Tag: Starting A Business

10 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Starting A Business

In this post, I shared 10 questions to ask yourself before starting a business. What are some of the questions you would ask yourself before starting your next business?

 

Starting a business isn’t an easy task. Some people are made for it while others can’t last a month. Whether it’s your first time starting a business or not, there are a ton of things that you should consider.

 

 

Here are 10 questions to ask yourself before starting a business:

 

 

1. Can I see myself doing this for the rest of my life?

 

If a business becomes extremely successful, more often then not….you have to stick to it for the rest of your life. If you see yourself starting a business just to make some cash for a year or two, it isn’t the right business for you. Only start something that you can see yourself doing for the rest of your life.

 

 

2. Am I willing to work without getting paid for however long necessary?

 

This is the toughest question for new entrepreneurs to ask themselves. If you’ve worked a job especially, you are used to trading hours for dollars. When you start a business, you can work all the hours you want, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get paid for it. If you have the patience and bank account necessary to survive a few rainy months, then you might be ready.

 

 

3. Am I able to let other people down when necessary?

 

As an entrepreneur, you have to make decisions that are best for the company. Your company always comes first regardless of the situation. When that happens, you’re going to have to make some tough decisions in your personal and business life. If you have trouble being honest and being the barer of bad news, then entrepreneurship might be wrong for you.

 

 

4. Do you jump right back up when you fall down?

 

Everyone tends to handle setbacks differently. Some people give up, others find it hard to recover while some people simply jump right back up on the horse. The way you handle adversity and obstacles is key as an entrepreneur. If you have the wrong mentality from the beginning, your business will be destined for failure.

 

 

5. Why am I the best person for this business?

 

Every time you start a business and look for funding, investors will ask you one question. Why are you the best person to run this business? That’s an important question. Anyone can take an idea and run with it, but what makes you so special. Is this an industry you know a lot about, is it a problem you dealt with or is it because you have connections that others don’t?

 

 

6. Are you willing to wear numerous hats?

 

As an entrepreneur, you have to wear different hats. As an employee, you have one job that is outlined in the contract you sign with your employer once you are hired. As an entrepreneur, you sign no contracts. You have to do whatever is asked of you on any given day.

 

 

7. Do you want to be comfortable or do you want to change your life?

 

Change and comfort are two things that do not go well with one another. If you want to be comfortable and get your 8 hours of sleep every night, don’t become an entrepreneur. Get a day job. If you want to change your life and are really committed to it, then you have a chance to make it out as an entrepreneur.

 

 

8. How much of what I do is actually needed?

 

There are businesses that are needed and other businesses that are nice to have. If you’re in the category of nice to have, it’s going to be a struggle being successful. Businesses that are a necessity that people must have are the ones that end up being the most successful. You can’t create a need that doesn’t exist. You can only fulfill an existing need in the market.

 

 

9. Am I just looking to make a lot of money or do I actually care?

 

Money is the most illusive object in the world. If you’re becoming an entrepreneur because you heard the stories of Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, you’re doing it for all of the wrong reasons. When you chase money, it becomes really hard to get. The projects that originate with passion and purpose end up making the most money.

 

 

10. Can I momentarily pause my social life for my business?

 

Another tough thing people have to figure out is whether or not they are willing to pause their social life for their business. If you love going out and partying with friends, starting a business is tough. You have to make some sacrifices along the way. If you always choose your social life over your business, you won’t be successful.

 

 

Conclusion 

 

In this article, I shared 10 questions to ask yourself before starting a business. What are some things you wish you asked yourself before starting your business?

 

 

photo credit: Scandiacus via photopin cc

 

11 Tips For Starting A Business While Working Full-Time

After starting a successful startup of his own, guest blogger Nathan Chan decided to share 11 tips for starting a business of your own while working full-time.

 

This is a guest post by Nathan Chan.

 

 

Many entrepreneurs, working hard to launch a business, have to contend with another force—their day job. It’s hard to start a business while working full-time, but it can be done. How do I know?

 

 

I did it. I started Foundr Magazine, a publication filled with actionable advice for young entrepreneurs, while working full-time in IT. In this post, I’ll let you in on 11 things that helped me launch my business and ditch the 9-to-5.

 

 

1. Want It Bad Enough

 

You can’t just talk about it—you must really want it. People make a lot of excuses for why they haven’t gotten serious about their business idea yet, but your excuses get you nowhere.

 

 

A cool trick that helped me was to view my first business as a “passion project”—it took the serious weight away. And it was a passion project, because I wanted it so badly!

 

 

2. Commit to Showing Up Every Day

 

You absolutely must forge a habit of working on your business every day—that’s every single day, without fail.

 

 

That’s not as hard as it sounds. People (should) brush their teeth every morning and night. Developing your business and brushing your teeth should be the same thing: an unquestioned routine.

 

 

Here’s my tip: start off each day by working 30 minutes on your project.

 

 

3. Know That Research Isn’t Time Spent

 

The web has so many amazing resources—guides, tutorials, stories, statistics—but don’t use “research” as an excuse to procrastinate. Since you’re working full-time, you need to make full use of the time you do have.

 

 

You need to accept that research, while great, is not time spent on your project. Talking to potential customers, getting quotes, building the product or service, getting the website online—these activities count as time spent.

 

 

Focus on things that move the needle forward and allow you to ship.

 

 

4. Test Your Product

 

Here’s actionable advice: go read The Lean Startup by Eric Ries. It features compelling stories and terrific tips.

 

 

The book has birthed a serious movement embraced by companies like Buffer, Dropbox, and IMVU. The key? Test early and often—let your customers tell you what they want.

 

 

5. Hold Yourself Accountable—Financially

 

Sinking cash into a course or some other investment is a powerful way to hold yourself accountable, since nobody wants to lose money. Buying the publishing software for Foundr motivated me to work, work, work.

 

 

If you want to go the course route, there are a few I recommend: “Earn Your First $1,000 On The Side” by Ramit Sethi, “How to make a $1,000 a month business” by AppSumo, and Tim Marc’s Freedom Business Blog.

 

 

6. Set a Deadline and Ship

 

You need an end goal, an end picture, in mind. That helps motivate you.

 

 

With Foundr, I know that in the middle of every month, we must ship a new issue—rain, hail, or shine. With that hard deadline, I never miss it. A cool resource to help you with this is Go Fucking Do It.

 

 

7. Follow the Money

 

Always focus on bringing in revenue—that’s what will allow you to leave your day job, and leaving your day job will allow you to grow your business even more.

 

 

Making your first dollar, closing that first sale—those things can electrify you because they’re powerful. They’re absolutely game-changing.

 

 

8. Think About Outsourcing

 

If you look for freelancers in countries like India, the Philippines, and China, then you can find amazingly talented staff for an affordable price.

 

 

Here’s the beauty of this: you can also leverage time zones. I assign tasks to my designer in India, and when I’m sleeping, he’s moving forward on a magazine issue.

 

 

9. Admit You Might Fail

 

90% of startups fail. Your first business won’t always succeed.

 

 

This is especially important for people who are working full-time while trying to launch a business of their own. With limited time, you might be tempted to shrink away from entrepreneurship because you’re afraid of failure. Admit that failure is possible, however you’re liberated from that fear.

 

 

10. Always Provide Value

 

If you try to make money fast, you’re wasting your time.

 

 

One of my mentors taught me something that I remember to this day: the amount of money you earn is proportionate to how well you serve your community. So Serve your community DAMN WELL!

 

 

11. Prepare to Leave Your Job

 

Don’t rely on a theoretical “someday” for when you plan to leave your job and work on your business full time—make that concrete.

 

 

How? Get a number in mind for how much you need to earn to get by each month. Then save at least six months worth of savings as a buffer in case things get tough. Once you have your savings and your business is bringing in enough money, take that leap of faith!

 

 

Conclusion

 

That’s it: eleven tips, drawing from my experience, on how to start a business while working full-time at your day job. It’ll require adept time management, but you can do it. And once you do it, you’ll thank yourself for years to come.

 

 

Are you trying to launch a business while also working a full-time job? What are your greatest struggles? What ways have you found to cope with them? Let us know in the comments below!

 

Bio: Nathan Chan is the Publisher and Founder of Foundr magazine. He is extremely passionate about entrepreneurship and has had the pleasure of interviewing some of the world’s best entrepreneurs. He showcases this insider access in Foundr Magazine. You can find him and the magazine at www.foundrmag.com. 

 

 

photo credit: Philipp Lücke via photopin cc