Entrepreneurial Itch

When you love doing something so much that you'd do it for free, there should be a business license and tax form with your name on it.

while the majority of north americans are quite content with their J.O.B.s, i'm sure there is an increasingly high number of self-directed, self-made, self-advised income generators, business creators, service providers, consultants, and ceo.s who second my support of self-owned businesses.

J.O.B. - just over broke. unless you're signing your own checks, this is what you will continue to be. even if you make a $xxx,xxx salary, your supervisor/board/stockholders/ have the ability to cut your purse strings like that (insert SNAP!), take away your pension, give you a puny severance that barely covers groceries, cut off your company phone, and put you back at square one.

i was having a convo with a friend of a friend today who loves to decorate christmas trees. she's saved several from past years (she spray paints them all different colors, depending on the year) and spends hundreds on decorations, which she keeps in storage. my suggestion....come september, get a website going, figure out a reliable and reasonable method of delivery, and start selling!!! she has the talent, interest, creative space, and basic tools on hand already. Instead of looking to some other source to tell you what to do in order to make money, use what you already got!

While i'm certainly no expert on running a business (my idea to run a B&B in south africa has been on my inspiration wall for YEARS), i do like to at least be in the conversation about it. if you're also at the initial stages of developing some business plans and ideas, here are some of my own ideas that you might also find helpful to mull over......

*narrow what you like to do. do you like to make things? fix things? advise on things? write things? tying that in to the core of your service/product offered is pretty valuable.

*do some financial forecasting and planning. we're in a silly economic mess. is what you have to offer something that people would spend their nonessential money on? now? 2-3 years from now?

*create a relationship-tree. consider this to be a family tree that outlines your clients, partners, sellers/buyers, etc. this could be really helpful as you evaluate your potential market.

that be about it for now.

ciao, y'all!

a