Do You Dream of Becoming an Entrepreneur?
Like most other kids, I had career dreams and aspirations growing up, but becoming an entrepreneur wasn’t actively among them. I don’t think I even heard the word entrepreneur when I was a child.
When I was almost 12, I started babysitting to earn pocket money. Babysitting didn’t pay particularly well, and I found myself working a lot of hours (I think my record month was 70 hours) but not really making much money doing it. I also discovered I really was not a fan of changing diapers and cleaning up other people’s messes. But job opportunities were pretty limited when I was 12, so I kept at it.
And then when I was 13, macramé pot hangers became popular and I discovered I was good at tying knots. I bought a couple of pattern books and started making macramé pot hangers, first for my mom and then for my grandma. And then friends of my mother started asking if I could make one for them. Being a creative and enterprising adolescent, I quickly learned I could make money in this and I became a teenage entrepreneur.
Becoming an Entrepreneur Seemed Inevitable
While my first business lasted only as long as the macramé trend, I was bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and there was no turning back. The next summer I turned my swimming skills into a business and became a private swim instructor, which turned out to be a fun and lucrative business in southern California. I taught swim lessons both in my parents’ backyard pool, and at the homes of customers all over town.
Unlike my friends who were slaving away at minimum-wage fast-food jobs, I was outdoors all day enjoying the sunshine (and the only time in my life I’ve ever had a tan), making a much higher wage than my friends AND setting my own schedule, allowing for plenty of summer fun, a critical component of teenage life.
I dabbled in a number of other entrepreneurial ventures during those high school years, and put the marketing skills I was learning to work on the inevitable school fundraisers. Becoming an entrepreneur seemed to be an inevitable life path. By college my aspirations grew and I started a photography business, which I still own today. When people ask how I became a professional photographer I often tell them, only half jokingly, it was because I was too naïve to know how much work it was to own my own business.
As I built this business, and others, over the years, I’ve learned how little I really knew going in to that first adult business. But I had a dream of becoming an entrepreneur, and I was not about to let a little thing like my lack of knowledge stop me. I’ve learned a few things since then, about life and especially about becoming an entrepreneur. If you dream of becoming an entrepreneur, there are a few things you need to think about and learn as you begin to pursue that dream.
Becoming an Entrepreneur
Get Clear
Know what you want to do before you begin. What you start out doing may not be what you do down the road. While I started out as a professional photographer, and I still provide photography services, my business today has evolved and grown into something very different from that picture-taking college student. I am also a MUCH better photographer than I was 30-some years ago. There is nothing wrong with having big dreams of success in your business. In fact, I highly recommend it. Recognize you’re starting where you are. You need to be clear about what you want to do now and what you want your business to look like now. And then plan for your growth.
Get Real
When you start your first business, you will be a beginner—both in the business world and in your industry, unless this is something you’ve done professionally before. Presumably you have the skills to get started. If you’re a photographer, you need to know how to create professional-quality photographs. If you’re a social media manager, you need to know how to use the social media networks in a professional manner. And so on.
You need to recognize that you are on chapter one, and others in your niche may be on chapter four or chapter 20 or 57. Resist the temptation to compare yourself to them and beat yourself up for only being on chapter one. They were once there too.
Get real about the amount of time, effort and money it will take to get your business up and running and to grow it. Do not short change yourself in determining these important costs of business by undercharging or underestimating the time you will need to be successful.
Get Legal
Before you hang out your shingle, especially if your business will involve any kind of in-person services, make sure you know the legalities of running your business. What are the business requirements of the place where you live or where you plan to conduct your business? Can you run a business from your home? Do you need permits, business licenses, or special accommodations? What insurance is required? (Hint: your home insurance may NOT cover business purposes. If you like owning your home, you’ll want to check this out.)
The quickest way to torpedo your business—and your financial future—is to run your business afoul of the law. Do you need help learning the legalities of running a business in your area? The SBA’s Small Business Development Center is an excellent resource for fledgling entrepreneurs.
Get Help
You’ll build your business faster if you don’t try and do it all on your own. I wish someone had told me this when I was 19 and starting my photography business. There was so much I didn’t know, I didn’t even know I didn’t know it.
There was no internet back then, so I had to figure it out on my own. I also had help from a class I found in a local photography magazine called “The Business of Wedding Photography.” That was the sum total of my early training, along with business books from the library. If I had known or had access to other help, I would have avoided many pitfalls and problems.
Find training. Get all the training you can that’s relevant to your business goals. Find a mentor who can help you develop the entrepreneurial mindset and help you understand what it takes to start and grow a business. I have been mentoring entrepreneurs and conducting home business and entrepreneur workshops for more than 25 years.
Since I started my first business, I’ve lived in three states, necessitating setting up my business a number of times to comply with the requirements of each city. More recently, my business has shifted from running a full-time photography studio to helping turn wanta-preneurs into successful entrepreneurs.
If you dream of becoming an entrepreneur, but aren’t quite sure how to bring this dream to life, I can help you. If you want to learn more, message me through this link.
I look forward to helping you make your dream of becoming an entrepreneur come true.
