Do you dream of being self-employed? Self-employment is not a bed of roses, but it will achieve a daily bed of roses for you if you start on the right foot.
This means that it’s a job that has no breaks but still has breaks. It merely means that you become your boss and get to call the shots. You can decide to give yourself a break or decide to go on a marathon of chasing the dollar. It’s all up to you.
Worry not! There are ways of turning the thoughts and dreams into reality in no time. Read on.
Take a Step and Make the Decision
As earlier put, self-employment is not a walk in the park, mostly if you centered your life on employment and other bosses. ‘Breaking free’ has a lot of fear, which is normal. But deciding to be self-employed is different from thinking to be self-employed.
Moreover, the act of making the decision is excellent in every aspect as there’s motion. You finally have your legs out of the employment sack, and you are now stepping out to be your boss. Think through what you want to become; this will help you make that decision.
To quote Theodore Roosevelt, “in any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing”. Take the step and leap; besides, no one can do it for you.
Select and Narrow Down Your Niche
Deciding on a niche is not as easy because you will not have the privilege of global reach at first. But, ask yourself the following questions;
- What do you want to focus on?
- What do you intend to solve with your product or service?
- Do you have some prior experience that could blend into your business?
Begin by putting down all the things you want to do. Then, narrow them down one by one by choosing what is more realistic than the other. In terms of practical, it means, decide on what is applicable. It’s effortless to address and tackle a part of the market than dealing with everything. The more precise your niche is, the easier it would be for you to reach your target audience.
Be Precise About Your Target Audience
Focus on establishing your target audience. Don’t just have a product and service for anyone but work with a specific group yields more results. How so?
For starters, a specific group will be easy to handle. For instance, you sell beauty products that treat acne, so your target audience is those suffering from acne. This way, you will have a variety of beauty solutions targeting acne culprits and not everybody. From their queries and experiences with other products, you will be able to advise accordingly using your products’ knowledge as a solution. What’s more?
Being self-employed is all about building a specific solution for specific people. You can also go more in-depth with your acne products’ target audience and sell for women alone. Of course, men also suffer from acne, but you decide to work with women. Narrowing down on a target audience shows your expertise and knowledge of what you are doing. Hence this attracts more clients. Besides, most people would instead get treatment from a specialist than a general seller.
Set Your Goals
Do not start a business without your goals in check. Without these goals, you won’t analyze yourself if you are putting more effort or quit or take a different direction. Plans are there to put you in line so that you don’t lose focus and direction. Read on.
Becoming self-employed is not just starting a business and then ‘see how it goes.’ Instead, you will work hard to show the world what you are offering and attract customers. These customers are always people you have no connection with, so you have the task to convince them in a compelling way to buying your product or service. , you need to pour your heart, body, and mind into your business and turn it into income.
Therefore, while setting goals, you need to ask yourself the following questions;
- How much do you plan to make in the first year?
- How will you create those sales?
- Which marketing tactics could you use?
- How will you package your product/service?
- What if you don’t meet your sales target?
These are questions that happen in reality. So, take your time and find their answers before you get in the field to face them.
Register Your Business
What are the rules for starting a business in your state? Register for a business name and get the necessary permits and licenses. Such documents vary with the type of business you want to run. For example, the restaurant business will not have the same permits and licenses as a boutique. Read on.
Registering your business with your state helps you pay taxes and avoid fraud lawsuits. If you want to run an international company, be sure to register to get an international permit or a permit allowing you to access the specific states you will be dealing with. Some businesses need you to get raw materials from other states, hence needing permits.
Make sure your business is on the right side of the law.
Invest In Systems That Make Work Easier For You
When you choose the self-employment route, make sure you stay relevant and in business at all costs. You need to know how you will price your goods and services after researching the market price. Also, what system will you use to bill your customers? Is it by cash or credit card? Moreover, you need to know how you will calculate your profits and losses. What’s more?
Please research on various systems in the market that will enable you to keep track and the mode of payment of your clients. For instance, get a business email for your email marketing campaigns, a tracking system for your clients to see how they are behaving on your websites like the Google analytics and search console, and a billing system that works even for both local and global clients.
Grow and Build Visibility
You cannot run a business without connections. A great business idea with products/services is perfect, but it is not enough without the ties. It would help if you had people within your community, your industry, your network, and other people who can give a hand in supporting you to grow. Read on.
It would be best if you also had a growth strategy to take your business to greater heights. Other than friends, family, and the locals’ voice of encouragement, invest in systems that make connections to boost your visibility.
Get out and build as many connections as possible for your business. The more visible you are, the more traffic your business will get. Just like a bushfire, your business will spread if you build healthy connections.
Make a Decision on Where You Will Work
The beauty of self-employment is that you have the freedom and flexibility on how and where you will work. You can work from home, have a physical location in town, or rent a space once in a while when it’s necessary. All these will depend on the nature of your business and target audience. For example, the best way to sell fish is to have a physical location where people can see the fish and choose from the variety to order. You can market online on social platforms, but you have to work on the ground. Read on.
Also, put into consideration the hindrances to performing your best in your preferred location. For instance, working at home is excellent, but house chores can get in the way of giving your best. It will be hard to separate your work from home in most cases. Therefore, a working area like co-renting an office with a friend is ideal as it gives you the feel and mood of a working environment.
Marketing Strategies
You need a wave of new clients every often, but how do you achieve that? While maintaining your clients is excellent, you also need fresh ones to add to the list. New clients mean your business is growing hence your account as well.
Your marketing tactics should be consistent and keep changing. Try new approaches to have a precise analysis of what works best for your business. Luckily the market is full of many marketing tactics to keep your business afloat. This way, you will know what to invest more to market your business out there. As long as you are in business, keep selling your products and services. Besides, you want clients knocking for your business all the time.
The most valuable asset in self-employment is time. To successfully run your self-employment, you need to be time conscious and disciplined. Be busy in making and growing your brand as it will reap the fruits later. With hard work and determination at the right time, your brand will work for you someday.
