Most articles on authentic entrepreneurship (including mine) will tell you that you should set up your business on your terms. But they don´t specify what you should set up or how you should do it. So I’ve tried to write down some practical tips on what to get clear on, what to think about, and what specific steps to take.
Authentic business comes from the inside out. So it makes sense to put yourself first and only from that point tackle everything else. Your business, your rules.
You may want to argue that your customer must come first. But that doesn’t work. It is only when you take good care of yourself that you can provide a truly quality service to your clients without compromise. And attract customers who really belong to you, who are comfortable in your energy field, and whom your services bring real value.
So let’s get down to the concrete and practical stuff.
1. Money: how much do you want to earn?
It is said that money only comes first. And in business especially. So let’s start with that.
Ask yourself: How much money do I really want to make per month? Determine an amount that will cover all your expenses, allow you to finance the growth of your business, and give you a sense of peace and satisfaction.
Write the amount down on a piece of paper and look at it for a while. Then ask yourself the following questions:
- What standard of living do you want to afford?
- Do you have a mortgage or other financial obligations?
- Do you want to go on a nice vacation every year?
- Is there something you’ve wanted to buy for a long time but keep putting off?
- Are you planning to get a new home or some other major investment (new car)?
Check if your amount is enough for all these things and if you are in line with it. If so, write the amount down somewhere where you can see it. On a bulletin board, on a display, or on a mirror. Alternatively, start using it as a password for your computer or mobile phone. This will help you get used to it.
All the time you’re focused on your ideal monthly amount, your brain may be bombarding you with objections. It’s telling you how you’re being greedy, cramming yourself somewhere you don’t belong, and most importantly, no one will pay you that amount each month.
I know it’s hard, but don’t pay that much attention to your thoughts. Your ideal monthly income is a goal. It serves to set a strategy for you to get there. It doesn’t have to be tomorrow – it could be a year from now, or even five years from now. The important thing is to get clear on that goal and start working towards it systematically as soon as possible.
Tip: An online hourly rate calculator can help you figure out how much money you need per month for expenses.
2. Time: how many hours a day do you want to work?
If you get a full-time job somewhere, you are expected to be at the workplace for 40 hours a week. I deliberately don’t say work because many employees (with all due respect) don’t spend that much time working.
The other extreme, which you may know all too well from business, is to devote 60 or even 80 hours a week, including weekends, to work activities. The catch is that our bodies and minds have limits. We’re just not built for that kind of workload. Being overworked then affects our clients. No matter how hard we try, after a certain number of hours we stop paying attention and functioning for our customers with the quality they expect from us.
The solution? Set your daily hours realistically and don’t worry about reporting fewer hours than the average work calendar. If you provide individual services, be clear about how many clients per day you can handle. So that you will still greet them at the door with joy, and will not be taken to the loony bin at the end of the month.
The other issue you need to address in terms of time is when. Do you want to work when others are working, or do you prefer to work in the evenings or early mornings? And how do you imagine your weekends?
“Non-standard” opening hours can be an advantage not only for you, but also for your customers. But their preferences, like yours, can change over time. Just don’t make assumptions and ask. I’ve been pushing online meetings to the evening for quite a while myself. Until clients told me that they too would welcome them more during the day.
3. People: who do you want to work with?
When you open a business, chances are you’ll get people coming in. This is especially true in a service or retail business. You simply can’t avoid communicating with customers, and that’s not the goal either.
But what you can control, and quite well, is the kind of people you meet on your journey through the business. So try to think about your heart client. But this time, forget about demographics or lifestyle.
Rather, get clear:
- What kind of people are you generally comfortable working with?
- What you don´t like your clients to do to you?
- What personal qualities or characteristics are you comfortable with?
- What values are central to your life and do you need to share them with your clients?
- What do you see as warning signs that the collaboration probably won’t work?
- What conditions do clients need to meet in order for things to go smoothly?
- Are there industries, qualities or practices you want nothing to do with?
This is how I recently figured out that my heart clients really want to do business. They realize they are entrepreneurs and want to develop their business skills. On the other hand, I find it difficult to find common ground with people who just want to do their job, and the business agenda basically annoys them.
You’ll probably experience similar realizations too. They’ll make you design better products and services, write better copy for the web and networking, and most importantly, they’ll make you feel quite a bit better.
P. S. Much the same applies to suppliers and employees as it does to clients.
4. Products and services: what do you want to create?
One way to create a product or service is to poll potential customers on social media or in a discussion forum. This can be a pretty good strategy in the beginning – I used to do the same thing. But after a while, you’ll find that you’ve made a bunch of compromises. And although they’re pretty cool for clients, they don´t allow you to breathe.
So it makes sense to try a different route: figure out what you, deep down, want to create. You’ll probably start to see quite different products and services appear before your eyes that you wouldn’t have thought of before. And you might be surprised when clients start telling you that this is what they’ve been waiting for all along.
“If I’m doing something I really enjoy, then chances are I’m good at it. And if I’m doing what I’m good at, there’s a good chance someone will pay me for it.” Tomas Hajzler
5. Processes: how do you want to work?
Finally, the last parameter you need to create the business of your dreams is a practical setup of your daily activities. Paradoxically, the solution in this case will come down to a completely different question than how you want to operate. Instead, ask what bothers you.
It’s these process and rule setups that we often address with clients in consultations. Some things need to be tailored to the specific business, but many things work quite generally.
For example:
- Does a ringing phone take you out of work? Or are there so many phone calls that at the end of the day you find that you’ve done nothing but take calls? Download the phone number from the web, or write it all the way down in small print, or add a note that you can’t manage to answer it. (Hint: check that your number isn’t available in some public database on the Internet.)
- Do you tend to drag out your time with clients, so that your hour-long consultations typically last 75 or even 80 minutes? Set a meeting time that you can comfortably get your work done in.
- Do you push the price down so clients can afford you, but find that you are unable to provide them with sufficient quality work at that price? Make it more expensive. Sometimes just canceling the cheapest service package will help.
- Do you spend a lot of time negotiating appointments with clients? Get a booking engine. There are plenty of them on the market – I can recommend Youcanbook.me or Calendly. You can even find a simple version of a booking system completely free on Google Calendar. As well as saving you time, it forces you to set when and how you’ll actually be available for clients.
- Tired of driving to see customers? Maybe your work can be done online. If not, set it as a basic option that you provide the service at your place of business. And charge thoroughly when clients choose to have you drive to them.
- Do people often write to you saying they “just want to ask a question”? Establish a simple format for short, fee-based consultations. And set a time for them when it suits you. If you don’t want to create a paid product, make a video once in a while where you answer all the questions. Or add a FAQ section to your website.
Foto: Karolina Grabowska, Kaboompics
