5 Questions to Ask Yourself if You Want to Start a Business - #44

Show Notes

“I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done.” If you’re a professional woman who’s been mulling over entrepreneurship, but haven’t done any more than that, this quote from Lucille Ball should serve as a foretelling.
For professional women, there are plenty of great reasons to start a side business such as creating multiple streams of income, building something for yourself, and setting your own hours. In this episode Lori Vajda and Nola Boea share the five questions (plus bonus questions) to ask yourself before pursuing the entrepreneurial journey.

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In This Episode You’ll Learn Why

• Women should seriously consider starting their own business.
• Entrepreneurship doesn’t have to be daunting and it doesn’t mean you need to quit your day job.
• It’s better to start small and learn along the way, before building up to something bigger.
• The more ‘yeses’ you have to these questions, the more likely it is you can be a successful business owner regardless of background, education or experience level.
• Starting a side business creates career-changing opportunities you wouldn't have normally stumbled upon working a full-time job.

While there are many reasons women benefit from starting a business, including unstable job markets, economies and pandemics. Older women in particular face more discrimination during these life change events than their your counterparts. As Nola and Lori point out, understanding your intrinsic motivation for starting a side business can help you establish a solid foundation for launching a successful entrepreneurial journey. 

(2:56.25) Building a side business with limited hours to dedicate to it outside of your day job is never easy. Question number one is all about evaluating how passionate you are toward the idea of starting a business.  

(6:37.72) This question isn’t so much about delayed gratification as much as it’s about whether or not you’re in it for the long game.

(9:31.23) It takes time for a business to grow, which is why question number three is so important. Are you willing to put in the time to create a sticky brand? 

(12:36:44) You definitely can’t create a successful side business venture without support, and we’re not talking about the financial kind with question number four.

(15:02:69) There’s good reason why you don’t want to be first to market and question number five explores this in more detail. 

(17:57:60) Bonus question number one focuses on the one thing no talks about, and that is all about getting out of your comfort zone. 

(22:22:78) Bonus, bonus question, would you be willing to let us follow your entrepreneurial journey? 

Resources 
You can subscribe to Lori and Nola's show, (we love you and want to make it easy) on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

This episode was supported by: Be-YOU-nique

Transcript

Lori: [00:00:00] Whether you have a plan, a hope or an inkling of a dream to be your own boss and create your own business, and you aren't quite sure if you should actually do it, this is the episode for you. We're sharing the five questions you absolutely have to ask yourself to help determine whether or not starting a business, even a side business, is something you should invest your time and energy in. But be sure to stick around to the end, because we're going to share a bonus tip with you. It's a little something Nola and I learned while going through the process of launching a new business idea ourselves. It's something we wish someone had told us to think about because it's so helpful. And we can't wait to share it with you. Now let's get to it.

Announcer: [00:00:44] You're listening to the Sticky Brand Lab podcast, where time strapped professionals like you learn how to create a business you'd love in as little as three hours a week. 

Nola: [00:00:57] Let's get real. Starting a business, even a side business, takes a lot of work. So, it's natural to be on the fence about it. That's why we're listing the questions that helped us, and other female founders, determine whether or not our ideas were worth pursuing. But before we get started, if you're new to the show, hello! And if you've been a listener, welcome back! We're Nola and Lori, your co-hosts and we're on a mission to help side business venturers. Or as we like to think of them, adventure seekers, get rock solid on launching a profitable side business and brand. But before we begin, we'd love it. If at any point you feel this episode resonates with you, that you click the subscribe button on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Audible, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Not only does it make us happy when we get new subscribers, but it gives us a chance to help you. Because each week we come out with new content so you hit the ground running and be the most confident, powerful badassery business owner ever. Now let's get this "Here's what I really should be asking myself" episodes started. 

Lori: [00:01:57] Whether you've reached a point in your life or career, and you're asking yourself what's next, or you're just ready to make a change, you've been toying with the idea of starting a business. And you aren't quite sure if you should actually do it. We get it. We've been there ourselves. Quite a few times, actually. We bought the books, attended the webinars, talk to each other's ear off and listened to podcasts all in an effort to calm the anxiety and answer the questions of whether or not it would be worth it. And several times we even took the plunge. First separately, in starting our own ventures. And now together, with Sticky Brand Lab. So, we're going to take you through the five questions that helped us and we think will help you, too. Now let's get started with question number one. 

Nola: [00:02:44] As podcasters, who interview founders, in addition to being side business entrepreneurs, ourselves, we have a pretty good idea of the questions it takes to really understand whether or not this is the right move for you. Question one. Are you passionate about a product, service, idea or a solution you've created and just can't stop thinking or talking about it? Yes! Ask yourself that.  Do you find yourself that it's on your mind constantly that you're investigating to learn more, or you're telling people about it to see if they share the excitement? It's very important, in my opinion, to be passionate about what you're doing. Cause I found that it gives you the motivation to move. It really lights a fire, doing the research, doing the marketing during the setup that can all be fueled by the passion to get this idea out of your head and into reality. I especially think back, when I had come out of a career that took me to a lot of different, unusual destinations. And over the years, and over the different travels, I found that I was changed from being in these exotic places, these out of the comfort zone spaces, and meeting people that are completely different than me, people who eat and sleep and do other things very differently. And it really changed me as a person. And I look back at my younger self and could see how much I had grown.  And so, I got really passionate about creating experiences in some of these not so well-known locales where people could just engage in the culture and engage in nature and come up with those aha moments and maybe not take 10 years to do it, but to do it in a more intentional way. And so, yeah, having that motivation fueled me to even do research into adult learning and what is the science behind that aha moment? What is the science behind that shift? And I tell you if I was not passionate about bringing that to fruition, I would not have read like scientific research study journals and PhD thesis studies.

Lori: [00:05:01] I totally, totally agree with you at you're saying, and there's a difference between being passionate about a topic, a product, a service, an idea solution. And having a passion. Passion and passionate are not the same. 

Nola: [00:05:17] Tell me more. 

Lori: [00:05:18] Well, I think for myself, when I get really passionate about an idea, there's an excitement in my voice. So, it's not just that I'm thinking about it constantly. It's that fuels my energy. And when we're working with clients and we hear them talk about their idea and wondering if they should pursue it, I can hear when there's an uptick in their voice and it gets lighter. And there's an enthusiasm, even though it's really tiny, versus doing something that doesn't do that. And there's kind of this heaviness to their voice. And I think when you're passionate about an idea, the ideas come to you in your sleep, they come to you and you're in the bathroom, or maybe that's just me, but it's true. So, it's important. And if you find that you are passionate, you can't stop thinking about it, you should give yourself a point. But if you're not feeling passionate about it, so maybe the idea of being your own boss is the passionate idea, but the topic that you want to focus on, the product, the service, the idea, that's not there yet for you, you don't feel that excitement, you don't think about it all the time, it doesn't energize you. Then you should go back to the drawing board. 

Nola: [00:06:36] Agreed. 

Lori: [00:06:37] Question number two. And to me, this is the question that you have to have a firm yes on. And that is: Would you do it even if you knew you wouldn't start making any real profit money for at least two years? 

Nola: [00:06:57] That's a tough one. 

Lori: [00:06:58] It is because when we get the idea, we all have magical thinking. We think, well, this is a great idea. And you might get somebody else in your family or your friends to confer, or like you and I, we have an idea and we think, that magical thinking comes in and we're going to be the exception to the rule. But the reality is we're not the exception to the rule. We, like everybody else, follow the same rules and it can take two years, sometimes more, sometimes less before you start seeing real profits start happening. And you have to have a firm, yes. I want to do this. I'm passionate about doing this. So even if it takes two years, I'm going to continuously work on it. And let me add a caveat to this. When we say two years, we mean, you're going to give your heart, your soul, your time to making this come to fruition. You're going to ask for sales, you're going to attend networking events. You're going to pose hard questions. You're going to give and give and give. I often think this is kind of like when people say, oh, the reason I want to have a baby is because I want somebody who will love me just for who I am. And I think to myself, yeah, you're not going to see that for at least 25 years in reciprocity. So, you're going to give and give and give and give. And it is like a baby. You're going to give everything. You're going to have sleepless nights. And if you are so in love with this idea, those two years can fly by. But if you don't feel yes on passionate question, number one, and you get to this one, then it's going to be like, no way. 

Nola: [00:08:45] Yeah, those are the days where every sale is just another vote of confidence that, just keep going. It may not support you, but it's another vote that, yeah, people want your product or service it'll happen. It'll grow it'll snowball, but just like a snowball, it starts off very, very small and it takes a while before it grows. 

Lori: [00:09:06] Absolutely. You are betting on yourself. So, you have to be confident, at least confident enough and patient and have the belief that this is going to be a long-term decision. And you have to jump in with two feet. 

Nola: [00:09:23] You stated correctly that you are going to be investing a lot of time. I mean, you just said two years. And that actually brings us to the third question: Am I willing and able to put the time in? We just said it may take two years before you see a profit. During those two years, even if it's a side business, even though you're taking baby steps, it can take a lot of time to do things that you may not in the beginning, be aware that you are going to have to do. You're creating your product, you're providing your service, but you also have to do the networking. You also have to do the bookkeeping. You also have to do the marketing. If you're doing social media, keep that up. If you're building your newsletter list, keep that up. But doing all of those steps that grow your base, that can get that snowball going, it takes time. You need to keep the tasks up, get into a rhythm and doing those will take a good portion of your spare time. You may find that you don't have spare time. And self-care is another topic. 

Lori: [00:10:28] That is true. And most of us underestimate or overestimate the amount of time it takes to start and launch a business. And the good news is you don't need to have everything in place. It doesn't have to be perfect to get started, but once you do start working on it and you put it out there, it takes time for the business to grow and you have to be consistent.

I'm going to use our podcast as an example. Because we talked about this. And we started in researching it and letting the topic and the focus and our target audience and all of those things, germinate. And then I got cancer. And we had to slow things down. And then you moved and we had to slow things down. We never stopped making those steps, but there came a point where we had set the goal that we were going to launch before the end of 2020. And that was our goal because we knew we were heading into the holidays and if we didn't have it launched, then we were going to have to wait to 2021 and we felt 2020 was going to be our year. So, it wasn't perfect when we launched. And we launched it in November, which is kind of cool because we're a little more than halfway through, but we launched it knowing that we were going to make improvements. And that investment and energy, not only did it add purpose while I was recuperating through cancer treatment, but it also added to the momentum into the way that we figured out how to bring it to life. And that was kind of that underestimate and overestimate how much we could get done, but shit happens. And sometimes you do the best you can and things don't always work out. But you have to be able to say, I'm going to make the time I'm going to put it together. And here's how I'm plotting that out. And if you say yes, give yourself a point. 

Nola: [00:12:35] Okay.

Lori: [00:12:36] Question number four: Do you have the support system in place to do this? And this turned out to be really important in a lot of ways. As this whole thing has evolved for us, and we thought about other businesses in the past that individually that you and I have launched, we've recognized that on Sticky Brand Lab, especially on the podcast, but even through it, the business aspect, we're doing this together. So not only are we each other's support. We have relationships outside of that, we have families, we have significant others. We have friendships. We have a lot of things happening. And if people that you love and that love you, don't support you when you hit obstacles, that's when, as they say what the rubber hits the road. That's where you need people in your court that say, look, you've invested a lot in here. I believe in you keep going. This is important. 

Nola: [00:13:39] And I have to say, you have been that for me.

Lori: [00:13:44] And you for me. And you know, not everybody who starts a business is going to do this with a partner. Some of you listening are going to do this on your own. And that's great. But having that support system, when you struggle and when it gets hard, can be really important. And having the backing in your family system. I know for each of us, our kids have been a real support system for believing in us. 

Nola: [00:14:13] That's right. In fact, they kind of look up to us for our endeavors. 

Lori: [00:14:18] Yeah, they do. And that was something that once we launched and they saw our excitement and our high-fiving each other, and picking up momentum and getting noticed and picked up in some trade magazines that have spotlighted Sticky Brand Lab, we became a role model. But the support system is really important. And so, if you have that in your life, or you can manifest that in your life, I think you need to give yourself a point. And if you're uncertain, then you need to look at where that support system is going to come from. 

Nola: [00:14:57] Good point. Point for you. 

Lori: [00:15:00] Point taken.

Nola: [00:15:01] Point taken. Question number five. Is there a market for what I have to offer? And this actually can be a fun question to answer. If you're itching to figure this out, this is where you get to dive in. So, if up until this point, it's been an idea, something you've been tossing around, it's time to answer question five. And find out if there's a market for it, start diving in, do the research. So perhaps you've had people coming and asking for your expertise. Is that just an anomaly that just somebody that you happen to know hit you up for some help? Or, is your expertise really marketable? And if so, what sets you apart from other experts out there? And if you do see other experts out there, don't let that throw you off. 

Lori: [00:15:48] Exactly. If you're first to market, you spend all your time explaining it to people. And then if they've not heard of it or they didn't have the need for it, and they have a perplexed look on their face. So, competition is a good thing. And competition with demand is an even better thing because it tells you that there are people willing to pay for it. So, then it allows you to look at it and position yourself and your idea in a unique way. And you and I talked about the podcast, right? As the idea. So, is the podcast, Sticky Brand Lab podcast, was that all about a side hustle, which from an SEO standpoint was very popular term, would help us to get traction in getting discovered organically if somebody was searching for that. But that's not what we were about. And our audience, we wanted to focus on professional women who had had a great career. And were ready now to expand either their expertise and use their side business as a platform for speaking, for consulting, for coaching, or maybe they wanted to develop a new expertise that went beyond what their role was in their current position. And they needed to get out there and have a way of marketing themselves and getting experience under their belt and testing out their theories and their ideas for it. And so, our audience wasn't the side hustle side gig. It was really the side business from a professional standpoint. 

Nola: [00:17:32] And so that's really identifying your market, identifying your potential customer base. 

Lori: [00:17:39] Absolutely. And if you can say yes to that question, give yourself a point. Ooh, Ooh. So, here's where we learned a little about this bonus question. And that's because you and I have had a lot of expertise. We've had expertise in content, in strategy, in copywriting, a variety of places where our expertise and experience could have taken us down any number of roads. When we decided to do a podcast, this is where this question really kicked in. And this is: Are you willing to get out of your comfort zone? In other words, are you willing to take your service or your product that you believe so much in, and you're willing to invest time and energy in, and that you're willing to withstand criticism? That you're willing to start on a track and walk down that path and then make a midcourse correction as you refine it? Are you willing to reach out to people? Are you willing to ask for a sale? Are you willing to ask for help? Are you willing to ask for introductions? The list of what gets you out of your comfort zone goes on and on and on. And you recently are faced with that right now, because there's a podcast episode that we want to do. And you aren't used to asking people... 

Nola: [00:19:19] You're onto me. It's so ironic that being a podcast host, I'm actually shy about talking to people. And so, that means that in order to develop the show, I have to, like, go and talk to people. And I will say, I mean, going back through all of my different ventures, that was the biggest fear. That was the biggest obstacle, my comfort level. You know what? We had a guest not too long ago, whose motto was "action is the antidote to fear." What I'm getting at is, I would find that after agonizing and finally going ahead and doing what I need to do, I'd look back and I'd go, okay. So, was it that hard? I mean, it was really, the fear was a greater obstacle than the action in itself. 

Lori: [00:20:15] Yeah. I mean, I get anxious as we get to the date of recording, will our guests show up? I don't know why I have this ongoing, this is going to be the one they're not going to show up verse that hasn't happened yet. It may happen at some point, but every time we go to meet with a guest that thought goes through my head. Every time we record, my armpits are sweaty. Every time we record, you are you're swallowing your own choking on your own spit. 

Nola: [00:20:45] I know, I've got this coughing reflex. Uh oh, we’re coughing reflex recording.

Lori: [00:20:55] And so getting out of your comfort zone, doing it anyway, if you can say. Yes, this is going to make me grow. This is a passion. I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I've talked about it. I've thought about it. And this is the year I'm committing to doing it. If you can say yes, give yourself a point, no matter how much your palms sweat. No matter how much your stomach muscles clench. No matter how bright red your face is, every time you go out and ask for a sale or whatever it is for your product or service that you're doing.

And our whole thing is do it afraid because you are never going to be ready, which also is a podcast that we're going to be talking about in the future, because that is an entity on its own. But if there's true, it's never going to be perfect. And I heard somebody say this recently, if it is perfect, if you don't have anxiety along with it, it means you should have done that thing a long time ago.

Nola: [00:21:59] And, if you used to have anxiety and it's starting to get better and it's old hat to you now, then it's time to grow. It's time to push yourself. It's time to expand outside your comfort zone. Find the new boundaries. 

Lori: [00:22:13] Agreed. It's an important question. And it's one that can make those other five seem like small potatoes.

Nola: [00:22:22] So this is a double bonus episode because I've got a bonus question number two. 

Lori: [00:22:30] So our bonus has a bonus? 

Nola: [00:22:32] Yeah. Your bonus has a bonus. The question is, let's say you've answered all five questions or around there. 

Lori: [00:22:39] Or all six, including the bonus.

Nola: [00:22:42] There we go. And you feel like you're giving yourself a green light. Would you be willing to let us follow your journey on a podcast series? We've got a new series called, Where Are They Now? An Entrepreneurial Journey. And what we do is we follow an entrepreneur from the time they start up, we hear their concerns, their fears, their anxieties, their plans, their ideas, and just their heart about launching that business. We also find out what specific tactics and things they're learning along the way. And we'll check in with them at least twice a year. We would check in with you at least a couple times a year and just let our listeners know how you're doing, whether you're still on the same track, if you've had to pivot and how, what you've been learning, how you've been growing, and just let us follow you on the journey. So, if you're willing to step out of your comfort zone and let us and our listeners follow you on your entrepreneurial journey, let us know, by going to our website, going to the contact page, stickybrandlab.com/contact and you can either type out or record a message for us. And just let us know, Hey, I want you to follow my entrepreneurial journey. And let's get in touch.

Lori: [00:24:04] That'd be great. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. We hope it makes all the difference in getting started on your side business so you can create the best and most exciting life yet. If you found these questions helpful and you decided to start your entrepreneurial adventure, let us know by posting here where you're listening, or on our Facebook page. This way we can send you love and congratulate you on the amazing and badassery decision you've made to start your epic business venture. 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. 

Nola: [00:24:54] Do you have questions about creating a personal brand, side hustle or small business? Sign up for one of our clarity sessions. For more information, contact us at stickybrandlab.com/contact.

[OUT-TAKE]

And this actually can be a fun question to answer, especially if this is a bug that's under your skin. 

Lori: [00:25:15] Which I have to say. I have never heard that expression before. 

Nola: [00:25:19] So I'm probably mixing metaphors. I'm really notorious for mixing metaphors.