“I want to start a business but don’t know where to start”
20 Apr
God I’ve heard that question so many times before.
A good deal of people I know see my lifestyle:
- No boss
- No set working time
- Take any day off
- Don’t have to commute anywhere
- Can work from any location
….and they think it’s great. And I got admit…it ain’t bad!
Many of them realize that working 9-5 is not just 9-5, but also the night before, the morning of….so it consumes and dictates nearly your entire day, what you can do, when you go on vacation etc.
If you like your job…this isn’t really a problem, but if you don’t….yeesh.
So back to the question I get from someone who’s never started a business and now wants to after years of working:
“I want to start a business but don’t know where to start”
To burst most bubbles quickly: It’s doubtful it will happen. I’ve seen long-term working people start successful businesses only a few times. Usually the longer someone’s worked, the more likely they will not succeed. Most people trying this are in the wrong frame of mind almost immediately. They just want to “make some money” without doing much work.
Anyhow, for this question I will try to assume the role of how I’D PERSONALLY go about starting a business with no particular business acumen.
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First and foremost I’d GET MY LEARN ON. That’s right….prepare to READ A SHIT LOAD OF STUFF. And TAKE NOTES. It’s like school.
Then I would try to implement what I’ve learned and make $100 from it.
That’s it.
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I think those three short sentences above can teach you an immense deal about business.
The benefit of this is:
1.) It’s easy to make $100 in just about anything.
2.) Simply DOING something will very quickly show if you like it or not.
3.) Your desire to learn will be way more intense if you’re currently DOING something real….not just thinking about a hypothetical business you might build.
It is ABSOLUTELY GRATIFYING to destroy the dreams of people who say, “I want to start a business but can’t think of anything”.
Me: “What business books have you read?”
Them: “Ummmm, none.”
Me: “Have you ever written down what you like to do, what skills you have etc. on a piece of paper? Spent a couple of hours on it?”
Them: “Hmmmmm…..not really.”
Me: “Have you sought out business people you admire and asked them to show you how their business works”
Them: “I once saw YouTube video of Bill Gates.”
Me: “So basically you’ve done NOTHING to realize your dream of starting a business?”
Sincerely,
Neville (destroyer of dreams)
P.S. Here’s some motivation to consume if you fall in that camp.
Earl Nightingale’s The Strangest Secret
reality check from neville!
also, the pink is gone and your to do list is glowy!
i like.
Hahaha, glad you enjoyed :-)
I actually wrote this post a long time ago, was looking for something to post, and slightly updated this
Great post Nev! I have the exact same interactions as you do and I always think the exact same things.
Whoops hit submit earlier than I wanted to. Anyway, most people struggle just to register a domain and get a blog up. Even the simple business models that people come up with they have trouble executing. Out of all of my friends who have expressed interest in starting a business, none have gotten past starting a blog on Blogger. I’m always going to encourage them, but the reality is like what you said: it’s probably not going to happen, they’re in the wrong mindset, and they’re too used to a corporate environment.
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Yes, I totally agree. I met a lot of people building their own business online but the thing is, they don’t have any idea on how to utilize their skills. They just want to earn huge money. What they normally do is outsource people and let them do the job. Then, their business will be out and running. Thanks to these online workers. but if their business didn’t work out, they’ll blame it all to the workers. That’s unfair. But yea, the reality is, you can’t reach your dreams and build your own business if you won’t take action.!
yap but i have a plan to start a physical business…i am from Pakistan if you are interested or any one of your friends plz let me know
Mano..You’re right..Everyone want to huge bucks but they don’t know how to utilize their skills..
Thanks Juvic! Yes, it is important to use their own skills and take care of their business on their own to produce great results. Then, when they aalready know the process, they can then outsource people to help them. Online workers should only help them not run their business for them. Well, That’s my opinion :) Thanks.
I HAVE STARTED THE BUSINESS FROM LAST SIXMONTHS BUT I AM NOT GETTING THAT MUCH WORK, I WANT TO KNOW HOW TO EXPOLERATE THE THE BUSINESS?……….
I am not trying to make a boat load of money. I just want to do things that are interesting to me while I have a full time job. I realize that my skills can be helpful – I can provide a service and I get a real kick out of it!! So, why do I need to know about buisness?
Most of your time in phase one should be on selling new clients.
Figure out who your ideal client is, list the type of blogs they write for, read a few posts on the blogs and cold email them about your product.
Make sure to be sincere and not salesy (way easier said than done).
I’m no expert, but that’s the way I’ve been validating my ideas recently. You learn a lot when you try to sell people stuff.
Neville,
What about the people that just want a steady second stream of income? You don’t have to read every business book and talk to every entrepreneur/salesmen to find the right buisness market and or skills necessary to start a small business. In some cases it’s really as simple as figuring out total revenue – total cost to sell = profit. Not everyone wants to deal with legalities of taking a small buisness to the next step.
Excellent blog post. There are many dreamers out there saying they want to start but never take action to start. I wonder if there are reasons for this. From my part, I know before i started, it took ten years to prepare due to fear factor. Environment can be a stronghold that bound people into the chain of dreaming to become a boss but never taking actions. The first step I alway recommend through my blog http://www.whystartabusiness.co.uk is this, take a good look at your environment. Are the people you spend time heading for the same direction as you. That does not mean you sideline your friends and family. Oh no, it simply means you will have to find new friends that are in business or starting a business to spend more time with whilst you are on the journey. Otherwise, the journey will be a long and hard one.