Starting a home-based business on your own can be very stressful – there’s a lot to do and the pressures mount as you watch your budget run out. Unfortunately, many people rush to fulfill their dream of running a business and discover in a great and terrible moment that there is much more to it than jumping into their dream. Initially, the goal should be to make yourself known, build recognition for that name, develop a super strong platform, and earn a reputation. How this is done varies by gender, personality, budget, and location.
Marketing plans have to evolve with changing situations and owners will find themselves experimenting with all kinds of new opportunities, testing them to see if they work. Business plans must be flexible and have contingencies for everything from injury and illness to death or building failure (flooding, etc.).
My first business was successful for 6 years. I started with virtually no budget at all, but was able to target high-end clients simply by placing some music and a backpack of supplies and walking around their neighborhoods attaching a fancy flyer, rolled up like a graduation document and tied with a nice ribbon, on each entry. Within a few months, I turned down clients and consistently turned down clients every year thereafter, even though I hired a little help. I did this ad-free once.
Initially, the idea of being self-employed was very scary, but I received a lot of support from my family and from local small business support points. My older brother had some business experience and advised me from time to time. Having this prior experience helped me a lot to start a new career as a writer.
Dave and I had taken a professional writing course before entering the degree in 1999, so we had a good idea about the process for consulting, monitoring, and developing name recognition. I had some computer experience, I took a course in hotel management, and my husband had taken a couple of courses on tax preparation and using Excel. All of these educational adventures played a vital role in the business we run today.
20 years later, we are still going strong. Over time, the business evolved so that Dave’s drum training and repair services, our books, blog, radio show, all of our activities and products were absorbed under one name. This made managing the office much easier.
Almost every year one of us participates in a new course and learns new skills to run our business. Almost every week we find ourselves scanning resources like YouTube to learn how to best do a specific task. Between keeping up with the office, having supplies on hand, cleaning duties, and promotional work, we put in a lot of unpaid work hours each week … just to keep our business running smoothly.
So as you can see from this short summary of our experiences being self employed doesn’t mean you have a lot of time, it means you have LESS time. It doesn’t lighten your workload, it ADDS it. Fortunately for Dave and I, we have each other to relieve weight and stress and to share in the glorious celebrations as well. Finding a mentor eases the bumpy road and helps you laugh at your situation, grow as a person, and find the confidence you didn’t know you had. I highly recommend finding multiple mentors who can make your journey more feasible.