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The following is the second in a series by Fairfield County Venture Mom Holly Hurd on the 12 steps to starting your own business. If you would like to submit articles to The Daily Darien, send them to cdonahue@mainstreetconnect.us.
Week Two -- Get Input From Family and Friends
Who knows you better? Get your notebook out and go to coffee, make a phone call, send an email, grab dinner, have cocktails. Ask your friends:
What do I do well?
What can you see me doing for a venture?
If I had any job in the world, what would it be?
If I were a famous business person who would I be?
If you have a couple of ideas, run them by your friends and family. But be careful not to take any negativity too seriously. Listen, and take notes to think about later.
Get together with your girlfriends and have a brainstorming session. The purpose is to get all kinds of ideas, so open up the discussion for anything at all, have fun. Write everything down, regardless how silly or outlandish it may sound. The comment, "You'd be a great Martha Stewart," may be funny but perhaps when you look at it later you get other ideas.
I have a friend who doesn't know what she wants to do, but she knows how to maintain her home. All of her friends tease her about how meticulous she is at having systems serviced and curtains cleaned on a regular basis. I thought, "I'd love a book or reminder to do those things in my own home." So, she may not want to have an empire like Martha Steward, but she could start a newsletter reminder service of what needs to be done to keep your home in top shape.
She could self-publish a small book with a yearly schedule of needed maintenance. She could give talks at local groups and become the guru on home repair and upkeep. She could list the vendors she likes to use for curtain cleaning, rug stain-proofing, generator maintenance, basement systems ... the list is endless. And as new vendors get started and old service companies slip up, she could update her followers. She could sell her book to real estate agents to give as gifts for their new home buyers. She could become the expert, go-to mom and consult with new homeowners who have never taken care of a home before and charge for it. The number of ways to monetize something that she does well are endless. She just needs to package her talent.
So back to your task this week get ideas and input for your notebook. Then take a look at all of your notes and start to hone in on what you think you'd find fulfilling based on what you love to do or something you do really well. Look at your notes and see if there is a kernel of something that you could monetize.
You must come up with something by Week Four, even if it's not perfect. More to do next, on Week Three.
VentureMom Holly Hurd
Are you working on starting your own venture? What feedback have you gotten? Let us know in the comments below.
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