This article was written by Rose Corona a small business
entrepreneur, rancher, farmer, and philanthropist. She is a member of
the National Federation of Independent Business.
Rose is also the owner of Big Horse Feed and Mercantile in Temecula,
California. She has been cited in the Financial Times, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business News, National Public Radio, and a number of other news sources. Her blog is “The Everyday Average American.”
I find people fascinating. If you don’t think so, just sit
in an airport on a 5 hour layover anywhere in America and people watch.
It is quite the education as anyone who is an avid people watcher can
tell you. Airports are some of the best places to re-connect with the
cross section of culture that is America. It is all there and can be the
best show in the world without ever having to leave your departure gate
seat.
Wherever I may be going, I do my best to engage anyone in
conversation that is so inclined, to share their life and occupation
with me. It doesn’t matter if it the person sitting next to me on my
flight, at a local restaurant, or sitting in a taxi for 10 minutes. It
reminds me of the greatness of this country’s incredible and
enterprising people. Most specifically, I love talking to people and
finding out what they do for a living, discovering their passion in
life. Whether it is a CEO of a company or someone who works for
themselves, I often get a real education into the psyche of Americans in
the work force: those either out of it, those trying to get into it,
those trying to change the course of their lives or most sadly, those
who have recently been forced to leave (laid off, company downsizing or
out of business) and who desperately want to be in.
Recently, I spoke with a very capable young lady on my flight home from Dallas.
She was a real estate assistant and was looking to start her own
business selling insurance. She was an attractive, confident person who
presented herself well, and would do well in the sales of any kind.
But she had decided to jump into something she didn’t know a lot about
except that she was good at sales. She wanted to own her own business so
she could control more of her personal time, but was willing to work
hard to learn and educate herself. After listening to what options she
was researching, she mentioned that she wished there was a way to find
people in the industry to talk to, organizations that could that could
help her along, give her some guidance, and, most of all, she wished
there were more mentors out there for people like her. Her
disappointment was that she felt often that she didn’t want to bother
anyone in her industry by asking them questions or taking up their
time. She also knew that a lot of people would not take the time to
spend with a new person in trying to break into the industry.
I am not an expert,especially in the insurance industry. But I have
always owned my own businesses and told her that I was willing to answer
any questions she might have about starting up a business. You see, I
often get asked this question,and not just when I travel. Perhaps it
would be helpful to put down some thoughts which may be useful for the
person sitting next to me in 7A, or sitting by me in and airport
departure gate.
The basics are the same whatever kind of a business you may want to
start. But how do you proceed from an idea to actually making it
happen? As a farm girl, I use the analogy of training a horse. You
use relatively the same techniques and fundamentals to train, but remind
yourself, like children, all horses are different. So you must be
flexible to change your methods to suit a particular personality. It is
the same for business. Here are some of the things I advise people to
do if they want to get into their own business. These are the sort of
things that often get missed in the “How to Start a Business” books at
Barnes and Noble.
1. Be Honest with Yourself
How badly do you want
to own your own business? Is your idea viable (would people buy your
idea or product) and what is the competition like? How will you make
your idea stand out to capture market share against those that already
exist in the marketplace? Will your business involve hiring other people
to be competitive and, if so, do you have the temperament to
administrate or supervise employees? Are you self-motivated and can you
motivate others? (If not, stop right here. You shouldn’t be in
business for yourself) Will you need a store or office location or can
this be done from your home? All of these are just a smattering of
questions that you should answer honestly before you even pull out the
pencil and calculator. After the end of a day, will you still be
passionate about what you do?
2. Don’t Quit Your Day Job
If you are presently
working, stay where you are at until you have time to research fully
your idea, develop your goals, and explore the viability of the
business. Too many people jump off the deep end just to find out the
water is very shallow, or worse, there isn’t even any water in the
pool. Unless you are independently wealthy or have some other funding
source of financial support while you research your idea, you must
recognize that to make this idea a reality you must have some income to
pay your bills. This will mean that you will have to work on your idea
before and after your regular working hours. Don’t attempt to do it
while you are on your regular job. It might jeopardize the job you
presently have.
3. Show me the money
You must sit down and do a
business plan and a prospectus for your idea and your business. You MUST
have an idea, even if you aren’t asking for outside investment, as to
what this operation will cost. Don’t even think about the potential
profit. The cold hard fact of starting most businesses is that often
people fail to do this homework and end up finding out –SURPRISE!- They
didn’t realize how much it was going to cost! These very hard numbers
may give you a wake-up call as to whether you even want to go forward.
Write down everything, including the cost of light bulbs and toilet
paper. It sounds silly but those things are all part of your business
plan. Be honest with yourself and, if anything, overestimate. It will
give you a financial cushion that you may need down the line. Sourcing
and costing all of this out will take time so please see Item #1.
4. Always pay yourself
Make sure you pay yourself
some sort of salary to cover your basic expenses at home. Too many
people don’t pay themselves anything until, as they say, “the business
gets on its feet’ and they end up being resentful and stressed because
you can’t even meet their own personal basic needs.Be realistic. You
don’t want to pay yourself like Donald Trump if doing so you can’t make
the payroll for the employees. Trust me. No employee wants to hear you
don’t have the money to pay them as you drive out of the business in a
Ferrari. But pay yourself a living wage.
5. Learn the most important word in the English language
“NO”. One of the biggest challenges most entrepreneurs face is
over-committing themselves and spreading themselves too thin. Trying to
be everything to everybody makes you less effective and the business
less productive. You need to know when to say no. If you are feeling
that you are over-committed or spread too thin, you have one of two
choices here. Narrow your focus and goals to a manageable state that
you can personally handle. Biting off more than you can chew will make
itself very evident before you even realize it. As much as you might
like to take business in, if you don’t have the manpower or capability
to service the request, you will just be setting yourself and the
business up for failure. Don’t commit to anything you even think you
can’t deliver. Under promise. Over deliver. Sometimes it is best to
explain to a customer that as much as you’d love to have their business,
you won’t be able to service their request at this time because of
prior commitments to other customers(even if you don’t have any
commitments). This might actually make your business seem more
attractive to them. People always want to do business with someone who
is in demand. Say no, for now, and build up the resources to service
your customer in a superior manner, rather than a mediocre one, because
you were more desperate for the work rather than desperate for a way to
do it in an excellent manner. Otherwise you will eventually be pushing
yourself to the point that you start looking for a bridge and two rusty
razor blades.
The other option is to hire qualified people or outsource the work to
people that can get it done for you. The second selection usually
scares new business owners because they don’t know if they can afford
it. Ask yourself, “What is my time worth”? If you end up doing this
work yourself, what else is not getting done that is putting the
business behind and ultimately costing you more money? Sometimes you
will find it more economical long-term to make the additional
expenditure now.
6. Ignore the critics
One of my favorite sayings
is something my father always instilled in me: “Never pay attention to
those who will tell you that something cannot be done or that it will
never work. They will be the same people that, once you are successful,
will say they knew it would work all the time.” He was so right.
Believe in yourself, focus on the goal and ignore those who have no skin
in the game. Often people want to see you fail because they do not
have the courage to take the risk.Don’t misunderstand. There will be
days that you will feel like just throwing in the towel. But, in order
to be successful,remember it isn’t how many times you are knocked down.
What matters is how many times you get up.
7. Social Media
Get up to speed or hire someone who knows the social media inside and
out. It is a necessity in today’s business climate. Don’t forget the
personal touch. I always believe that nothing beats face-to-face
contact or speaking directly to someone on the phone. I had a
90-year-old friend, known as Mr. Pasadena. Everyone knew him. He was
fascinated with new technology, social media and the like. However, if
he ever needed anything done, he didn’t tweet you, e-mail or Facebook
you. He picked up the phone or drove to your office to meet with you.
That is the right approach. With technology so dominant in today’s
communication, it may just give you the edge in “getting the business”
if you make the effort to personally reach out to someone rather than
hiding behind your e-mail address.
8. Join industry organizations and networking groups
It is a good idea to join these organizations and groups even before
you start your business. In this way you can meet people in the
industry who can offer help and advice. They may even help to narrow
your focus. Most people who are in business for themselves don’t have
any trouble discussing themselves or their business. They enjoy sharing
that information. That is the purpose of these organizations. They
are usually happy to give a hand to someone who is passionate about
their own industry or their services.
9. Pay it forward
One of the keys for keeping your
business fresh and staying passionate is to pass your knowledge on to
the new people who want to break into the business. I once had someone
refuse payment for a service that they had performed for me and their
only request was that “when someone asks you for payment for something
that took little or no effort on your part, do it for free with the
stipulation that once they’ve made it, they do the same for someone
else.”
Finally, even in this world of impersonal communication, people are
still people and want to be treated with respect. Employees, customers,
suppliers – everyone. Remember those you step upon on your way up the
ladder of success will be the same ones waving to you as you plummet
back to earth.
Good luck, keep the faith and, as long as you have your head above
water, remember the famous words of Winston Churchill; “Never, never,
never give in.”
Source: Forbes Online Magazine
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