Vivian Chan is the creator of The Sustainable Business Growth Catalyst framework, which teaches successful, but overwhelmed leaders how to grow a sustainable business that allows them to take months off without the fear of it all falling apart. She’s helped clients to fix broken systems and replaced them with streamlined workflows, and built high-performing and engaging teams that attract and retain top talents. As a Gallup trained BP10 coach, she’s helped thousands of students discover, develop and direct their business-building talents through her online program.
Vivian majored in telecommunications engineering technology. With 10 years of management and operation experience, she’s passionate about organizing different people to work together productively, and optimize resources for maximum efficiency. She believes that great leaders know their strengths and can call on the right strength at the right time. Being a natural potential-spotter and talent-nurturer, one of her greatest joys is helping people unlock their unique potential within and turn them into superpowers in what they do.
She’s also been featured in podcasts and websites like Interact, Thrive Global, Enterprise League, CEO Blog Nation and more. She currently lives in New York City.
What is Sette all about?
Sette is a business education, mentoring, and coaching hub for small businesses. My signature approach to building a sustainable business foundation comes down to three key ingredients: self-awareness, streamlined systems and a well-rounded team. These three elements work together to fuel growth, support sustainability and introduce balance. We believe that great leaders stay true to who they are and lead by their strengths, instead of leading by imitation. We also believe that the secret to great teams is casting by individual strengths so that everyone can do a lot of what they do well.
Tell us a little bit about your background and how you started your company?
After years of climbing the corporate ladder, I didn’t feel appreciated. I’ve experienced how the system works against talented and hardworking people who are committed to making positive changes to create impact. I realized that I don’t belong to that kind of environment and culture. So I was determined to work for myself so that I get to decide how to run a company and do things the right way.
I accidentally discovered the world of entrepreneurship and online businesses in 2017. Then, I started my own web design and development business as the next logical step but it somehow never felt aligned.
I’ve always loved helping people grow, and leveraging their talents. Seeing signs of growth in people is what fuels me. And once I discovered what my top 5 strengths are through CliftonStrengths, everything began to make sense. I started to make connections of my talents and realized how unique I am.
With the help from my mentor when deciding which path to take next, I realized that I wanted to be a coach. The seed was planted inside me when I first discovered coaching back in 2017. I didn’t pursue it back then because I had limiting beliefs, like “Who am I to be a coach”. And with the encouragement from my mentor, I pivoted and started my journey as a coach in 2019.
What were the top three mistakes you made starting your business, and what did you learn from them?
Tried to perfect my craft before putting a project out in the world. I’d be making changes and procrastinating for fear of something might not be good enough. I failed to recognize that getting started is better than getting perfect. Because of that, I had so many projects and ideas that never get published and shared. Over time, I learned that my business will evolve and change as I grow. Nothing is set in stone. I’d remind myself that I’m building the initial version of my idea, not the final one. I’ll have the chance to refine and upgrade my service, and project. I’ll continue to make things better and more in alignment with my bigger vision.
Thought that I need more certification before I can help people. I also thought that I needed more experience. Those limiting beliefs were holding me back from reaching out to help people. Instead of practicing my craft, I got stuck in the learning mode. Now I know that I don’t need to learn everything there is about a certain topic before I start doing. I can start small and learn as I go. That’s how I can grow and make progress. Certification and experience are great and valuable. But I don’t need them to get started.
Building a business solely based on what I thought people would pay me for. That’s what I did in my first business. I built it because I thought that was how I was going to make money, and it didn’t last long. It’s true that creating something that meets customer needs is important, but that’s only a small part of the equation. Building something that’s in alignment with my purpose, core values and passion will get me farther. When I enjoy what I’m doing, I can stay interested and committed. So don’t let limiting beliefs like “who am I to do this?” prevent you from choosing the path you truly want!
If you started your business again, what things would you do differently?
Do more experiments before making the conclusion that something is not working. In the past, after I launched something for the first time and I didn’t get the desired result, I jumped into conclusion that it’s just not working. So I stopped trying the next time. By doing that, I realized I had killed many projects too early. Because I didn’t continue to do more experiments, I didn’t have enough data to prove that something indeed didn’t work. Now I know that before I can gauge the success or failure of my project, I need to do more experiments, and give myself more time to measure the outcomes. One seemingly unsuccessful experiment might not give me enough data to determine what worked and what didn’t.
I’d also start selling before the product is ready. I’ve made the mistake of trying to build out the product first, then looking for customers to buy that product. That wasn’t effective and sustainable. Now I know that customers are the cash flow that I need to sustain and grow my venture. And the only way to figure out what customers need is to go out and sell to potential customers. After getting feedback from early adopters, I refine and improve my initial version of my product or service.
The podcast that gave me a lot of useful insights is Gallup Theme Thursday that dives deep into the CliftonStrengths Themes.
And I love the book, Born to Build by Gallup Chairman and CEO Jim Clifton and Sangeeta Badal, Ph.D, that helps you understand who you are, what motivates you, and what venture you can build.
I’ve enjoyed the online course by Ramit Sethi called Greenlight Your Idea. It’s a practical course that gives you the tools and techniques to do better customer research and take action quickly.
What valuable advice would you give new entrepreneurs starting out?
Start working on your mindset, today! Success is 80% mindset and 20% strategy. You can have a great strategy, but it won’t work unless you have the right mindset. Oftentimes, it’s not the strategy that’s holding you back. It’s your limiting beliefs or mindsets.
Another advice would be to not water down your message in hope of attracting more people. The truth is, having a diluted message will end up appealing no one. So stand behind your beliefs and values instead, and share your message. The right group of people will then resonate with and draw closer to you.
What would you say are the top 3 skills needed to be a successful entrepreneur, and why?
Know your strengths: You won’t know what you can build until you know who you are. Most successful entrepreneurs leverage their natural patterns of thought, feeling and behavior — and proactively apply them to achieve their goals. They know what their strengths are and more importantly, they understand how to use them to approach every situation from the source of their greatest potential. Knowing yourself is the foundation of success.
Ability to recognize opportunities: Opportunities are everywhere. Cultivate alertness to unexpected events, shifts in the market and customer needs around you can help you discover and identify opportunities.
Turn ideas into action: Ideas remain just ideas without action. By learning how to create a basic version of your product or service to the problem you’re trying to solve, you can start small and quickly take actions to find the first customer to test drive and validate your idea. After you’ve collected feedback from your customers, you then refine and improve your product or service. With several iterations, you’ll get closer to building the final product that customers want to buy.
What are you learning now? Why is that important?
I’m learning to be more courageous and powerfully share my stories. This is important for me because through my stories, I can connect with my audience, develop meaningful relationships with them, make a difference and help more people.
What are the top 3 online tools and resources you’re currently using to grow your company?
I’m using MailerLite for email marketing. It’s a powerful yet budget friendly email service provider that delivers automation capabilities without the steep price.
My website is built on the Showit platform. It’s a website platform that gives you the creative freedom to create and design the website the way you want it, without knowing how to code! I get the best of both worlds by designing your website theme in Showit, and publishing my blog posts in WordPress!
And to create engaging quizzes to grow my email list, generate leads, and segment my audience, I’m using a quiz builder software called Interact.
What’s a productivity tip you swear by?
To stay on track and get important things done, I practice “the three things”. Before I start working, I take a quiet moment to write down the three most important tasks for the day. By doing this, I begin my day with the right frame of mind, so that I spend my valuable time and focus on what’s important, rather than what’s next. This way, I can see more clearly on the select few things that are going to drive action towards my bigger goals and accomplish things that create the most impact.
What is your favorite quote?
“If you don’t know where you want to go, then it doesn’t matter which path you take.”
– Cheshire cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
How can readers get in touch with you?
You can find me on Instagram @thesette.co. You can also read more about me and check out what I’m working on at my website, thesette.co.
