Of course you shouldn’t jump off a cliff. But many talented women think of having their own business as something this drastic. They’re attracted to the idea but daunted by what they think it would take. They get scared because they ask themselves “How” first, instead of other more effective questions early on, such as “What?”, “When?” and “Why?”‘

WHY YOU SHOULDN’T START WITH HOW
Many would-be entrepreneurs make the mistake of allowing overwhelming feelings, such as fear of not knowing how to do something, not knowing where to start, etc., stop them from exploring the idea of a business at all. If you have a compelling business idea, or you’d simply like to investigate having your own business, I suggest that you ask the “How?” question, before you ask yourself anything else. While “What?”, “When?” and “Why?” get to the heart of important things, such as vision, values, purpose, passion, and so on, “How?” should only be tackled once you’ve done some serious thinking about what you really want to do, and what motivates you to do it.

WHAT?
If you’re contemplating starting your own solo business, think about what you love, what you enjoy doing, what you’re great at, what would allow you to fully employ your gifts and talents, and what you would do if you didn’t have to make money. Then, see how your answers might translate into a business of your own. As a business coach for creative women entrepreneurs with multiple talents, I advise clients to combine their passions and talents and find a niche that’s targeted, but also multi-layered, so it provides enough breadth to keep them interested for a long time. Without this pre-launch approach, every new idea that flashes before them becomes a reason to change their business name or logo. The same holds true when one or more of their talents go unattended. Being a moving target is bad for business. It creates brand confusion with your market and derails your previous efforts.

The first principle for birds of a different color (what I call Millennium-Renaissance Entrepreneurs?), is to do what you love in your business. The second is to find an expansive niche for what you do – a special, target market or thing you want to be known for that has a unique audience. Not just handmade cards for anyone, but handmade cards for twenty year old fashionistas; not just copy writing for any online business, but copy writing for online nanny businesses; not just any kind of jewelry, but jewelry for art directors, not just a relationship expert, but a relationship expert for divorced, Harley driving, retired IT executives. if you catch my drift.

WHY?
The question “Why?” can put you on the defensive – especially when someone else is asking the question. To be asked “Why?” makes you feel that you have to justify your reasons for wanting something. But asking this question of yourself is a good idea. Why do you want to start your own business? Is it because you’re an independent spirit, and you’d like to design a business around a special passion, talent, vision, idea, etc.? Does punching a time card, and doing what someone else tells you to do strike a chord of rebellion inside you? Do you want to change the world in a way that hasn’t been done before, or at least make a different kind of difference? Have you felt constrained in work roles where only so much of you can show up at the office? There are many motivations for starting your own business. Perhaps you’ve fallen in love with a process, or a product, or a service, but there isn’t a place for you to plug that love, or that skill set into in the world of employment. In my case, I became certified as a coach in 1996, when it was something new, and companies weren’t hiring professional coaches. Even now, there aren’t that many organizations with inside coaching positions. Sometimes you fall into entrepreneurship like you fall into love. Hopefully with your eyes wide open!

WHEN?
Ask yourself, “Is now a good time to start my own business? If not, when will it be a good time? If the time is in the future, you can still ask yourself the other questions; except “How?”; save that one for later. If you feel it’s a good time to get going, or at least dip your toe in the water, explore what you need to do to build a solid foundation for your business. How long might it take you to get up to speed on requirements, without procrastinating due to fear of the unknown? Do you have the money needed to fund your venture, or can you start on a shoe string? The answer to this question will play into your timing. Doing market research can help you get an idea if the time is right for your business. Who are your potential competitors, and what might the market be ready for that you would want to offer? What else is going on in your life right now, or in the near future that might affect your ability to jump in with both feet.

WHEN TO ASK THE HOW QUESTION
“How?” is probably the most fundamental query to explore when it comes to succeeding in your own solo business. But if you ask “How?” before you answer the questions pertaining to “What?”, “When?” and “Why?”, you can easily get discouraged. Fear of the unknown (which we all have) could stop you cold in your tracks. Your dream may seem to big, too hard and too far away, even when it may not be in reality.

So, if you think you might want to start a solo gig, or know you do for sure, don’t just jump off a cliff. Allow yourself to get a clear picture of what you’d love to do, why you want to do it and when you think the timing is right. That’s when you should ask the important question, “How?” Starting your own business should feel more like buying a ticket for a fun roller coaster with it’s ups and downs, than jumping off a cliff. Just be sure to start with the right questions, and the rest of them will be answered as you live into them.

Val Olson, MA, LPE, CPCC is President of The Val Olson Company serving multi-talented women entrepreneurs through 1:1 business coaching, groups, products and events. Val holds a masters degree in human development, is a licensed psychologist emeritus and a certified professional co-active coach.

For a FREE copy of “Branding Essentials for the Millennium-Renaissance Entrepreneur? Discovery Tool”, go to http://www.valolson.com/

By Beverly K Taylor Beverly K Taylor
Level: Platinum

Beverly K. Taylor has become very successful with multiple streams of income with Article Internet Marketing and Network Marketing. She is available on a limited …

Focus on doing things that really help your target market. Do this by writing articles about your expertise. Then, share those articles in online directories. This is the fastest way to build a reputation as a worldwide expert in your field. It is also a rapid way to earn the trust of your ideal prospects. When you gain the trust of your ideal prospects, you will quickly increase your profits. So get excited about sharing your knowledge online. This article will show you 3 simple and easy ways to get noticed as an expert in your field and start making money online.

1. Keep your articles short. You are writing to people with limited attention spans. They appreciate spending only a brief amount of time reading articles on the internet. They already do a lot of reading at school and at work. So, keep your articles information-packed but short. This means write articles that are about 400-450 words in length. Also, write the content using bullet points or numbered points. This makes the article scannable. Scannable articles allow your readers to skip any information they deem irrelevant to them. When you write articles in a format they prefer, you begin to develop a relationship with them. Make it a compatible one.

2. Keep the concepts in your articles simple. People read a lot during the day. Some information is complex. If you write articles for your beginners in your field that contain complex information, it will turn them off to completely reading your articles all the way through. If you’d like to develop a huge following in no time, keep your article content simple. By striving to make the articles easy for your readers to understand your articles will be sought out purposely. This is a great way to drive qualified traffic to your website. Also use simple everyday words in your articles. These words are ones your readers use in everyday conversations. Also, write the sentences in your articles in varied lengths. This keeps your articles interesting. The more interesting your articles, the greater your chances that your readers will read all the way to the end of the article.

3. Provide brief but useful content that is also simple to understand. Internet users like brief and easy to understand articles that contain words an eighth-grader can understand. So, give them what they want. Write articles that help them solve their problems and you’ll see them return again and again.

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Article Submitted On: February 23, 2011