Prospering Biz

Most reluctant entrepreneurs aren’t terribly motivated by money. It can be a huge stumbling block in building a business.

If you’re like me and most of my clients, you want to be making a difference, and you believe your product or service makes a difference. This is often at the heart of why you went into business in the first place.

So let me ask you this…would you like to reach more people? Of course you would. The more the better…until you think about all the work involved in delivering your product or service to large numbers of people.

That’s when things start falling apart. It’s just too much to meet with 50 clients a week. It’s not humanly possible for any solo service professional to see that many people (though I know a few who have tried), do a good job and continue to grow.

Then again when you think about the kind of impact you want to make, fifty people really isn’t very many people.

The best way to expand your reach is to start creating products…ebooks, books, audios, podcasts etc…that deliver what you know in a form that doesn’t require your time once you’ve created the product.

You will get your message out to many more people, make money and control your spiraling time commitment.

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Where’s the money?

It’s the first question you need to ask yourself when you start thinking about starting a business.

Doing good research before you roll out your product, your website or do any networking, can make a huge difference, often making the difference between success and failure. See New Niche Finder for help with your market research.

Once you’re identified a great niche market, you then need to ask yourself this question every singe day. It helps keep you focused on the activities that bring in the money rather than frittering away your time on things like email.

Where’s the money is the most important question you will ever ask in your business.

Technorati Tags: how to start a small business

I will admit to being biased because I love being self employed and I love running online businesses…and I especially love teaching others how to start a small businessonline.

If you’re sitting on this edge trying to decide where to put your time, energy and effort, I would like to invite you to consider the three most common myths I hear from job hunters…

Myth #1 - A Job is More Secure

Many people go for the job because they think it’s more secure. It may have been true back in the day when our parents went to work, but not now. Just take a look around (and it doesn’t take much looking) to see all the people who have lost their jobs over the past 9 months. Their jobs were not at all secure even though many of them thought they were.

One of the things I’ve learned through internet marketing is that the most secure business is one with multiple streams of income. It’s exactly the same as diversifying an investment portfolio. The more diversified you are the safer your income…and jobs just aren’t diversified enough to be truly secure.

So even if you do go for the job, I would like to encourage you to think about starting a business on the side so you have something to fall back on…just in case.

Myth #2 - A Business Consumes All Your Time

Some job hunters have told me they just want to go to work and do their work then leave it when they come home.

Does it really work that way? Not in my experience…at least not since I left cashiering at Whole Foods (back then it was Bread and Circus but I digress). The truth is there are very few jobs worth having that let you leave them behind. So unless you want to go work for MacDonalds, Walmart or the Job Lot, chances are the job will follow you home.

And that’s not even taking into account all the technological ways your job can suck you back during your off hours.

As a small business owner you can use that same technology combined with some judicious outsourcing to actually gain greater control over your time including your after hours time.

The real bonus is more than not having work follow you home. In your own business you really do control your time. For example, my summer hours are very different from my winter hours. In the winter I tend to hunker down (in front of the woodstove) and work. It’s my most productive time of year.

During the summer I lighten up and spend a lot of time outside. Right now my schedule is this…if it’s raining, I’m working on the business and if it’s sunny, I’m painting the house. I’m actually working the same number of hours but have the flexibility to work on the house when the weather allows.

Myth # 3 - Most Businesses Fail

I have to admit this isn’t entirely myth, but I will tell you why most business fail…they don’t do any market research.

Again back in the day, there was a reason for this…it was way too expensive for any business other than large corporations to do the kind of market research needed.

Now there’s no excuse to skip the research. There are online tools that can tell you with a high degree of likelihood, whether there is a market for what you want to offer in your business.

That’s why I am launching ‘New Niche Finder‘ to help you do the research you need to get started without breaking the bank.

As I said, I’m biased but that’s my 2¢. I just don’t think any job can compare to owning your own business.

If you agree, I hope you’ll come back often, or better yet subscribe to ‘Prospering Biz’ for a complete education on how to start a small business especially if you want to do it online.

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