After awhile you start thinking about freelancing & if you should start a business. Hell, you have to do something to keep your spark alive. My advice – JUST GO FOR IT – Freelancing is the quickest way to grow your portfolio & up-skill.
The sooner you start the better. Even small steps in the right direction means progress.
When I first started freelancing I found it quite overwhelming, even with marketing experience. But I was determined to start a business so I just went for it.
I had a ton of questions but I didn’t have anyone to bounce off.
Do I use my name or come up with a business name?
What services will I offer?
What type of work will I enjoy most?
How will I find clients?
What kind of prices should I charge?
And the list goes on.
Fortunately determination and plenty of researching helped me learn and grow.
I couldn’t even guess how many hours I’ve spent on google, reading how to guides, watching training videos and listening to podcast. It would be an enormous number!
This wasn’t the easy way to go about it & if I had my time over again I would follow these tips below.
6 Tips to Start a Business Today:
1. Develop a game plan
Most people like to skip planning but I can guarantee that it will help you launch your business quicker. Even if you give yourself just a few hours to plan it is well worth it because once you know who your ideal client is, how you will help them and have a strategy everything else comes easily.
If you haven’t got a plan or strategy in place yet I recommend downloading my 5 Step Profitable Business Plan Workbook.
2. Solve a problem
It’s easy to start by focusing on things you can sell to make money. This isn’t a great approach. You need to be thinking about what you can help people with and what problem can you solve for them? When a potential client finds your business and your offering is exactly what they need to solve their problem, it will be a no brainer for them to buy from you. This line of thought also helps you understand your client’s needs and nail your messaging.
3. Know the market
You want to make sure you really understand your niche market before you invest any time or money into marketing your business. I suggest finding a few competitors that are doing well & follow their efforts. Studied them & learn what’s working for them. This is a great way to asses what you need to focus on so you can start developing your marketing strategies (note, you need more than one if you want to be successful).
4. Start small
For most new businesses it takes awhile to build a following and gain traction so the quicker you get online the better. I suggest building your website, creating some valuable/relevant content and getting onto social media as quickly as possible. When you have a business you need to actively market your offering because unfortunately the build it and they will come approach simply does not work.
5. Progress not perfection
When you’re creating anything for the business it does not have to be perfect! I used to get carried away with tweaking colours, fonts, layouts, images over & over. (Bet I’m not the only guilty designer!). When all you need is a professional design & strong messaging. You will find time later on for tweaking, just get your business up & running!
6. Invest in yourself
Make sure you invest in learning and getting help when you need it. You can’t do all the things. Trust me I tried! I found myself really burnt out and on the verge of saying it’s all too hard. It’s okay to ask for help & support along the way.
So I hope this post makes starting a business seem less daunting. It really doesn’t have to be a stressful or hard process. With the right people by your side you will be killing it in no time!
If you’re ready to start a business download the workbook below and get planning!
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