Natalie Eckdahl is like every other mom – she wanted to see her kids grow up, and that’s what pushed her into deciding to become a full-time entrepreneur. Since freeing herself up as an entrepreneur and setting up multiple income streams, she’s dedicated herself to guiding other young women toward being an entrepreneur.
Not All Roses
In a few of the cases of entrepreneurs we cover here, there is usually an automatic success, as if the world was just waiting for their product. Eckdahl wanted to be one of those and started her podcast with gusto. It was just a matter of putting yourself out there and waiting for the big bucks to roll in. Except it didn’t.
For up to a year after she started her podcast, she wouldn’t get anyone listening in, and the investment she was putting into it was sucking her time and money without any returns. It was time for her to change her tactics, but she stuck with what wasn’t working for a pretty long time before deciding to do so.
A Budget Changed Her Life
2015 was Eckdahl’s turning point as she sat down with her husband and tried to work out what she was doing with her podcast and all the other business ventures she was working on. Not all of them were making money, and she had to figure out what she wanted to accomplish with any of them. She shored up her business activities one by one, looking at potential and current earnings.
She knew what her set income would need to be to make ends meet, and working from that perspective, she decided to start putting money away that was anything more than her basic expenses. This was the first step towards finding her way in business and having enough money to invest in growing her enterprise.
Goal-Setting Is Crucial To Success
Eckdahl believes that setting goals is a crucial part of seeing success in a business. In her own story, she noted that establishing that basis of expenses and working to save money allowed her to set a measurable and achievable goal. However, knowing what you can and cannot do is essential.
While some entrepreneurs expect to set ambitious goals, Eckdahl suggests being more tempered when setting goals. She says entrepreneurs should set weekly and quarterly goals and try to achieve those goals as much as possible. She says that making those goals helps entrepreneurs by giving them motivation to continue in business.
Focus On The Tasks
One of the most significant benefits to Eckdahl’s productivity is muting her phone and computer notifications. Distractions are a regular part of life, but controlling the ones you can control will get you into a more productive mindset. Eckdahl believes that this enhanced mindset is perfect for entrepreneurs who are trying to grow their businesses.
However, she notes that social media can be a helpful marketing tool if used properly. She advises that each entrepreneur has to find a delicate balance between their social media marketing notifications and those that will distract them from what they’re trying to accomplish. Exploring different blocks of time dedicated to these elements would help significantly.
Isolate Yourself If Necessary
When you’re running your own business, you are working for yourself. No one else will be standing over your shoulder telling you what you should and shouldn’t do. This freedom can be a heady feeling, Eckdahl says, but it’s also the easiest thing in the world to get lost in that feeling and not give what’s necessary to grow the business.
Eckdahl advises entrepreneurs to spend more time on their business, understanding it from the inside out and working out what can be done. Isolating yourself gives you the impetus to get things done because there’s nothing to distract you. Building a business takes discipline, and isolation is part of that discipline.
Don’t Stress Yourself Out Too Much
While Eckdahl wants entrepreneurs to take their businesses seriously, she’s also against the idea of burning out while trying to start or grow a business. Taking care of yourself includes scheduling downtime and finding things that allow you to relax. It’s not the easiest thing in the world to start and run a business, and downtime is necessary.
Part of that is managing your to-do list. Eckdahl suggests getting applications on your computer or phone that will help you plan out your to-do list and arrange the highest-priority tasks at the top. A scheduling app like this could also help you balance your work and your relaxation.

Niche Down to Amplify Your Opportunities
Eckdahl believes that for businesses to truly succeed, their owners need to niche down and find where the opportunities lay. She sees niching down as the key to finding long-term, high-paying contracts. Being a generalist has its uses, but it’s far from the high-earning potential that many businesses have. To land those opportunities, companies must learn to niche down.
Eckdahl has found that niching down has allowed her to reach out to higher-paying clients and helped her realize what she values most in her business. Part of niching down requires cutting the fat, and she advises those who follow her that it’s crucial to cut the areas that are not earning enough while protecting the rest of the business.
Know Your Audience
The most important part of being a business owner is knowing your audience and what they want. As an online entrepreneur, it’s impossible to please everyone and a business should not even attempt to do that. Eckdahl is fond of saying that all you need for success is a handful of people who believe in what you’re doing and are willing to pay for it.
In the same way, she says that knowing your audience as a business owner gives you insight into how to reach out to those clients. Niching down makes you more attractive to big-ticket clients and gives you a huge competitive edge.