starting a business

The Perfect Business

I know an aspiring business builder
who is searching for
the ‘perfect business.’

She has a long list
of attributes
this business must have.

It must have the ability
to be run
out of her home.

But it also has
to have face-to-face
interactions with customers.

It must give her income
quickly.

But it has to require
NO start up funds.

The products have
to be handmade.

But she doesn’t want
to hire employees
or spend much time
herself
making these products.

The list seems endless.

And I believe it is an excuse
NOT to build a business.

She likes the dreaming part,
not the doing part.

There is no perfect business.

If you’re waiting for perfection,
you’ll be waiting forever.

News Means New

A buddy was surprised
when I told him
bird flu was still killing
thousands of birds
and other animals.

He was investigating
starting a free range
chicken farm.

He told me he hadn’t seen
anything
on the news
recently about bird flu.
He assumed it was over.

He didn’t see anything
on the news
because
media got bored of that ongoing story
and moved on.

News, in today’s world,
means new.

If it is
disastrous flooding
in Europe
or wildfires in Australia
or COVID deaths
…well…everywhere,
the news isn’t covering it
because all that
is now considered ‘normal.’

(And also because
covering it doesn’t sell
their advertisers’ products
or promote their owners’ agendas.)

Don’t assume
if it isn’t
on the news,
it isn’t happening.

Do your own research.

Buy Used Assets

The harsh fact is…
at least
20% of businesses
(I suspect the number is higher)
fail
within 2 years of opening.

That means
many of the assets
those founders bought new
to build their businesses
are less than 2 years old.

You can help those founders
recover some of the money
they invested
while
saving yourself money
by buying
needed gently used assets
from them
at a discount.

Your furniture, printers
shelving, supplies, etc
don’t have to be new.
They merely have to look
reasonably new.

Decreasing these costs
will stretch your start up funds
and that could make the difference
between your business
surviving or failing.

Buy assets used
whenever possible.

If You Don’t Have Equity In A Business

A loved one
was telling me
he works long hours
at a business
and doesn’t get paid
for that overtime.

He said
that is what happens
when you start a business.

I asked him
if he had ownership
in the business.
Did he have a slice
of the equity?

Nope.
He receives a base salary
and that’s it.
But ‘some day’,
he might be offered equity.

Some day
often doesn’t ever come.

Today,
he’s an employee.

He’s not starting
his own business.

He’s starting
someone else’s business.

And when you start
someone else’s business,
you should be paid fairly.

If you don’t have equity
in a business,
you aren’t that business’s owner.

Get compensated accordingly.

Know Your Hard Limits

A wet bulb temperature
(100% humidity)
of 31C/87.8F
will kill a healthy person
in three hours.

That’s a hard limit.
Nothing we can do
will change it.

We could stay still,
hydrate,
sit in the shade,
and none of that
would help us.

While building our businesses,
it is important
to set our hard limits
also.

One of my hard limits
with the romance novel business,
for example,
is I would never
write a romance novel
that didn’t have
a romantic happy ever after.

A romantic happy ever after
is my definition
of what a romance novel is.
I wouldn’t try to trick
the reader into reading
a different type of story.

Decide now
what you would never EVER do.

Write it down.

Stick to that hard limit.

We Have To, At Least, Cover Costs

A newer writer told me
she wasn’t going to worry
about sales.
She planned to give
all her books away.

That’s not a business.
It is a hobby.
And it isn’t sustainable.

Even free books
have a cost component
to producing them.

Unless she has funds
to sink into that hobby
forever,
she HAS to have sales
to, at least, cover those costs.

We need sales
or donations
or some other source
of income.
We have to,
at the very least,
cover our costs
in the long term.

Figure out
what YOUR sources of income
will be.

Research Before Taking Action

Some of my relatives
believe I’m a master gardener
because I seem to know
a lot about the plants
I’m growing.

I’m not a master gardener.
I’m a master researcher.

Before sowing seeds,
I watch dozens of
YouTube videos
and
read as many blog posts
about that plant.

I learn from other gardeners
and that greatly
increases my success rate.

There is information
online
about everything
from stuffing envelopes quickly
to launching new products.

Take some time.
Do the research.
Improve your success rate.

Try Before Starting

A buddy of mine
impulsively bought a farm.

No one in her immediate family,
including herself,
had ever farmed.
Heck, they didn’t even
have a garden
prior to the purchase.

But my friend
had watched a gazillion
videos posted by influencers
about farming
or homesteading.
She thought it looked easy.

Farming isn’t easy
and it isn’t anything
like what the influencers
show.
Within days
my buddy was regretting her decision.

Work in an industry
before starting a business
in it.

Try a lifestyle
before adapting it fully.

This will increase
your odds of success
and boost your happiness levels.

Display Your Why

Building a business
can be extremely challenging
at times.

Things go wrong.
We sacrifice other things
like watching TV
or spending time with loved ones
or…sleep.

Many of us,
every so often,
wonder
WHY we’re doing this.

One thing
that has really helped me
persevere
during times of doubt
is having my WHY
highly visible.

I write my WHY
on the top of my calendar.

Some buddies
send themselves
digital reminders
about their WHYs.

Some buddies print
their WHY on posters
and hang these posters
in their offices.

Display your WHY.

Remind yourself
why you’re working hard.

Stay motivated.

Make A List Of Assets

If a business builder
needs to build a business
on a small budget,
the first thing
I suggest they do
is make a list of all the assets
they have access to.

This includes
skills, knowledge, relationships,
belongings, access to equipment,
potential customers
and so much more.

Do you have access
to a printer
at your local library?
That’s an asset.

Does your approachable city councilor
have knowledge she can share
about zoning codes?
That’s an asset.

Once your HUGE list
of assets
is crafted,
gather with some folks you trust
and brainstorm business ideas.

Share your wildest ideas
first.

Your brainstorming partners
can then suggest their more original ideas
without worrying you’ll judge them.

You likely have
most of the tools you need
to start a business.

Consider using those assets.