Your kids are in school all day or off to college and here you are thinking about your next thing. You want to do something you really enjoy. You’d like to get paid. You don’t want to commute. You don’t want a boss. Maybe you want a partner. You and your friends all talk about doing something but what would that be? What would it look like? How to even begin to think about it?
Many women are looking for a way to reinvent their lives now that their duties as moms are not as time consuming. Many want something just for themselves to bring fulfillment on a higher level. Many want to go back to work but still have the flexibility they’ve enjoyed while raising their children. Time for reinvention but how to do that?
Reinvent Yourself in Five Easy Steps
Step 1: Self Exploration – It’s time to figure out what makes you happy. Who? What? Where?
Who do you like to spend time with? Children? Animals? Yourself? People?
What do you like to do? Cook? Work Out? Shop for Clothes? Redecorate? Computer projects? Art?
Where do you like to hang out? In the kitchen? In the gym? At your desk? At the mall? In a furniture store? At an art gallery?
Answering these questions will guide you towards what makes you happy. You’ll want to reinvent yourself and your venture around what you like to do. For example, if you find yourself at the gardener’s center and in your yard planning and planting gardens, you should consider a venture in gardening.
If you had a completely free day to do whatever made you happy, what would you do? The answer to this question is a huge clue to what your venture should be.
Step 2: Friends and Family – What do you get compliments on? What talent do your friends envy? Does your neighbor say to you, “I love how your dress, would you come over and help me put together some outfits for an upcoming trip?” When you showed off your photo book to your friends, did several of them beg you to help them organize their photos from a trip or an event and ask you to put together a book for them. When you served your famous marinara sauce, did your guests say you should bottle that and sell it?
The things you get compliments on are things you can build a business around. When something comes so easily to you, you may think of course others can do the same. But some of us may be able to plant a garden in our sleep, while others don’t know how to use a shovel. You may be able to prepare a homecooked meal in 30 minutes flat, while others can’t boil water. Don’t discount a skill that comes so naturally to you, but rather look to take that skill to the bank.
Ask your friends and family what skill they envy in you. Is it how your dress, how your design your home, your photos books, your organizational skills, your delicious homemade granola. What do your friends ask you to help them with. These answers will guide you to a venture you just have to pick something and move forward.
Step 3: Research – Now that information is so readily available, doing research on a business venture is at the tip of your fingers. Look at an area of interest and see what other ventures are out there. Multiple online resources, profile women who’ve started their own business ventures around things they are skilled at and things they love to do. Keep a notebook with all that you discover. Look at how other women have set up businesses. What do they charge? How do they garner clients?
Don’t be afraid to mimic another women’s idea. There are countless caterers, designer, artists, gardeners…. you name it …. In every town. Each venture will appeal to their own audience. So make your choice and get started.
Step 4: Get Organized – Come up with a name, branding, and a simple business model. Choose a name that says what you do like, Healthy Food Service or Organic Organizing. You can also use your name, Susie’s Cakes or Jane’s Pajamas. Branding can be as simple as you choose two colors and a specific font. Don’t get hung up on this. Your goal is to get started with your business. You can always go back and tweak your branding. You can create free logos online. Check out the many sites that offer this service. Your business model is not a complicated business plan. It states what you will charge for your product or service, how you will get paid and how delivery will happen.
Step 5: Tell the World – Send an email to your entire list of friends, family, and acquaintances telling them about your new business and give them a way to get in touch. Start a regular schedule of reaching out to your audience. Start an email list that you can use to disseminate information to your followers. You can use a service like Constant Contact, MailChimp of simple use the BCC feature in your email account.
You should have your first customer in no time. You are on your way to reinvention, now wasn’t that easy.
By The Venture Detective, Holly Hurd,
Founder of VentureMom.com where Your Business is Your Baby
All material under copy write for VentureMom.com