Start and Grow Your Own BusinessModule 2: Planning Your Ideal Business
Rita J. Cartwright, FounderRJ’s Internet Marketing Services
Start and Grow Your Own Business
“Should I Quit My Day Job?”
Start and Grow Your Own Business
“But I Need Money NOW!”
In that case, you need to look for a business model that:
You have already mastered and
have the skills to perform . . . or one that you can learn quickly
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Generates immediate cash
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Copywriter
Virtual Assistant specialist in an area starving for good ones. (E.G. Shopping Cart management, Autoresponder management, Project management)
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Graphics creator (creating buttons, blog headers, contact form graphics, etc.)
Start and Grow Your Own Business
What you can do
What you should be doing
What you need, in order to start up professionally and effectively
Start and Grow Your Own Business
How much people want to pay
How much you can command at your level of skill and expertise
STEP ONE: REALITY CHECK!
Module 2: Planning Your Ideal Business
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Don’t say “but I don’t have twenty dollars a month for an Autoresponder service”. They say: “Hmm…How do I get an Autoresponder right now?”
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Don’t think within the confines of rigid, narrow boxes: (They leave that to born employees.)
Habitually step right outside and look at the boxes from all angles – inside and out.
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Researching free Autoresponders, to see if they’ll do the trick
Considering whether or not it’s worth giving up cream in your coffee to put in your Autoresponder fund (after you realize at the rate you drink coffee, you could easily free up twenty dollars a month!)
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Researching various reputable Autoresponder companies – and discovering that most of them have one-month free trials.
This allows you to set a goal of making at least $20 the first month to cover your next month’s fee completely.
Start and Grow Your Own Business
You want to be a virtual assistant. There are only so many hours in the day and one of you: Are you setting yourself up for just another job?
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Is yet another job with limited, one-track responsibilities what you want . . . or would you like to be a business owner, rather than your own employee?
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Visualize yourself with a fleet of VAs, further down the road.
Does this feel right or is it too intimidating?
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Do you think you could grow into this thought if you took it one step at a time and acquired the skills you need?
Or are you happy just serving clients yourself and making a smaller sum per week?
Start and Grow Your Own Business
How does your business model fit in with your dreams?
Your goals?
Will you expand your business by outsourcing tasks you don’t do as well?
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Outsource tasks you don’t do at all, just so you can offer them?
Will you hire more VAs or just outsource tasks to make your own specialized skill time stretch further?
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Reputation
Business model
Image
STEP TWO: PLANNING FOR ADDITIONAL STREAMS OF INCOME
Module 2: Planning Your Ideal Business
Start and Grow Your Own Business
$900 worth of copy for clients per week
$800 per week as a blog designer
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Two or three more VAs or copywriters
Another stream of income
Start and Grow Your Own Business
What is “passive” income?
It’s an income-generation system you set in place that keeps perpetuating itself once it’s properly set up and running.
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Unless you’re generating it anonymously or under a “pen” name,
keep your passive income stream related to your main business model,
so that it supports and grows that main model.
STEP THREE: PLAN TO INVEST IN COACHING OR MENTORING FOR YOURSELF
Module 2: Planning Your Ideal Business
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Join a dedicated forum dealing with online marketing
or a membership site on online entrepreneurship.
Top-quality free forums
STEP FOUR: YOUR SALES FUNNEL
Module 2: Planning Your Ideal Business
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Create a Sales Funnel
A Sales Funnel should be planned to achieve specific purposes at specific stages.
Each offering (product) builds on the previous one.
FEEDBACK AND GEL TIME
Module 2: Planning Your Ideal Business
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Who do you share your dreams with?
Joining a mastermind-type forum
Listen to those you trust
EIGHT MISTAKES YOU NEVER WANT TO MAKE
Module 2: Planning Your Ideal Business
Start and Grow Your Own Business
1. Not performing adequate research into (a) the business idea (b) the potential market
2. Not identifying your target customer specifically enough
Start and Grow Your Own Business
3. Not making a business plan – even a rough outline
4. Not learning inflexible basics for your business model – such as local laws you need to observe, paperwork to be done, fees to be paid, restrictions for your business model
YOUR BUSINESS FINANCES
Module 2: Planning Your Ideal Business
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Failing to set up a separate business bank account
Internal Revenue demands a dedicated account
Hire a bookkeeper
YOUR BUSINESS TYPE
Module 2: Planning Your Ideal Business
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Sole Proprietorship
Basic types of business structures
Legal forms you need to display on your site
Tax ID or EIN (Employer Identification Number)
YOUR BUSINESS IDENTITY
Module 2: Planning Your Ideal Business
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Who you are
What you sell
What you do
Register your own name as a domain
Start and Grow Your Own Business
To provide contact details on your site
Box numbers are generally considered suspicious
Dedicated bank account
Start and Grow Your Own Business
If you’ve been in business for three (3) years or less, then this is a must have 4-modules course on Start and Grow Your Own Business.
Each module contains brainstorming worksheets and homework assignments. Pick up your copy at http://rjsinternetmarketing.com/startandgrowbiz.html for only $37.
Start and Grow Your Own Business
Q & A
Rita J. Cartwright, FounderRJ’s Internet Marketing Services