Steps to Actually Going from Zero to Business - When I Grow Up

Steps to Actually Going from Zero to Business - When I Grow Up Take the Next Step by Hunter Haines If  my middle name wasnt Leslie, itd be Build A Creative Career That Youll Love. I think itd be  Rebecca Traceys middle name, too which is why I loved hearing her perspective on how to make it happen. Heres her super-smart and insightful take: Let’s face it. Our beloved interwebs is overflowing these days with advice about how to quit your job and do what you love. And I couldn’t be more thrilled that so many people are jumping on board (or jumping ship? Which is it?) and deciding to do their own thing. It’s really amazing and inspiring to see so many people following what moves them. It can also be really overwhelming. They make it seem to easy, don’t they!? And it can be easy if you understand ahead of time what you’re getting yourself into, and you set yourself up for success. So I wanted to give a little breakdown of what I see as the Big Picture in how to make your dream online business happen. You know the one that lets you work from anywhere (I am currently in the airport on my way to Santo Domingo, where I will be living for the next few months). There is a LOT that goes into making this kind of lifestyle sustainable, and I wanted to chunk it up into 3 parts so you have an idea of where to start and where you are headed. Without further ado, here are the Three Major Steps to building a creative career that you love! 1. Find an idea. Sounds simple. Trust me, it’s not always as easy as you want it to be. There are so many factors to consider! It’s a sweet combination of what you love to do, what you’re good at, what wouldn’t drive you totally mental if you had to do it everyday from now til the distant future, and what people will actually PAY you for. Oh, and of course, all of that has to be smooshed together to fit the kind of lifestyle you actually want to have. It’s a lot to think about. And my best advice is to get about 70-80% clear on something that feels good, and roll with it! It will change and evolve as you go. Most of us get stuck in analysis paralysis mode, endlessly waiting for the PERFECT idea to come to us, and never being willing to start before we really feel ready. Don’t let this happen to you! Pick something that feels close enough, and run with it.   Nothing is un-changeable and it will evolve as you go. 2. Learn to run a business (and fall in love with learning). The dirty little secret of all entrepreneurs is that we didn’t start out being in love with our businesses. We started out being in love with the passion behind our business, and the lifestyle our businesses would bring us. But we didn’t love learning to make a website, and figuring out how to make sure our newsletters got sent on time, and learning about marketing, and branding, and customer service, and how the hell to find your first clients, and the best scheduling software to use, and accounting and bookkeeping, and UGH so many things! They don’t really tell you when you start a passion-based business that you’re going to have to take on about 100 other jobs. But it’s part of the game. And the sooner you learn to love the business side of your business, the better it will work out for you. And you never know where it will bring your business when you have all these new skills under your belt! I’m SO in love with the business side of my business now that I’m actual ly teaching a course to new coaches about how to jumpstart their coaching businesses! Starting out as an entrepreneur usually means about 20% doing your thang, and 80% other business-y stuff and if you hate what you spend most of your time doing, you’ll never stick with it. Fall in love. 3. Stay motivated and keep moving forward. You get a great idea. You take all the business courses. You’re ready to rock. But then it doesn’t happen as fast as you want. You start to feel overwhelmed. You start to question whether you even want this anymore. Where are the clients? How the hell are you going to afford your rent at this rate? Here’s where most people drop off the face of the entrepreneurial planet. They expect results IMMEDIATELY, and when they don’t get them, they freak out. But please don’t let that be you! If I have learned anything in my coaching business, it’s that the ones who succeed are the ones who believe that it is possible. The ones who, even when the going is tough and they have no idea HOW they will make it happen, keep plugging forward, problem solving, trying new things, and believing in their vision. That’s what makes the difference between a successful entrepreneur and one who doesn’t make it. Stay connected to why you started this business in the first place, get excited about what is possible, and keep on truckin’. Small baby steps add up, but you must keep taking the steps! I’d love to hear what step you’re in with the process! Just getting ideas? Learning the business side of business? Keeping yourself psyched about what the future of your business holds? Tell us in the comments below! As a Life-Switch Coach + Professional Adventure Instigator and creator of TheUncaged Life, Rebecca Tracey works with people who want to do something big  with their lives, like travel, quit their job, or start their own business (or all three)  but who need help creating a plan, staying on track, and beating out nagging resistance and fear. She also loves working with new entrepreneurs to help themdesign businesses THEIR way (if you’re a new coach who wants to jumpstart your coaching biz, check out her upcoming program!). Rebecca is an avid traveller and rock climber, and is always on the lookout for her next big adventure