#112: How To Start & Grow A Side Business Based On Your Knowledge, Experience, And Expertise

Show Notes

Do you dream about becoming an entrepreneur? You might be surprised to learn how quickly you can start a business based on the experience you already have. And it is all because the knowledge that took you years to acquire will shorten the learning curve for customers. 

​In this short episode, co-hosts Lori Vajda and Nola Boea explain how to determine which of your skills, experiences, and knowledge-shares are the right fit for starting your business. They’re also sharing 4 profitable steps to growing your business, so you can determine which step fits your personality, skills, interests, and the lifestyle you want to create.

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In This Episode You’ll Learn 

• How to turn your experience and expertise into a lucrative side business.
• Why now is the perfect time to use your subject matter expertise to start a consulting, coaching or direct service business. 
• Four steps for building and growing a profitable side business.
• As a professional service provider, use this surefire step to identify which of your offers aligns to your ideal audience.

Key points Lori and Nola are sharing in this episode:

• (01:10:75) Those who figure out how to sell their expertise will be able to find meaningful and impactful work from people who value a few hours of their time.
• (02:45:60) The key to starting a business based on your knowledge is to see it as building your own personal enterprise. 
• (04:11:41) After the foundational level of your business model, level two is where you begin to grow your personal brand business.
• (05:01:50) Level three is where you begin to hire other contractors or freelancers. This allows you to grow your business and increase your profits

Resources 
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Transcript

[00:00:00] Nola: We all have things we're good at. In fact, if you've been in your career for a while, it's fair to say you've gained a bit of industry experience and wisdom. Which is why colleagues, friends, and even relatives ask you to review something or seek out your thoughts and opinions. If this sounds familiar, it's a good sign people value your expertise. And that listener makes your knowledge a commodity and service worth selling. And professionals who learn how to sell their industry knowledge will find meaningful and impactful work from the people who value their time. Stay tuned, friend, because in this episode, we are discussing how you can diversify your career portfolio and monetize your knowledge as an entrepreneur or side business owner.

[00:00:43] Announcer: You're listening to the Sticky Brand Lab podcast where time strapped professionals like you learn how to create a business you love in as little as three hours a week.

[00:00:54] Lori: Yes, Google and YouTube have made it possible to do research on just about any topic. But waiting through the millions of pieces of available information takes time, a lot of time. And as the saying goes, Time is money. Which is why people are willing to pay to learn from a subject matter expert with the precise knowledge and experience they need. That's because you can help them shorten their learning process. Reduce their feelings of overwhelm. You can help them predict problems and guide them through to success. And because of your experience, you are able to spot new opportunities with more certainty. The secret of business success is finding a way to help people who don't have the same level of expertise as you do on any particular topic or in any particular given industry.

When you look at it from this perspective, it becomes easy to see how you can build your business based on your personal expertise, as well as build a brand for yourself. Don't get hung up on thinking you must have a clear vision for your business before you launch it. Really, on the contrary, most people who launch a business start small, like a freelancer or an independent contractor. This makes it easy to gauge the level of demand as well as the need for your knowledge and skill. And I think Nola, you probably know something about that as well, because you and I have both done our own side businesses based on our skill level.

[00:02:37] Nola: Absolutely. And we have, analyzed them in many different ways, sliced and diced them, right?

[00:02:43] Lori: We sure have.

[00:02:45] Nola: So, let's start by thinking about how you, listener, can build your own personal enterprise. It helps to think about it as, let's say, a structure with four distinct levels based on the number of people you'll serve at each level, and each building upon the next level to create, your enterprise. So, from the bottom to the top, these levels are: Number one, your direct, one-to-one services. The next level is your productized services. Then come your standardized services, and finally, digital products and speaking type of engagements. Now. At the foundation, that level one, those are the initial client services that you can offer, such as, let's say you're a freelancer or a contract provider, or just a starting out consultant. And while you're limited in the number of clients you can serve, because you only have so many hours in a day, and these initial clients will probably be, former colleagues or you know, friends in the industry. And you're probably doing this on the side while you're actually working in your full-time job. It's these experiences that will help you hone your skills and refine your offerings and ultimately grow your enterprise more effectively in the long run.

[00:04:10] Lori: Yeah, exactly. So from that experience of working directly with clients, you move to the next level or what we're calling level two. And this is where you have the ability to sell products. Since you've worked with clients directly, you're able to spot opportunities for which of those services you can turn into a more product offer. And by that, I mean think of it like prepackaged solutions that solve a specific problem. Let me give you an example. Let's say that you offer one on one coaching. Even though it's a service, when you think of it as a product, you're able to scale it in your offering. So from here, one-on-one coaching would go one-to-many. This would be where you would be doing group coaching at a set price.

[00:05:01] Nola: Now the next level is standardized services. Again, because you've been working directly with more and more clients, you are now able to spot trends. Let's say for example, that you're a freelance writer and you notice one challenge many small business owners have is producing content. At least keeping up with the plethora of content that is expected these days. So you put together say, three standardized packages at three different price points. Then you develop your cadre of freelancers who create the content and you profit off of the difference between paying off those freelancers and charging the client. In this way, you're able to meet the needs of many more customers than you would if you were doing all the work yourself.

[00:05:48] Lori: Now, at the top of this level, think of it as the penthouse of your enterprise, these are your digital products. Speaking engagements. Your V I P or mastermind offerings. When we're talking about here is those things that require maybe a lot of time to put together or plan, but they also give you highest profit margin. Now, often, I don't know about you, Nola, but one of the mistakes I see people making is they start with those digitalized products first, because they're the most revenue generating, but you don't have a reputation to build upon. So it ends up that you spend a lot of money to learn it, or you put a lot of money in making it right, but you don't have your audience.

And the way we've designed this is, you're growing your audience and with that, you're able to go to the next level in expanding your products and showcasing your expertise and your brand.

[00:06:54] Nola: That's right.

[00:06:55] Lori: So, we hope that thinking about your business from starting small and growing it to a higher cost offering, your entrepreneurial journey will be far more rewarding and your ability to scale your business into multiple streams of income will work for you. But whether you continue to keep it small, that one to one coaching, or you have bigger visions for your dream business, that's entirely up to you, listener.

[00:07:26] Nola: Keep in mind that there are a lot of technologies out there like Stripe for payments or Wix for your no-code website design and platforms like Shopify for your e-commerce storefronts. These are all making it easier for anyone with an entrepreneurial interest, even without any technical expertise to get started. And that means including you.

[00:07:53] Lori: Absolutely. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope it inspires you to think about your expertise in a whole new light so you can create your best and most exciting business and life. If you found the information shared here today helpful, let us know by posting where you're listening or on our Facebook page.

[00:08:15] Nola: Not sure how to turn your idea into a profitable side business? Contact us at stickybrandlab.com/contact. We'd be happy to help you.
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[00:08:23] Lori: Be sure to come back next Tuesday and every Tuesday for another informative, inspiring, and motivating episode. And remember, actions create results. So tap into your desire to create a business and brand you love by taking 1% action every day. Small steps, big effects.