Start your own business-six part break out strategy.

Published: 05th April 2011
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Are you in a job that you hate? Are you the rebel, the specialist who loathes the politics, is bored with constant unnecessary meetings and driven mad by the general lack of interest in new innovations.
Do you like the thrill of change, always eager for the next new venture? Is your idea of security to never be the victim of corporate mergers, down sizing or engineering?

Are you a fiercely independent risk-taker who can comfortably handle the uncertainty of being responsible for your own pay check?

Then being your own boss gives you freedom to do things your way and implement your own plans.
Of course, you live or die by your decisions, but that's what's good about it isn't it?
Answering "yes" to all these questions put me squarely in the entrepreneurial ring more than two decades ago, and I can honestly say I've never been happier. Or richer. Or more in control of my life and career.

If you have a passion for the thrill and independence of being an entrepreneur plus commitment to follow through on that passion, this 6-part breakout formula will take you wherever you want to go.

Step One

Find a niche market for the product or service you can offer. A niche market is composed of individuals and businesses that have similar interests and needs, which can be readily identified and that can be easily targeted and reached.

Finding a niche for your business involves finding a great product or service for a highly targeted audience.

Choose a niche product or service you are knowledgeable and passionate about. Reflect on what skills, hobbies or products you know the most about.

Define your niche market - do the necessary research to see if there is a market for your niche product. If you're going to master a niche market, you need to have a unique product or service. Ideally, you want to be the only one selling what you're selling.

Find a successful company similar to the one you envision owning, and study how it started and how it grew. Learn as much as possible about the entrepreneur behind it. Devour books and publications related to your business concept. Talk to other entrepreneurs to discover their best practices.

Step Two

Decide whether to operate full-time or moonlight: There are some interesting advantages and some pitfalls in operating as a moonlight business. The advantages of starting as a moonlighter outweigh the risks: Your full-time job won't suffer if you maintain certain conflict of interest disciplines, including keeping your job and business completely separate worlds. There are great advantages for operating a family business. If you are a moonlighter the family can run the business while you are at work, so that you have a built-in organizational structure.
There are also some pitfalls to consider in starting a moonlight business: There is a temptation to spend time at your job working on your moonlight business. That is unfair to your employer and should not be done under any circumstances. (You may need a family member or some trusted person to cover emergencies when you are at your job.)
Another problem may be competing with your employer, which is not right. Think of how you would feel or handle this employee if you were the boss. Any kind of conflict with your regular work can jeopardize your job and your moonlight business.
Step Three

As an entrepreneur-in-training, you'll need to build basic and advanced leadership skills. A successful entrepreneur is a bold visionary, seeing what others cannot and willing to follow that vision despite nay sayers. Many entrepreneurs never finished college, but that hasn't stopped them from owning successful companies. They relied heavily on their visions, not on MBA programs.

You must be the guiding force that inspires your managers and staff to follow your vision. You'll shoulder responsibility and hold yourself personally accountable for the outcome. As a leader you have to focus on the big picture and trust others to focus on the details. People who do it all are self-employed but not entrepreneurial.

Above all you must grow your enterprise and make a profit. People who say, "I love it so much I'd do it for free," are not entrepreneurs-they're volunteers. Most entrepreneurs are willing to start small and grow slowly, but they fully expect to make money. There is nothing noble about being poor or failing financially


Step Four

You must take action. Successful people take action, unsuccessful people don't.It is by taking action that we change reality and it is by taking action that we get results. Urgency is a vital part of achievement for any successful person. I have known many people who have had great aspirations, great plans, and great goals. But, they ended up achieving very little... It is not enough to aspire. It is not enough to set goals. It is not enough to make great plans. You must act.


W. Clement Stone, who built an insurance empire worth hundreds of millions dollars, would make all his employees recite the phrase, "Do it now!" again and again at the start of each workday.


Step Five

Nothing Happens Until Something Gets Sold. This world presents almost infinite possibilities and options so that people are more confused about what to do than ever before.
Technology has not made our lives less complicated. We have more choices. We have more things to understand and less time to understand them.
So, there is a huge gap between what we know and all there is to know. This gap is getting even wider creating more confusion and dissatisfaction in peoples lives.

Most people rarely experience peace in their lives. Peace is a fleeting state and is quickly replaced by more confusion. People are confused and dissatisfied about a lot of things in their lives and will seek a solution until an answer is found that satisfies them. The other side of confusion is the emptiness that people feel. The void is always looking to be filled with something.

Wow! …After reviewing these we might say that people are a "mess". Well, yes they are a "mess". They are always seeking to fill a void or seeking some kind of satisfaction and they are rarely at peace with themselves or the world. The void creates demand for every kind of goods and services imaginable.

People are also confused about what to buy making it necessary to think up all kinds of ways to convince them that any particular purchasing option is the correct one.
This is the psychology that every successful entrepreneur understands.

Deciding to open your own business may be your dream. Understanding the above will be critical to your success.

Step Six

Have a strategic plan Jumping into business without a strategic plan is like jumping in the ocean without knowing how to swim.

To create the plan, envision your enterprise exactly as you want it to be. Then write down your goals and objectives for achieving that vision. For each goal, create a strategy and a target date for achieving it. Assess your strengths. You already possess knowledge, skills and experience your enterprise will draw on. One of my strengths is that I'm persistent and go for it all the way. List all your strengths that apply to your enterprise.

Then appraise your challenges. They might involve market penetration, profitability, expertise, competition or location. When my company grew, a new challenge surfaced: my inability to delegate. Without addressing that weakness, I might have worked solo forever, never achieving the bigger vision. That challenge led me to seek the right resources to overcome this shortcoming. How will your challenges impact your goals?

Finally, act like a CEO. Create an income and spending plan. Know where your money is going, question every expense and keep the cash flow positive. That means taking in more money than you pay out, plain and simple. Make a budget and stick to it.

After being an entrepreneur for more than two decades, I'm happier, more alive and more constantly challenged than I ever imagined when I started. Answering "yes" to some simple questions about myself made all the difference. If you're independent, determined and driven and your desire for adventure leads you to entrepreneur ship.I guarantee this tested formula will take you wherever you want to go.

Dave Evans is the author of the NEW "Think Big And Live Big": Learn Secret Big Thinking Attitudes That Will Help You Win What You Want In Life! Discover How Successful people approach Problems and Make Decisions
Click Here Now http://www.thinkbigandlivebig.com


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