The Interview Series: Spotlight on Patricia Talavera and SYT Biz

Tell me a little about you and your company.

Patricia Talavera Entrepreneur Spotlight.jpg

Save Your Time Biz Solutions is a family company, the team is made up of me, my twin sister Lily and my husband Boshwell. We help women entrepreneurs play in their zone of genius. We free up their time by taking over the web design piece of their biz so they don’t have to stress over something they don’t know. When you ‘don’t know,’ leave it to the experts, we say. 

This way, our clients have the time to work with their dream clients doing the type of work that they really love. Oh and they impact change that way...no small deal. This gives our clients the added bonus of being able to finally implement those BIG ideas they’ve been dreaming about. Those grand schemes can now become reality.

This is more than web design...we provide a better way of doing biz.

How long have you owned your own business?

Officially we’ve been in business for 5 years, however this latest version of our business (where we focus on designing WordPress websites) is 2 years old.

What made you decide to start your own business?

Before I graduated college I was offered a job that came with a fancy sounding title and more money than I expected to make coming out of school. I wasn’t sure of my next step so I took it. There were parts of the job that were great and other parts that were less so (including a one hour plus commute one way and working 70+ hour weeks). My boss basically demanded that I always put work first, even to the detriment of my personal life and my health, so eventually I decided to leave. At the time, my sister was having difficulty finding a position that was flexible enough to support her husband’s crazy schedule as an active duty soldier with the U.S. Army so the timing just worked out. We decided that in order to be able to put ourselves and our family first, our best bet was to create our own opportunities. So we decided to go into business together.

What was the best advice you received when you started your career?

You can’t make everyone happy. Sometimes you can do everything right and people will still be unhappy.

What do you wish someone had told you when you started your business?

That fear isn’t always a sign that you should stop what you’re doing. I used to think that fear was my intuition telling me that something is a bad idea. And sometimes, it is. But sometimes, it’s just a way to maintain the status quo. The tough part is recognizing when to stop and when it’s time to push through.

What are the three skills that new entrepreneurs need in order to succeed?

Delegation: because you can’t do it all, so you have to know when it makes sense to delegate and how to actually hand it off to someone else

Prioritizing: when you can’t prioritize, everything looks like an emergency, which is a surefire way to burn out fast

Being able to ask for the sale: when you don’t ask, the answer is always no. Without clients your business is just an expensive hobby, so you’ll need to know how to ask for the sale.

What routines do you have in place to help your days run smoothly?

I do a brain dump at night, just to clear my mind. Then the next day I select 3 priorities based on what didn’t get done from the day before. 

How do you find balance as an entrepreneur? 

I find balance by making time for self-care. I recently signed on to work with a trainer because I know myself well enough to anticipate that as business gets busier, self-care can easily fall to the wayside. Hiring a trainer gives me a plan to follow (which makes me that much more likely to follow through) and provides the additional accountability I need to keep me on track. 

What is your favorite thing about being an entrepreneur? 

My favorite thing about being an entrepreneur is being able to make choices about how I run my business, from the hours I work to the projects I take on. Being a biz owner isn’t as carefree as some people make it out to be, but there’s definitely more flexibility that with most 9-5 jobs. 

What do you do to unwind? 

Most nights when I’ve had a long day, I stay home with my husband and catch up on our DVR. Other times I listen to sappy music and just write whatever comes to mind. It really helps to get it all out, removes the pressure of having to remember everything.  

What is a project that you are working on right now or just finished? 

I recently launched the #personalbrand with 4 amazing ladies. It’s an inclusive coaching + design package which provides you with everything you need to launch in just three months. You can find all the details here: http://hashtagpersonalbrand.com/i-am-ready/.

How can people get in touch with you? 

We can be reached by e-mail at hello@sytbiz.com. You can also go to our website and set up a coffee chat here: https://calendly.com/sytbiz/insyt-coffee-chat/.