It’s a common workday dream.
Marching into your boss’s office armed with your notice, because you’re about to ditch the 9 to 5 forever. When your colleagues ask why you’re leaving, you’re happy to explain. “I’m setting up my own business, doing something I love!”
This scenario is a popular dream for a reason.
Setting up your own business is a scary thing to do, especially if you’re not equipped with the right skills.
Note: I’m not talking about the expert skills you’re selling, but the skills you need to run a successful business – which are often VERY DIFFERENT.
But if you’ve never started a business before, how can you possibly know everything you need to know about running a successful one?
This is the classic ‘chicken and egg’ dilemma, and it’s a large part of the reason why 50% of new businesses fail in their first three years of trading.
I know EXACTLY how it feels to start a business without the right skills (though I didn’t know this at the time, of course!)
I became a Business Mentor because I wanted to guide other brave Solopreneurs through the process, helping them avoid the same mistakes I made myself.
And there’s one ‘tried and tested’ technique I often recommend to budding solopreneurs and freelancers.
Start with a Side-Hustle
Test the business waters with a SIDE-HUSTLE before making the leap into full-time self-employment!
You probably know what a ‘Side-Hustle’ is: paid work you do in addition to having a regular salaried job.
The obvious benefit to starting a side-hustle is that you’ll still get paid, which means you’ll have financial security as you grow your business and equip yourself with the skills you need to be successful…
…so that in time, your side-hustle can become your MAIN hustle!
I Started a Side-Hustle 24-Years Ago
Like a great many budding entrepreneurs, I discovered something I loved, was good at, and wanted to do more of – preferably whilst getting paid.
I trained as an Image Consultant after I was given a gift of something called a ‘colour analysis’ for my 40th birthday. It’s no exaggeration to say that this gift changed my life.
After what felt like a lifetime of melting into the background in black, I started wearing bright colours that not only suited me, but expressed my naturally loud personality.
I finally felt like myself… which was so wonderful and exhilarating that I wanted to help others feel EXACTLY the same!
So I worked around my corporate day job on evenings and weekends, helping my clients express their personalities through the clothes they wore.
I loved this work so much that moving into Personal Branding was the logical next step.
Suddenly, I was travelling here, there, and everywhere to help people develop a wide range of image-related skills: everything from interview preparation to public speaking.
From there, I moved into working with business owners on personal and company brand development, as well as marketing, website development and social media strategy so they could make the business impact they were looking for.
In case you were wondering, yes – all of this was still my side-hustle!
As much as I dreamed about working for myself full-time, I didn’t feel confident enough to say goodbye to my regular, very generous, salary… although I had started reducing my corporate hours to fit everything in.
Then Came Redundancy – I Couldn’t Have Been Happier!
It was just the push I needed.
I imagined taking my redundancy package and channelling it into a golden future of self-employment. But as we all know, life often doesn’t work out in quite the way we plan.
A global recession hit, my pension was defrauded soon afterwards and my business began to dwindle. Before long, I felt so dejected that I considered admitting defeat and looking for another job. I certainly couldn’t afford to carry on as I was for much longer.
I then realised that while I loved what I did, and while I had really valuable expertise people were just not willing to pay for it (they took it for free, believe me!). Conclusion? I didn’t have a clue how to run a business and how to get clients to pay me.
Passion Alone Just Wouldn’t Cut It
That was what led to my lightbulb moment… that passion alone just wouldn’t cut it.
I knew that if I wanted to be successful, I had to forget about the ‘shiny’, comfortable aspects of having a business (like fancy website design and endless, cosy chats over coffee). I had to understand exactly what was going on behind the scenes. I was going to have to roll my sleeves up and learn the mechanics of business.
So that’s exactly what I did.
Nearly 25 years on, I’m still a successful Solopreneur. I can’t imagine ever being anything else!
What Now?
These days, I use the lessons I’ve learned and the valuable experience I’ve gained to help other talented Solopreneurs, Freelancers, and Side-Hustlers start and grow the THRIVING businesses they deserve!
All business owners want a successful, rewarding business. But it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture, zeroing in on just one thing (more often than not, marketing) and hoping for the best.
That’s why I’ve developed a 360-degree business model… so NOTHING gets missed.
My 360-Approach
It’s a holistic approach that includes what I have identified as the five keys to business success – Motivation, Management, Money, Marketing, and Mindset.
My Five Ms align business areas, so each one gets the right amount of focus. So rather than sticking with what you know, or channelling all your efforts into one area that you think will make the biggest impact, you’ll be focusing on your business as a whole.
And by doing that, you’ll answer common business questions like:
- Why isn’t my business making money?
- Why aren’t I getting new customers from all the marketing I’m doing?
- Why aren’t I making more sales?
- Why have I never got any time?
- Why is it just not working?!!
If these issues and questions speak to you (they definitely spoke to me, all those years ago!) then I’d love to hear from you.
And check this out. Here’s how you can take my 360-approach in your business.