Got stuck in a time warp over the weekend but here I am!
Many of you know the Solo Gazette was under consideration
for a move – scrap that! It's fine right here with Blogger.
As for the membership site? I must have had an acid
flashback – what the hell was I thinking?!
Instead
There will be a paid version of the blog called: Solo Gazette Entrepreneur.
Ok, that's a weird name and needs work. But members will have
access to business guides, Mp3 interviews, downloads, teleconferences
and time saving worksheets to get going and growing a lifestyle solo business.
Let's get to it -
Some of you are still looking for the Holy Grail to
starting a million dollar business. Unfortunately, you
are also the Golden Fleece on someone's balance sheet
because they know they can claim anything and you'll
buy it.
Stop that nonsense! Whatever anyone tells you, the
bottom line is the old rules of business still apply.
It's no big secret, hush-hush, expert advice to
operating a successful business. In fact, ask any business
owner and they will tell you:
Do these 4 things right and success is within your reach.
What are they?
Focus on your own business, sell what your customers want to buy,
price for profits and watch your cash flow like a hawk!
It may not be hot, pretty or trendy but it works.
After all the businesses that I've started (that looked good on
paper and which I quickly closed), there were things
I wish I'd known and paid attention to.
1. Know your personal strengths and what you won't do.
Everybody has strengths and finding what they are is your
first goal. Knowing what you won't do (find that archived post
on non-negotiable things in your life) can save you a great deal
of time and frustration.
You can have all the skills in the universe behind you,
but if you don't want to manage people or get into
direct sales or get your hands dirty, admit it.
I was well trained for accounting. But what got me in trouble
was not knowing what I didn't want to do and those were
some of the first things that met me head-on in my
business.
As the new kid on the block, making contacts and knocking
on doors was part of the business building steps. I hated
them!
Being an introvert, the small talk and the 'tap dancing' made
me physically ill. So I started a newsletter, mailed it to
every new business I found in the papers and kept on mailing
it.
Will it work today? Try it.
It did get me a few phone calls with questions about my service.
Even then, I didn't have the guts to ask for an appointment to sell
the accounting service, how lame was that?
It wasn't about being lame, it was the fear of being
told No! and fear of rejection.
Being afraid of rejection may be normal but it definitely is
high on most people's list of Don't Want To.
Other business owners had told me how they were getting clients: Yep, knocking
on doors, cold calling and networking with other people.
Had I listened, starting an accounting service would not have been my first business.
Know what you don't want to do before you get that website,
join that affiliate program, start that catering business or
decide consulting looks like fun.
Just by talking to a few business owners and other solo entrepreneurs,
you may find there are things that you just don't want to do.
Resources:
Boomer Business Launcher
Do My Stuff, Outsource Locally
The Small Business Blog
Business Alone
That's it for today and I leave you with this
"Vision without action is a daydream; action without vision is a nightmare."- Japanese proverb
