Starting a Business in 2022? Start Here.
12 Things You Must Do First
Are you climbing the corporate ladder but realize it’s leaning against the wrong wall?
Have you been considering starting your own business but you’ve been putting it off? Maybe you feel you’re too late to the game, that you should’ve done this earlier in your life. Like having a baby, there is no perfect time, but after your child is born, you can’t imagine your life any other way.
MAKE THE DECISION BY ASKING:
What are my deeply held convictions?
What do I excel at doing?
What drives my economic engine?
I started a business because I wanted to be able to stay home with my future children and to continue working as a graphic designer. I wrote about my “Why” in this blog post. Also, I’m a night owl and working unconventional hours is well suited to my personality. Thanks to the pandemic, this isn’t as unusual as it used to be.
“It is never too late to be what you might’ve been.”
Answer these 7 questions BEFORE leaving your corporate job.
If you’re going to OWN IT, you need to prepare. After all, it could take a couple of years to be fully self-employed and then another couple of years to become profitable depending upon your goals, savings and tolerance for risks.
Am I capable of managing myself or do I need a boss to thrive?
Can I see myself doing this for years?
Is my business feasible?
What would I be giving up?
What do I have in place?
Can I accept that being an entrepreneur means being a salesperson developing business strategies, marketing, selling, interacting with clients, doing administrative tasks and let’s not forget, the actual client work?
Have you set any intentions?
I intend to:
✓ start living a more frugal lifestyle so I can create a financial buffer of one-two years when I do start my business
✓ come home from work, spend two hours with my family, then spend three-four hours working on my new business
✓ continue working at my 9-5 job for only six more months then completely disconnecting.
“I’m Good Enough, I’m Smart Enough, and Doggone It, People Like Me!”
Build Boss Habits and Set Goals!
Having a job with a boss means you have structure, accountability and deadlines. In your own business, you only have yourself asking “WTF did I just do?” kidding. Seriously, you only have you so you must Build Boss Habits!
Begin by creating a routine while you’re still working at your 9-5. Set aside 8-10/11 pm for your new business. Turn off the 3 N’s of distraction: News, Notifications and Netflix.
Nightly Goals: Take 5 minutes at the beginning of your evening to write down what you want to accomplish. Don’t make it too daunting. Take pleasure in checking them off.
Here are your first two weeks of to-dos:
Almost every item below is linked to a helpful site so take your time going through this list.
Remember #3 from above? Is my business service/product feasible? That means does it solve a problem and will people pay for it? Before you do anything else you NEED TO KNOW this. Gather information about potential clients and businesses already doing what you’re considering. Use that info to think about how your business can have a different competitive advantage.
Create a roadmap for how to structure, run, and grow your new business. Even if it’s just on an idea napkin, beginning to get the clarity helps you work through the key components of a good idea.
Figure out how much money you’ll need to start your business. Will you need to raise or borrow the money? Fortunately, there are more ways than ever to find the capital you need.
Your business location. Are you setting up a brick-and-mortar business, launching an online store, or is it an at-home professional consulting business? Research this as it could affect your taxes, legal requirements, and revenue.
Pick a business name. You’ll want one that aligns with what you do and your vibe. You’ll also need to be sure your business name isn’t already being used by someone else. The first place to go is NameChecker. This site shows you not only if the domain name is available but all the associated social media channels. To register a domain name, I use Hover b/c I like the clean interface and user experience but there are lots of name registrars. Don’t use GoDaddy or Network Solutions. I won’t go into why, just trust me on this one.
If the .com isn’t available, consider alternatives. This blog post does a great job of explaining domain extensions and the intricacies and issues of other options. Remember too, you can buy the .com if it’s not being used and negotiate the price. We had a client who wanted a domain name that was listed for $5k. He offered them $1500 and he got it.
Consult the U.S. Trademark database. You don’t need to trademark your business name right away but you want to be sure that it isn’t already trademarked either.
The legal structure you choose for your business will impact your business registration requirements, how much you pay in taxes, and your personal liability. Design Powers, inc. is an S Corp. I could claim I incorporated because I’m so smart but the truth is there wasn’t the LLC designation in 1996. Had there been, I probably would’ve done it that way. There are tax benefits to being incorporated but it’s also more work.
Apply for your employer identification number (EIN). It’s like a social security number for your business and some states require you to get a tax ID as well. If you’re expanding your online business to the UK and EU, and shipping to the UK, you must have a valid Value Added Tax (VAT) number and also, an Economic Operator Registration and Identification (EORI).
Locally, you’ll need licenses and permits for your business. It varies by industry, state, location, and other factors.
Separate your business from your personal money. Open a business checking account. I’ve used several different types of financial institutions of varied sizes. Make sure they don’t require an absurd monthly balance and that you like their online interface. If their web portal and mobile app stink, you’ll be hating life. I speak from experience.
Lastly, check out SCORE, your local Chamber of Commerce, industry-specific associations, meetups, and entrepreneurial groups.
PS: Talk to a professional web designer who has marketing experience and knows your industry. Having a conversation with someone who builds websites could save you hours, months, even years of frustration when it comes to your business website.
If you’re so inclined, go forth and build your own website; there are lots of web-building platforms out there that make it look easy but talk to a pro first. I recommend booking a consultation and getting a website strategy and hierarchy. We do the Power Plan for this exact reason.
You shouldn’t build a website without a strategy and plan if you want your website to market your business and provide time-saving functionalities like scheduling calls and taking payment when booking appointments.
Obviously, there is much more your website can do. It depends on if you want to make the investment right at the start or tread water for a couple of years with a website you hate that you built with no strategy, functionality or doesn’t use best practices concerning web accessibility and SEO. Every day your DIY website is costing you potential business.
Weekly Goals: For any of the above tasks that can’t be done in one evening like developing your product/service, your website and your marketing strategy. Talk to family and friends for ideas and insights and use social media to connect to groups and influencers to get more exposure and gain strategic alliances.
Monthly Goals: You’ll want to set these for one month, three months, six months, and a year. It may feel strange to write down goals for a year from now, but it helps for that intention to leave your job in six months. It could look something like this:
Month 1 – Create service offerings, launch website, get feedback
Month 3 – Start selling service
Month 6 – Build up savings to leave 9-5 job!
Month 12 – Hire a virtual assistant, or freelance help for admin stuff so that you can focus on building your business.
“The future depends on what you do today.”
When I started Design Powers a hundred years ago…
Me when I first started Design Powers.
…ok, not quite a hundred, more like twenty-five, but with the pace of technology, it feels like it. Anywho, I was working as a magazine art director in a design firm in Washington DC. Five months into my job, the owner excitedly informed me that he’d bought a building in Silver Spring, Md and once it was renovated, the design firm would be relocating there.
My husband and I had just bought a house in Arlington, Va and I already did NOT love the 30-40 minute commute downtown every morning. The prospect of adding another 20-30 minutes to that did not make me happy.
But if I’m being really honest, I’d already begun preparing to start my own business even before I started that job. I just didn’t know it yet.
Get the necessary equipment
State of the art #tbt
The first thing I did was to make sure I had all the equipment and software I’d need to create graphic design work. We’ve already established when this was so here’s another throwback stat, the system I started my business with was the Power Macintosh 8100, plus a monitor, scanner and a laser printer.
Top-of-the-line graphic design equipment in the mid 90’s cost about 8k. I was able to afford that because the company that I worked for before the aforementioned design firm had purchased that very system for me two years before.
When I gave them my notice, I had several weeks of vacation saved up. I asked the company for the computer instead of the vacation pay. Fortunately, they were PC-based so they didn’t care if I took my weirdee Mac with me. (Apple was at an all-time low in 1996, in a severe financial crisis. Many thought they’d be sold or go out of business.)
When I began my full-time job as a magazine art director, I already had a professional setup at home with one recurring client. I’d come home from my day job, eat dinner with my husband then start my “side hustle.”
Nowadays you can get away with paying half what I paid because computers are much less expensive and way more powerful but you do pay more for subscription-based software and third-party platforms so don’t forget about these costs-they add up.
“In 2021, one-third of Americans (34%) have a side hustle.”
Get Clients!
Begin to acquire clients while working your full-time job, but don’t poach them from your company. Never burn bridges-your reputation is everything. If people think you’re untrustworthy, they’ll be less apt to refer business your way.
Check your company’s NDA, non-compete, and moonlighting policies. If your intended business competes with your current employer, you must make sure you’re not violating their policies.
One of the tried and true ways to transition from your full-time job to your own business is to become a consultant to your former company. When I left said downtown design firm, I did exactly that for one year afterward. It helped them because heck, I’d just left. It helped me because it gave me additional work. Don’t steal your employer’s clients, work for them!
It’s the chance of a lifetime!
Another way to get clients is to send an email out to your network letting them know that you are starting a business and if they get in on the ground floor, you will give them the chance of a lifetime! Be creative about it and you will surely garner some interest and leads.
Email Script: Depending upon the type of business you’re starting, you could have a limited-time offer: “I’m launching a new business/offer and I’m looking for a few “case study” clients that I can help get results for and to then show off.
“CASE STUDY OFFER”
As you may know, I help <type of client you’re looking for> get results. But I am starting to offer just the solution piece on its own to solve ________ problem. Although I’ve done this work many times before, I’m new at doing it this way and am looking for a few case study clients that I can deliver big results for and then show off.
I’ll be charging $X for this but will do it for my case study clients for $Y. It will be about <time amount> of your time and you’ll end up with _______ result. Does that sound like it could benefit you?
This is to get your wheels turning. Obviously, the type of business you are starting will dictate the type of offer you can propose to your initial network so season to taste.
“America’s health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system.”
The #1 reason people don’t start a business in the U.S. (according to me)
To prepare for writing this blog post, I did some informal interviews of clients and colleagues who had left their 9-5 to start a business. When I asked them the #1 reason they were hesitant to start a business, every single one of them mentioned healthcare.
ALL of them said they wouldn’t have even considered it if they didn’t have a spouse who could guarantee healthcare coverage. That’s my story too. Had I not been married to someone with a full-time job and health insurance, doubtful I would’ve started my business when I did.
Things have gotten better because of the Affordable Care Act (Thank you President Obama) but this is still one of the top considerations to research before starting your own business. I wish I had brilliant tips but all I can say is don’t get sick, exercise and eat your veggies.
Are you ready to start your business now?
I hope this blog post has given you some concrete first steps to take towards OWNING IT! If it still feels risky consider this. Having a full-time job is risky too. We’re just conditioned to not see it.
Let’s compare being an employee vs. a business owner:
EMPLOYEE: You have one income source. If you lose your job, you have no income.
OWNER: Your income is spread over many clients. If you lose a client, you have others.
EMPLOYEE: You rely on the company ownership to keep the business healthy.
OWNER: You rely on yourself to keep the business healthy.
EMPLOYEE: You don’t have to hustle to find work.
OWNER: You must learn to hustle and sell your services.
EMPLOYEE: If the company doesn’t have work, you still get paid (until you get down-sized).
OWNER: If the company doesn’t have work, you don’t have money.
In Conclusion
I’ve been both an employee and a business owner. I’ve been laid off, fired and quit jobs. I’ve tasted the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat of both situations. Having a job gives you a sense of security but it’s not a guarantee.
Twenty-five years ago when I started Design Powers, I bet on my abilities, curiosity and grit. All these years later - no regrets. It definitely hasn’t been easy but every year as my business pivots and grows, it gets more challenging and rewarding!
Lucky me, I get to work with both my niece and more recently, my daughter. It feels good to know that I can effect positive change for small business owners doing the kind of design and marketing work I love and to leave a legacy of design excellence.
Now it’s your turn to OWN IT!
Download Our Guide & OWN IT!
If you’re considering starting a business, download our thoughtful interactive workbook to get you started OWNING IT!
