Career TOOLBox #16: Starting Your Own Biz – Part 2

10 Next Steps Towards Entrepreneurship: Day-to-Day Operations

Launching your new business fuels a certain adrenaline. While opening your box of business cards is exciting, it is only the beginning of a long and intense process. The key to survival is having a plan in place and following through on it. (View Part One: Where to Begin here.)

Being your own boss requires tremendous discipline. Having a support team around you will make all the difference.

11. List your A-Team. Now that you have quality people around you, get a white board and start making a list of your A-Team. In addition to your web developer, creative person and lawyer, start drawing in others around you – the nephew who needs real experience, the parent who once opened a small business, or the best friend who always gave it to you straight. You need these people to keep you in the truth zone and support you when you’re down. And, when cash is low but drive is high, you need people who believe in you.

12. Work. Days of the week will now blend. You may be rolling out of bed at 11am, and going to bed at 3am. But you will be working. All the time. Everywhere you go, you will notice that your conversations will ultimately lead you to discussing Your Dream. This is one of the benefits of not having to be “at the office” at 8am. But, in return, you will have to discipline yourself daily to get things done. Also, now that life’s less structured, think about when you are most productive. Those will be hours the work will crank and the ideas will come. Shut everything else down during this time and get industrious.

13. Have Weekly Coffee Hours. No more f****** meetings. No. These are the coffee shop discussions you will be having with your A-Team on a weekly basis, sometimes one-on-one, sometimes in groups. These discussions have two benefits: they advance your business goals and they serve as great forums to give and receive moral support. Some places have free WiFi, which makes life even better. Log and reference to document everything.

14. Take a Day Off. You will become obsessed on getting your biz off the ground and that is all you will breathe, think, eat and sleep. However, in order to be most productive, and not shut off people who love and need you, give yourself some time off. Also, now that 8 – 12 hours of your day will not be strangled in useless meetings, it’s amazing how much more productive you will be in 3 hours of work on your own dream vs. 2 full corporate days back at the office. Your time is now your time.

15. Biz Plan. Get your biz plan going. It keeps you focused, helps you prioritize and may help you secure funding. There’s various online models you can download. And, if you worked in corporate, you’ve done this a 1000 times for someone else. Now do it for yourself.

16. Stay Organized. Because your days are less structured and will tend to blend, make sure you have a preferred method of organization – from appointments, to contacts to business goals, all in a format that serves you best. That includes your work space. Make sure you have a dedicated area in your home where you can focus and where you have a file cabinet, office supplies and good lighting.

17. Network. You’ve may have done this for years. Now do it again, but differently. Tap into your school alumni. Get to know your neighbors. Attend related events in your city. Volunteer. Help someone with their business. Open your own doors. Read Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point to get a sense for how powerful connectors are.

18. Listen to Great Music. Everyone has music that helps them tap into their most creative senses. Find that music and play a lot of it. Make yourself some mixes. I’ll even name one for you: Songs That Make Me Want to Kick Some A**. (Listen to “The Best” by Foo Fighters and tell me it doesn’t inspire you…)

19. Take Breaks. While an art student in undergrad, my professor used to say, “Step away from the canvas.” Go jog around the block, watch a soap, call a friend. Something, anything, but give your brain the rest it needs to put your best thinking into action.

20. Invest in Technology. Now is not the time to skimp on technology, even the basics. Invest in the right tools, the fastest at home internet connection and the most effective phone minutes plan. Your phone usage will spike significantly and it’s best to purchase a generous plan now vs. paying insane overcharges later.

First written in September 2012.  

Reprinted with permission and gratitude from CoolCleveland.com.

Image: Cool Cleveland

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