours a day for our clients. But with healthy boundaries, we can give better support to them because we are well rested, better prepared, and have a better balance of work and everything else in life.
- Support: It can sometimes seem like a lonely island as a solopreneur, and even sometimes as you grow your team. But there are ways to find support for yourself through networking, masterminds, business coaching, and even turning to friends and family for the emotional support you need while building a business.
- Grit: Things and ideas won't always work out. Offers and products might not sell. And there are a ton of seemingly get-rich-quick unicorns out there. But you have what it takes to build YOUR business the way you want, as long as you keep moving forward. Some days you might move the needle a centimeter, and sometimes it goes a mile. Yes, it is hard, but the rewards are incredible!!
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://brightmoments.online/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melaniealbright.brightmoments/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brightmomentssolutions/
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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