What a fun month! I’ve been traveling like crazy.
It seems that, no matter where I go, I run into people who have a lightbulb containing a new business idea floating over their head. Once they hear that I do business development and branding strategy, they want to run their idea by me to see if it has legs.
In fact, I’ve had this conversation so many times, I thought it might be useful to share what I call a “prebusiness checklist.” If you’ve been toying with an idea and aren’t sure how to take it to reality, start here:
Prebusiness 6-Point Checklist
1. Inventory – cost & time
This can be an excel spreadsheet, or if you’re not techy, even just a basic ledger. If you’d be creating a product, make some guestimates of what it would cost you in time and materials to create one product. Then, rework the numbers to figure out what it might cost to create 100 of the product… or pick a number that seems realistic for your manufacturing system.
Looking at the numbers:
- How much could you sell the product for?
- Is there room for profit between manufacturing and selling?
- Do you need to consider a retail mark-up or do you go straight to the consumer?
- Are there volume price breaks at the larger number?
- Would you have to consider outsourcing some/all of the labor?
If the numbers encourage you to go further…
2. Brainstorm 5 business steps
Off the top of your head, brainstorm 5 things you’d need to do to start a new venture. Would it be to create a sample product? Would it be secure funding? Would it be to source materials? Would it be to find a workspace? Whatever your ideas are, just write them down on a piece of paper.
Once you have these ideas started, go to Step 3, the calendar.
3. Calendar start up and 3 months of business
Print out a 3-month calendar and block out the time you’ve already committed to other priorities (family, work, travel, etc). Then seeing the time you might have available to commit to your new venture, plug in some deadlines to complete the items listed in Step 2. Can you find time in 3 months to test your idea in a real way?
4. Create a sample product
If you haven’t already, make a sample of the product you’re envisioning. Did it fit within the material costs and time that you thought it would when you created your inventory spreadsheet? If it was more expensive or took more time, can you make adjustments?
Show the sample to people around you. What’s the feedback? Would they buy it or know someone else who would? Ask them to guess a price without giving them your numbers. Are you in the same ballpark?
5. Write down one paragraph describing your ideal customer
I put this after you work out the numbers and the time, because your idea might have shifted as you adjusted your dream to reality. Now that you really know what you’d be selling, take the time to envision your customer.
What does s/he look like? Where does s/he live? Where does s/he find your product? Is s/he a repeat customer? Could you develop referral business?
6. Write down one paragraph describing your business.
Start with a one-sentence overview. You may expand in more detail, but first create one sentence that can stand alone.
I also bring this step to the end, because I find that as you flesh out your product and your customer, it gets easier to describe your business. Be as absolutely specific as you can. Something like “I design custom-made running shoes for high school athletes” creates a specific picture in someone’s mind.
If you go through these steps and say, “Yes, I want to do this,” awesome!
If you’d like to get some coaching and/or organization around your business goals, please consider calling me. 925-413-0044. I love working with clients who are enthusiastically pursuing their dreams!
She paused a second, and then she dropped the bigger bomb. “And… if I don’t get a handle on all the volunteer jobs I’m doing, I’ll never have the time to do the paying jobs I need to grow my business and take care of my family the way I want to.”
Two hours later, I was with another new client, also working our way through her PERFECT WEEK. She hired me to help her reorganize, brand, and market two businesses she’s been coaxing along at hobby-plus level for the past couple years. I asked her to bring to the meeting a list of her regular commitments as well as any events (like vacations, moving, big celebrations) that are coming up for the next 6 months. What I discovered — in addition to being a delightful, intuitive artist, she’s a pretty typical mom – head chauffeur, kids with lots of activities, makes dinner for 4 every night, picks up dad from BART (Bay Area subway), and is involved in 6 or 7 community or art groups of her own!
She doesn’t keep a written calendar. I mean, who could even scribble a schedule when every minute is busy getting ready for the minute after it? Writing commitments down would force you to face that your life is on overwhelm. And, on overwhelm, indeed, it is. Working through the exercise proved to be a very emotional experience. There were some tears and some anger. But there was also clarity and a sense of purpose about making change.
Writing down your PERFECT WEEK means acknowledging all the commitments that stand between you and your dream. It forces you to prioritize, which can be painful. It means saying no to people who’ve become dependent on you – right or wrong. It means putting the things you want the most to the forefront, and that sometimes means that other people don’t get what they want.
After really scrubbing her PERFECT WEEK for quality time, we found two mornings that she can be at home alone for 5-hour blocks of time and 100% devoted to the business of her business. Then we blocked 2 to 3 rotating shorter periods of time during the week.
Then for the other – the more lucrative and closer to her heart – we are developing a strategy for her to kickstart it into moneymaking mode. She has all the resources for a great website in printable documents on her computer – a bio, a resume, an artist statement. She has photos of most of her art. She just needs to organize an inventory list, put the photos in one place, and firm up the pricing.
