Are you considering taking your passion in life and turning it into a business?
For many people, it’s far too easy to get caught up in the romanticism of it all and forget that at the end of the day, you’re starting a brand-new business that requires work, effort, and dedication over time.
All three of these things combined will help you build a strong foundation that can ensure the success of both you and your business for many years to come.
We’d like to share with you the top five critical mistakes you need to avoid if you want to turn your passion in life into a successful business.
Treating the Business as a Hobby
Treating a new business as a hobby is a common mistake that many individuals make in the first few months after setting up shop. They don’t take the necessary steps and actions that will help protect both them and the business in the long run.
For example, a certified public accountant (CPA) can provide qualified tax advice which can save hundreds of thousands of dollars. They may advise to incorporate as an LLC or S-Corp to avoid having to pay self-employment tax. Generally speaking, many CPA’s will offer a free consultation in the hopes that you use their services come tax season.
Working only a few short hours per day is another pitfall that many new business owners fall into. Just because you started a new business doesn’t mean that people will line up to purchase your services.
You have to have the drive and desire to work it on a daily basis as success doesn’t come overnight. As time goes by, your efforts will start to mature and bear fruit.
No Marketing Plan
New business owners can get discouraged in the first few months because they wrongly believe that if they build it, people will come. The truth of the matter is that businesses need to market themselves regularly over time for best chances of success.
This is why having a marketing plan is so critical. It keeps you busy, on track, and helps spread the word about your services or offerings. You don’t have to go overboard, as a simple one-pager will suffice for most new businesses.
You should define your target audience, goals, how you plan to reach them, and most importantly, how to measure your success. The best marketing plans in the world are useless unless you constantly monitor, review, and adapt your efforts.
This way, you can make strategic changes that will take that one-pager and grow it into a full-fledged marketing plan.
Mental and Physical Fatigue
A smart business owner knows his or her limits. Just because there are 24 hours in a day doesn’t necessarily mean you should work 12 of them. Pace yourself.
While you can work 12-hour days for a few weeks at a time, unless you’re related to Superman, at some point you’re going to crash and burn. This can quickly lead to discouragement, demoralization, and in many cases abandonment of the business.
If you know your mental and physical limits, it will be easier to create and stick to a work schedule that will allow you to efficiently run the business without any risk of burnout.
Set Reasonable Goals
As the old saying goes, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” You should have reasonable expectations when it comes to defining and measuring your goals. By setting small milestones, you’ll feel a greater sense of accomplishment as you reach them on a weekly or monthly basis.
These small “wins” do wonders for morale and will provide a sense of accomplishment long before you make a single dollar in profit. For example, make it a goal to contact ten potential clients or customers a day via cold calling, cold emailing, or good old-fashioned footwork.
You’ll find that as the weeks and months go by, you’ll start to notice that your efforts will start to bear fruit.
Listen to Advice
Try to reach out to other business owners who are doing the same thing that you’re doing. There are many forums and Facebook groups where you can find people who are deep in the proverbial trenches of running their own business.
Receiving excellent tips and business advice are just two of the many benefits you’ll get from taking a few minutes here and there to participate in a forum or group. You’ll also get emotional support from fellow business owners who are dealing with the same issues and struggles that you are.
TravelHost Owner Opportunity
Starting and running your own business isn’t easy, especially if you’ve never run one before. This is where the TravelHost Owner opportunity comes into play. It provides you with your own business and a dedicated support group.
When you run a TravelHost business from your home, you’re in complete and total control. TravelHost will also provide you with a First Year Experience (FYE) on-boarding package and launch plan which will allow you to hit the ground running.
Why TravelHost?
TravelHost is a national brand and will give new owners a huge advantage which will provide a jump start on their marketing, especially with our massive digital footprint.
To learn more about this fantastic business opportunity, contact the TravelHost New Business Development Department at (972) 556-0541 or click here to get started.
Jason Bahamundi
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