Photo by The Phope on Unsplash
Of course, I’m asking about your business goals (silly! 😄). Are you an entrepreneur, solopreneur, or dream of being one? This is for you.
You probably have an idea, a dream, or vision of what you should be doing every day to start or grow your venture. But without an over-arching, ultimate purpose, all your hard work every day will be without direction and focus. It’s a great way to keep busy, but not the way to get to where you want to go. Like when you set out on a road trip, making random turns without a destination. You’ll end up somewhere, but you’ll be disappointed to find it’s not where you expected.
Running a business this way is a hobby. You’re in it for the fun of doing the work, and that’s all. But you want more than that, don’t you? You work every day at something to build up your client base – advertise, get subscribers, make or order your products, plan and package your services, come up with a name and logo and website.
Hold on a sec! Do you know your big What? What are you selling? Who is it for (your Ideal Customer)? How will you get them to find you, and then realize they need you?
And the other big one: Do you know your big Why? What is the thing that’s going do drive you to put in the time, sweat bullets, cry when things aren’t working – in order to make your business succeed? My big Why is to get out of debt, quit my day job, and have complete freedom over my life and income. My What is helping ventures like yours succeed so you can put your creativity at the center where it belongs.
When you know you’re doing it to make a better place for your clients, that takes the burden (and intimidation) off of you, and onto your business. Sometimes we’re a little scared of our own success, aren’t we?
Some questions to ask yourself:
If you were guaranteed to not fail, what services or products would you be offering?
What kinds of people energize you? Creative types? Business types? Athletes? Musicians? Comedians? Jockeys? Brides? Engineers? Teachers? Scientists? You get the idea. What are the characteristics of the people you enjoy most?
After choosing the group of people you want to serve, decide what their needs are. Probably the best way to get accurate feedback is by just asking them! Email, text, call…however you feel comfortable. I’ve even sent out surveys that I made on Typeform. They’re free and easy to do.
It’s tempting when starting out to want to offer everything you possibly can to everyone who knows you. This is a mistake; without a specialty niche you’ll end up floundering. You want to build a brand that is associated with you. More on this at a later date.
So, some sparks to light up your thoughts in a positive direction. Questions? Comments? Stick ’em in the “Comments” below.
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