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Today, because it's my first time getting back to blogging about the Sovereign experience, I want to take a more personal approach to this particular blog entry. The purpose today is to give my relatively small following and patronage a basic understanding of where I have been and what I have learned in the past year, why I’ve been away and haven’t made any changes or updates, and what brought me back. I want to accomplish this through sharing a few pointers that can help other business owners on their journey and revive their passion for what they do.. I’m also using today’s blog as an avenue to recommit myself to the ownership of this business that I have come to love, and that has traveled with me everywhere I’ve gone, and has become a part of my identity.
I have not blogged or updated our site since March of 2022. I have barely posted on social media, and I have been away from doing consistent business for much of that time due to personal and professional issues. The business has been through a whirlwind of changes, but coming out on the other side makes the last year feel like a caterpillar’s time in a cocoon. I definitely feel something breaking and opening up in my dedication to the market, giving the business the ability to spread new wings and fly into a different and more purposeful direction.
For those that own small businesses, it is rarely touched upon how much our personal lives affect our business, and vice versa. Most owners and new CEOs discover the reality of these effects the hard way, after having started the business already. Personal conditions such as level and type of education, exposure to business principles, and most of all, emotional, mental, and even spiritual state are all heavily tested and pushed to their limits, and while being pushed to the edge of your ability to function or cope, you are continually being judged by the market as to whether or not you are fit to perform your duties as an executive, craftsman, and owner. Every day, your ownership of your own self is in question, more than the ownership of the business. Your responses to everything must be fully under your command. Emotions, connections to home life, spouses, children… And the availability of resources to provide are all continually being assessed by others, and the most important and best thing you can do as an owner, a leader, and a manager of managers is to stand up to the challenge, remain organized, professional, poised, and prepared to tackle and handle any problem presented.
This is easier said than done.
Through ownership of Sovereign Customs X Design, I’ve learned that it is important to set a precedent that you can expect future employees and partners to follow, even if it starts as a one-man show. You won’t do with others what you don’t do by yourself. People will only be as excited about your business and willing to help it thrive as you are, and when you sleep on your own potential, the rest of the world climbs in bed right next to you. Your business builds the life that you want for your children, it determines the type of family and household you run, and it decides for you the quality of life you lead and how much freedom you have as an individual to express yourself and set boundaries or break barriers in the society around you. Your business decides how instrumental you can be in causes you believe in, determines the type of friends you have, and generally categorizes you in the eyes of the people you affect. So here are a few pointers I had to remember and questions I had to revisit and ask myself in order to make the decision to keep going with my business in a very trying time.
1. What am I doing this for?
Many times, after attempting entrepreneurship or having owned a business, we look at leaving ownership to get a regular job as a failure. This is not a true assessment. It is important to reason with yourself as to why you want to be an owner, and not just an employee. Many times, you can make more, and definitely reduce stress by allowing someone else to go through the headache of ownership while you come to work and do one job, and get paid the same amount as you would on your own, or sometimes even more. Often with the ability to focus on one part of a business, you are able to build consistency, and take advantage of a community that can keep you motivated and help you to persist through projects.
So weigh the pros and cons. Did you decide to own a business so that you could have more time with family? Because if so, that will take an investment of time upfront to ensure that the business runs and makes money with minimal attention paid, and preferably without you there. Did you start a business with your family, friends, or partners/associates? If so, be sure that you are just as dedicated to the success of that business if they decide to pull the rug from under you, or underperform on their duties, or betray you, or walk away. You can’t allow it to be someone else’s choice how successful you’re able to become. Did you start the business to leave something that your children can own? If so, secure your ownership, and build your business on a model that promotes self-sufficiency, because once you’re successful enough, Venture Capitalists and investors would love to come and wave money around to have a part of an idea you gave your blood sweat and tears to. In that case, what is a good deal, and how much is too much to give up, to the point you’re getting too far away from your reason for starting in the first place?
Your why is extremely important, but you are the one that makes it important, and it is only important to you. And if your why is connected to trauma, such as “I’ve lost jobs before and I own this business so no one can ever fire me again,” or “I hated working for others, and I don’t want to be regulated so I decided to work for myself,” you are in for a rude awakening. The market will remind you of the same character flaws that an angry boss has reminded you of, and it will fire you by not buying what you’re selling if your presentation, preparation or dedication are not up to par. So base your why on something other than fear or trauma. Base it on the future you want, and not the past you’re running away from. Don’t do business to prove a toxic parent wrong, don’t do it to maintain control or influence over an unruly spouse through finances and success. And don’t ever do it just for the money, because that may fluctuate at times too. Do what you do because it’s what you love, and love what you do because it’s what you do. This ownership journey is completely based in and around your personal relationship with yourself.
Also, don’t only remember why you’re in business; reassess why you’re in business often. Change your reason, or grow your reason as you develop and as the business develops. Stay in touch with your why, and you will conquer the difficulties because the motivation to continue will remain connected to your reason for doing things you may not care for, to get to a goal you know you’ll love to reach.
2. Why isn’t it working?
Many times, as business owners, we become so dedicated to our own idea of what our industry is and what it means to exist within it that we miss glaring neon signs that tell us to change direction. It is important to set aside pride and ego, and when you see a dip in performance, to be able to properly and promptly assess what factors are causing your results to suffer. These factors may be process based- maybe you need to spruce up your website, post more to your social media, try a new POS or CRM software, or become more consistent in face to face marketing so more people know who you are. Sometimes the issues are product based: have you been putting the same effort into projects as when you first started? What are your customers saying about your product quality? Are other competitors in the market catching up or releasing similar products that now makes it harder for you to lock in clients, and how can you respond to competition? Or maybe, you’re having a problem you can’t solve yourself, and its time to delegate and build a team and an organizational structure. Ask yourself, why isn’t this working? And determine to be honest about the answer.
This brutal honesty with self comes in handy more often than not, especially for sole proprietors and self-contained business owners, and especially when the problem is much deeper, and more personal. We like to pretend like the personal does not affect business, but it does, because we build businesses around our personal goals and what is available to us personally. Maybe your spouse, family member, or friend who was helping you with the business has passed away or left their relationship with you and the business as well, and not only are you dealing with the personal heartbreak of losing someone you thought would be there, but the business is slipping because you put them in a key role and you’re missing a vital piece, due to their lack of dedication. Maybe you were raised in poverty and you’re discouraged by the lack of response of those around you to something that you see as life-changing and worthwhile. You may feel alone, lost, and unworthy, and you feel your business has become a burden rather than a blessing. You could be of a double mind, vacillating between religions, belief systems, and personal life paths. Could you be dealing with mental health issues, personality disorders, or just a plain lack of discipline and consistency?
Maybe you’ve just gotten lazy, and tired of doing what it takes. No pressure, that’s okay.
It is important that you lead yourself forward with humility and compassion. Remember, you are a human being, and businesses are just human beings trading and connecting with each other to accomplish goals in exchange for a profit. Never exclude the human element. Have understanding and empathy for yourself, but also, know how to tell yourself these four words:
I can’t stay here.
The first step to solving any problem is admitting that the problem is there and identifying exactly what the problem is. It's good to be invested; but if you are too invested in the hard work you’ve already put in to reach accomplishments you have already reached, you may miss when it is time to change things you did or tear down processes it took you a lot of energy to build because the thought patterns behind them or the effect that they are having is adverse to the direction in which you want to go.
Assess your business. Don’t be afraid to check yourself, but don’t beat yourself up either. Create a plan, follow it consistently, and get rid of all distractions from that plan. Love yourself and your business through the process. Enjoy the falls and the scrapes, and the near tragic moments on your road to your goals, because they will all make great stories and perfect the character you need as a boss, to take the hits and move forward.
3. While I attempt to influence the consumer, who is influencing me?
When you start a business, it's usually because you saw someone else do it, and you admired them. For me, those people were my Uncle, my Father, and my Godfather. These individuals were instrumental in my life and my choices, but as I learned more about myself and my own industry, I realized that a big part of my success would come as I grow to figure out how I wanted to be different from them, rather than similar.
For example, while my uncle was a great business man who made impeccable financial and life choices, he owned a franchise, and his business was office based. My business is a company of its own, and I build custom pieces for clients, so my sales process and my connection to my client and thereby the larger market in my area is much different than his. Also he serviced a region of the State in which he lived. I have nationwide shipping for my products. So because of this, his influence has to be balanced in my life. While I take from him the consistency and dedication, and the uprightness of his lifestyle, my approach to business has to be much different because I’m running a different show.
My Father owned a Construction Company for much of my life, and growing up I was taught the fundamentals that I still use today in building custom fixtures. But again, my father would travel to and complete renovations on people’s homes and businesses. I did this in the workforce, and I HATED how often things changed. I didn’t want to travel to a different job every week. And I have a meticulous nature. I wanted to work on things that I could perfect. In construction this made me slow, but in my business, this makes me highly sought after because of the quality and craftsmanship involved in my work. So I run a shop-based business, not a traveling business. Also, my father was very proud to be mostly a one-man show throughout the years, whereas I want to create a growing, moving organism that works without me even being there.. And this can only be done through high level education and hiring the right individuals for the right jobs. Therefore, I can only take certain advice from my father, and certain pages from his book.
Take a close look at the influences that you are following. If they are mentors, and people that you look up to, they will be there to guide you in the ways that you DO want to be like them. But the gold, the part that is most valuable to you as a business owner, is the spots you get to trailblaze; those things you have to research and find other influences to push you in the direction of. Find the spaces in your business where you don’t want to be like your mentors, and search for examples to follow in those ways in order to form identity.
Here’s an exercise that might help: pick out a character in the movies, TV, video games, or entertainment who you want to model yourself after in business. When you get the chance to watch television or enjoy entertainment (which shouldn’t be often), watch that character and find things to emulate. For instance, one of my characters is Bruce Wayne Sr., Batman’s father. I admire how he built a multi-level corporation that his son inherited, which gave his son the resources and ability to become a vigilante who protects and saves society. Another of my fictional influences is Tommy Shelby, the head of an Irish Crime Syndicate from the acclaimed show Peaky Blinders. Shelby has unmatched poise and emotional stability in high stress moments, forged by years of war that tore other men apart mentally and emotionally. We all have gone through our own wars, but it is important to allow the high-stress environment of business to mold us into greater entrepreneurs by maintaining composure, creating high-level connections, and following through with our duty to completion.
In conclusion, I’d like to say that I’m happy to be back, and I’m excited to put what I’ve learned to good use. We have changed locations, and are now doing business in a 2,200 square foot shop space, provided by my Godfather and Sovereign Hope Apostolic Fellowship, which is the church where he is a pastor. We have expanded, and are preparing for a marketing push that will promote growth and further expansion. We plan to enact programs for at-risk youth to learn trades and craftsmanship, and we are moving into a greater role in the community by the day. I hope that you will follow us as we continue growing and reaching higher, and be sure to stop by the website for new Blogs, Updates, and Content. And remember, Sovereigns: Stay free, Stay steadfast, and complete the mission ahead.
Lee Anthony Williams, Jr.
Owner, Craftsman
Sovereign Customs X Design, Inc.
813-765-4723 (Cell)

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