So, you've been thinking about getting out of the corporate
rat race for years, and starting your own home-based
business. But your old friend FEAR keeps reminding you
about how good you have it - paid vacation, benefits, a
good steady paycheck... Still it's hard to leave your kids
every morning and let someone else shape their lives for
10-12 hours a day. It's hard to give up the dream of being
in control of all of your time.
Are you ready to pay the price for the freedom of owning
your own business? Are you ready to create a business that
feeds your spirit - not just your bank account? If so, how
do you get ready mentally and emotionally to take that leap
of faith? Leaving the past behind and focusing on these 7
steps will help you kick into high gear and launch your new
business.
1. As a new business owner, one of the first things I did
was hire a business coach who could support me mentally and
give me a kick in the pants when it was needed. Since I
was new to the construction industry, my coach gave me
ideas about how to market my business. I couldn't tell you
how to frame a window or put in a faucet, but today I know
how to market our business and get the telephone to ring.
2. The second thing I did was attend a class called
Calaveras Entrepreneurs. This class took me through all
the steps to write a business plan. I don't know about
you, but before I became a business owner writing a
business plan rated right up there with going to the
dentist. But a funny thing happened as I was going through
the process. I could see what we needed to do to make the
business work, and how we could get out of the debt we were
incurring as a new business start-up. That alone was worth
the time and effort it took to go through the process - not
to mention my peace of mind.
3. After I got my mental state on the right track, and I
had a plan developed, I began working on my internal belief
and motivation. Since I worked for AT&T for 24 years, I
was deep into the corporate mindset and sorely missed that
regular paycheck. It was critical that I develop the
belief that I could survive outside my old mode of
operation.
Building belief is a matter of getting your mind to accept
that you can (1) survive, and (2) thrive in a new
home-based business that you've created. In other words,
it's an inside job.
I'm a spiritual person, so that's the first place I turned
to work on building belief. I believe that we're all put
here to lead a wonderful life, but sometimes we get in our
own way. If you've been exposed to the movie The Secret
you understand the principles I utilized. For you,
building belief may come from studying how other successful
people have reached their goals, or surrounding yourself
with people who have already done what you're trying to do,
and emulating their steps to success.
4. Action, action, action... We worked the hours and did
what our coach told us to do to the best of our ability -
no excuses. We sat many a night stuffing envelopes with
our marketing information to reach potential customers -
and it worked. The more effort we put into reaching out
and finding customers and joint venture partners, the more
rewards we reaped. The bottom line here is the Universe
has to know you're serious. If you get all this
information, then sit back and expect a yellow page ad to
bring you all the business you want, you're fooling
yourself, but not the Universe, which has the power to
bring you all the business you want. So get busy and take
action!
5. Since my husband and I were new to the community, we
made sure we attended the local business and Chamber of
Commerce functions. We networked with other business
owners and with our suppliers. Visibility is another
critical component of a new business start-up, whether it
is a face-to-face or online presence. People need to know
you exist and what you have to offer.
6. No matter how discouraged I got during this process, I
kept doing what I had to do to keep our business "healthy".
In those days to me healthy meant that we maintained our
good credit rating and our good standing in the business
community. I had many "dark nights of the soul" when I had
to borrow money to pay our bills. I struggled with the
feeling that we were going one step forward, and two steps
back, but I did what I had to do anyway. I just kept
taking the action steps that moved us forward.
7. Be grateful for all of your successes, and you will be
paving the way for even more to appear. If I had moaned
and groaned and complained about our business not looking
like I thought it should, there would have been no room
left in my mind for the wonderful ideas that came my way.
I had to stay open to the possibility that even though I
couldn't see the progress at the time, it was percolating
beneath the surface of my awareness. With an open mind
ideas came that helped us stay on track to creating the
million dollar business we have today.
If you've chosen the right business, it will be more than a
road to making money. It will express who you are and what
you value. In reality you are not your career or your
business. You're a unique and valuable person with much to
offer the world. Ideally your business will be a way for
you to express this value and uniqueness in the world. In
my case, I was pursuing a business that expressed my
husband's unique gifts, not necessarily my own. At that
point in our lives, it was necessary for both of us to
focus on this business to pay the bills. My dream business
came later...
Most of all, remember when you're experiencing the growing
pains of building your business, in the end people won't
remember what you do for them as much as they'll remember
how you were with them.
----------------------------------------------------
Sandy Reed, Personal Coach, ex-corporate manager, and small
business owner is the Soulpreneur's Coach. Call her when
you're ready to create and follow through with your
corporate exit strategy. Visit her website at
http://www.soulpreneursuccessstrategies.com for tools and
resources.
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