Starting your own business… wouldn’t that be a dream come true, huh? Somehow getting things in your personal and professional lives organised and on point enough that you could execute a seamless business plan, lay down the required start-up capital, and transition to being your own boss.
But hold on a second. These days, there are more resources out there than ever before on how to start any number of businesses and develop them, not to mention services such as Buddy Loans, the UK’s leading direct lender for Guarantor loans, if you really need a bit of start-up capital in a hurry.
Far more than that, though, whoever told you that you had to have all your ducks in a row to start a business?
It sounds like you need to stop over complicating things. Here’s how you can set about starting up a side business today.
Identify the barebones framework of your business, and then start “stumbling forward”
Here’s a not-so-secret secret about starting up your own business: you only need to identify the barebones framework of what your business will be, and from then on, it’s a matter of stumbling forward. Trying to perfect things in the planning stage just guarantees stagnation.
When all is said and done, successful entrepreneurs have a bias towards action, rather than endless reflection and planning. As long as you act ethically, the basic seed of any business idea can be developed, iterated, and optimised as you go along.
Importantly, starting a business “rough” and stumbling forward is often the only way to learn the on-the-job specific skills that you need in order to succeed.
Carve out a hollow of free time to work on your business, and “turn up” on schedule, every time
You’re certainly bound to be short on time if you’re starting up a small business as a side gig. Here’s a secret – you and everyone else.
To make a success of a small business, particularly as a side gig, you need to carve out a hollow of free time to work on your business every day, and you then need to “turn up” on schedule, every time.
Consistency is king here, and sacrifices will need to be made. But, probably pretty small sacrifices. For example, giving up your evening web surfing ritual and spending that time working instead.
Grind, improve, market, repeat
Developing a small business is rarely a super-sexy “montage” sequence, with the furniture in your home office becoming more plush day by day.
Instead, it’s a matter of grinding, improving by small iterations as often as you can, marketing ruthlessly, and repeating the whole process again, and again.
To develop and make a success of your business, put in the work, time and time again. And don’t forget the paramount importance of letting people know that your business exists and that it can be beneficial for them to use your services.
