Startups

3 Things to Keep in Mind When You Find Yourself Starting and Stopping in Your Business

Published

10 years ago

Oct 19, 2016

Joel Brown

Do you ever feel like you’re always starting and stopping in your biz? There are days when you wake up with an insane amount of motivation and drive. You sit there coffee in hand and the day is yours to slay. Then there are days where you wake up with ZERO motivation. You are completely turned off, nothing inspires you and you stare at your computer screen waiting for some kind of strategy to pop out at you.

What about the days you are feeling all high vibeish and totally in touch with your creative side. You just want to light candles, focus on your mindset, write down all your ideas and connect with the universe. All you want is consistency in your motivation levels! What gives?

As an entrepreneur I used to struggle with starting and stopping. Highs and lows. Strategic days and WTF days. I could not maintain a steady flow of momentum in my biz for quite some time. Starting and stopping made me feel like I was inconsistent, like I was unable to have constant momentum in my business. I felt super unproductive. It made me question whether or not I was truly capable of being an entrepreneur. I would believe I was failing because I wasn’t like everyone else who seemed to be so inspired, driven and motivated 24-7.

I realized that my difficulty wasn’t that I couldn’t stay in the zone. It wasn’t that I was incapable of being laser focused. That wasn’t the problem. Accepting that I might just need to develop my own way of doing things was the setback. Once I accepted that I’m not meant to do things the way everyone else does my creativity was in full gear. It felt uncomfortable to show up in my business doing what some of my mentors would swear against however I found myself developing new ideas, I was more productive and I had more profitable results.

Dissolving the fear of not doing things the conventional way was extremely liberating. I nipped the starting and stopping behavior in the butt once and for all.

If you’re an entrepreneur and you have difficulty with maintaining momentum in your biz then here are a few thoughts to keep in mind when you find yourself starting and stopping in your biz:

1. Creativity Doesn’t Clock In & Out

Creativity is not an employee. It cannot clock in and out. There is no set time for when creativity will show. Embrace the moment that you feel your creative juices flowing and take as many notes as possible when it does arrive. The days that creativity decides not to show up simply make sure that you are keeping yourself healthy and in a positive space.

This way you provide a warm inviting environment for creativity to enjoy when it does decide to join the biz party. If you’re lacking creativity in your business then I urge you to focus on nurturing whatever is blocking creativity from wanting to visit. Are you stressed? Are you working from a space of desperation because of finances? Are you taking time to maintain your health and well-being? These are some of the creativity blocking culprits.

“You can’t just give someone a creativity injection. You have to create an environment for curiosity and a way to encourage people and get the best out of them.” – Ken Robinson

2. Create A Profit Plan

Creating a profit plan in my business has helped me the most in terms of clarity, focus and direction. I created a simple 4 step process for myself that allows me to know exactly where the efforts need to be spent in my business. I stopped focusing on non-income producing activities. I stopped creating customized offers for clients that were confusing and made it hard to do business with me.

I began saying no to opportunities that did not compliment where I wanted my business to go. If you have no plan in place for how you’ll be making money in your business it’s easy to get distracted. It’s easy to start and stop more often. Profit planning helps you clarify what you’re working towards. Get clear on what you’re offering and on who you are serving.

3. Show Up Anyway

Even when you feel like you don’t know where the heck to start or what to work on, show up anyway. Refer to past activities that have worked for you in your business. Ask yourself what have activity big or small have you stopped doing that may have brought you here. Take a look at your calendar and what you’ve done over the last couple weeks. Look over your to do list, browse through your old notes of what you’ve been working on or go through past emails.

Browse your social media platforms and ask: Who have you not responded to? Where is there an opportunity you may have missed? My best ideas have come to me during the moments that I didn’t feel like showing up. I decided to stop falling into the belief that I could not be productive in that mood. You totally can. It’s just as exciting as when you are in this state and it’s understandable however this should not dictate your behavior. You will experience clarity and direction while in motion than when stagnant.

Practicing new habits consistently and training your mindset can make all the difference in the way you show up in your biz. Now go out there and build your biz in alignment with what is true to YOU!

“Decisions are made by those who show up.” – Aaron Sorkin

What do you do when you feel you have lost focus and keep starting and stopping in your business? Leave your thoughts below!

Related Topics:Business Creativity drive focus ideas mindset motivation profit plan showing up Success

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Nadia Khalil

Nadia Khalil aka Coach Nadia K is a business coach, certified wellness professional and mompreneur. She works with multi-passionate entrepreneurs and small businesses in the beginning or idea phase of their businesses. Nadia coaches on how to get unstuck and go from idea to implementation using digital marketing strategies that will get you seen, paid and heard. As an 8 year entrepreneur Nadia has launched several successful digital programs while coaching one on one and has built 4 businesses both brick and mortar and online. Her passion lies in empowering, educating and inspiring multi-passionate people to unravel the crap that keeps them stuck in their life and business.

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Startups

How an LLC Can Help Shield Your Personal Assets

Published

1 week ago

Aug 1, 2026

Addicted2Success Editor

Image Credit: Addicted2success

You are a freelance designer, and your client sued you over a trademark mistake. If you believe that your personal savings are safe, then you may be wrong. You are operating as a default sole proprietor. You and your business are the exact same person. As a result, your personal bank account, your car, and even your home are legally up for grabs.

However, if you start an LLC, you can build a legal shield between your business liabilities and your personal life. These days, you can easily form an LLC online.

How Does This Legal Shield Work

When you start an LLC, your business gets a distinct legal identity. Now, your LLC can open its own bank accounts, sign contracts, take out loans, buy equipment, and be held responsible for its own actions. You are not liable. This boundary between you and your business is called the “corporate veil.”

Visualizing the Separation

Inside the Shield (Business Assets)

Everything your company owns is included in this shield. If your business faces a debt collector or a lawsuit, only your business assets are at risk, such as:

Money in the business bank account
Inventory and raw materials
Office equipment, computers, and company vehicles
Business intellectual property

Outside the Shield (Your Personal Assets)

You don’t have to worry about your personal assets, such as:

Your personal checking and savings accounts
Your home and personal real estate
Your family vehicles
Your retirement funds (401k, IRA) and personal investments

What LLC Protection Covers

Business Debts and Contracts

When your LLC signs a commercial lease, hires a contractor, or buys inventory on credit, these are the obligations of the LLC. Your creditors will come after the assets of the LLC if your business can’t pay.

Lawsuits

If your business is sued over a contract dispute, faulty service, or an operational issue, lawsuits will be filed against your business. All your personal assets are safe.

What LLC Protection Does Not Cover

Personal Torts

The term “tort” refers to an act that causes harm or injury to someone else. The LLC shields you from the mistakes of your employees and general business liabilities. However, it never protects you from your own personal actions. For example, if you personally commit fraud, you can be sued personally.

Personal Guarantees

Vendors often hesitate to lend money to new, growing businesses. Such businesses don’t have long credit histories. Lenders often require you to sign a personal guarantee.

How Owners Accidentally Destroy Their Protection

The legal shield provided by forming an LLC only works when you run your business properly. The corporate veil can be pierced when a court decides that your LLC is not legitimate and strips away your protection in a lawsuit. This usually happens when you make one of the following three mistakes.

Commingling Funds

Many small business owners often mix their personal money with their business money. You are commingling funds when you use your business debit card to buy your personal groceries or you deposit a client’s payment directly into your personal checking account. The legal wall crumbles when you don’t treat your business and personal finances as completely separate.

Missing an Operating Agreement

An operating agreement is the legal document that outlines:

How your LLC is run
Who owns what percentage
How profits are handled

If the creditor’s lawyer finds out that an operating agreement is missing, they may argue that your LLC is just a shell.

Falling Out of “Good Standing”

When you start an LLC, you must file annual reports and pay franchise taxes to keep it active. The state will place your business in “Administrative Dissolution” or bad standing if you miss any of these deadlines. You could lose your limited liability protection if you operate a business under an inactive or dissolved LLC.

Startups

Move Fast without Breaking People: Product Safety Lessons for Ambitious Startups

Published

3 weeks ago

Jul 15, 2026

Addicted2Success Editor

Image Credit: Addicted2success

Fast growth can hide product risks until customers get hurt, especially when safety comes late in development. A software bug can be patched, but a chair, charger, or smart device can cause a burn, fall, cut, or crash.

For founders moving from a prototype to mass sales, the cases handled by Michael Kelly Injury Lawyers in Boston show why launch goals should not push testing, warnings, and foreseeable risks aside. A product claim can involve the design, how a unit was made, user instructions, or several firms in the supply chain.

Why Minimum Viable Should Never Mean Minimally Safe

A minimum viable product should test whether people want an idea, not how much danger they will accept. Teams can delay colors or premium finishes, but not guards, safe heat limits, sound wiring, or clear instructions.

Set Safety Rules Before the Build

The product brief should define who will use the item, where, and what could happen during setup, cleaning, storage, wear, or mistakes. It should also consider what a child, guest, tired worker, or first-time buyer might do.

Shared rules help teams move faster. Designers know which guards must remain. Engineers know which parts cannot fail. Suppliers know what cannot change without review.

Test How People Really Use It

A neat demo is not the real world. Users place products on wet counters, soft rugs, or rough ground. They skip a guide, use the wrong cable, or handle an item in unexpected ways.

Testing should cover misuse without predicting every extreme act. When a risk can be reduced through a guard, lock, stop switch, or clear signal, that design change is often greater than a warning alone.

How Design and Manufacturing Risks Differ

Some risks are built into the design. Others arise when production fails to match the approved plan. Teams need to identify the source before choosing a correction.

Design Problems Start with the Plan

A design problem can affect every unit. A base may tip, a blade may sit too close to a hand, a control may activate too easily, or a battery space may trap heat.

Final inspection cannot repair a flawed plan. The team may need a new shape, shield, limit, material, or control, followed by testing before more units ship.

Manufacturing Problems Break the Plan

A manufacturing problem occurs when a unit or batch does not match the approved design. A fastener may be missing, a weld may be weak, a wire may be damaged, or the wrong component may enter production.

Good records help define the scope. The team should know who made each part, which batch used it, what checks occurred, and where units went. Fast trace work can keep one fault from becoming a wider crisis.

When Customer Feedback Signals More Than Dissatisfaction

Support teams hear about delays, difficult setups, strange sounds, and refunds. Most reports are routine. Yet heat, smoke, sparks, breakage, sharp edges, sudden movement, falls, or failed guards require review.

Treat Complaints as Safety Data

One report may lack key facts, but similar reports can reveal a pattern. Staff should record the model, batch, date, use, photographs, and outcome, then alert someone who can pause sales or order testing.

Teams should not blame unusual use before asking whether another reasonable buyer could make the same choice. A support ticket can be the first sign of a hazard that lab testing missed.

Preserve the Product and the Record

After an injury, the product can help explain what failed. A repair, disposal, or undocumented test can remove evidence. The same applies to old labels, manuals, test files, customer messages, and design notes.

Startups should keep relevant items safely, record who examines them, and preserve earlier versions of instructions and warnings. This history can show what changed and why.

Why Warnings Must Reflect Real Use

A warning works only when a user notices it at the right time. Dense text at the back of a manual may not help during setup. The message should name the hazard, explain the harm, and state what reduces the risk.

Placement matters too. A charging risk belongs near the port. A weight limit belongs where weight is added. Even so, warnings should not replace a safer design when the hazard can reasonably be removed.

How Founders Can Preserve Speed without Cutting Safeguards

A delayed launch, redesign, or recall can feel like defeat. In practice, early action can prevent harm, protect trust, and give the team better facts for the next version. The strongest startups move quickly because their systems protect people.

When a product injures someone, legal guidance can help preserve the item, collect design and manufacturing records, identify responsible companies, and examine whether a defect or unsafe choice caused the harm.