Now, more than any other time in history, small businesses are being founded. They are being founded by people of color and women; leaving many asking the question, "How'd she do that"?
While each entrepreneur's journey is unique to them and no two will travel the same small business path, creating your own source of income doesn't have to be as difficult as some people would make it seem...coming from someone who has done it. How did she do it? Read on to get some great actionable tips that you can use to start living in your truth and starting that idea you've been thinking about for years.
Have a plan
The first and smartest thing to do once you make a commitment to starting your own business venture is to have a plan/strategy for how you're going to approach it. Some people have business plans, and some don't. I find that the need for the business plan is directly related to what external sources you may be requesting investments from.
If you're going at it alone and plan on doing your business part time just to start and don't yet have all everything figured out that a business plan will capture, that's ok. Having a strategy will help here. You still need to have a general idea of how you'll work, how you'll sell, who you'll sell to and why you're selling this thing that you're creating your business around. Once you've nailed down those particulars (which may take a few months), go ahead and start your b-plan at that time, just to get the idea out of your head and get clear on where you're going with the idea and business.
Continue Learning
Starting a business can sometimes feel like college or b-school. You learn so much about so many things that may not have anything to do with what you're in business for. Take me for example, I'm a fashion designer....but I have to learn about web design, social media marketing, graphic design, HR and countless other subjects that have nothing to do with fashion. But if I desire to run a fashion business, then it's in my best interest to be well versed on all of these subjects so I can run the best business possible-especially in the beginning when funds may be an issue.
The Nic Hyl Small Business Initiative
One of my personal initiatives as a small business owner is to help other small business owners; I'm very passionate about this. To that end I currently host bi-weekly chats on Clubhouse. The chats are part of a series called, Exposed: BTS of Building A Brand. Every Monday and Wednesday at 6pm est I interview a different expert/guru in their topic of expertise and share that information for FREE with anyone that is on the chat.
To date, I've hosted rooms with people sharing actionable, valuable information from marketing to social media, to finding funding to start your venture, to customer service and everything in between.
Follow me on clubhouse to be notified when the chats start, @nichyl on Clubhouse.
S.C.O.R.E
S.C.O.R.E. is an office funded by the Small Business Administration that offers free 1-on-1 help entrepreneurs on a wide range of topics from former CEO's, business owners and captains of industry. You do have to schedule an appointment with your local branch to et started, but it's so valuable and helpful, especially in the early days of starting your business.
Prepare
One of the biggest assets a business owner can have is planning/forethought-whatever you want to call it. Being reactionary can be the kiss of death for any business. You want to thoughtful and methodical about your approach to everything that concerns your business. Preparing can mean the difference to having enough inventory to market your holiday sale or not even realizing the holidays are approaching.
When you consider that most businesses need to either create buzz, create product or both, you don't have the luxury of waiting until the last minute and expecting that you'll get the results you want. So get a journal to write down all of your amazing ideas and get a calendar/agenda to plan them all out. Thank me later.
What are you doing to work towards making this dream of yours a reality? I'm living proof that you can do it with some work, using the resources you have access to and planning. And I mean you can start now, today, where you are with what you have. You've got this!
Follow the brand on IG (@nichylclothing) or signup for the newsletter in the footer below to to stay up to date with what I do for small business.
xoxo,
Nic Hyl