The books and the workshops are out there. Monetize your passion…. Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow …. Start Your Business Now ….. Making a Living Without a Job….. So how do you actually do this?
Step 1: Brainstorm. Take a moment, or hours, or even days to write all your ideas down. Do not think about what will work and what might not work.. This is your brain storming session and you are allowed to write down whatever comes to mind. Turn your censor off.
Step 2. Make a List. Take the list of ideas from your brain storming session and write each idea on a separate piece of paper or index card. Use as many cards as you need. Each idea should have its own card.
Step 3: Categorize. Look at each of your ideas, and sort them out, put them in categories. Are any of them similar? Do some of them go naturally together so they all might be done within one business? For example, you love to cook and you love to help people with dietary restraints find foods and recipes they can use. These two ideas would go in the same pile. The cards that state your love of doing stained glass and decorating your home for the holidays will go into separate piles.
If you are seeking ideas for what type of business to start do try shadowing someone who doing something you are interested in like a bed and breakfast or wine bar. The suggestion for doing an informational interview is also a great suggestion, but you may want to interview someone who is operating a business at least 50 miles from where you might start your business, so you do not appear to be a competitor.
No ideas at all!
Look at a copy of the noncredit course being offered at your local community college. Some of these course may suggest a new business idea.
Visit www.fabjob,com Check out the dream careers and purchase any books you are really interested in.
Consult a Profiting from Your Passions coach for one or more sessions. Explore you passions, skills, interests, assets and who will want what you have to offer.
Does a Halfpreneur need a business plan? It is a question that has no right answer. Yes, No, and Maybe are all correct.
YES!
If you will be applying for a business loan, a business plan will be required by the bank.
You will need a business plan if you are seeking business investment. Potential investors invest in people, their ideas, their track record, the market and other factors. Your business plan will define and explain your business and its potential.
If you will work with partners or a team, a business plan defines the agreements between partners. For a management team the business plan establishes where you are starting off and where you intend to take the business.
Last but maybe not least, you will need a business plan to set a value on your business if you sell your business, when you do estate planning, or if you divorce.
NO!
You may not need a business plan if you are running a small business that you are self-funding.
If your business is based on your hours or space and growing it larger is not in your plans, the b plan may not be needed. For instance many coaches do not have business plans. If you are going to walk dogs, board birds when their owners are on vacation, or make and sell custom quilts, the business plan probably is not necessary.
If your plans to be a Halfpreneur are very temporary, such as you will be doing small home repairs until you find full time employment again, a business plan may not be needed.
MAYBE!
If you are a Halfpreneur who wants to sell a product or service, a business plan provides a structure for outlining what will be important for setting up and successfully running your business. It can help with setting reasonable and measurable goals.
If you are starting off part-time as a trial run for full-time entrepreneur or you do not want your profits completely tied to space in your extra room or the 10 hours per week that you have to devote to your business, then a business plan may be useful.
A business plan can start off just a document to guide you and your new business. It may never go any further than your desk, but it gets you off on the right foot, thinking like an entrepreneur of business person.
A business plan generally includes such sections as: Executive Summary, Company Description, Products and Services, Market Analysis, Strategy and Implementation, and Financial Analysis. It might also include sections on Management Team and Web Use. A copy of your resume is often a part of the Executive Summary or just a part of the plan.
If you decide that a business plan is not necessary, you should at least have a plan that contains short and long term goals that you are committed to being accountable for.
The Plan
www.bplan.com offers information on business plans and starting a business, business plans that you can review for free, and business planning software (not free, but reasonably priced).
Need help setting your goals. The Halfpreneur offers coaching. Contact Mary Ann, the Halfpreneur,at 508-752-2600 (Career Development Services) or at thehalfpreneur@gmail.com
Initially you are excited about starting your own business and then the obstacles to self employment begin to emerge. If you are planning a seasonal or weekend business, some of these obstacles will apply but they may be far more relevant for the potential entrepreneur who is starting out part-time with the hope of pursuing their entrepreneurial venture on a full time basis.
Erroneous Advice and Lack of Support
Avoid Negative People
The erroneous advice is most likely to come from people that you care about and people who care about you. You may get a litany of “90 percent of all businesses fail.” “Remember your uncle who did Amway and was left with a garage full of soap.” “You’ll never be able to afford health insurance or save for retirement.” “If you’re no longer making enough money, tighten your belt, downsize your house, move to an area of the country where the economy is better.” “You don’t have enough experience or knowledge to start a business.” “You’ll never find the time.”
Chances are these people want what is best for you and what is best is, at least, for them is SECURITY. It is quite likely that they are afraid of trying new things and therefore you should be afraid, too. These family members, relatives, and friends can throw a wet blanket on your plans and dreams. If you have any fears or doubts about starting a business they may make your anxieties even worse.
Solutions
Surround Yourself with Entrepreneurs
Do not “go public” with your idea too early. Do your preliminary research and surround yourself with people who have started businesses and believe in you and your business. Begin to seek out people who you may need to consult with about skill sets you lack such as web design or accounting. Although a business plan may not be necessary for a small, self-funded business, having a plan may make you more confident when you have to deal with the naysayers. If one of the chief naysayers is your partner or spouse be direct in your communication. Be clear on why you need to pursue this dream and don’t set your relationship up for future resentment.
Lack of Confidence, Fear of Failure
You realize there are new things to learn, skills that you may lack, or that you may fail. If you lack support, your forward movement may be paralyzed and this may set off a vicious cycle of self-fulfilling prophecy
Solutions
Meditate
Pay attention to your thoughts and engage in practices to help you detach from them: meditation, journaling, yoga. Thoughts are powerful and if you become obsessed with the possible problems and obstacles to your success, you will not launch any of your plans into action. Thus you create the self-fulfilling prophecy.
Again, surround yourself with other who are entrepreneurial and who believe in you and your business. They probably have experience with fear and failure as well as with success.
Lack of Finances and Time
If you are starting a part-time business and keeping your full-time or regular job, you need to finance your business but you do not face the financial anxiety of being totally self-supporting. We cannot create more time! To find the time to start and run your business, you probably will have to make some sacrifices.
Solutions
If you goal is to be a full-time business owner, take time to transition into this role by starting part-time.
TIME – Skip TV viewing and cut down on your computer time, especially FaceBook and surfing the web. Use your weekends for your business. Depending on the type of business, get up earlier in the morning, to work on your information product , write your blogs, or your ezines, or your book before the family gets up. Sacrifice but don’t be a martyr! Take time to rest and recharge; take vacations. No breaks from work often decreases productivity.
Have a Yard Sale
– raise some money by selling what you don’t need. Reduce some living expenses, if possible, like what you are paying for telephone and cable TV. Cut back on fast food, eating out, and entertainment. When starting your business, keep your overhead low. Work from home, or a coffee shop, or an office co-op, or sublease your office space. Start off with a website that you can do yourself or with minimum assistance. Weebly and WordPress are fairly easy to use. (I use both – one for my blog and one for my website). Vista or moo.com are sources of inexpensive business cards. Use PayPal or Square with your mobile device to accept credit cards and do your marketing on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Yelp.
Self-Sabotage
Self-Sabotage can come from many things: perfectionism, unrealistic attitudes, attitudes about money, lacking a clear business plan, or not thinking like an entrepreneur.
PERFECTIONISM – Don’t wait for things to be perfect. The website, the blog, the information product just has to be good enough.
Solution: Strive for excellence but not perfection.
Easy Money
UNREALISTIC ATTITUDES – If we are looking at self-employment –related websites on the Internet, we are bombarded by sites telling us we can earn a six-figure income and only work four hours a week, just purchase whatever it is that they are offering. It takes time to grow a business. Unrealistic attitudes may also take the form of overestimating your market.
Solutions: Research – Talk to people who in similar businesses to yours or to the one you want to start. Read magazines and journals written about this business.
Invest in Yourself
ATTITUDES ABOUT MONEY – Do you have issues with money? Have you been told that it is the root of all evil? Is it more noble to be poor? Does having money mean your selfish? Does starting a business mean that there is no money to invest in yourself? Not charging what your service is worth is another problem that will bring your business down. Finally, back to finances and on to business planning , you must be willing to work on how you will manage your income and expenditures.
Solutions: Daily mindfulness – become aware of what you are telling yourself about money. Get coaching on this issue. Invest in yourself as well as in your business.
LACKING A CLEAR BUSINESS PLAN – Do not begin your business until you are sure what you are in business to do. A lack of focus and vagueness as to who your business will serve is a recipe for disaster.
Solutions: Assess your passions, interests, strengths, talents, and skill sets. What can you offer to a specific niche? Research similar businesses online, what are their strengths and weaknesses. What do they offer. Join a local Chamber of Commerce or meet-up group to develop a professional network of people who share a similar interest. Dream/imagine what you want your business to look like. Creating a vision board might be helpful. Set short and long term goals for your business or use business plan software that will help you develop your ideas.
Learn to Think Like an Entrepreneur
NOT THINKING LIKE AN ENTREPRENEUR – You are an entrepreneur, even if only a seasonal or weekend entrepreneur. Thinking like an entrepreneur may mean that you will need to give up something called entitlement thinking. No this does not mean that you need to become right-wing and against Social Security and Medicare.
Solutions: According to Barbara Winter, author of Making a Living Without a Job there are a number of differences between how an entrepreneur thinks and the entitlement thinking common to many who work in corporate/state-funded positions. EntrepreneurialThinkingEntitlement Thinking
How much can I give? How much can I get?
Embrace problem-solving Others should fix my problems
I am responsible It’s not my fault
Instigates Waits
I can create my own benefits I deserve lots of benefits
Let me stretch Let me stay in my comfort zone
Work is endless discovery Work is predictably routine
Most people are trustworthy I don’t trust anyone
Flexible Ideas set in concrete
Welcomes change Fears change
Forward-thinking Clings to the status quo
Capacity to shift gears quickly, not Resentful and complaining during driven by economic ups and downs economic downturns
