I think that every one of us has a business idea at home at least once in their life. Some people will have quite a few.
Only some will succeed at it, however.
The difference between these people is that some will take the leap and put their idea into action, while others will think, ‘Oh, wouldn’t that be nice?’, and then instead just get on the 90-minute bus ride into the city yet again.
Sometimes we don’t really figure out our passion or purpose until we become mums. Some incredible idea opens up inside us like a lotus flower and we realise this would make us more balanced and fulfilled than any job or career path before it.
Sometimes we have already found our career purpose, and love it with all our hearts. Then we become mums and realise a little something else needs a whole lot of our heart as well. So, these mums come up with a great business idea at home to create peace and harmony between their careers and their mum-ness.
Either way, I think the ideas are there dancing around the edges of most people’s imaginations. What turns them from business idea into business reality is the process of actually taking the steps from concept to completion.
Ok, that’s great advice. But how exactly do we do that?
Well, for starters, don’t just dive in the deep end.
I know how it feels: that amazing idea grabs you and won’t let go. It keeps you awake at night and fills your thoughts during the day. You are in a constant half-panic that if you don’t do it NOW someone else will and they’ll be an enormous success instead of you.
But diving in the deep end won’t help. No one made an enormous success from just diving in without any kind of thought or plan for how they are going to not drown.
Sticking with the water metaphor; you need to learn how to swim.
Go down to the shallow end of the pool and hang your legs in, then climb in and get wet. Let your body adjust to the temperature, and then gradually go deeper as you learn to swim. You will be in the deep end before you know it, AND NOT DROWNING, YAY!
Some basic steps to make your business idea from home a reality
What do you want to do?
What is your end goal?
Don’t just picture yourself in a silk robe watching Netflix and eating expensive chocolates never working again while your money just rolls on in the background from your incredible business idea. Lying in a robe is not what I mean by your goal.
Ask yourself some of these questions:
[click_to_tweet tweet=”What do you want to create with your business? It is a blog, web series, training package, shop, online service, or something else? Who is your audience? Is this approach the best way to do it?” quote=”What do you want to create with your business? It is a blog, web series, training package, shop, online service, or something else? Who is your audience? Is this approach the best way to do it?”]
Go into details; how many web pages, how many products, how big a market reach, how big do you want to be?
Why do you want to do it?
Your WHY is a very important factor in business success, and can sometimes be hard to define, or hard to remember when things get going.
Why are doing this? Is it to be there for your kids? To create your own wage? Create a wage for you and your partner? To buy a house, to go global, to employ 100 people, to become an expert in a field, to help people, to change lives, WHY?
What obstacles are in the way?
Be honest about the things that will stand in your way.
What else will take up your time and attention? What could happen that would take even more attention away?
All the reasons that are nagging at you about why you shouldn’t do this should be considered in detail here. Some will be unfounded fears and anxieties, others will be very real concerns that you need to factor in to move forward.
[click_to_tweet tweet=”Some of the things we worry about aren’t just anxieties, and need to be faced and addressed. This doesn’t mean letting these fears stop you. It just means planning what to do if something happens.” quote=”Some of the things we worry about aren’t just anxieties, and need to be faced and addressed. This doesn’t mean letting these fears stop you. It just means planning what to do if something happens.”]
Consider your financial obstacles, location, competitors, your own physical and mental health, your family and relationship constraints.
What do you need to put in a back-up-plan for in-case-of-emergencies?
How are you going to do this?
Lay out as much of a plan as you can about how you are going to do all of this. Research cost, competition, markets, audience, networks, suppliers and everything else you can think of. Remember legals, licenses and insurance, and any technical knowledge you will need.
Plan for what you will do, and look into outsourcing what you can’t. Again be realistic about time and money – it can make sense to outsource many tasks that would just take too much time to learn or would draw your attention away from more important parts of your business (or the rest of your life).
When are you going to do this?
This means short term and long term. In the day to day, how much time are you going to need to devote to this idea? Exactly when are you going to work? Factor in keeping time for yourself and your family as well.
Set yourself longer term goals which won’t exhaust you trying to reach. Where would you like the business to be in 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 5 years etc? Be sensible and realistic.
It may help to have a little read of my blog about burnout as well, to help you plan your time well from the very beginning.
Then get in the pool, and be ready to review and change any of the above decisions if you need to.
The planning part is finished, but always be open to coming back and making adjustments to your plan as you go along.
It’s like having a birth plan for your labour and delivery; you can plan as much as you like, but you never know how it will turn out, and you need to be flexible (literally and figuratively when giving birth!)
The people who succeed in taking their business idea from home to the global market do so because they do these things:
PLAN HARD
WORK HARD
And ALWAYS INCLUDE LOOKING AFTER YOURSELF AND YOUR FAMILY IN YOUR PLANS
