You’re here! Which means you were probably looking through Pinterest trying to find a way to earn money from home because you feel stuck at your corporate job and all you really want is to stay home with your kids but can’t justify the loss of income. And, along the way, you’ve encountered an overwhelming amount of information, most of which seems far fetched at the best and a complete scam at the worst.
Am I at least half right?
Well, you’ve come to the right blog. This is a 100% scam free place and I am going to tell you how to lay the foundations for a profitable mom business.
I’ve come from a long line of entrepreneurs. Most of my Mom’s side of the family either own their own business or work for a family run business. It must run in my blood because ever since I was little I’ve wanted to be the founder of something. As an adult I’ve started and stopped about 5 businesses. I’m the one that makes the statistics on “failed” businesses so high 😉 In reality, I don’t feel as though I’ve failed once but have learned an incredible amount along this journey.
Charming Imperfections, my current and longest lasting business was started two years ago and has made my husband and I a very nice side income especially since this last summer.
Obviously business is a passion of mine and I love to share with other women (moms in particular) how they can start their own business and realize the same freedom that I enjoy.
But starting a business isn’t as easy as it sounds and, actually, most people do it completely the wrong way. I certainly did, and paid for that mistake in both time and money. It’s not a fun path to go down and definitely not one I’d like you to follow.
So, here are some of the steps you must take to lay the foundations for a profitable business:
Step 1: Your “Why”
Whenever you begin a big journey in your life you have an ingrained “why” that motivates you. For things like loosing weight and saving money, you are easily reminded of your “why” every time you look in the mirror or use your debit card. Those reminders drive you onward and make the struggle bearable.
As I said before, starting a business, especially as a stay at home mom, is hard and you’ll need that motivation to remind you why you are doing it.
To define your “why” sit down and write your big dreams for your business and your goals. This is the best way to start and will help you stick with your idea.
Step 2: Research
Please do not start your business on guessing like so many do. If you want to succeed and profit, you have to do your research and learn about who your target market is and how your product or service is going to help them. Having this information defined ahead of time will guide your decisions and ensures longevity for your business.
Step 3: Validate
Once you’ve collected some data on who you are selling to and what you are offering, take the extra step of pre-validating. This can be done in several different ways:
- Take a survey of your potential customers
- Ask your friends and family
- Offer cheap or free prototypes of your product or service
- Ask yourself: Does anybody make money on this idea already?
- Do a pre-launch sale
Don’t put too much work into something if you fail to gather interest at this step of validation. Trust me, it’s a waste of your precious time.
Step 4: Define your target market
You’ve had a chance to think a little on who you are selling to, but now you need to really “flesh out” that ideal customer. Where do they live? How old are they? Are they male or female? What is their socioeconomic status (low income, high income?) What do they do for fun? Where do they shop? Etc.
Write all this down in a place where you can easily access at any time, because you are going to be so glad to have this to guide your future marketing, branding, and product decisions.
Step 5: Competition
Tread softly here. I do not want you getting discouraged, but I do want you to take a good look at who your potential customers might be turning to. If you don’t know your competition, how can you ever improve and stand out?
Take a look at what they do well. What would you do differently? How much do they charge? Etc.
Step 6: Understand today’s consumer
The world is changing very quickly and consumers in 2016 are very unlike the ones from 2006 and 1996. One of the easiest things to do when you are just starting out is appeal to today’s society with an updated look and methods, yet I see so many business owners who take advice from 10-20 years ago and begin two steps behind.
Here are some things to note about today’s market:
- Internet driven
- Short attention span
- Crave personal connection
- Like to support a cause
- Shy from traditional marketing
- Prefer handmade
- Will use instead of own
- Subscription friendly
If you take this advice to heart and don’t get too anxious to jump right in with opening social media accounts, a website, and sign the lease on a building, you’ll be giving yourself a much better chance at starting a business that prospers. I challenge you to beat the odds and flip the statistics upside down!
Now, there is a whole lot more to this subject than what I could cram into a blog post. That is why I’m hosting a live masterclass webinar on November 10th that goes into much greater detail on how to start your business out right. This live training is what is going to take you from a dreamer to someone who is savvy, confident, and know what direction they are going. Most importantly, it will help you earn an income so you can have the freedom to stay home with your kids.
Click here for more information and to register.
Your chance to sign up is limited, so do it now before you miss it forever!
And please, share this post with your friends! Pin the image below! I hope you’ve learned a lot and I can’t wait to see you at the webinar!
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