Are you considering business ownership? This week we are talking about a 3 step plan to take you from a dreamer to an owner. If you do these three things, you could be a business owner in as little as 4 months. Many people daydream of becoming a business owner. The idea of working for yourself is motivating for people who want to have more in life. Whether you work in a white collar, blue collar or somewhere-in-between collar industry, the dream of business ownership is not out of reach. Anyone can be a business owner who truly wants it. Becoming a business owner is not complicated. There’s just good planning.
If you are in the dreaming stage of business ownership, great! You realize that there are many benefits to business ownership. Even part-time businesses have huge advantages for your life and your wallet. These include, for example:
- tax deductions!
- answering to yourself (and your business!)
- networking opportunities
- respect from friends, family and the community
- the opportunity to make as much as you are willing to work
In order for you to go from dreamer to owner, you have to prepare yourself to leave the “dreamer” stage. Don’t waste time thinking of someday to make your dream a reality. Someday is not guaranteed. Don’t wait to have the time; start planning to make the time. That means you have to come up with a plan and then take action.
We have worked with thousands of people making the transition into business ownership, and then in working with hundreds of people actually making the transition. The difference in those that actually achieve the dream is clear. They do three things to prepare for business ownership.
First: Know Your Full Financial Picture
Do you know your net worth? You would be shocked at the number of people that do not. Many people email or call inquiring about a specific business and they have absolutely no idea if they can even afford a business, let alone the one they are calling about. Your number one step in becoming a business owner is to sit down and put all of your financial information down on paper.
List your Assets and Liabilities. Take the time to get the right numbers. Fill out our Assets and Liabilities worksheet to get a clear picture of what you actually have to put down on a business, or what you would need to borrow. Also learn what your credit score is and take advantage of the free credit report you can pull every year. Then you can search for a business knowing what businesses may or may not be in your price range.
Second: Understand Yourself
Do you know the industry you are considering well? Do you know if it would really, truly fit your personality and goals?
Often people come to us with specific ideas of what they want to do. They will tell us, “we want to get into coffee” or we want a “Senior Care business.” However, when we start to explore the job description of ownership, they often change their minds. They realize they don’t want to deal with lots of employees, a high employee churn rate, or get up at 4 am every day. Or, someone might think they want to get into a B2B business but they really hate sales and have never managed sales people – two things which would be a core part of the daily work. They just didn’t think through all of the aspects of the business.
Do you know yourself well, and what your criteria and preferences for a business are? In the scope of over 550 business models, which one would you be most successful owning? We have an online or printable Self-Assessment Questionnaire available to help you. The Self-Assessment Questionnaire will help you determine your preferences and criteria for a business and help us identify ideas for your to consider. In assessing your strengths, we give you models that increase your likelihood of being successful. Considering how much you are investing in a business, you should focus on the particular options that make the most sense for you. This is how you maximize your chances at success!
Third: Understand Your Choices.
Once you understand yourself and identify what kind of business you would do well in, it’s time to sit down with someone who knows the breadth of the business models available within your price range. There are hundreds of business models that you could look into.
It is useful to understand that businesses listed online for sale are rabbit holes. You could waste years online chasing information and hidden financials for businesses that don’t pan out. The viable businesses for sale or resale are not listed online. Watch our video “Unpacking Online Businesses” to find out why. Solid business opportunities exist within a network available to Franchise Consultants and because we are independent, we don’t have sales quotas to meet or companies we have to promote.
Working with an MVision Franchise Consultant gives you peace of mind. MVision has resources connected to over 550 types of businesses with a vast array of business models. The resources provided are free of charge, and when you and a franchisor decide to work together, the franchisor pays our fee so the work we do together costs you nothing, and makes the process easier by saving you time, money, grief and aggravation.
The key to actually making your dream happen is in taking action. That means planning to sit down for one hour work through these three steps. Taking that one hour will accelerate your dream of business ownership. If you start now, you could be an owner in as little as four to six months. You will be embarking upon an entirely new chapter of your life. You will work hard, you will grow and you will create a new life for yourself and for you family – a reward in itself.