First day of spring: time to take those steps to starting a business
Spring has sprung. Well, it may not feel like it if you’re in Nebraska today (expecting a foot of snow) and I’ve always felt that the first day of spring is more of an encouragement that spring weather will be here soon than the reality of flowers and birds happily chirping. (Midwest boy, impatient for baseball season)
So how about this for anyone who’s been thinking about taking steps to starting up a business of your own … choose to make this opening day of spring the beginning of your season of entrepreneurship. Maybe you’re in the midst of considering a midlife career change or maybe you’ve been waiting for just the right day to get going on starting up a small business.
What better day than the first day of spring? New beginnings, fresh hope in the air.
OK, enough of the encouragement, let’s get down to business. And here’s where all of you current entrepreneurs can join in the conversation and help a brother or sister out. Take a quick look at the 10 steps to starting your dream business. Pick one and share some personal in the trenches insight.
How about step 3 Create a Business Plan? Did you actually do that? Was it helpful? Did it take longer than you anticipated?
Look at step 6 Find the Funding. How did you fund your startup business? Was it a bank loan, bootstrapping using credit cards or money from friends & family? Are you glad you did it the way you did? What would you do differently next time?
Let’s hear from some StartupNation community members who have truly taken the 10 Steps to Open for Business to heart and created a Life Plan first. The Sloan brothers and the entire StartupNation team swear by it. What do you say?
Because here’s the thing … (get ready for the inevitable and shameless baseball analogy) … Every new season begins with a time of spring training. You take inventory of your strengths and make certain that you play to them. You assess your weaknesses and address how you will improve them. And then, when opening day comes, you walk out onto that field and start swinging.
Play ball!
Start it up!
March 20th, 2006 at 10:45 am
At first I felt, "The heck with the Life Plan, I want to get work on the business plan."
But, the Life Plan, especially the "Ideal Day" exercise (I still do it), actually helps clarify the business plan.
It sounds counter-intuitive, but doing the Life Plan first saves you time. And I imagine, if your ended up embarking on a business that doesn’t suit how you envision your life should be, you might be wasting years… or decades!
Anyone else with a similar experience?
Or did I totally strike out.
Matt S.
March 20th, 2006 at 1:08 pm
Matt I found that the Life Plan was what lead me to the business plan. (I didn’t call it that back then)
Everything that you seen in the S.U.N lifeplan were elements that I needed to address: My skills were not being utilized, I was unfulfilled in my work/profession, etc…and then it dawned on me that the only way I was going to get things on track was to go out on my own.
All of that said, the real truth is 9/11 put me in such a tailspin…my office at the time was 1 block from "ground zero" I saw, heard, smelled everything for weeks and months after the event. One day, on my way to work, I said to myself, "I can’t be near this anymore"…and that’s the day that my business concept came to me.
March 20th, 2006 at 1:08 pm
Hi Joel!
I am always intoxicated with Spring fever and get a rush of enthusiasm to undertake all kinds of new business plans. That is when I am not tiptoeing through the tulips outside drinking in the fresh air.
I have been in business for almost 10 years consulting with large corporations but am undergoing a shift in direction … towards helping budding entrepreneurs, as you do at Startup Nation. I am looking at it as a fresh start and am eagerly going through the 10 Steps to make sure I am checking off all the right boxes. I don’t have to worry about basic things like business licenses and startup funding since I am already humming along. But I am reviewing my business plan to make sure my new directions are sound ones.
I agree with Matt S’ comment above that the Life Plan is the most critical component of a business plan. I have been steadfast in my committment to building in lots of freedom and flexibility in my business plans so that I have time for a great life. I almost never work weekends, and kept to this even when I had massive client projects going on. It kept me sane!
As an Arizonan with California roots, I am a granola head at heart. So I love to plan my business by the seasons - as I just wrote about today! http://www.escapefromcubiclenation.com/get_a_life_blog/2006/03/planning_by_the.html
For anyone who is holding back on starting your biz, get a clue from the birds and flowers … life is abundant, so don’t hold back!