Today we are talking business… Have you been thinking about starting your own business? Maybe you have something you love to do and you want to make it a side gig for a little extra money. Or maybe you are looking to replace your full time gig.
Good for you!! Having your own business can be a wonderful, fulfilling experience.
Beyond the idea, how far have you planned and thought things through. Basically, now what?
Some people come up with the idea and are gung-ho and they just leap. They do it. They make the cake or cupcakes. Maybe it starts with doing it for a friend or family member. For some it’s a coaching course and they just tell people and do it. This is an approach many people take and it works for them. I’ve taken courses myself where you are taught how to do that very thing. How to launch your course or your business.
And it is a very viable and useful approach.
But for some of us, it feels a bit backwards. It’s like a ready, fire, aim feeling. I’m one that feels there needs to be some planning before you just leap. I find jumping off in that way much more difficult. You are no less gung-ho but you find yourself sort of freezing, unsure of what to do next.
The first approach is useful because it gets you out of the freeze mode. It forces you to just do it. Do it messy! Don’t worry about perfection just get it out there. And there are many valuable lessons there as well. One is that it doesn’t have to be perfect. You learn that the world did not end.. you didn’t fall flat on your face… you CAN do this…
But even if you do that and it all works and you learn the things, no matter which personality type you fall under, I believe there still needs to be some planning behind your business.
You need to know how to make this idea a viable business. I believe you have to start with a solid foundation.
What does that mean? Well, I think there’s actually a lot that needs to happen as far as planning for your business but we will get into more of that later. The truth is, it can be overwhelming if you let it. You have to make it bite size and break it into doable tasks.
What’s the saying… How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
I believe you start with the basics. There are 4 questions I ask my clients before we get started with their planning. They not only help me know your business so I can help you grow it, it helps the client know their business.
For me, these questions are vital.
What’s your why?
What problem does your business solve?
Who is your ideal client?
How will you generate income?
- What’s Your why…
We’ve actually talked about this before. Is it money? Is it fulfillment? Is it your love for helping others? Is it the desire to make the perfect cake for someone’s event? Answer it and then own it. Your why is the core of your business. It’s what you build everything around. It’s the thing you LOVE and lights your soul on fire.
My experience has been that when business ventures are only about money, they need more behind it to truly succeed. The cold hard truth is, running your own business is not all rainbows and unicorns. Just because you no longer punch someone else’s time clock doesn’t mean you don’t have to work. And there’s no one to save you. You save yourself and make all the decisions.
Sometimes, when you are in a valley it’s hard and it can feel soul sucking.
This is why I say you need to love it. Look, I’m not saying that business is all gloom and doom. It can be wonderful and fulfilling and give you all your dreams, that is absolutely true. But when you lose your way, your why is where you return to. It’s the thing that will center you and it will be your lighthouse… your beacon…
I recommend journaling this out and really knowing the answer. Go through all your reasons for doing this. If you find yourself only listing things you hate about your current situation, try turning those to positives with “I want” or “I will” statements instead of I hate. At the core of all that, you will find what you love about your business idea and your why will start to emerge.
- What problem does your business solve?
It can be a literal problem. It can be for entertainment. But there has to be a reason. Are you a bookkeeper who makes accounting for a small mom & pop easier? Do you make beautiful bird feeders that are the perfect gift? Do you coach someone to help them find their purpose?
What’s your purpose? Dig deep. Find it. Understand it.
Maybe you are a fitness coach who shows women the best exercise and diet practices for their body type and their busy life.
For me… I help people get unstuck and find their next steps to move forward in their life or their business. Often people need someone to just walk them through their action plan or create an action plan. They think they don’t know how, so they get stuck and frozen in inactivity. That’s where I come in.
So do you know what problem your business solves?
Have you ever had someone ask you for your elevator pitch? Have you heard of an elevator pitch? Let me explain just in case since I am a bit old school… Basically let’s say you meet someone in an elevator and they ask you what you do. Can you answer before you reach your stop? You should be able to articulate what you do in just 2, maybe 3 sentences in a way that will leave that person with a clear understanding. From there, they decide if they want to move forward in working or shopping with you. If your answer is well… and then you launch into a 10 minute, short novel, you will lose them. If you don’t know what you do, how can you expect people to want to work with you?
This is another journaling exercise. Start writing it out. List all the things you do, then figure out what shingle you want to hang on your door. It may not list everything you do, but that’s ok. You need the shingle. Someone is a general surgeon, you get the idea… you don’t need to know every type of surgery they perform.
Narrow it down. Word smith it. Try it out on people.
When you can articulate it, guess what? There’s your mission statement for your business.
- Who is your ideal client?
Again, Write it down. I say that a lot don’t I?… Anyway, give your person a name. Give them a job, a house, kids and make them real. If it’s more than one, have more than one. But only if it’s necessary, otherwise start with the one. Know them. Know how they think and act. Once you know who they are, you know where to find them. This tells you how you will market to them.
Example: Annie is a middle class mom with multiple kids who is lost in a full time job. She has gained weight and is feeling her age. She wants to get in shape, but needs ideas for healthy meals that won’t take too much time or budget. Family friendly would be even better. And she needs friends to keep her accountable. Beachbody coach! Healthy food blogger! This is your girl.
I suspect you will also find that more often than not, your ideal client is very similar to you. So maybe start there.
- How will you generate income?
This can be as easy as an hourly rate or it can include offering packages or courses. A bookkeeper that can work from home for multiple businesses could establish an hourly rate or offer monthly packages for set tasks.
Remember, when creating packages, consider what scope of work you will offer and list it.
I can’t stress enough, don’t undersell yourself.
Part of your rate should include: how long the work will realistically take you, the experience you bring to the table and your own expenses. If you have left your full-time gig, there is no longer a boss supplying the printer ink. You are the boss now and it all adds up. Also, research what other people in your field/market charge. What will the market bear, what can you expect, is it time to raise the bar?
If the cakes you make cost $20 for ingredients, also consider how long it really takes to make the cake. What’s the baking time and decorating time. Let’s say 4 hours total. What’s your hourly rate? $50 an hour? That’s $220. Of course, there are certainly other things you may need to consider like how intricate is the design. How many colors of icing did you need? How big is the cake? What I’m hoping you are gathering here is, count everything and then see where you arrive for price. From there you can make adjustments if you wish.
But hear this, your price is your price. NEVER apologize for it. You don’t need to justify it. You are worth it. Your work will prove it. The people who are meant to work with you will come.
I want to say one more thing though, this is a hard thing for me to juggle at times myself. There’s knowing your worth and there’s pricing yourself out of business. It can be a fine line and hard to determine at times. I truly believe that if you offer quality work, people will come and they will pay, but I also think you should be reasonable as well. There is a balance to all this and you may have to play around with things like pricing a bit to figure out what works. You can also raise your rates later if that is in alignment.
The key is to figure out you can sell your product or service to determine if your business idea is viable.
Also consider this, when you start charging your hobby is no longer a hobby. Make sure you are ok with that and know it’s ok if you aren’t. You are allowed to have hobbies that are just that!
All I ask is that you Be honest with yourself when answering these questions. Don’t be afraid to erase and start over. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. And it may even feel silly at first but I promise if you will trust the process of journaling it out, you will see your true thoughts come out and you will see the patterns emerge that give you a better picture of what you want.
Journaling can be a powerful thing if you lean in and the let the words flow.
The answers are there, you just have to trust yourself.
You know what else? Now that you are done with this exercise, you have some of the basics of a business plan! Which is a big part of keeping your business on track!
If you are stuck and struggling, don’t worry. There are folks like me that are here to help.
Don’t give up! You’ve got this.
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