There are a lot of first-time entrepreneurs out there who really want to know how to make the shift from being an employee to an entrepreneur. Now there are a lot of different things that you really need to know when starting a business that if you don’t catch them early on you could get trapped.
Recently, the use of Thumbtack is making some noise for home service professionals who wish to start their own local businesses.
Making that shift is a great one. It requires you to change your mentality, to change your reality and it requires you to really think of new ways to operate to use your ideas, to be creative, and to monetize not only your hobby but your dream.
In order to take your life to the next level and become an entrepreneur, these seven ideas will help you to make that leap.
1. Count The costs.
There are so many costs associated with becoming an entrepreneur. Now when you’re an employee you have your office bills taken care of. There are so many different things that your employer pays for because they are the entrepreneurs that set the job up for you.
But when you are an entrepreneur, new costs come your way. You have to buy your own stapler, you have to buy your own office chair, you have to get your carpet cleaned, you have to find an assistant if that’s what you need. There are so many different costs that you probably didn’t even think about.
- You have to pay your taxes. There’s another cost called taxes and typically people are unprepared in their first year to deal with taxes when that deadline comes around. You find that there’s so much money that you have to pay you never even knew you had to save. So you have to scramble away and find a way to make some sales to make it happen or even drop from a credit card but obviously, those costs are really important.
There’s money you have to save, there are retirement plans, there’s insurance cost, health costs so many different things emergency funds that you have to consider while you’re starting a business.
Have a composition book or just a piece of paper and outlay those costs and how much money you really need to earn to break even. Usually what you’ll find is that if you are able to set the account you’ll be able to have that amount. So count the cost before you build your empire.
2. Ask for help.
You can ask for help from many different people and they won’t even charge you for it. Your parents, your friends your neighbors, your siblings, your spouse, your significant other. Whoever it is they can help you. Maybe you might even want to find a business partner or two that can help you to reach your goals in business.
Sometimes they might be able to help you by complimenting you on the things that you cannot do just as well. Maybe one person cannot do it alone but people when they coalesce can do it together.
Ask for help and find people who want to be on a journey with you and you will find that they will be willing to help you.
3. Build your brand.
A lot of people end up working so much but they don’t end up building their brand in the process. You really want to have a good website and you want to have a good social media presence. You want to be able to connect with people on the internet and have good reviews.
How are you going to build your business if you don’t have a really established brand? Be able to take care of those things whether you have to pay the price or not.
Find a way to build your brand by telling your story and allowing the marketplace to know that you can really help them by giving them the best of what you have to offer the fourth.
4. Make more sales.
The idea of starting and growing your business is to make sales. You have to ask for the business. A lot of people chart very less or don’t charge at all but there comes a point where you have to start charging and you have to start charging more.
Maybe you’re making cupcakes and you’re only charging two dollars per cupcake when you know it should be four dollars. Well, eventually you’re going to want to be able to package it together and make it to the point where you’re gonna eventually make the kind of money you want to earn.
- If you don’t make sales you’re not going to be in the business that long. You have to find a way to build your sales to create offers and packages that help your client to realize that you really want to help them. That you’re giving them as much value as you can whether you’re selling a product or service and you really want them to know that you care about them.
If you sell you serve. So don’t be afraid of selling and find out a way that you can help your customer by giving them what they want and collecting money in return.
5. Hire Professionals
At some point, you’re really going to need people that help you to get to that next level. The difference between amateurs and professionals is that professionals hire professionals like SalesHive and amateurs hire amateurs.
- If you go for 18 months without hiring a professional your business is likely to fail. If you really want to take it to the next level you need to hire people who can help you get to that next level.
They might charge a little bit more but still, you have to pay the price you have to be willing to hire people that can get you to think in new ways that can give you that creativity, that new joy, and satisfaction that you need to create a better product and service so that you can offer your client even more and eventually raise your fees.
6. Always say yes!
This might sound obvious but there are so many people who say no they say no because they’re afraid of what they’re about to get into or they think they cannot commit. They think that they’re going to be overcommitted. The fact is that you have to say yes you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to make your results happen.
Now don’t say no when you know the yes is really what’s coming out of you. Always say yes always be willing to reach out always be willing to take on new projects. Always be willing to make the sale. Be willing to hire people, be willing to look in a new direction to read a new book to attend a new conference.
Be willing to say yes and you’ll find that you’ll get higher results in the long term.
7. Follow-Up!
- If you want to really build a strong business you have to follow up with people. You have to magnetize people to what you do by being able to catch up with them in the future whether it’s 3 months or 3 years later. You still have to be willing to call them to email them to get in contact with them even if it’s on social media even if they haven’t heard from you in a while.
Be willing to cultivate those relationships and let people know that you care about them. People don’t care about what you know unless they know how much you care. Be warm, be cordial and be willing to give people more of who you are by following up and letting them know that you’re in business and you want to help.
Now that you’ve discovered seven ideas that you can use to start and grow your business, use them to get to where you want to be and help people along the way. Always think about how you can add more value to more people in less time.
Always refine your processes, always ask for help always get better, and be willing to get to that next level. Sometimes is hard but you got to be willing to do it. You got to be willing to enlarge your vision and live the life of your dreams because that is what entrepreneurship is all about.
