← Dream Life Club
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The mistake that I see so many women entrepreneurs making today, especially because of the bombardment of Facebook ads and Instagram ads and email marketing and all the things that we now spend our days scrolling by, is that I know that you're in my head. Welcome back to another episode of the Dream Life Club podcast. This podcast is where we bring our dreams to life and it's for you. If you are an entrepreneur or a creative ready to scale your company, grow your business, do the thing that you've always wanted to do. We talk about mindset strategies, tactics. Who am I? My name is Sumi Krishnan and I've been an entrepreneur since I was 19. I grew and sold a consulting company in Washington D.C. 8 figure company, 200 employees called K4 Solutions. And now I'm in LA pursuing my new dream of building a career and a small business as a pop music recording artist. It's been so, such an amazing journey and I am here to give back to you and to inspire you to do your thing, to grow your business, to put your art out there into the world. Because we need you, we need your voice, we need your impact, we need your work into the world and we need your contribution. So today it's going to be a short and sweet episode. I am going to talk to you about the one question you need to be able to answer to give you the clarity that you need to actually get some momentum in your business. Okay. Because the worst thing that we could do is just keep trying things, keep signing up for group programs, keep getting caught by Instagram ads, keep spinning and trying and changing and thinking we need to start a new idea and like never getting traction, right? To get that traction and to build momentum and to go somewhere gives us energy and gives us the energy we need to keep going and that's why it's so important. So here's something that I don't hear anybody talking about. I actually don't know if any. I. I don't know if I've ever heard anybody ever talk about this. But in my view, it is the most important question you need to be able to answer when you set out on your path to start a new dream. To start a dream. Listen, if you're listening to this podcast, you're a unique kind of person, right? Like most people don't have a passion inside them to do something more. Most people are pretty content going to job and getting their paycheck and, you know, hanging out on the weekends with their loved ones and watching football and going out to dinner and brunch right? Like, that's a good life. And if that's you, then this podcast isn't probably for you. Because in this podcast we talk about how the challenges and the. The challenge, the challenges that come along with building something and putting something new out into the world. It's a very unique thing and we need to rally around each other and support each other if you are one of those people. And so if you feel like you are having trouble, right, getting traction, getting momentum, first of all, don't freak out because you're not alone. This is most people. I mean, what, Like, I don't know what the statistic is exactly these days, but something like 90% of businesses fail, okay? But I don't want you to fail. I want us. Our community is going to be the 10% that doesn't fail, okay? Because the thing is, there are clear reasons why most businesses fail, okay? Business is not rocket science, but business takes a clear strategy, clear intention, consistency, tenacity, and some mindsets, like not being afraid of rejection, not giving up too early, not changing courses too early. Right? Not trying to change direction every time the going gets tough, which is what I talked about in my last podcast episode. But today, I want you to answer the following question. This question could unlock the next year of your business if you get clear on it today. So I want you to take this really, really seriously. Do not let it pass by your ears and think, oh, just another podcast. Just another piece of advice. Why are you listening to this then? If you're not going to put it into action? Why are you listening to this then? Right? If you don't do anything with your takeaways, it's just a waste of time and I don't want that for you. So here's the question. Are you ready for it? Are you building or interested in building a legacy company or a lifestyle company? That's it. That's the question you have to answer. Because the strategies with which you approach one or the other are completely different. And the mistake that I see so many women entrepreneurs making today, especially because of the bombardment of Facebook ads and Instagram ads and email marketing and all the things that we now spend our days scrolling by, is that if you're trying to build a legacy company, you get inundated by ads that make you think you need this lifestyle company strategy. Or if really all you want is a lifestyle company, you get inundated by podcasts and other information and other YouTube videos that are convincing you that you should be building a legacy company. So first of all, do you know the difference between the two? Let me explain. And when I was building my company in dc, I clearly remember this turning point where I had set out to build a legacy company. I knew that like I was not just trying to like replace my corporate salary which, which would be an example of a lifestyle company or anything like that. Like I wanted to build something of impact. I wanted it to make a dent in the world. And I remember though, at the point where I was so burnt out and almost ready to give up, I remember that my one of he was like our contracts person and his name was Tom. He's probably not listening to this, but he said to me, you know, soon. And we were, he, we were out to lunch and he was joking about one of his friends who basically worked six months out of the year and spent the next six months like hanging out on a boat, sailing all around the oceans, I don't remember where. And he's like, he was laughing and he was like dude just wants a lifestyle company. Like hahaha, like almost making fun of him, like oh, he's never going to do anything great. He just wants to enjoy his life. And he's got this nice cash cow with his business that he's built. So like good for him, like, but haha, like kind of condescending and, and mocking him for his choice. And I remember what happened in my body at the moment. I was so burnt out with building K4 solutions at the time. I was literally so burnt out. And plus it wasn't really in alignment with who I wanted. I needed to be in the world at that time. And so, but when I heard him. So the idea of working six months in a year and then taking the next six months off every single year and going around having fun sounded so amazing to me. Like I was like, oh my God, I want that. But then I heard him mocking it and I tensed up completely and I, I remember just feeling so like someone punched me in the gut and I was like, oh my. And the voice in my head said don't you ever do that. Because I didn't want to be the laughingstock of my industry. I didn't want to be the company that people talked about at lunch saying oh, you know that girl, she just cashing in this business and using that money to fund her fancy lifestyle. Like I didn't want to be that. And because of that I made decisions that maybe were not in alignment for me at the time. Because like I said, the truth is I was so burnt out, I was not taking care of myself. I was. Didn't have any time to eat well or go to the gym. I wanted to meditate but was hardly ever doing it. I was so stressed, I was up late working almost every single night because I wasn't really managing my time well. And I had these hard pressured goals on me to grow. And like, maybe all I needed in that moment was to think, well, maybe I want a lifestyle company and maybe that's not so bad. And maybe even if I take two, three years doing that, it's not the end of the world. So I want you to understand first of all what your goal is. Do you want to build a legacy company? What is a legacy company company? A legacy company is some a large company that is not just funding the founder's lifestyle. Okay, I'm sure you can think of plenty examples, but I wrote down a few like for example, Goop. Goop is not Gwyneth Paltrow's lifestyle company. Goop is a huge brand right out there in the world in the real estate market. Redfin, Zillow, these are all legacy companies. Tech, Facebook, OpenAI legacy companies, right in media, Huffington Post. In wellness, Lemmy Kourtney Kardashian's company. So Favorite Daughter is a fashion brand by the Fosters, Sarah and Aaron Foster, Starbucks. A legacy company. So you could be an entrepreneur and think to yourself, I want to build a company like that. Or you can be an entrepreneur and think to yourself, I want a lifestyle company. What is a lifestyle company? A lifestyle company is something that either replaces your corporate salary, so you're not working for a corporation right now, but you're making your own income on your own terms, right? Where you can fire your clients if you want to, where you can take on more clients or, or go on vacation or you have full flexibility. Okay, you might have a couple of team members, you might not have any team members, but you can even have a lifestyle company with a good sized team of three or four people and it still could be a lifestyle company. Okay, but you're not building something that's going to have massive scaled impact in the world. So why would you want to do that? Like, why wouldn't everybody listening to this right now say to themselves, well, of course I want to build a legacy company? Multiple reasons, right? Sometimes a lifestyle company is exactly what we need in the moment. Sometimes a lifestyle company is actually our fastest path to gaining momentum. Remember when I was talking about momentum at the beginning of this podcast, beginning of this show, and I said most businesses are Having trouble finding momentum. And that's often because what you really need to be doing is focusing on building a lifestyle company, getting your first six figures of revenue in the door. And instead you're thinking of building a legacy, you're thinking of doing a raise, you're thinking of raising money, you're thinking about all the people you need to hire. You're thinking so big, which is awesome. But maybe what you need to do right now is start by thinking, let me actually get some revenue in the door. Let me start small. Let me start by building a lifestyle company. Let me see if I can at least hit, let's say, can we hit six figures in revenue? Right? Can we get this thing off the ground? Maybe once we do that, then we'll have proof of concept and we'll be ready to scale if that's the choice we want to make right at that point. But maybe not. Maybe we'll be like, oh my gosh, I'm raking in a couple hundred thousand dollars a year. You know, I'm working good five, six hours a day, but it still gives me flexibility to do other things in my day, like take care of my family, like take care of my fitness, like have fun and go surfing and go on trips and visit family. All these things, right? That's a pretty good income to be raking in. So there's nothing wrong with that choice is the point I'm trying to make here. So I want you to know, are you, right now, in this moment, going after building a legacy company, or are you going after building a lifestyle company? And if you don't know which one, and so if the answer to the following questions, one, if you don't know, then keep listening. If the following question, if the answer is yes, then I know what you need to do. Do you struggle with getting momentum right now? Are you struggling with getting to your first six figures in revenue? If the answer to that question is yes and you don't know whether you want to build a legacy or a lifestyle company, then I have the answer for you. Go for building a lifestyle company first. Go for focusing on your fastest track to six figures, which is replacing your corporate salary or however you want to call it. Get the money, get the money in the door, get traction, get your product out into the market, test product, market fit, do those things and you'll start to see. You'll start when you start to get results, when you start to have enough clients to give you feedback, you'll start to feel some traction. And then if you want to change your mind at that point and say, okay, it's been a couple years, I've gotten the business to six figures per year in revenue, or multiple six figures per year in revenue. And then you can go either way. You can say, you know what? Now I know I want to scale this thing. I know the impact it could have in the world. Let's go, let's do this. Fantastic. I am so for that. And you know that I am so passionate about more women crossing the million dollar mark in revenue. However, if you get to that point and you get to 100k per year in revenue or a couple hundredk per year in revenue, and you say, that's awesome and I'm happy and maybe I don't want this to be my entire life. Maybe this is great as it is and I want to focus on raising my kids, or I want to focus on, I don't know, learning the piano, or I want to focus on my fitness. I want to get to that eight minute mile that I've always wanted, or I want to be able to back squat 180 pounds. I don't know, whatever. You could have so many different things you want to do with your life, your business and your entrepreneurial dream. Doesn't have to be your whole life, but if you go in to say, I want to build a legacy company, it's going to be the majority of your life. What I mean by take up most of your life is not that it will take up your whole life, like multiple decades. I just mean that it might take up the majority of your days for the duration of the time that you're building this company. Maybe it's the next decade or however long you want to take it, whatever point you want to take it to. And so if you're ready for that, then awesome. And if you don't know where to start, then I highly suggest starting with getting traction. Starting with thinking of it as a lifestyle company. Even if it's going to change and be the most massive impactful company in the world, and I have faith that it very well could be. But right now, to get it off the ground, think of it as, okay, let me get my first six figures of revenue in the door and then go and build from there. So I hope that you guys took away something powerful from listening to me for the past 15 minutes. I hope that you will ask yourself, which one are you building? Because the strategies of Silicon Valley and the strategies of the freedom based businesses that you see on Instagram are totally different. And you have to know what's what and not get trapped and convinced to do one thing or the other and then keep yourself spinning and spinning and spinning. Okay now if you no matter where you are in business I can help you and my team and I have programs that are meant and set up to help you. So please, please please go to Instagram and follow me there at its Sumi Krishnan I T S U M I K R I S H N A N and then send me a direct message and say coaching or help or whatever you want to say and we will get back to you and share with you the programs that we have that might be a really good fit to help you get that momentum, to help you get your business off the ground or to help you scale your legacy company, which is one of my favorite things to do. Okay, lots of love and I will see you and talk to you soon. Bye.