Many professionals dream of starting their own business one day and being paid to do what they love. However, making a complete change of career requires more than desire alone.
Starting a business while working full-time can be tempting, particularly as a safety move. When a person delays their only source of income — with nothing else to take its place — immediate financial pressure falls on both themselves and their new business. This can result in panic, moving away from feelings of freedom towards feelings of financial constraint, pursuing the wrong projects, or undertaking the wrong projects. The result is often a person doing the one thing they love and growing to dislike it.
Here are seven ways to close the gap between today and future dreams.
1. Do Not Set Goals Within the Constraints of Current Reality
Many people are guilty of setting goals that feel achievable within their current lifestyle. However, for those who want to achieve big, it is important to set big goals.
Working backwards from a big goal and identifying the main steps needed to achieve it places focus on what each step will also require. When a plan is in place, clarity around what needs to happen next follows naturally — goals become much easier to achieve when the next step is already known.
2. Focus on Just One Thing
A common mistake when starting a business is attempting to appeal to everyone, in the hope that this will give the best chance of success. More often than not, the result is the exact opposite — the more a business tries to appeal to everyone, the less it appeals to anyone.
When people encounter a business online or through social media, they try to simplify what it does so that it can be held in their mind. For example, a business might be filed under "wedding photographer", "lady", or "website guru". A business occupying only one box in a person's mind means they will go to that business for that one thing specifically. When a business focuses on just one thing, two outcomes follow: people will think of that business only in relation to its subject; and when people encounter that subject in their daily lives, they will instinctively think of the business.
3. Check It Is Scalable
Before scaling a business idea, it is worth checking that there is something worth scaling. This means considering whether there is a bucket with holes in it — that is, whether the business has more people or spends more money on marketing while lacking the basic processes and systems needed to serve that market professionally.
4. Sell at Full Value or Free
Getting a business off the ground and keeping it running requires income, and that income comes through selling something.
When first starting out, the temptation to offer discounted rates in order to get those first few customers can be strong. However, when a discount is offered and the client later pays full price, they will de-value the full price and assign a lesser value to it.
Avoiding the discount route entirely is advisable. Selling at full price, or providing something completely free as a public good, means the client will always recognise the full value of the offering. When the invoice is sent at full price, there is no note saying it is a bonus — just the price. The psychology behind this approach is that driving home the full value of the work is what builds a sustainable client relationship.
5. Say No More Than Yes
Every time a person says yes to something, they are saying no to something else. It is hard to decline invitations or requests for time. The feeling is often a negative response. However, "yes" and "no" are both directional — they move a person towards or away from their goals. When a person is clear on their goals, they know which direction to face.
Learning to protect the gaps in a calendar is important. Everyone needs breathing space and gaps in the diary to do just that. The next time someone asks to go for coffee, it is worth considering whether a space in the calendar is genuinely available — rather than defaulting to yes out of habit.
6. Be Comfortable With Failure
Every step taken towards a goal is progress and will propel the journey forward. Actions should never be seen as failures. There is always something to learn and something that can be used going forward. Failure leads to success — as the inventor Thomas Edison demonstrated, it took 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at the light bulb before it worked. When it failed 1,000 times, Edison noted that he had not failed — he had simply found 1,000 ways that did not work.
Rather than booking an appointment with a client or making an appointment with oneself each week, setting aside an hour or two to reflect on what happened — what went well, what did not, what made the week feel worthwhile, what was learned — is a valuable habit. Keeping those reflections to hand helps with making adjustments as necessary for the following week.
How Professional Academy Supports Your Journey
For those interested in Sales, Marketing, Management, or Digital Marketing, Professional Academy offers both electronic and printed study materials alongside the chance to complete a professional qualification within a timeframe that suits each learner's circumstances. To find out more about the right qualification level, the Qualifications Navigator is a useful starting point, or you are welcome to book a call with the Professional Academy team.
