#27: Thinking About Starting Your Own Business But Don't Know Where To Begin?
If you're flirting with the idea of self-employment, start by asking yourself these questions.
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Thinking About Starting Your Own Business But Don't Know Where To Begin?
Growing up, my best friend Lisa and I had a “business” we called Store for the Stars. For more than a decade, everything in her bedroom had a price tag on it for our many “celebrity clients.” We even had special business owner names. I was Cindy and she was Buffy. We hired our other friends as employees. And let me tell you, our business was a raging success…at least in our imaginations. If only it were that easy and fun as an adult. Sadly, it’s not.
Should you find yourself in a place of not having a full-time job, not wanting a full-time job, not wanting to commit to a full-time job, not sure what kind of full-time job you want next, you may want to consider self-employment.
I found myself grappling with all of the above last fall and decided to do the thing I thought I might want to do someday but was scared. That’s right baby, I’m incorporated.
My parents were both small business owners and I witnessed the pros and cons of self-employment first-hand. The most important pro is freedom. Freedom of schedule, freedom to express your unique talents, and freedom from being told what to do.
And then, there were the cons. Having to be on call at all times, no sanctified vacation days, no 401K or health benefits, and lack of stability (I don’t mean that you can’t make a living, just that your living may shift wildly with the economy and other circumstances beyond your control.)
I guess underneath my hesitation was the low-level simmering anxiety of being 100% responsible for generating income. That takes some real chutzpah in such an uncertain world. But once I worked through my fears about that, becoming self-employed was staring me in the face saying, “This is your most viable option right now! You wanna rumble?” There was no other answer besides, “Let’s do this!” BUT HOW?
Gosh, I wish I could answer that cleanly in 7 bullet points. Sorry, that’s not going to happen. But here are a few questions I asked myself to help me get out of analysis paralysis and into action:
What services can you/do you want to offer? This sounds like a DUH, but it’s actually not so easy. I did the humbling work of sitting down and making a list of my skills. Then I made a second list of my passions. These are different lists, trust me. For instance, I’m very proficient at social media management, but knew I was passionate about doing it. Social media strategy though…that’s a different story. That showed up on both lists. Where the Venn Diagram overlaps between a skill and a passion is the sweet spot.
What do your future clients actually need? Time to do market research and a listening tour! I looked around at self-employed people with similar skill sets and preferred service offerings. I trolled their websites, looked at their LinkedIn pages, and took note of what they were doing. Then, I met with friends or colleagues who might require the types of services I would offer and interviewed them. This was extremely, extremely helpful! I got a lot of good insight nuggets from potential clients about what mattered to them and what kinds of budgets they would allot for said services.
What is your business concept? Remember, starting a business doesn’t mean you’re making a lifelong commitment. That was a revelation for me. I used to think if I started a business I would be locked in for the next 10 years. Knowing that I’ve committed to not thinking too long-term at the moment, that felt daunting. Also, the perfectionist in me thought I had to have everything figured out before I started. Not true! You learn by doing. And your business concept might change over time. Those changes are based on trial and error and also, client requests. For example, I didn’t anticipate that so many clients would want help launching, writing, and editing newsletters, but given that it’s been dubbed The Year Of The Newsletter, they do!
To craft my business concept, I sat down with a Google Doc and wrote down a mission statement for my business. I asked myself the following questions:
What problem do I want to solve for clients?
Why am I the right person to solve that problem?
What services do I offer?
How do I start an LLC? Should you decide to form an LLC, check out Zen Business. Seriously, it made the process as painless as it possibly could be. They help you get an EIN, file with the state, open a business bank account, find a registered agent, and meet all of your compliance for LLC in your state. Should you decide to go this route, be prepared to shell out some dough. It’s not a ton of dough, but you’ll want to budget a few thousand dollars for startup expenses. If that’s not where you’re at financially, you don’t even need to start an LLC to be self-employed. There are some tax benefits though. You can consult with a financial advisor or someone you trust.
How do you invoice clients? Stripe has made invoicing and accepting payments an absolute breeze. There's a bit of lift in the setup, but I’ve found it worth it. I like Stripe because you can offer clients the flexibility of paying with a bank account, credit card, etc. Alternatively, you can create invoices with CanvaPro and have clients pay you via PayPal or Zelle. There are lots of good solutions out there depending on your needs.
What should you charge? This was the most confounding part for me as I was getting started. How on earth do you know how much to charge people? I would actually love to hear what all of you have to say about this (please leave a comment with your thoughts), but here’s how I evaluated compensation. Using my previous annual salary as a starting point, I figured out how much I made an hour. From there, I figured out what a day rate and a monthly rate would be. The rest depends on the job you’re doing. I’ve charged some clients by the hour, some clients by the month, and some clients by the entire job. Side Note: For peace of mind, I gave my first couple of clients pricing discounts in exchange for a testimonial for my future website. Endorsements and referrals are great reasons to discount your rate.
Um, what about proposals? The most dreaded part of the process for me was putting together my first proposal. I used a Canva template with really ugly colors and overpromised what I would do for too little a fee. Don’t be like me. Don’t overcomplicate your first proposal. After putting together several proposals, I think I’ve kind of, maybe hacked something that works for me. What you need to be able to communicate in a good proposal is:
What the client wants to achieve. Meaning, their goals.
What services you will provide to help them achieve those goals.
What deliverables they will receive from you.
What the measures of success will be.
What the project timeline will be.
What you’ll charge for your services.
What the payment schedule will be.
OKAY. I’m going to stop here because I’ve been sitting in front of the screen for a very long time AND this is enough to digest for now. Maybe I’ll do a Part 2 about how to get clients. Oh…that!! I’m still figuring it out tbh. And if you’re wondering about my business, I’ll share more once I get my website live in the next couple of months.
Have any helpful tips to share about starting your own business? Please drop them in the comments. I think we’ll all appreciate them. 🙏🏼
Read More:
Worthy Time Wasters
Here are my weekly recs to combat doom scrolling.
I finally got my ass to the movie theater to start working my way through as many Oscar contenders as possible. American Fiction was absolutely pitch-perfect. Stories about writers writing can be dreadfully boring and satires can feel emotionally hollow. This film does both of those things impeccably. For a more clever review of the film, check out the
’s 150 word review.📺 The Curse (Showtime/Paramount+).
I started The Curse last December and finally got to the end of the 10 episodes this week. To try to explain the plot would be futile. To say I’m still thinking about would be an understatement. I’ve thought about it, dreamed about it, obsessed about what it meant. Where I’ve arrived: The Curse is not a show, it’s a VIBE. It’s like an unexpected flavor profile that sounds awful but turns out to be addictive (peanut butter and siracha, anyone?) To see a television show that follows no sanctioned story structure, but still manages to enthrall you is rare and refreshing.
From the creator, executive producer, and director who brought us Cheer, Wrestlers follows the largest independent wrestling association in the country, the organization that is known for cranking out the future stars of the WWE. For someone who admittedly has zero interest in watching sports (yes, I did watch the Super Bowl for the commercials and the half-time show), Wrestlers got me GOOD. I have an entirely new appreciation for the art form (yes, ART FORM) and the people who bring it to life (shout out to HollyHood Haley J). It didn’t get as much buzz as Cheer, but one of the episodes was named one of the best of 2023 by the New York Times. My take: It’s a must-watch.
📚 Good Material by Dolly Alderton
I’ve been eagerly awaiting the latest from British author Dolly Alderton and it didn’t disappoint. Here’s the setup: Andy Dawson gets dumped by his girlfriend Jen. Now, at 35, he is without a home, waiting for his stand-up career to take off, wondering why everyone else around him seems to have grown up while he wasn't looking. Heartbroken, Andy becomes obsessed with trying to understand the real reason why Jen dumped him. Because if he can find the answer to that, then maybe Jen can find her way back to him.
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