Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal and business development but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Chris Jaggs, Founder of Learn Develop Live, located in Barnet, Herts, UK.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Learn Develop Live helps unmotivated Retail workers escape the shop floor and feel human again! Using a transformational process, the 'Learn Develop Live Method' takes you through a four-stage process. To Identify your issue or pain, learn and develop how you'll change, live out that new change, and finally, wake up each day with renewed energy, more confidence, and a clear vision of your life!

Tell us about yourself

After 18 years in retail, I escaped! Over that period of time, I'd worked most weekends, late shifts, and every single Christmas period. Life was flashing by while my young family was growing up, and I was on the shop floor trying to survive until the end of my shift. During my time, 15 or so of those years were at different levels of management, and none of those were glamorous! I fell into the training side of my team, mentoring, and on-the-spot coaching. There was something special about seeing an individual come from nothing to fulfilling even a little of their unseen potential, which became an addiction; my work was even being recognised with awards. Making a promise to myself, when I finally escaped Retail, I said I would do something to help other people like me also make the jump. Becoming a fully accredited Coach as well as a Mental Health First Aider, I've been able to become the Transformational Coach I am today. Being able to help individuals identify their own pains and issues, create the right mindset, and get after what it is they truly want to do every day.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

I see my biggest accomplishments today being bettered by what comes in the future! Always aim to become a better version of yourself! Everything I've done so far is an achievement in itself, considering this started as a Facebook Page at the very beginning! Now there is a fully established website and not to forget a podcast, currently with over 1300 episodes. Being able to help so many people so far is the biggest reward; watching their own transitions happen in front of you is quite a powerful thing.

What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?

When you start out and even to this present moment in time, being a business owner is a 24-hour operation! When you are flying solo, you are the person running the website, creating the social media, podcast production, and marketing. If you aren't doing it, it's not getting done! The whole operation can take you away from doing the exact thing you started it all for - coaching!

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

  1. Just start! No one, including even the most organised person in the world, is ever going to be 100% ready. When you think you are, there will be something else you know you haven't done yet or want to perfect first. Maybe having your business is your side hustle at first; there is nothing wrong with that. You have to be realistic with how you continue to support yourself at the very beginning. Just jump in, and the momentum will begin.
  2. Success isn't instant! The first couple of years is for you to learn and make plenty of mistakes. Mistakes are given a bad name, but if you never made one here or there, how would you learn and grow?
  3. Learn to step away on a regular basis. Working on your new business is the natural thing to want to do, but you don't want to risk burning yourself out mentally and turning this adventure into a chore. You will quickly lose your desire for the whole project and just begin to resent you even started. Find some time every so often for some 'you' time; whatever it is you enjoy doing, do it!
  4. Enjoy the journey! The idea of getting to the end of the adventure is great, having all the cogs moving the way they should, but it's all about the journey. Learning new things, finding out how stuff works, and finding new skills are just a few chapters of this journey. Keep a focus on what you still need to do but recognise just how far you've come so far; so many people don't give themselves enough credit for achieving as much as they already have.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.learndeveloplive.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1073372466084143
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/learn_develop_live/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LearnDevelopLiv
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/learndeveloplive/

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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