Learn exactly what to do to start a business!
Phase One: Decide
Truth be told, I don’t like the word ‘entrepreneur’. Sure, I like the definition but the word is so over used and mostly it seems by people who are ‘wantrepreneurs’ and will never take action on making it happen. Me, I’m just happy to be called a business owner. It feels legit, honest and tangible. But the lingo doesn’t matter. Whatever you want to be called or call yourself is totally cool. Do your thing!
OK so, you want to be a mumpreneur? A business owner? Have a side gig? Leave your 9-5? Burn your resume and never call yourself an employee ever again? Yep – I hear you! Me too. Me too mumma!
But so many mummas I speak to have no idea about the practicalities of starting a business. Like, what exactly, do you have to do to get yourself up and running? That’s where this guide comes in. I’m going to step it out, and the good news is … we live in an amazing tech filled world which makes it totally doable.
OK so the steps to calling yourself a business owner and becoming your own boss are …
1. Believe you can
Whether you believe you can, or you believe you can’t – you’re right.
– Henry Ford
First things first. You can do this mumma. If you want to. Now’s the time to decide – and commit once and for all. Before you can decide you need to understand what ‘doing this’ really means. You need to know that it’s going to require hard work, consistently, and for a long time, to get your business out of your head and into the world.
To get it done – you won’t be able to rely on ‘feeling like it’ or excitement after a couple of months when the warm fuzzies wear off. You’re going to have to keep plodding forward when it feels like you’re trudging through knee deep mud with a newborn in your arms and a toddler on your back. And yes, you have to do the hard stuff, like sales / calling that really intimidating supplier / fill-in-the-blank-annoying-task.
The only thing that’s going to keep you moving forward, and pushing your business up hill everyday is remembering your why. Your WHY has to be worth it.
There is no reason why you cannot do this. If you have a desire to put yourself out in the world, help other people and provide for your family, achieve work-life balance and get the freedom you’ve always wanted – you can. You have the perfect foundation – you are one of a kind and you have something no-one else can bring to the table. Yourself.
We’re also fortunate enough to live in a wonderful time on this planet. The entire world is connected through the internet, providing unlimited opportunity and free access to whatever information you could possibly desire. Again, mumma. It’s time. Time to decide if you’re going to stand up and put yourself out there.
The world is waiting for you, and they don’t even know it yet.
2. Don’t quit your day job
Woohoo! Congratulations! You’ve decided to do your own thing. Woop woop!
Now you’ve decided to start your business, it’s not necessarily the time to quit your current job. Of course, do what’s right for you and your family. Just know that getting this business thing down pat, and becoming profitable will take time. You deserve the space and freedom to get your structure right and play around with what works and what doesn’t. This process is going to be made a whole lot more stressful if you’re worried about finances. So, if losing your income for a few months, or a year, is going to stress you out … don’t quit just yet.
In know, I know, You’re already busy. How will you find the time to get this business up and out there? Work in the time you do have – get up early, work during nap time, work on your days off, maybe stay up late, or even set a scheduled where you can get your hubby / partner / family member / friend to watch the monkeys for a couple of hours.
If it’s worth it, you’ll find the time.
3. Decide on your One Thing
Now the fun part!!
If you’re anything like me, you have a million ideas. Not all of them great, if you’re completely honest. You want to do all the things! But you can’t. Well you can, but not all at the same time. You need to pick … one. Just one. And the more ‘niched’, the better.
Your aim should be to be the best in the world, and provide more value than anyone else in your entire field. If your field is ‘Jewellery’ – this is going to a little hard. If this field is ‘Hand made statement ceramic jewellery’ – this gives you focus. In the service industry, this might look like ‘Life coach’ versus ‘Life coach for overwhelmed young female entrepreneurs’ .
The extra bonus is, if you niche down, you become an expert or the best in your field. This means people will happily pay you a premium.
I know this from experience. My husband and I own a digital marketing agency. As you’d be well aware, there are a million and one digital marketing agencies these days. So we niched. We only work with home builders. And guess what?! Now people find us, and they’ve already decided they’re going to work with us. Why? Because we’ve gotten really really good at it, and positioned ourselves as an expert at home builder marketing.
The best part? Our business has enough momentum now and runs well without me in it everyday, which allowed me to move into consulting and coaching with women on business and health and wellness, which I love! Hence this blog and the creation of mumma.digital. Like I said, you can do it all, just not all at the same time.
OK so we’ve done with Phase One. Recap …
- Believe you can!
- Don’t quit your day job – yet
- Choose your One Thing (yes, just one, sorry (not sorry))
The next post will be on Phase Two of Three … Explore.
A xx
p.s. If you want the full simplified checklist, click here.