Tag: success

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Entrepreneurs

Top 10 Business Plan Myths of Solo Entrepreneurs

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Don’t let these stop you from having a business plan for success!

A recent study of 29,000 business startups noted that 26,000 of them failed. Of those failures, 67% had no written business plan. Think that’s a coincidence?

Here’s the top 10 myths Solo Entrepreneurs often have about business plans. Usually, the reasons why they don’t have one. De-bunk the myths, and see how having a business plan for your solo business, can actually be easy and fun–and can jumpstart your success!

1. Myth: I don’t need a business plan–it’s just me!

Starting a business without a plan is like taking a trip in a foreign country without a map. You might have a lot of fun along the way, and meet a lot of friends, but you are likely to end up at a very different place than you originally set out for?and you might have to phone home for funds for your return ticket.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: Successful Solo Entrepreneurs know that the exercise of creating a business plan, really helps them think through all the critical aspects of running a business, make better business decisions, and get to profitability sooner.

2. Myth: I have to buy business plan software before I can start.

Business plan software comes in many shapes and sizes, and prices. Many are more geared at small and growing businesses with employees.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: Business plan software can be helpful but it’s not required. Software is more likely to help if you have a more traditional type business, like a restaurant or a typical consulting business.

3. Myth: I need to hire a consultant to write my business plan.

Consultants are an expensive way to have your business plan written.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: Your business IS you – and you need to be intimately involved with the creation of your business plan. A better strategy, if you think you need professional help, is to hire a coach or mentor – someone who can guide you in what you need to do, not do it for you.

4. Myth: The business plan templates I’ve seen have all these complex-sounding sections to them. I guess I need all those?

The only time you need to follow a specific outline is if you are looking for funding.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: Your business plan needs to answer ten basic questions – that’s it! Don’t make things more complicated than necessary.

5. Myth: My business plan needs to be perfect before I can start my business.

If you wait for everything to be perfectly detailed, you may never start.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: If you have at least a first draft that answers those ten basic questions, you are ready to launch your business! Make your business plan a living, evolving document. In the startup stages, review and update your plan every 2-3 months. As you grow and stabilize, you can slow down the review cycle to every 6-12 months. All business plans should be reviewed and updated at least once a year.

6. Myth: I have to do everything I say I’m going to do in my business plan, or I’m a failure.

Many Solo Entrepreneurs never start because of this myth which leaves them feeling that the success of their future business suddenly rides on each stroke of the pen or click of the keyboard!

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: Think of your business plan as a roadmap for a trip. Expect to take some detours for road construction. Be flexible enough to take some exciting, unplanned side trips. And don’t be surprised if instead of visiting Mount Rushmore, you decide to go to Yellowstone, if that turns out to meet your vacation goals better!

7. Myth: A good business plan has a nice cover, is at least 40 pages long, must be typed and double-spaced?

Business plans intended for investors, such as a bank or venture capitalist, must meet certain requirements that such investors expect.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: As a Solo Entrepreneur, your business plan need only satisfy YOU. It might be scribbled on a napkin, on stickie notes on your wall, or consist of a collage of pictures and captions. It might be all in one document or scattered among several mediums. As long as you know it in your head and heart without having to look at it, and and it is easily accessible to you when you have doubts, that’s all that is necessary.

8. Myth: I don?t need a loan – so I don’t need a business plan.

YOU are the investor in your business – and would you invest in the stock of some company without seeing a prospectus?

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: Seeing your plan in black and white (or color, if you prefer!), can give a whole new view on the financial viability of your business. If ‘doing the numbers’ seems overwhelming, remember you don’t need fancy spreadsheets. Just lay out a budget that shows where all the money is coming from (and going), and have an accountant review it for additional perspective.

9. Myth: My business plan is in my head – that’s good enough.

I don?t know about you, but I sometimes can’t remember what I planned yesterday to do tomorrow, if I don’t write it down!

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: There is a real power in writing down your plans. Some schools of thought advocate that the act of writing a plan down triggers our subconscious to start working on how to manifest that plan. And, of course, it’s a lot easier to remember when you have it in front of you. And a lot easier to share and get feedback from your non-mind reading supporters.

10. Myth: Friends and family are the best sources of feedback and advice on my business plan.

If your brother is an accountant and your best friend is a market research expert, then this might be true.

Solo Entrepreneur Reality: As well meaning as our friends and family can often be, they just aren’t the best way to get honest, objective guidance. Instead, seek out folks that have specific knowledge that will help you, are willing to be candid with you, and that have a genuine interest in helping you succeed. A business coach is one resource to consider!

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Entrepreneurs

What Is A Solo Entrepreneur?

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A Solo Entrepreneur (Solo-E) is a professional who chooses to go into business by themselves (go solo), collaborate with others, grow their business without boundaries and, more than likely, without employees. The Solo Entrepreneur may also be called a free agent, freelancer, solopreneur, self-employed, sole proprietor, personal business or home based business owner (although not all Solo Entrepreneurs are home-based.). Other terms used by government agencies that count and classify solo entrepreneurs (like the U.S. Census Bureau) include: nonemployer business, no-employee business, microbusiness (which usually means less than 5 employees), and SOHO (small office – home office).

Being a Solo Entrepreneur does not mean being isolated or being completely on your own. Solo-Es often collaborate with others and/or build alliances with other Solo-Es according to their business needs. Although many Solo-Es do not have employees, some may have up to five employees to help support their day-to-day business needs or build the business in other ways. Many find creative ways to support themselves, for example, by using virtual assistants.

What Are Typical Solo Entrepreneur Characteristics?

– A desire for personal freedom that affords them an opportunity to make unique lifestyle choices.

– Seeing themselves as entrepreneurs with a vision, a personal drive, and a passion to fulfill their dreams.

– A deep longing to succeed in their chosen area of expertise and a joy for learning.

– Believing in themselves and being passionate about what they do.

– Being committed to their quest to be solo.

– Comfortable using technologies such as the Internet to promote their business, collaborate with others, and learn.

“The thousands of people starting home based businesses confirm my belief that a new breed of person is emerging on Earth. Such a person is of higher value doing self-created work instead of a job thought up by others. This person is both independent and committed to service, highly flexible, constantly learns, and gets better and better every year.” Al Siebert, PhD., author of The Survivor Personality: Why Some People are Stronger, Smarter and More Skillful at Handling Life’s Difficulties…And How You Can be, Too.

Where Do Solo-Es Come From?

Many come from the corporate world, while others enter the world of being a Solo Entrepreneur as they change from a traditional-based small business with employees and management responsibilities to being an independent professional.

In a 1996 study, 66% of all people pushed into being solo (through downsizing or being fired), said they’d now rather be soloists than wage slaves. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were over 20 million single-person businesses in the US in 2005 — an increase of 2.7 million in just three years!

What Are The Social Changes Occurring That Are Supporting The Shift Toward Solo Entrepreneurship?

In the paper, The Swedish Solo-Entrepreneur – Extension and Characteristics (http://www.fsf.se/AhusPMkompl_slut.doc.pdf), Eva-Britt Hult and Dick Ramstr’m proposed three factors:

– A general change in attitudes toward individual choices in actions and life direction and away from working in large companies, climbing the corporate ladder in search of more money, and more employees.

– The spread of tools and techniques, including information technology developments, that enable many people to work together on projects, but not be confined to a formal organization.

– The increased volatility of the industrial sector in general, which leads to a quicker change in the fortunes, direction, and size of companies and makes it advantageous for companies to employ Solo Entrepreneurs with the right mix of talents at the right times.

Another more recent white paper written by Dawn Rivers Baker, Editor/Publisher, The MicroEnterprise Journal, addresses the many factors behind this shift, from political to economic to cultural. Read this fascinating, in-depth analysis: “THE MICROBUSINESS WAY OF GROWTH: How microbusinesses substitute operational efficiency for scale, and sacrifice organizational growth for revenue growth.” (http://www.microenterprisejournal.com/download.html)

Other Places To Read About The World of Solo Entrepreneurs:

Trading Places, Inc. magazine, November 1, 2002 (http://www.inc.com/magazine/20021101/24825.html)

What Should I Do With My Life, Fast Company magazine, January 2003 (http://www.fastcompany.com/online/66/mylife.html)

Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working For Yourself, Daniel Pink – Self-Employed Business Ownership Rates in the United States: 1979-2003, Robert W. Fairlie, University of California, Santa Cruz (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs243tot.pdf)

Where Do Solo Entrepreneurs Do Their Work?

A Solo-E’s office may be considered unconventional as compared to an office in a corporate setting. The Solo-E’s office is characterized by low overhead. It may be located in the Solo-E’s home or be a shared office, and it is used as needed. The Solo-E’s conference or meeting room may be the corner coffee shop, a local bookstore, or a client’s office.

Solo-E’s often use other tools and services such as a laptop, mobile telephone, personal digital assistant, and text messaging to support their business mobility needs.

What Drives The Solo Entrepreneur?

Daniel Pink, author of the best-selling book, Free Agent Nation, describes a revolution in how we work and live in the United States. According to Pink, four major factors are driving this new work ethic and propelling professionals to become Solo Entrepreneurs. These factors, which are listed below, are echoed in the 2000 Swedish study referenced above:

Freedom: the ability to exercise one’s will. (Pink; Free Agent Nation, 2001; p. 66) For Solo-Es one of the biggest complaints about their lives as a employees was that they disliked office politics. They felt imprisoned by all the games played in corporations.

By having freedom, Solo-Es determine when they are going to work, with whom they want to work, and where and how they are going to work. They use their freewill to make business decisions. Solo-Es feel liberated and motivated by their new freedom.

Authenticity: People want to be themselves – not wear a “mask” at work to fit into the corporate culture and environment.

Traditional work environments tend to force people to fit into a mold, and individuality often is suppressed. People express discontent with not being able to be themselves at work.

Solo-Es are able to allow their personalities, individuality, creativity, and uniqueness to shine, while being true to themselves and not ha
ving to “be someone else” in front of the boss or their peers.

Accountability: “putting one”s livelihood and reputation directly on the line. (Pink; Free Agent Nation, 2001; p. 73) Solo-Es are on the front line of their businesses. There is no one to hide behind or any coattails to ride on. This means Solo-Es are accountable for everything they do, including their business – marketing, the quality of their work, delivering what they promise to their clients, the success of their business, etc. They accept these business challenges and reap the rewards and lessons learned along the way.

Self-Defined Success: the measures of success are being redefined by Solo-Es.For Solo-Es, money and the promise of a promotion to the next rung on the corporate ladder are no longer motivators or factors in defining what it is to be successful. Solo-Es use a different measuring stick to define their success. Money remains an important factor to many, because they have to pay for their bills – but it typically is not the primary measurement of success. Instead, success is building the business they dreamed of building for years, and following their heart’s desire (or calling)–and that is what they deem success!

Success may also be defined by having the freedom to choose the work they do, the freedom to present their authentic selves in the work they do, the ability to integrate and balance their work with their life, the freedom to grow their business as they deem appropriate, and the list goes on. The criteria for success are self-defined by each Solo-E. In the 2000 Swedish study, one woman said, “My lifestyle is my big profit.”

What Are The Challenges Facing The Solo Entrepreneur?

Solo-Es often have many challenges and demands on their time, self-confidence, finances, and other resources. These challenges include:

– Having a desire to be solo, with no idea of where to start or of what is possible.

– Working through the initial start-up phase and not giving in to the temptation or pressure to go back to a corporate job or other “safe” haven.

– Having skills, products, and/or services that are in demand, but little experience or knowledge of how to package, market, and sell.

– Understanding how to cohesively fit together the relationships and elements that are part of running a business.

– Determining how to create a unique and solid brand for their business that helps position their strengths.

– Having a desire to go solo, but not knowing how to build a support network.

– Developing ongoing personal leadership skills that help them connect in more meaningful ways.

– Finding a way to transition from doing “tasks” to managing and building their business.

– Figuring out they do not have to do everything themselves, and then learning how to find and build the right alliances, as well as initiating collaborative efforts to support their business.

– Recognizing they are not alone as they make the move into the Solo-E market.

– Determining how to embrace their new career move and establish realistic and achievable goals.

In spite of these challenges, Solo Entrepreneurs find that the rewards are worth it! Being a Solo Entrepreneur is not so much a job, as a lifestyle. Solo-Es get to work when they want, doing the work they love, with people they enjoy working with. It’s a fantastic choice – one that we think more individuals will be making in the years to come.

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Success Attitude

How Do You Define Success – Failing Forward

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How do you define success?

I recently conducted a workshop on teambuilding. The workshop focused on how to build better relationship and influence others, meet them where they are. This allows you to build a mutually beneficial relationship and create a win/win for all parties.

I started out the workshop by asking the audience their definition of success. The answers ranged from satisfying relationships, a bigger house, a faster car, getting my kids through college, accomplishment, etc. I was not surprised by the answers but I was surprised by how little we understand about success.

Success is none of the above. Those are outcome of being successful. I did some research on the word success and I found that when it was first introduced into the English language the word simply meant “taking action.” As I ponder this definition, I realized it is the only definition of success that works for me.

Successful people do not experience the outcomes of success because they have a bigger house, newer car, or the children’s colleges paid for. They are successful because they took action. The actions lead to a bigger house, a newer car, etc.

Taking action is very difficult. It is difficult because people don’t know what they want to take action. They are afraid they will be wrong. When I would coach with my business clients, I always encourage them to take action – any action (within reason) because if they make a mistake we can usually correct the outcome with little difficulty. The problem is in not taking action. There is nothing to correct.

I love failure. Don’t get me wrong, I am not talking about our usually concept of being a failure (usually a self perception and acceptance of beliefs we accepted as children – whatever they are for you.) I am talking about trying something and not getting the desired results.

That means I am closer to my goal. I found out what does not work. I love Thomas Edison’s mind set. Edison never failed; he reframed everything into a success. He simply founds ways that did not work.

Think about it as if you are a rocket. A rocket does not set a course and go. No, it adjusts the course thousands of times a second. It appears to be headed straight to the target but all along its flight path it is self correcting as it moves forward.

Be like the rocket. Self correct. Accept feedback from your employees, clients, the market, your friends and family. Filter the noise and accept what makes sense and let the rest go. Be grateful that others care enough to share with you how they think you can be successful. But never give up ownership of the outcome, the result and your role in creating your success.

Let me ask the question again: How do you define success? What actions are you taking to be successful? How will you know when you are successful? How will you measure your progress? How will you take ownership? What will fuel your passion when you hit those obstacles that seem to pop up at the most inopportune moments? What ideas do you have? How will you stay focused?
Remember, success is taking action. As a good friend of mine always says:

“Go out there and make something happen.”

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Online Business

Part 2: Designing Virtual Classes Your Students Will Rave About!

Continued from Part 1

Adding Structure, Accountability and Community to Your Self-Paced Classes

In Part 1 of this series, I offered various ideas for designing your live classes to offer maximum value to your students. Beyond just learning the concepts, students have a much better chance of actually applying your wisdom in their business. If you provide these three important elements in your classes:

  • a schedule to do the learning (structure);
  • a modest work assignment each week, and a place to post completed assignments (accountability);
  • and a rich network of fellow students to share with and learn from (community).

Applying these elements in self-paced classes (i.e., written, audio and video content available to the student on their own schedule) is quite different, and perhaps more challenging, than in a live, scheduled environment. A further challenge is that often, you’ve designed these courses to be hands-off for you – truly passive. On the other hand, your self-paced classes could be a funnel to more intensive, live classes or coaching/consulting – in which case a dose of you, live, could be the tipping point.

He.re are some suggestions you can incorporate into your own course design; most can be automated, although they may require some intervention or assistance from your VA.

Structure

Live classes come with their own built-in structure, in the for.m of a fixed schedule. However, the student purchasing a learn-at-your-own-pace course has to make a real effort to schedule time to read, listen to the audio, or review the video — and resist the temptation to do something else instead. As the course designer, how can you build in structure for your customers/students?

  • Release the content on a schedule; i.e., don’t give it all to them at once. This is the concept behind an ecourse – delivering a little bit at a time.
  • Send scheduled follow-up emails. In the introduction to the course, you can suggest a schedule (one chapter a week?), then follow up once a week with a tidbit about that chapter – a case study showing actual results, a teaser, etc. I’ve seen this done by one of the big internet marketers – I signed up, and once a week I got a nudge email, something like “Have you checked out this technique in chapter 14; it could triple your sales!”
  • Help them commit to a schedule. At purchase, ask them to commit to a time/day each week to cover the content of the course. Then, send them an email with an attached Outlook recurring appointment with that schedule! They open the attachment and save it to their calendar, and viola, it’s scheduled for them.

All of these techniques can be easily automated with an autoresponder! Remember to customize the messages to make them more personal. And be prepared to respond if they reply –  or have your VA ready to handle this responsibility.

Accountability

Getting folks to read/listen/view/study the material is one thing; getting them to apply it in their business is quite another. Some of the techniques mentioned for live classes will work he.re too:

  • Ask them to sign a statement of intent to do the homework (this can be an automated part of the purchase checkout process, for instance).
  • Follow up with encouraging messages via autoresponder.
  • Offer something extra for a limited time after their purchase: a fre.e review of their homework; fre.e laser coaching to help them overcome a roadblock or problem; a regular live call where they can ask ques.tions.
  • Provide an incentive. Encourage the student to complete the course by asking them to send you their completed worksheet(s) and offering a fre.e report, audio, or even a rebate or coupon. Tie this in with structure by giving them deadlines for sections of the work. Again, your VA can handle fulfillment of these incentives.

Community

Providing peer support can be much more challenging when there are no live classes where folks meet each other, but with the proper encouragement from you, I believe it can be done!

  • Set up a bulletin board (or listserve) for all purchasers. You’ll need to be more active, especially at the beginning, to encourage folks to join and share with strangers. Autoresponders might help; but they may not be enough. This is one area where you might need to be involved directly in answering questions and providing feedback, although as your board/list “ages”, peer leaders may emerge naturally (you may even want to approach a few of them to provide continuous, paid support instead of doing it yourself.)
  • Offer a free/trial membership in your existing community. This adds value to the course; you are already interacting with your community so it’s not extra work. If this is a limited time offer, you can even upsell to your monthly community at the end of the trial.
  • Mastermind calls. Again, this requires your time- unless you can hire it out. Either way it can be very effective.

Summary

All of these techniques still require commitment on the part of the student – you can’t force students to do the work, and you also shouldn’t take it personally if a significant number of your purchasers never follow through. But you can make it easier, and going that extra mile will set you apart as a supportive, caring individual that they might want to buy from again.

Categories
Online Business

Part 1: Designing Virtual Classes Your Students Will Rave About!

Technology gives us all kinds of wonderful tools to enhance virtual classes for solo entrepreneurs. Teleconferences, audio and video recordings, both streaming and downloadable, interactive multimedia, online learning environments, automated learning tools – all great options. But while the bells and whistles might abound, what is it that REALLY makes for a great virtual learning experience?

Last January, I was having lunch with my friend/advisor Sherry Essig. We were talking about a virtual course I was taking at the time that I was really enjoying. The subject matter of that course (marketing) was one I was pretty familiar with as an MBA student, in consulting with clients, and even co-writing an e-book on the subject. So why the heck did I pay several hundred dollars to take a class on a subject I already knew a lot about? And why, when I was finished, did I feel more capable of using that knowledge to improve my business than I might have after reading another book?

As we talked, Sherry started noticing the elements I was raving about: structure, accountability, and community. What I was really paying for wasn’t the knowledge (although I definitely learned). I was paying for:

  • a schedule to do the learning ( structure);
  • a modest work assignment each week, and a place to post my completed assignments ( accountability);
  • and a rich network of fellow students to share with and learn from ( community).

Here is a look at these three elements – and how you can apply them to your own course design.

Structure

I think of structure as the element that gets me to sit down and “do the learning”; usually, in the form of a scheduled appointment, with myself or someone else. For a live class, this is a no-brainer. The scheduled classes provide the structure.

However, the trend toward offering recordings shortly after the live class can undermine the urgency of being on the call live. Recordings are invaluable when there is truly a conflict for the student (and can add value to the course overall) -but it also makes it easy for students to rationalize when they get busy (and when are solo entrepreneurs not busy?) and skip the class, knowing the recording is there whenever they get around to listening. (I’m guilty of this!) And then suddenly there is no structure, no timetable to listen to the recording. (Sometimes this means I never do get around to listening to the class.)

How do you solve this dilemma and provide the structure your students really want? I haven’t seen anyone with a good solution to this yet, but here are some ideas to experiment with:

  • Make the recordings available “on-request”. Each week anyone who needs the recording has to contact you. Most students will, I think, shame themselves into not missing more than a couple, just to avoid having to ask each week! If not, you can perhaps challenge them after the second or third request (a great coaching moment!) If the recordings are a valuable part of your offering, upload them to be available to all a week after each class, or at the end of the course.
  • Give some incentive for being on the calls live. Something above and beyond what they are paying for (i.e., you can’t penalize them for not showing up!) Free ebooks, audios, CD, etc.
  • Give an incentive for attending all the calls – sort of a perfect attendance bonus. Maybe even a modest rebate on the cost of the course!

Accountability

AKA homework. Learning and retention is enhanced when the student does something to practice what they’ve just learned; even better, if they can implement it in their business right away. So how can you encourage students to complete the homework?

  • Have students email their homework to you. You could even provide an incentive by offering valuable feedback to your students.
  • Provide a space online to post homework. Nothing like peer pressure to get some people moving! This also offers a rich opportunity for the student to ask for help; feedback, etc. (see Community, below). You can implement this with something like Moodle, a bulletin board, etc.
  • Ask students to “sign” a statement of intent to do the homework. This can help them make a promise to themselves to work hard to keep up.
  • Assign buddies to trade homework. For some, knowing that someone else is waiting can be motivating. This can also backfire if neither student complies – letting them both rationalize away the work. A threesome might work better.
  • Check in with students. Send an email and ask them how the homework is going. Sometimes they are just stuck and a few words of wisdom from you could quickly get them back on track.

Community

Just as it’s easier to stick with an exercise program with a buddy or a regular workout group, interacting with fellow students can provide the “I’m not in this alone” feeling that they sometimes need. Community can also be an excellent side benefit of taking the class; it can provide a richer learning experience as additional wisdom is shared, and students may even make connections that last long after the final class. You can create community environments for your students:

  • Create a bulletin board. Students can post homework, ask for feedback, ask questions, and share their own knowledge. Password protection is recommended, to provide a “safe” environment without fear of a silly question getting aired via search engine later.
  • Set up mastermind calls. These are calls, facilitated by you (or your teaching assistant), that are open to whatever the student(s) need to talk about, ask questions, etc. Depending on class size, you might need to break students into groups, each with their own call time, to ensure everyone gets the air time they need.
  • Set up mastermind groups. These can be very effective especially in long-running programs. You create the groups, or let students form their own. They will probably need either live help or some instructions on how to set up a powerful mastermind group.
  • Establish buddy pairs or triplets. Trading homework, weekly check-ins, giving feedback, are all possibilities to explore. For a long program, mixing up the groups midway can liven things up and give a second chance to students who just didn’t mesh with their first buddy.

Summary

We can’t make our students learn and use what we teach them. But we can provide a supportive learning environment with the structure, accountability and community elements that make true learning more likely.