“How do I start my business?” The first steps.

Posted on 06. Apr, 2011 by Princess Lasertron in business

Stacy recently e-mailed me asking about what to do when you are just teetering on the brink between the comfort of staying where you are and the excitement and possibility of diving into a new opportunity. People often ask me questions about The Beginning–whether it’s theirs or mine. How do you know? Where do you start? Read Stacy’s note and my response below.

Hello Mrs. Lasertron!

I spent 5.5 years going through hell with my fellow classmates to get my engineering degree. After 1 year of employment as an engineer I can now see that the office life is not for me for the rest of my life. I am one of the rarities in engineering. Most engineers are not creative what-so-ever and cannot even write so others can read it (making my office life THAT much more frustrating)! Creativity comes easy for me.

I want to wake up in the morning eager and happy to start my work day. Self employment is more for me. I know this is something that does not happen overnight and it requires hours of hard work. I was wondering if you have any advice/inspiration on how to start up my own business AND be successful? How did you do it?!

Hi Stacy!

Okay, I thought a little bit about your questions. I think that your background in engineering can be a real advantage as you move into a new industry–engineers can use great analysis techniques, think through decisions with more logic than emotion, and are very result-driven. Add that to your inherent creativity and you are pretty much the full package.

Yeah I recommend that you keep working hard at your day job and start putting away money for when you decide to fly the coop and make it on your own pursuing your adventure–whatever that may be. Travel? Apprenticeship? Diving into creating a startup? A writing sabbatical?

Here are some things that you could be doing now:

• start keeping a blog and think strategically about the time you invest in it to create loyal followers and customers. your blog or website will not only serve as your professional online portfolio, but it will invite readers to develop a relationship with you and feel a connection to you as a person.
• ask other self-employed people you admire the same questions you asked me–how did you start? what can you teach me? what was the hardest lesson you had to learn?
• talk about your journey online. talk about what you have learned as you learn it. talk about your fears. show vulnerability and you will attract people who you can learn from and who you can teach as well. consider communication with the world to be communication with future customers–it’s part of my job description as a self-employed businessperson.
• sometimes I think about making a plan for my work week just like creating a curriculum for a classroom. each month instead of a “lesson” or “unit,” we have a business goal, and all of the work scheduled along the way is like homework. does that make sense? going to networking events, budgeting money for conferences around the country, e-mailing collaborators, writing blog posts, and things of that nature are just as integral to my business strategy as the physical work–sewing, cutting, patternmaking, sourcing materials, doing accounting and payroll, working with designers to create marketing campaigns, etc.
• think about your brand in terms of a few emotional key words you want to associate with your business. when you come up with these terms, look at colors and typefaces that are complimentary to them. simpler is better in design. keep a folder of inspiration (pinterest and imgfave are best)
• develop a “signature product” and send it for free to influencers in your industry to get their feedback.

those are my initial thoughts. hope this helps and I wish you good luck–keep me posted on everything.

xo
meg