Taking Action
Do you have an idea and a desire to turn that idea into something more, like a small business? Do you picture yourself living your life differently? But you just have no idea how to get started? I feel you! I had the first thoughts of my future business years before I actually started my business, I actually freelanced as a designer for 10 years while working my corporate job. The whole time, I had this voice in the back of my mind saying “you know you could do this full time…”
But I didn’t believe I was good enough. I had so many excuses: I’m too busy, I’ll get to it someday, I need more experience first, it’s too much work to set it up, I don’t know how I would find clients, it feels like more trouble than it’s worth… When I look back now, I know that the real reason that I didn’t move forward with it sooner is because I didn’t want it bad enough yet. It wasn’t until I knew with all my heart, mind and soul that I wanted it SO SO SO bad, that I would sacrifice whatever was needed to make it happen. Taking action starts with the desire, and the desire has to be strong enough to outweigh all the excuses. Finally, in the middle of summer 2020, 6-months into the pandemic, my desire scale tipped and suddenly the excuses weren’t enough to hold me back anymore.
You might be at that point where your scale is tipping and you want to take action too! If so, I know it can be super overwhelming with so much out there in the online business world, where do you begin? How do you take ation and what should you do first? You might ask, what did taking action look like for me in the beginning? Because even though this can look different for everyone, it’s helpful to learn through the lessons of how someone else did it. So here are the steps I took to start my business:
FIRST: I chose my business name, registered a domain, and hopped onto social media to get the handles. My business name came to me over months of thought and exploration. And I find that many people I talk to have been thinking about their business name long before they are ready to start their business, so you might already have this figured out, but if not, don’t stress too much, you can get started without it, follow the next steps and keep thinking on the name, meditate and visualize yourself in your business everyday and it will likely come to you as you get moving along. If you want to read the story of how I discovered my business name, click the link in my bio and choose the post: “Where it All Began for Me.”
SECOND: I decided what problem I wanted to solve with my service and who I wanted to solve it for, I journaled about this a lot, gradually, it became more clear and concise. Eventually it formed into a mission statement. Then I wrote about how I would solve this problem (my service) and why I was the right person to do it (what makes me unique).
THIRD: I validated my mission by interviewing people I knew who were similar to the clients I hoped to serve, those who I thought would or did need a service like mine. These interviews were like GOLD to me! I then adjusted my mission and message to my ideal customer based on their feedback.
FOURTH: I started talking about what I was doing on social media. I started writing content every week to post and share my journey. I connected with people who were the kind of people I wanted to serve and I observed their values and struggles. I told everyone I knew what I was doing in case they knew anyone who was looking for what I was offering.
FIFTH: I put together a one-on-one package of my services and priced it based on the time I thought it would take me to do it, times the hourly amount I wanted to make. I set up a sales page and add the link to it in my bio on Instagram and Facebook.
And there you have it! The 5 TAKE ACTION steps I used to start my business. The SECOND step is kind of huge and it took me about 2 months to get through those questions, so don’t be discouraged if it takes you longer than you expected. And if you need help with that, I’ve created a free resource for you, the Branding Cheat Sheet. I can’t wait to see what you are going to create with your idea, it’s time to take action my friend, spread your wings and fly.
