So remember how.. way back when.. you (or some of you), were asking me where I went or how I decided to start freelancing and start my own consulting company?
And I told you that I basically went through a couple of thoughts in my head, and just did it? (Read: FB Career).
(With some freak outs of course.. as this is a BIG deal)
That wasn’t exactly the entire story (not that I lied of course…)
But what I mean to say, is that I didn’t mention how in the past, I’ve actually started and run about 3 businesses as well, and going at it as a freelancer was a lot easier just because I had experience in taking risks and diving into a cold pool head first.
Granted, the first business I started was flyers and newspapers and it wasn’t a big deal. I just had a couple of kids in the neighbourhood on my team, and I basically gave them tons of stuff to hand out in mailboxes (shoot me now, I know)… and paid them a fixed amount.
They got $5 for ice cream and candy, and I got $5 for being the project manager and handling different flyer handouts and making sure they actually put the flyers in the box instead of dumping the lot. Win-win.
I made it more fun because I also turned it into a game. Whoever dumped their flyers into all of the boxes first (and finished fairly), would get a free ice cream cone on me.
Oh yeah. Look at me work the incentives program!
Anyway, from that day on, I was hooked. How cool was it to be your own boss, and start your own business? Sure, it was hot, ugly, sweaty work (kids that got mad and thirsty had to be calmed down with somed cold pop and sugary candy).. but I learned a lot in those days, and that would help me deal with customers later on.
No matter what your age, you can always learn something.
So don’t be so quick to brush kids off. They know a thing or two.
Even Warren Buffett started his life thinking of how to make money off a busy road by installing a toll in front of his friend’s house. (FB Read: Warren Buffett – The Making of an American Capitalist).
The other 2 businesses were when I was in my teenage years.
One was doing some web consulting and teaching businesses how to properly market themselves on the internet (you’d be surprised how many sites are out there with awful, confusing layouts or without enough information such as store locations or opening times).
The second was buying thrifted clothing and re-selling the pieces I found on eBay for a slightly higher profit. I quit that when it became too time-consuming to handle with school and my other full-time job, and when eBay started getting all of these stupid rules in place to punish all the sellers, even the good ones.
Incidentally, that’s also where I refurbished that idea, and did FB Closet where I basically sold 50%+ of my wardrobe on the cheap, to let them find a better home, to declutter and to make some cash to clear my debt. That was last year.
As you can see, based on my past, going at it as a freelancing consultant wasn’t as hard, just because I knew (generally) what the gig was in the sense that I had to make my own hours, prospect for my own clients, keep money for the business… basic stuff I had to learn and do as a real job when I was younger.
So you may be asking: That’s all a nice, sweet, and sappy story about you, FB, but how does someone like me begin a business? Or even start thinking about beginning a business?
The first thing is to find out what you don’t know, and what you’ve forgotten to pretend you don’t know.
You have to search out Entrepreneur Resources. There is a whole plethora of blogs, articles, directories out there on the web. You have to sift through the rubble of advertising-only sites that have scraped feeds from other sites to find a couple of gems, but generally speaking there’s a lot of info out there.
A lot.
With that being said, I am not going to create a whole series on starting your own business ..(unless you want me to, in which case, how could I refuse? Tell me in the comments and I’ll start a mini series but it won’t air until I get inspiration to bust out all 6-10 posts in one sitting.)
Here are my 5 basic tips for the process of starting a business:
1. Get a clue about what you wanna do (*hugs Dr.Seuss*)
Figure out what you want to do. This is the easiest, yet hardest thing to do.
2. Writing a business plan
You can’t get out of debt without a financial plan or strategy can you? So how can you expect to make more money (also a financial endeavour) without a plan? You need a solid one, stat.
Alternatively, you could NOT do a plan whatsoever, and end up as one of the 90% of businesses that fail because their plan was not solid, nor sustainable. Just sayin’.
3. Raising money if you need it
Sometimes a business needs capital – to buy a building, supplies, whatever. If you are in the services business like myself (consulting), you won’t need any capital (seed) money at all once you register the business and pay for the fees. Maybe $500 maximum for all of that.
But when I did my eBay thang, I had to buy thrifted clothing and put in hundreds of dollars into items that I had to sell for more than I bought it at. Sometimes I got a gem that everyone wanted, and other times I had to cut my losses, which was more often than not.
4. Forming a company
Are you going to be a sole proprietorship? Corporation? Joint partnership? Figure out what fits you best, and the RULES associated with each, plus the legal implications.
5. Starting your business
Just do it. Jump in. Register for the name. Set up your company, buy a laptop and start an Excel sheet.
That is the basic ebb and flow of a business.
Sounds simple right?
There’s also the other end of it, which is saving up the money to do it, if you aren’t consulting or something like that because you will need to pay the bills if you go at this full-time.
Alternatively, if you just keep at your day job and work the business at night and weekends, you could get it started and off the ground before you quit and go at it full-time, but it’s up to you. Personally, I like this option the best, the less risk the better. And if you have a partner or a spouse to help you.. it’s even easier.
And with consulting as with most services, the problem is building a network of clients before you jump ship…. It helps to know people, and you need years in the biz to do that, or you need to know people who have years in the biz to do that.
Sounds good, but I need more info! Like, stat…
Of course you do.
So here is an excellent source of info: Resources for Entrepreneurs that really covers the gamut. It gives a great overview, and covers MORE than is required about what it takes to start and own your own business including:
… the list is huge on that page, and within each of THOSE topics and links, there are MORE topics and links. You could spend a whole day just browsing the links (which I actually ended up doing).
Overwhelmed? Need a real person to talk to you?
If you are feeling overwhelmed by all the information, I’d like to suggest non-profit sites such as Renaissance Start-Up that help small businesses figure out what they need, what they don’t need and so on. You can even volunteer for them if you are a savvy business person already.
You can also check out other local resources and see if they have other non-profit organizations around your area who will chat with you about getting your brain focused on to what you want to do, and how to reach it without going bankrupt.
So, what are you waiting for?
(Seed money, right? Move that ish along, there ain’t nobody buying that here! 
)
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