Making $2,000,000 on Twitter Look Easy
Still think Twitter can’t be used effectively for your business? Think again.
@DellOutlet has certainly figured out a way to turn 140 characters into real money, to the tune of $2,000,000 in sales so far.
Dell posted on their blog yesterday:
We’ve surpassed $2 million in revenue in terms of Dell Outlet sales, but we’re also seeing that it’s driving interest in new product as well. We’re seeing people come from @DellOutlet on Twitter into the Dell.com/outlet site, and then ultimately decide to purchase a new system from elsewhere on Dell.com. If we factor those new system purchases that come from @DellOutlet, we’re actually eclipsed $3 million in overall sales.
That’s $3,000,000 dollars by leveraging social media, and Twitter, to work as part of their business model.
@DellOutlet has around 600,000 followers, and Tweets out deals to these folks on a regular basis. But a recent look at their Twitter stream shows, promotion is not all they’re about.
Dell is using Twitter as a way to interact with their customers, provide service, value, and build community. Heck, they even take part in #FollowFriday, where Twitter users suggest other’s that are worth following. Taking the spotlight off of Dell, and putting it back on their community has been a lucrative proposition.
If all they were doing is selling, I’m not sure they would have seen these kinds of numbers, in regards to sales, so quickly. They’ve gone to $2,000,000 million in Twitter sales in 1/3 of the time it took them to get to $1,000,000
They are using the medium as a way to connect with their consumer, not by building a sales funnel, but by building a following.
If you are looking to use Twitter for your business, or still aren’t sold on the ability of Twitter to produce real income for your business, use @DellOutlet as a case study of what is possible.
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Series Recap: Small Business Questions Answered
We’ve covered a road this week in answering Josef’s original question about starting your own business.
In a nutshell Josef wanted to know:
- How to decide it’s worth quitting a safe, well paid day job?
- Should the idea be revolutionary? Or at least novel? Or it may be rather ordinary, just betting on good execution?
- Should I start only once I have a detailed business plan with detailed market research, or is that just a perfection paralysis and I should rely more on gut feelings?
- What are the signs it could go well or all wrong?
Starting a new business can be exciting, nerve racking, stressful, and overwhelming all at the same time. It’s no wonder the idea of starting your own business is met with endless questions, second guessing, and some uncertainty about your ability to be successful.
Hopefully we’ve shown you over the past couple of days that there is a process to work through when considering going out on your own. But, it doesn’t need to be as overwhelming or complicated as it may seem.
In Case You Missed It
Just in case you missed anything along the way, here’s a quick recap of what we covered:
How to Decide to Quit the Day Job to Start a Business
The decision to quit your day job and start a business goes a lot deeper than just having a good business idea. In this post we answered two very important questions about starting your own business.
- Do you really want to quit your job?
- Is business ownership right for you?
We also talked about some strategies you can use to hedge your bets before you walk away from the steady 9-5
Is My Idea Good Enough to Start a Business From?
Lots of good stuff in this one.
You can spend a lot of time second guessing your business ideas, but what it really comes down to is “will your business idea make you an adequate return given the risk you’re taking?”.
We answer that in this post, talk about some business myths, and go over the most important aspect to consider when you are trying to decide if your business idea has merit.
Perfection Paralysis in the Business Planning Stage
Failure to plan is planning to fail, but here we talk about when you take the planning to the extreme and never actually do anything! We call it proactive procrastination.
Here we talked about the four main areas we see perfection paralysis creep in, and what you need to know to combat each and keep moving along.
10 Early Signs Your Business is Heading for Danger, and How to Avoid It
Essentially a list of mistakes I’ve made over the years, and a fix for each. If you can see your business heading for danger, recognize the warning signs, you have a chance to change course and save your business.
In Summary
With the articles above you have the information you’ll need to make an informed decision about starting a business. I think you’ll find that it doesn’t need to be as overwhelming, stressful, or scary as it may seem to you right now. It does take planning – but once you get comfortable you’ll soon find that is the fun part!
To Josef, I hope we’ve done justice to your question, thank you for providing such a great content ideas we all can learn from.
Want Your Question Answered?
Do you have a business question you’d like answered “on air” here at Small Biz Bee? Drop us a line, we’d love to hear from you.
Photo Credit: Viernest’s photostream
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10 Early Signs Your Business is Heading for Danger, and How to Avoid It
Today is the fourth part of our four part series in response to a reader’s question. If you missed part 1, 2, or 3, you can catch up here, here, and here.
We’ve talked a lot this week about taking that first step and starting your own business, and some things you can do as you prepare to launch your new business venture.
Part of the question that sparked this series was “Are there early warning signs that things could go wrong”. Here are ten that I can speak to from first hand experience, you probably have others – drop’em in the comments section so we can all learn something.
10 Early Signs Your Business Venture is Heading for Danger
Sign #1 You don’t know you unique selling proposition (USP)
If you’re starting up, or have already opened your doors for business, and you still don’t know what your USP is you’re in trouble. I can’t stress enough how important it is to know what makes you different, and why people should buy from you instead of a competitor, going into the venture.
Fix:
Spend time up front addressing what your USP is, before you launch. Analyze your market, analyze your competitors, and figure out where you can fill holes or gaps in what they do.
Don’t open your doors for business until you can tell me in a sentence why I should buy from you and not your competitor. Your USP can change over time, but those changes should be strengthening it, not defining it.
Sign #2 You have to play with the #’s to "make it work"
Having to play around with your financial projections too much in order to “make it work” is a clear sign of danger.
Fix:
Remember that you are creating the most conservative projections you can. If the numbers are a close call on a conservative basis, it may be time to pass on the idea.
Sign #3 You haven’t made short and long term goals for the business
It’s not good enough to open for business and hope for the best. If you don’t have some short term goals to keep you moving forward, and some long term goals by which to steer the ship, you’re sunk.
Fix:
This doesn’t have to be a long drawn out process, but short and long term goals absolutely have to be defined going in. Think about what your perfect business looks like in 5 years, then work backwards to today setting goals to get you there. Use the SMART goal process if you need a starting point to goal setting.
Don’t worry about being to exact, or shooting too low – remember Costco’s business plan set a goal to expand to 10 stores one day. Had they not set that goal, they wouldn’t have become the 500 plus store chain they are today.
Sign #4 You lack support
If you look around and you have no support structure from a business perspective, you’re in danger. If you have no support structure from a personal perspective, you’ve got big trouble.
Fix:
Having the proper support from both a business side and personal side is an extremely important factor for success. Look for role models or mentors to help you navigate the business aspects, and be sure to talk up front with your family and friends to rally their support before you get too far into the planning stage.
If you have a significant other, it is critical they are on board to some degree with what you are doing. It will affect their life as much as yours, you’ll want and need them on your side.
Sign #5 You’re having partner problems early on
If you and your business partner can’t decide who gets to sit next to the window without a debate or a near argument, you’re in for it in the long term.
Fix:
Before going into any partnership be sure to read 7 Steps to Effective Partnerships. And take the advice to heart, believe me I’ve lived it enough to know what works.
Sign #6 Don’t know your competitors, market, or target customer
If you can’t name your top five competitors, what your market is defined as, or what your target customer looks like, you’re driving blind.
Fix:
Due diligence early on is the only fix here. Use what we talked about yesterday to analyze your competitors. Research your target market. And write down what your perfect customer looks like, down to what they have for breakfast. You can’t know too much here, but be sure not to use this research as “proactive procrastination”. Once you have a clear picture, and are comfortable with it, you can move on – But don’t launch without it!
Sign #7 You’re not adequately capitalized, both personally or professionally
If your personal financial house is not in order, you business financial house may never be.
Fix:
Be sure you have some reserves personally so you aren’t stressed when the money doesn’t roll in from the business day one. And yes, it is going to take some money to start up, so seek out the lowest rates and best terms you can for the money you need. Don’t over borrow. If anything under borrow and bootstrap.
Sign #8 You’re expecting too much too soon
If you expect, or worse need, the business to be showering you with cash from the second you open the door – you’ve got danger on your hands!
Fix:
Understand it will take time for your business to consistently provide you with an adequate return. Expecting, or needing, too much too soon will cause you to push and make poor decisions. If you’ve done your plan and projections as I’ve suggested you know conservatively going in how long it’s going to take to get the cash you want.
Also, have your personal finances in order so that you aren’t depending on the business for too much too soon – now that’s a recipe for disaster.
Sign #9 Your marketing plan lacks a plan
Have you caught yourself saying “I’ve got $5000 for marketing, let’s just get some ads out there”? Well, there’s a big problem with that! Not having a marketing plan is wasting your advertising money plane and simple.
Fix:
You’ll need to develop your marketing plan early on. It’s vital that your customer acquisition strategy is defined early on, and carried out through your marketing efforts. Here’s some help developing your marketing plan. And some more on what your marketing plan should entail.
Sign #10 Excess creeping in
All right, everything is a business write off – time to get some $5000 office chairs!
Fix:
True you’re going to have business writeoff’s, but if you find excessiveness creeping in early on, you need to reign it in. Just because your business is paying for it doesn’t mean you’re not. Keeping expenses under control early is vital to success, if you wouldn’t buy a $5000 office chair at home, don’t buy one for your business either.
Coming Up
To finish out this series we’ll go over a quick summary of all we’ve learned about starting your own business.
Stay tuned…
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Perfection Paralysis in the Business Planning Stage
Today is the third part of our four part series in response to a reader’s question. If you missed part 1 or 2, you can catch up here, and here.
If you’ve been following along with us thus far you’ve determined that business ownership is the right path for you personally by answering the following questions:
- Do you enjoy making decisions and being in charge?
- Are you willing to take risks and accept the outcome?
- Are you adequately capitalized?
- Are you flexible, and can you adapt to change well?
- Are you good at short and long term planning?
- Do you have strong people skills and build relationships easily?
And you’ve taken a look at your idea to make sure it fits the following criteria:
-
Will it provide an adequate return compared to the risk you’re taking
-
Do you know what your unique selling proposition is
-
What is the market potential?
-
1) How big is the market
-
2) What share can I get
-
3) Is that enough?
-
If you answered the above thoroughly, and it looks like your idea can still pan out – now it’s time for the rubber to hit the road – it’s also time that perfection paralysis hits most people.
It’s natural to feel anxious, or nervous about taking the leap into business ownership. And knowingly or unknowingly many people fall into the trap of trying to get things “more perfect”, or do a little more research, before they start up – if for no other reason than to delay actually having to start up.
Perfection Paralysis Danger Spots
Some of the most common areas people fall into perfection paralysis are:
-
Writing the business plan
-
Doing market research
-
Will the finances work?
-
Self Imposed
Let’s work through each.
Writing the Business Plan
I’ll say that I am an advocate of having a business plan. However, if writing a business plan the size of a phone book is what is keeping you from starting up – by all means write the simplest plan you possibly can initially.
According to a new study, the Small Business Administration found that writing a plan early in the business planning stage could increase your chance of success with your new venture.
But the main reason it increases success is because it forces you to get started doing something for your business. The simple exercise of writing the plan was enough for a lot of people to go through with starting a business.
Simply put those who plan, do!
A fellow entrepreneur and small business blogger, Mike Michalowicz at the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, suggest keeping your business plan extremely simple early on, and he doesn’t even call it a business plan, but a early on. And I’d agree with him that a simple plan can be the best when just getting going.
Elements of your business plan can change over time (ex. Costco’s original business plan talks about growing to 10 stores – they now have over 500!), and you can always go back and add or develop something to a greater degree once you’re in business. Don’t let the plan writing stand in the way of getting your business off the ground.
Essential Elements of your First Business Plan:
-
What do you plan to do, what are the goals for your business?
-
What does the market look like? What are the opportunities, where are the threats?
-
What is your marketing strategy? How will you advertise, and to whom?
-
What is your management strategy? Go it alone, hire employees, or hire other mangers?
-
Do the finances work?
Keep in mind this first plan is just for you, it will help you know what you want to do and how you will get there. And it will get you started doing something!
Doing Market Research
Market research is important, and can’t be taken lightly, but it is also a place that people will proactively procrastinate. Let’s try to simplify it a bit.
In your market research you are trying to answer the three main questions we talked about earlier:
-
How big is the market for your idea?
-
What share can I get?
-
Is that enough? And we’ll add one:
-
How will I capture my piece of the pie?
Market Analysis
Keep it this simple. We’re trying to keep you moving, not get bogged down in the minutia. However, you need to thoroughly answer the following questions.
1) Who is your competition and what are they doing?
Look at who you will be in direct competition with and analyze their customer base. Go to where they do business and “secret shop” them. Take time listening to their customers, and look for ways you could turn those folks into your customers.
2) Where are the opportunities?
Where are the greatest opportunities for your business? Are there untapped markets, or specific customer demand? Are their holes in the way your competition is doing business that you can fill?
3) What are the threats?
Look for danger. Competition in the same market and niche as you is a threat. Fickle customer base for your products is a threat. The time, or lack thereof you have to devote to your new venture could be a threat. Do your best to think about the threats not only today, but 6 months to a year down the road. Does your business not currently have competition but due to low barriers to entry that could change in a few months? That would be a threat. If you aren’t coming up with any threats – you’re not looking hard enough.
4) The internet is your friend
Look for any research that’s been conducted in the market you want to enter. There is a plethora of information on the internet and much of it can help you get an idea of market size, and potential.
5) Get some free help
Use a service like the one provided for free by SCORE to get some counseling about your particular idea and the market. The experts at SCORE can help you see your market more clearly and decide if your business has a chance to compete within it.
Much of your market research will be cobbled together yourself. Learn as much as you can about your market, and then make some conservative assumptions about your potential to operate within the market as you know it.
Will The Finances Work?
Once you have a clear picture of your market based on the above, you can work through a model (almost) as simple as our Lawn Care example from the last article.
Financial projections are full of assumptions, and the natural reaction is to try to get as close to “perfect” as possible when doing them – I’m mean we’re talking about the money here right? That’s important!
But not so fast, while financial projections are important, it’s more important to understand you’re never going to get this step 100% right and you’re goal is to do projections that give you the best chance of staying in the game when you screw them up.
A Few tips for Doing Financial Projections
1) Be conservative with every projection
You won’t get the market share you think you will. You won’t grow as quickly. You won’t retain customers at the rate you expect. You won’t be adopted by your target market as quickly. Your expenses will be greater. Expect the unexpected expense to occur more than you’d expect it. Etc, etc, etc/.
2) Success does not come to those who make the most accurate financial plan from day one. It comes to those who understand what they don’t understand and build their plan around it.
3) If you find yourself working and reworking the numbers, without a fundamental change in your business idea, model, or market outlook stop in your tracks! Why? Because you’re shopping for variables to make your idea work, which is pure fantasy. Sure it may be easy to say “Nah, I think I’ll get 10% of the market instead of the 9% I originally thought, and now look…I’m rich!”, but unless you have a clear plan on how you are going to get the additional 1% of the market, you’re just making stuff up.
My point here isn’t to discourage you, it’s to set you up to do projections that keep you in the game. If you can conservatively estimate all aspects of your business and it still looks like a go – then right on! But if your success hinges around whether your projections are 100% correct from day one – Danger is on the horizon!
Don’t spend days, weeks, or months working projections to the penny – you just don’t know enough to do that yet.
Self Imposed Perfection
The last area perfection paralysis runs rampant is in what I call self imposed.
These are the assumptions or beliefs you hold that keep you analyzing and never doing. They are ideas you may believe but hold little factual validity, or reasons you give yourself for never getting past the planning stage.
Things like:
-
Now is a bad time to start a business
-
The timing just isn’t right for this
-
I need to learn more about XXXX before I XXXX
-
I’m not “ready”
-
There’s not enough time
You’re never going to have more than 24 hours in a day. The time will never be absolutely perfect to start a business. If you’re not “ready” write down why not, along with a plan for what you’re going to do about it.
My point is it will never be perfect. And talking yourself into believing things need to feel perfect before you start your own business is just a form of procrastination.
Keep Moving Forward
The key to avoiding perfection paralysis is to recognize it on one level for what it is – Proactive procrastination. So you’ve got to take these steps, and continue to move forward to combat that perfectionism.
Work through the steps we’ve outlined over the last couple days and as long as your idea continues to pan out, keep moving forward. You’ll gain confidence in yourself each step along the way, and that last step will seem less daunting when you get there. Nobody has ever launched the perfect business, at the perfect time. Yours will be no different; just don’t let it stop you.
Coming Up
Coming up next in this series we’ll look at:
Stay tuned…
Photo Credit: Per Ola Wiberg (Powi)
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Is My Idea Good Enough to Start a Business From?
Today is the second part of our four part series in response to a reader’s question. If you missed part 1, you can catch up here.
The question at hand today is “Is your business idea good enough”? As we all know, “good enough” is relative, but I will provide some ideas for you to think through in answering that question for yourself.
Ask the Question Another Way
I hear this a lot, “do you think my idea is good enough to start a business?”…and normally what people mean is “do you think I’ll make money doing this?”.
The short answer is- most ideas you can think of are good enough to start a business around – in short you can probably make some money doing almost anything.
The real question is whether or not your business idea is worth the risk, and will provide adequate reward if it works out. For sake of argument let’s say adequate return is enough money for you to live on, at least replacing your current income.
So now the question changes once again, this time to “given my idea, what is the potential?” We’ll talk about potential in a minute, but first let’s dispel some myths about what your business idea should be.
Business Idea Myths
To make an adequate return, your business idea doesn’t need to be:
- Revolutionary
- Totally unique
- Game changing
- Competition free
Now, you’ll make a heck of a lot more money if your idea happens to be one of the above – but the honest truth is very few of us will invent the new wheel, or be so unique we become our own category.
You can make your adequate return, and then some, if within your business idea you can see your unique selling proposition.
Unique Selling Proposition
Simply put your unique selling proposition (USP) is the reason I’d buy from you and not a competitor. What makes you special, why do you deserve a share of the market?
For example let’s say you want to start a lawn care business. You know lawns, your tomato plants are huge, and the azalea’s in your yard are the envy of the neighborhood.
Great – you’d probably make a very good lawn care person, and make money doing it. But, will you make an adequate return?
Probably not if just doing lawn care is eh extent of your idea.
Take for example: Where I live there are literally 1000’s of lawn care people. Why am I buying from you, what’s your USP?
Your potential USP’s may be:
- Creativity
- Service
- Convenience
- Price
HINT – Best not build your USP around price. It’s a very hard way to compete, and only a matter of time before somebody bigger and more efficient comes in a does it cheaper than you. Don’t believe me? Try selling toilet paper cheaper than Costco.
Okay, so you tell me “Matt, my Lawn Care business will focus on organic lawn care that is pesticide free. I offer free same day quotes for service, and tailor my schedule around the homeowners.”
Hey, now we’re on to something. You’ve taken your idea which 1000’s of people do and turned it into a special offering. If I’m into pesticide free gardening, I’m using you and not your competition who killed my cat with chemicals last spring.
The Market Potential
Once you have your business idea, and understand what your USP is, the last piece of the puzzle in deciding whether your idea is good enough is to look at the market potential and assess if it will provide your adequate return.
Three questions to ask when assessing market potential.
1) How big is the market?
2) What share can I get?
3) Is that enough?
Back to your lawn care business.
You know your area has 10,000 homeowners. There are only 2 people in your area providing organic lawn care, and you’ve heard they aren’t very shall we say “customer orientated” – given that you think you can get between 2-5% of the lawn contracts in your neighborhood (a small amount, but you are offering a very specialized service).
That means you can get around 300 contracts from your market. You also know that each lawn is worth about $200/month in profit, which works out to a profit of $60,000/month or $720,000/ year. Is that enough? Is your business idea “good enough”? That’s for you to decide when you run the numbers yourself.
I know, I know, you couldn’t do 300 lawns a month yourself so you’d have to hire people which would cut your profit, but that’s a blog post for another day.
To Summarize
You can see that deciding whether an idea is good enough to start a business around is a relative question. The good news is most ideas have the potential to make some money, they don’t need to be revolutionary, and quite often you won’t be the “game changer”. If you know your USP, and your market well enough I’m sure you can see how an “ordinary” idea could turn into extra-ordinary profits.
Your job is:
- To decide how much you need for an adequate return,
- Do you have a USP, and
- Do the market dynamics offer enough potential to pursue it?
Coming Up
Coming up next in this series we’ll look at:
Stay tuned…
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How to Decide to Quit the Day Job to Start a Business
Today is the first part of our four part series in response to a reader’s question. Today we’re looking at how to decide it’s worth quitting the safe, well paid day job to start a business.
I’m choosing to focus on the personal, emotional, side of that question and in the upcoming parts to this series I’ll cover the economical side of going into business.
You have a lot to think about and consider when transitioning from full time employment to starting your own business…let’s get started.
First Things First
The first thing you have to consider when contemplating starting your own business, and thus leaving the creature comforts of the “day job” is: Do you really want to quit your job?
When I finally took the leap and started my company I thought there was no way I would miss the 9-5. And for the most part I didn’t, but every so often I’d miss work friends, or the “steadiness” of it.
I don’t regret the decision one bit, but I still had to work through the emotional side of not working for anyone but myself.
Think about the following:
For many the jobs people perform define them. They are an Accountant, a Nurse, or a Cab Driver. When someone asks what they do for a living, they have a concrete response. There is self identity there, and some comfort, comfort they wouldn’t get from saying “oh, I’m starting a business”.
It is hard to accept that yesterday you were a successful Construction Manager, and today you are a struggling business owner.
Jobs are a big part of our social lives. After college you don’t have as many opportunities to meet new people…this is where the job comes in. Most people have a close network of colleagues, and some genuine friends in the workplace, and giving up that social outlet can be daunting.
Also, whether it be good or bad you are getting human contact day in and out, which strengthens our social associations and makes us feel “connected”.
A job provides a comfortable, structured lifestyle. You have structure at work, usually clear expectations, time off each year, and benefits. When working for yourself a lot of that structure and stability go out the window.
No such thing as coming in at eight and leaving at five with the mentality of “oh well, what I didn’t get done today will get done tomorrow”. Two weeks off a year, guaranteed? Forget it! You could have more time off than that, or you could work years without ever taking a day for yourself.
Believe it or not, like it or not, there are social stigmas that exists for people starting their own business. When I started my first business I was amazed at the reaction I got from some of my friends and family. Genuine concern about my well being, and utter amazement that I was “throwing my successful career out the window to be a dreamer!”
Some people thought that I was literally throwing it all away, and giving up! For people who don’t understand the entrepreneurial spirit I’m sure it seemed that way, while from my perspective staying in my job was giving up.
As a would be entrepreneur you’ll need to make the decision for yourself if giving up the above is worth it to pursue your dreams of working for yourself.
Is Starting a Business Right For You?
After you’ve come to terms with some of what you’ll be “missing” by giving up the day job, you’ll still need to assess if starting a business is right for YOU. It may be a dream, it may be something you think you need to do in order to better your life, but unless you have some of the characteristics listed below you will have a long road ahead of you.
- Do you enjoy making decisions and being in charge?
- Are you willing to take risks and accept the outcome?
- Are you adequately capitalized?
- Are you flexible, and can you adapt to change well?
- Are you good at short and long term planning?
- Do you have strong people skills and build relationships easily?
Let’s look at these one by one.
Do you enjoy making decisions and being in charge?
From the first day you decide to go into business you will be the decision maker for your operation. From your business name, to who you will use as a supplier, to whether or not to hire help, these decisions and more you will need to make.
Also as your business grows you will continually be accessing and making decisions that could positively or negatively affect the success of your business. When running your own business there is nobody to hand off the tough decisions too or escalate an issue. You will need to be comfortable in this role, and able to act decisively when needed.
Are you willing to take risks and accept the outcome?
The key word here is to accept the outcomes of the risk you take. Many people say they are okay with risk, or that they don’t have a problem taking a risk, but the more important side of that equation is the acceptance of the outcomes those risk involve.
If for example you choose to put your life savings into a business venture because you think it’s “worth the risk” then you must be able to accept the outcome of loosing your savings if the business does not perform as you thought it would. I’m not saying you will loose your life savings if you start a business, but even something that has a 90% chance of success still has a 10% chance of failure and you need to be able to accept the downside possibilities.
Are you adequately capitalized?
This isn’t to say you need to be wealthy or rich to start a business, but you will need to have some money. While starting a business on a shoestring is possible, to give your business the best chance for success having some money as reserves is a must.
While there are programs to get the money you need to start your business, buy products, and market, some emergency reserves are a good idea in case personal expenses creep into the mix as well. I can’t tell you exactly how much money is enough (that will depend on the type of business you start and what your personal financial needs are), I can say without a doubt the more the merrier.
You will have a little more leeway if you intend to keep working while setting up your business, but if you intend for your business to support you and your family from day one cash reserves are necessary to bridge the gap until your business replaces your earned income. The last thing you need is to be worry about how to pay the mortgage when you should be focusing on building your business, and concentrating on operational efficiency during the startup phase.
Are you good at short and long term planning?
Planning is extremely important when starting a business. You will need to be comfortable planning 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, and even 10 years down the road to properly address the needs of your business. The last thing you want to do is start your business without a plan for the future only to see a successful idea get blindsided 1 year down the road because of something you didn’t plan for.
Do you have strong people skills and build relationships easily?
This many be the most important skill a business owner can have. All businesses are built around relationships with people…I don’t care what product, or service your business sells, or what market you operate in, your ability to make connections with people and build relationships are the cornerstone to being successful in the long term.
Hedge Your Bets
After assessing all the above if you still want to take the leap from 9-5 to business owner, you may consider hedging your bets a little bit. You don’t have to jump from steady pay check to business owner all in one day.
- Can you slowly transition into working for yourself before leaving your regular job?
- Can you cut your hours back at the regular job in order to work on your biz as a side project?
- Can you contract what you currently do with your employer, freeing up more time to work on your own business?
You may want to see if you can baby step your way into your own business. You’ll have a bit of a safety net if things don’t work out, and you’ll get a flavor for what running your own company feels like.
When you do decide to transition to full time business owner you’ll have more confidence that it will work out, and you’ll be sure that the business fits your needs emotionally, as well as financially.
Putting it All Together
The decision to quit your job goes a lot farther than just coming up with a good business idea. And as you can see there is a lot to think about. A good business idea and a plan will get you a long ways, but knowing yourself and working through all the above will lay the foundation for an easier transition.
None of this is here to scare you, or to talk you out of making that leap, but the more prepared you are emotionally, and the more you know how a business will fit with your personality, goals, and lifestyle, the better chance you will have of making it a success.
Coming Up
Coming up next in this series we’ll look at:
Stay tuned…
Photo Credit: A National Acrobat
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Small Business Questions from a Reader
A reader of Small Biz Bee, Josef, recently asked me a very good question.
“I think a pretty interesting topic with rather limited coverage is how to decide whether an idea is worth starting a business. How to decide it’s worth quitting a safe, well paid day job? Should the idea be revolutionary? Or at least novel? Or it may be rather ordinary, just betting on good execution? Should I start only once I have a detailed business plan with detailed market research, or is that just a perfection paralysis and I should rely more on gut feelings? What are the signs it could go well or all wrong? Starting a new business may well be the most important decision in people’s life so no wonder it’s surrounded by endless questions and any guidance is highly appreciated.”
No doubt Josef is dealing with the myriad of questions that anyone thinking of starting a business goes through. And I agree, there is limited “real world” advice on the subject.
So, instead of answering all of Josef’s questions via email I’m going to answer them all right here in a four part series beginning tomorrow.
What We’ll Cover
- How to decide it’s worth quitting the safe, well paid day job to start a business
- Is your business idea “good enough”?
- Overcoming perfection paralysis
- Following the signs – early signs that your venture could go well, or all wrong.
Stay Tuned
That’s what we have on the docket in the next few days. I invite all of you to stop back by and check out the articles, and please lend your own expertise and opions to the subject in the comments of each.
Want Your Question Answered?
Do you have a business question you’d like answered “on air” here at Small Biz Bee? Drop us a line, we’d love to hear from you.
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