How to move your business from Zero to One

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” Lao Tzu

(Startups.ie)What a relevant quotation to use in business. It has never been as easy to make a living from what you are passionate about. But the thought of starting can seem a thousand miles away.

Not everyone can make a living from what they enjoy, but they can be definitely try to. It is advisable to use a stepped approach to a starting a new business. Once your bills and other financial commitments are covered each month by your day job you can now explore your passion.

Here are some ways you can explore before you commit to jumping in to a new business full time.

Start small.

Starting out you don’t have to have a 100% finished business,

all you have to do is make a start. There are a number of ways to test your products/goods or service. Friends, family and work colleges are usually a business’s first customers, other popular options are Local farmers markets these are a great way to test your goods.

Concentrate on one thing at a time.

So you start off sell/making/providing a good or service on a part time basis, it is important to concentrate on just one thing at a time and not to get ahead of yourself. Doing too much too quick can have an over bearing effect on you. Better to do one thing well than doing ten things bad. Once you have developed one thing well you can try the next thing.

Make your product /service better than anything else out there.

Chances are if you have an idea; there is someone already in that market, one way to differentiate yourself is to have a better quality good or service. By concentrating on quality you are also establishing your target market. EG. What is the difference between a restaurant and a take away? Both have the same goal to sell food, Quality of service may be the key differential.

Be willing to learn

Develop a learning mindset, if you work as an nurse and you want to bake cakes, learn all you can about the business, if you’re a electrician and you want to become a message therapist, do the courses. Educate yourself and apply what you learn. Don’t be put in a career box. If you have a real interest in something you owe it to yourself to try.

Once you have explored how viable your business can be, you can decide whether to commit to it full time or continue on a part time basis.

Take that first step, and see how far the journey takes you, the knowledge you get from the experience and the people you will meet along the way will make it worth your while.

Martin