Taking The Plunge Into Home Business, A Response
Since there is no decent shopping to do in Canada today, I’m catching up on reading blogs instead. Today I run across a wonderful piece by Christine over at Self-Made Chick chronicling the first part of starting her own business. It’s very good, you should read it. When you’re done reading it, you should read my response.
I feel I would be remiss if I didn’t post the other side of the coin – what sometimes happens when what happened to Christine doesn’t. This was what happened to me, and it was probably just as hard, although many wouldn’t think it this way.
When I started my business, I was way too successful.
Let’s back up a little bit, shall we? When I was growing up, both of my parents were home business owners. My father is started out in software, moved into custom furniture, then on to high-end mustard (!). Since school wasn’t exactly the biggest priority in our house, I spent a lot of time going to sales calls and trade shows. I watched him sell very expensive stuff to people who didn’t know they needed it. I was probably about four when this whole game started.
This went on for several years, and I’m sure you can guess where I spent my spare time. I mean really, why hire staff when you can employ your daughter for free? When I went to live with my mother, she ran a graphic design business and I watched her work every hour God sent as well.
I learned from a young age that entrepreneurship is very hard work, and that you have to struggle to make ends meet. I learned that if you’re not working all the hours in the day, you’re not doing it right. I also learned how to sell stuff. Really well.
When I started the online segment of my business, I planned for my own failure. I put every conceivable contingency plan in place. I was certain it would take at least two years of uphill battles to even make it into the black. I planned to work 16 hour days. I planned to feast on ramen noodles. I was convinced I would barely make a living wage. I knew that at the start of your business, 80 percent of your time should be spent on marketing, and market I did.
A little too much, you might say.
I was inundated. I had more work than I could handle within about six weeks. I was subcontracting to anyone who could form a sentence. I was drowning. I had more money than I’d ever imagined but no time to spend it. I put on 12 pounds because I didn’t have time to cook and spent two months eating take-out. My son was spending more and more time with his nanny, and my husband was relegated to housemaid duties.
This is not a good way to live, people.
Some people will tell you to plan for every eventuality. I wouldn’t recommend that – there are a lot of eventualities out there. I would say plan for three.
Wild success – Think about whether or not you’re comfortable hiring staff. You don’t need a date and time, but know if you’ll be prepared in the first year, two, or five. Create a strategy for choosing between potential clients when you have too many requests. Also choose the color of your Porsche.
Debilitating failure – Like Christine said, stock up on everything. Running out of toilet paper seems like no big deal now that you get paid every two weeks, but when you’re certain you’ll never eat again, it’s a nice little luxury to have. Prepay as much as you possibly can. Rent, electricity, cable, phone – whatever you can. Avoid revolving debt. If everything is prepaid and you have 3 months worth of food in the house, you can go a long time without making any money. Add one car payment and you’re screwed.
Somewhere in between – This is the boring stuff. Accounting plans, marketing schedules, what color tissue paper you’ll use to wrap your Pet Rocks. This is the stuff you’ll find online and in entrepreneurship books and it doesn’t need to be rehashed here.
If you’re still reading, I’ll take this opportunity to tell you that something highly special and exciting is happening at IttyBiz on Monday. You should come.
Or you could subscribe to the feed. Then you wouldn’t have to come. You could just sit back and wait for IttyBiz to come to you.
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