We all at some point find our calling. Our very definition of ‘why’ – and that is the time when need to put our power-packed ideas into execution.
While many of us are ‘in the know’ of what entrepreneurship means, we still need to sustain and thrive that dream business.
Here are 7 things (more or less) that you need to keep in mind before the entrepreneurship bug bites you.
- Leave your day job when you are mentally ready. To have a financial cushion – even if you feel you have one already – you should not call it quits with your day job until you feel you are fully ready to take the plunge. While our day job may not be that rosy, but be practical of the fact that you have your personal expenses and daily chores to look into financially. Once you are confident enough of making money via your side business, take a leap and move the ball forward.
- Are you driven enough about starting your business? Or is it still a distant dream? You can start inching toward realizing your business goals by first cutting down on your’ should-have’ and focus on your ‘must-have’. For example, you can start listening to more audio books instead of being glued to your favorite video games or movies. By using your time wisely, your execution becomes smoother and more effective.
- Work on your 1oo times multiplier. I cannot stress enough on the fact that one should only focus on their +100 times multiplier, aka their strengths instead of downplaying your business with your areas of improvement. Create a sheet where you write a repository of your skills sets that when put use yield you at least 100 times more result instead of relying on your mediocre level work attributes. While your areas of improvement also need to ameliorate, but to start your business and help it grow consistently, focus on your vital few core competencies. Your job is to know your limitations – and accelerate. For example, if you are good in business development and cold calling, charm your prospects with your new business development approach and communication skills. And delegate everything else that you feel you wouldn’t be able to give your 100% into. Hustle smarter.
- Understand the business need before launching. There are myriad cases of startups failing simply because their market understanding of a business need is not deep enough. Though startups can fail because of many other reasons; like hiring the wrong person or being too hurried to be seen in the market; lack of product innovation; or simply not researching well about the industry they are vying to enter. The best bet is to constantly seek feedback from your ecosystem and research well ahead of time to gauge if the market is lucrative and has a potential to be tapped for the long-term or not.
- Set a pre-launch strategy. Don’t know how? Read Jeff Walker’s Launch and a post that highlights the importance of seed launch, Today all businesses are online and the best way to garner people’s interest in your product or service is through a seed launch. What is it, anyway? It’s a launch to your internal contact list where you get paid as you launch the product. Start connecting with your personal network and find out a need that can be met with your solution. That way you will not only make money; you will also find a business proposition that can be monetized with your winning skills and competencies! Need quick steps to fast-track your launch, read this post by Jeff Walker, here.
- Specificity sells. And didn’t I mention content?! Don’t make abstract goals to start your business. Create a calendar detailing all your personal KRA’s (key responsibility areas). That’s right: just like how you have your KRAs at your workplace where you are employed; as an entrepreneur you work for your customers. Make it radical yet doable by defining your weekly and monthly goals in advance. For example, you can make a content marketing calendar for the first 3 months and assign responsibilities and content that need to be disseminated to get some good leads for your business. Likewise, you can make a marketing collateral plan on how you plan on marketing your content via e-books, whitepapers, blog post or social media – the idea is to flesh it out in a way that it becomes manageable for you.
- And can personal branding be left behind? Create content that defines your personality online. Take some time to showcase your competencies online – especially on LinkedIn and Twitter to create some momentum via building up on your knowledge when you are reading and researching on your industry. When you can solve a problem, you know you have built a decent imagery of a go-to person in industry when people can contact you.
Yes, you can launch now 🙂
