By KC Miller - SWIHA Success Center Blogger
Going into business for yourself isn’t something to be taken lightly. However, if you wait for all the lights to turn green, you might never leave the driveway of your mind! There is an old saying, “It is better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.” The same is true about business. While it may be true many small business fail, many make it! Here are some tips to help you GO for it!
1. GO get a business card.
Decide what you are willing to offer as a service, claim it as yours, and put it on a card. You can get inexpensive business cards by going to websites like www.VistaPrint.com or www.123print.com . Often your first set of up to 250 cards will be free. Order them! Your card will likely change many times over the first couple of years; it is part of the process. Create . . . and adjust.
2. GO make a website or blog.
It’s very easy and inexpensive to create a website or blog. And once you have one, you are in business! Recent research has revealed that over eighty-five percent of consumers search for businesses online. Blog platforms like Wordpress.com or Blogger.com are easy and inexpensive, sometimes even free, if you don’t mind having the company name as part of your url. Go Daddy, a web hosting company, recently came out with an inexpensive tool that makes building a website on your own extremely easy, and their customer service support is exceptional as well! In a matter of a few hours you can have an entry-level website, known as a landing page, built.
3. GO to the Secretary of State’s website in your state.
Check to see if the business name you are considering is available. It is a simple process of looking up your state’s Secretary of State website, then typing in your desired business name. Once you get the ball rolling you won’t want to stop the momentum by having to go back and change your name because someone else has already legally claimed the name. IF the name is taken, it wasn’t meant to be yours. Choose again and get going.
4. GO to the bank.
GO to the bank and start a separate business checking account. Start by depositing $100 into this account as a token of your 100 percent commitment to make your new business work. Pay for all your business expenses out of your business account. Deposit all of your new business income into this account. Do not co-mingle personal and business expenses. If it is a business expense, pay it from the business account; if it is a personal expense, pay it from your personal account.
While it is true you may have to just turn around and write a check back to yourself to deposit into your personal account, that’s the point. You want your business to generate enough to pay YOU. The more careful you are with your accounting, the easier it will be when it comes to reporting income taxes. All the expenses from your business account will become write-offs.
5. GO to places where like minded people mingle.
Being in business means getting out and meeting people face to face, eye to eye. Go to networking meetings, events and gatherings, maybe even to church. The key is to GO and mingle. Talk to people. Ask them about themselves. Find out what makes them tick. Make it a personal challenge to determine how your product or service can best support their needs. Don’t sell them ~ serve them!
6. GO to classes.
GO to classes and read a lot of books. Starting a business is not a natural talent for most people. It is a learned skill. Take a class from the Small Business Administration, many of which are online. Southwest Institute of Healing Arts offers a set of courses in their 100 Hour Certificate of Excellence in Holistic Entrepreneurship, as well as lifelong entrepreneurial support for students and graduates through Our Success Center.
7. GO forward together.
The greatest momentum can be achieved when you are working with others who are starting their businesses or private practices in a support group or mastermind setting. The ideal situation is to meet weekly. Each week focus on a topic or area of business development. When possible, have a guest speaker who is a specialist in the given area of business. Each week make commitments to the group as to what you plan to accomplish that week. The key to the success for a support group and your business is to be publicly accountable and report your accomplishments! State publicly what you intend to accomplish and then do it! The classic success book written decades ago entitled Think and Grow Rich outlines mastermind groups and documents their success. Together Everyone Achieves More is the definition of TEAM..
8. GO to social media sites.
GO to social media sites and get connected. This is the first time in history you can build your business and not leave your house.
Facebook and LinkedIn are great resources to search for people you would like to get to know and eventually do business with. A site you might consider is ConsciousLivingSpace.com, designed especially for holistic-minded people who want to grow their healing arts businesses. Set aside an hour a day to get connected worldwide. Explore Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and GooglePlus. Social media means being social virtually! Get connected and stay connected!
9. GO to your knees often.
Whether literally or figuratively. Give thanks for your many blessings. Gratitude is one of the surest ways to increase your success.
About KC Miller
KC Miller has been a go-getter for over 40 years and a true pioneer as a Holistic Entrepreneur. As a longtime massage therapist, reflexologist, Reiki Practitioner, Life Coach, Toe Reader and Ordained Minister she knows firsthand that you can create a business out of thin air with purpose and passion. Her original motto was: Let me be an instrument in the peace and healing of others. From her private practice KC grew the awarding-winning nationally accredited private college, Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. The mission statement has changed to reflect with even more passion KC’s commitment to holistic entrepreneurship: “We inspire individuals to discover the gifts and graces and support them in taking their skills into the world in a loving and profitable way.”
