Dare to Dream About Owning Your Own Business

In just a few days I will be speaking at the ‘Turning Your Passion into a Profit’ seminars around Australia. I’m very excited and will be sharing the stage with my friend, Allan Pease, who wrote the best-selling book, Body Language. Would you believe it sold six million copies! We will always be joined by the web-marketing geniuses, Steven and Corinna Essa.

Jobs Linked to Unhappiness

We want to convince Australians to quit work— or rather to quit dead-end, soul-destroying jobs and follow their dreams. A SEEK survey of 4800 Australians last year found that more than 50% were unhappy in their jobs. Life is just too short to be unhappy and the internet has made it easier than ever before to start-up your own business. You can turn your hobby or passion into a well-paying, web-based enterprise. You just need to know about marketing and using the internet to your advantage. The government is also making it easier to start your own business. Federal parliament recently voted to lower the tax rate for small businesses to 27.5 per cent.

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What Happens When You Follow your Passion

So many people have already turned their dreams into profitable businesses, for example Lain Ehmann loved scrapbooking and in three years made her hobby her business. She has a six-figure income stream. Shawn McBride was a traveller and now he is financing a world tour by uploading his drawings to the net. Anyone can do it. You just need to know about marketing and using the internet to your advantage.

If you read my blogs you are probably already someone passionate about ongoing self-improvement. You should have what it takes to run a business. Are you motivated, able to adapt to change, confident and resilient? If the answer is yes, then you need to think seriously about going into business for yourself.

What Successful Businesses Have in Common

But don’t just choose an industry in which you think you’ll make money. The most successful businesses are run by people who love their industry. So, what is your passion? Can you think of a service or product related to your passion which would attract customers? Could you make a sufficient profit selling that?

Test, Test, Test

Before you quit your day job, you need to test the market. Which customers are most likely to buy your product? The beauty of the internet is that you can start your business and receive orders any time of the day or night. You don’t need to sit behind a shop counter. This means you can hold onto your day job while testing the market and assessing the potential of a new business.

Plan, Plan, Plan

If your first sales test goes well, the next step is to write a business plan. Your plan must include a company statement or mission goal, a summary of who owns and runs the business, product offerings, an assessment of the target market, financial projections and the estimated costs of running the business. Consider speaking to an accountant. You also need to be across your tax obligations. There is lots of great information online about tax offsets for small businesses.

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Defining your Business Structure

You should examine what form of ownership will work best for you. There are a number of options –a sole proprietorship, a partnership, a limited liability company, a corporation, a non-profit or a cooperative. Consider speaking to a lawyer or doing extensive research online.

This is a great website to visit: http://www.australia.gov.au/information-and-services/business-and-industry/abn-acn-business-management/small-business It is a federal government website that goes through essential information for small business owners. This website offers advice on writing business plans, identifying opportunities for growth, mentoring services and even developing export plans. It also explains how to register and protect your intellectual property. The section on Digital Business is pretty basic. I recommend you read my previous columns on blogs and social media. There is much more relevant marketing advice in those blogs than the government Digital Business section.

Good Website Versus Bad Website

My key piece of advice when it comes to digital business – it is essential that your website works! Test it daily yourself. It would be disastrous if you had a brilliant idea and customers were hungry for your product, but a poor website made placing orders impossible and your business failed.

Be Adaptable

Personally, you do need to be adaptable in business. You might have to modify your original idea and your business plan. Get regular feedback from friends and family, even new people you meet socially. But don’t take criticism to heart. Some people are just born cynics and will shoot down every good idea they hear. Listen to the constructive feedback, and possible changes that will improve your business, but dismiss anyone who tells you it’s a pipedream. If you don’t give it a go, you’ll never know!

Good Things Happen to Those Who Wait

Remember that success probably won’t happen overnight. It’ll take time before you make a profit. You might have to stay in that job you don’t like until your business becomes viable. But actively pursuing your dream will make you happier. Maybe you will be able to suffer your day job better knowing that in your spare time you are following your passion.

Don’t become disheartened if your first business venture fails. If you give it your all but can’t turn a profit, shut it down and move on to the next challenge. Most successful entrepreneurs have had at least one failure. Colonel Sanders had a number of restaurants that failed. He was in his sixties when he founded Kentucky Fried Chicken. He sold the company aged 74 years for the equivalent of $15 million. But I do hope you taste success before your 60^th birthday!!

Over Deliver

When you first go into business, offer fantastic value for money. You need to supply a great service fast. Always look to offer new services and over-deliver rather than under-deliver. You want people to be raving about this brilliant new company they’ve discovered. Needless to say your customer service has to be second to none. List every success on your company’s webpage however nothing beats a word-of-mouth recommendation. Ask family, friends, former colleagues to spruik your new business venture among their contacts. Could they write testimonials for your site if they believe in your product?

The first years of running a business are the most difficult. Expect to put lots of time into the business. You won’t be free for much socialising. But you are investing in your dreams and becoming your own boss. You are also trying to build a business you can be proud of in years to come.