Starting your own business is a real adrenaline rush!
Yes, that's me jumping out of a plane at 10,000 feet! Sadly, I haven’t found anyone who is willing to pay me to do any of those cool things. I also love baking and decorating cakes and while people love them, they don’t love them enough to pay for the pleasure! I once toyed with this as a home business idea but I'm not much of a cook and I couldn't survive on baking cakes only. While I totally agree that money should not be your only motivator, if you plan to earn a living from your business idea, make sure that it has some earning potential! So, while I waited for that light bulb moment to strike and reveal the perfect business idea, I got a job (3 jobs actually), worked my way up to Senior Manager and completed my MBA. All the jobs were in the banking & finance industry and mostly in the banks’ corporate and commercial business units. In this way I’ve met hundreds of people and I’ve found that for the most part the happiest folks are:
One of the most interesting persons I ever met was a young woman who fell into the 2nd category and had one of the most diverse resumes I’ve ever seen. She had done everything from managing an insurance company to operating a service station and wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. She had run her own business and had worked for others and was happy doing both - a rare find! I joined the bank straight out of high school and spent most of my time in the Credit Department where I dealt with different types of loans and credit products and a wide range of businesses both large and small. Over the years I discovered that the part of the job I really liked was the site visits to customers’ business places; seeing them in their own environment, offering advice and actually seeing my suggestions put in place and bring results! It’s extremely rewarding to see an idea grow into a successful business and know that you’ve played a part in it. The other aspect I enjoyed was training, be it one on one with support staff or in a classroom environment. Over the years I developed and delivered training to staff and often received positive feedback from participants at these sessions. These two parts of my job didn’t really seem like work as I got so much joy from doing them. I would have done it for free and in fact did just that whenever the opportunity came along. I've found that most people dream of starting their own small business and have wonderful business ideas but they never go beyond that. Therefore while many of them have the potential to be their own boss, they never quite make that jump from employee to business owner mainly because of fear. I'm hoping that some of you will move past the fear and take that step to start your own business and throw yourself into something you will be happy doing. I am combining two things I really love and am passionate about: small business and training, to give advice and support to help you start and grow that small business or home business that you love and are passionate about. The content comes from personal experience and from lessons I’ve learned along the way. Some of these are: Lesson 1: Hold on to your dream but also be open to new ideas and change. It may take longer than anticipated to actually get your business off the ground and the business idea may go through several permutations but keep the big picture in mind: owning your own business. Something you can look to and say, I created that! Lesson 2: Do something. "Business" implies activity. Put one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward. It may take you a day or a lifetime to get there but once you keep moving at least you’re going somewhere. Along the way you may bump into just what you are looking for. Lesson 3: Keep learning and keep growing. Do new things and be open to new ideas. Businesses grow from ideas. Seek out successful people and learn from them. Most of my learning has come from customers and business associates. One piece of advice I value tremendously is “never tell a customer you can’t do something (unless it’s illegal!). Say instead: I’ll find a way…and make sure to follow through!” That advice came from a senior partner at one of the “big four” auditing firms and it has become one of the guiding principles of my career. It’s amazing where that attitude will take you. We will cover four main areas in starting and managing your business:
You can go directly to any of these topics by clicking on the link below: www.business communications.com To really make a success of your business and have fun doing it, you need both the left and brain: logic and creativity. Starting your own business is exciting especially if the business idea is one you’re passionate about. Taking that 1st step is like an adrenaline rush that keeps you moving forward. You find yourself smiling for no reason, waking up late working on your project and even giving up little luxuries and putting the money towards the business instead. Sounds pretty much like being in love doesn’t it? And that’s the secret ingredient in any successful business, big or small…it must be a passionate love story. For more information on starting your own business click on the links below: Where do business ideas come from? Believe me they're all around you… www.businessideas.com |
