Back to the grindstone, back to the same old maybe not going anywhere job, feeling closed in by a company that is anything but merit-based? Time to run your own show?

Naawwww…yeah? If you’ve even spent an hour investigating running your own company then you’ve probably heard the black and white, the bad and the good, but what about the grey, and the not so written about?

After 8 years in the digital space maybe our experience can help give you a picture of how you can start your own business and build it into something that replaces and then expands on the money bring in now.

Changing Financial Focus

Realistically starting a business means changing the focus of your financial investment strategy. You need to be prepared to budget for what you want to do, putting estimates around the costs you think you’ll need to outlay. You’ll also need to be realistic about other investments – thinking of buying a house? That may need to wait.

Supporters and Advisors

You need to run your ideas by people you respect and by people that know about the industry you’re about to jump into (these could be the same people). They’ll help you flesh out what you want to do and how you can get potential customers to respond positively to your ideas.

You need to talk to your significant other and make sure they support what you’re doing and can give you some encouragement on tough days when things aren’t going your way. And don’t forget about your mum or dad – at least one or both think you hung the moon regardless!

So how do you start making money?

Get a Shopfront

You need a marketplace/showroom/shopfront where people can come and find you. Even better if that place is open 24/7. eCommerce might not be for everyone but in our experience using a website to complete some or all of a transaction with your customers will mean they save time and so do you – this of course is almost as good as the thing you are selling.

Build a network

Maybe you already have one but they don’t know what you’re up to? Every week you need to be pursuing opportunities large and small to get noticed for what you eventually want to do full time.

If you’re selling to other businesses then LinkedIn is a great way to professionally advertise what you do and establish your credibility. If you’re selling to consumers then you need to consider Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or even Snapchat, it all depends on who your target market is.

Just as valuable as online is good old face to face networking. It’s so much easier to build credibility and get people’s attention when they’ve met you face to face. Investigate industry bodies and groups that potential clients belong to and make sure you attend industry events – this is always money incredibly well spent.

Know your Sales Process

Statistics continually tell us it takes an average of 7 interactions with a client to bring them onboard. That means you need to build a marketing plan around how you will reach them multiple times without having to invent 7 different types of marketing.

You should also have a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool that you can store current and future customer details in.

A CRM will allow you to track every time you spoke with a customer, what messages and marketing they received and where they are in the sales pipeline – cool, warm or hot lead?Preferably its something you log into online so that you can access it anywhere, anytime.

Back in 2008 we put as many of our tools of trade online as we could. That was surprisingly more challenging then you would have thought but it’s been the bedrock of scaling our business for success.

Having a shopfront, building a network and knowing your sales process will lead to the ever important dollars you are seeking. Even more than that it will give you control over your current and future destiny and that should continually lead to informed business decision making.

Even if you have another gig, it is possible to starting empire building right now. Good luck!