If you’ve dreamed of owning your own business, controlling your own destiny, leaving that friggin 9-5 J.O.B; I’m going to give you a blueprint for becoming an entrepreneur in under 12 months.
This blueprint isn’t going to require any money, as it’s only going to require dedication, determination and hustle.
“Entrepreneurship is living a few years of your life like most won’t so that you can spend the rest of your life like most people can’t.”
First you need to toss out all excuses of WHY you can’t be an entrepreneur. Don’t worry if you have no money, definitely don’t think you need a business idea and don’t worry about thinking you need experience, because you don’t.
Part 1
For the first 4 months I want you to work on your entrepreneurial MBA. Turn off your T.V. for the next 4 months, stop reading daily newspapers and say see you in 4 months Facebook. Anyone who’s negative in your life put on hold. Let them know you’re in an intense 4 month program and will talk when you’re complete.
Here’s what you’re going to do for the first 4 months instead of doing the above. Each day we want to fill your mind with positive entrepreneurial leaders. In the car on the way to or home from work, during workouts, when cooking or anytime you’re moving around, listen to a Podcast. Listen via the Stitcher app for Android mobile users or via iTunes for Apple mobile users.
Here are the initial 15 Podcast you’ll subscribe to and consume for the next 4 months:
By consuming this content for the next 4 months you’ll transform your mind and you’ll feel truly inspired by each and every one of these host. You’ll learn how each of the hosts was in your exact same spot. You’ll have countless business ideas and you’ll learn entrepreneurial lessons that aren’t taught in school.
There’s one more podcast you’ll need to add for the first 4 months, though this required a little extra attention. Listen to Lewis Howes The School of Greatness weekly show. The show like all the above is phenomenal though there’s a special episode you should listen to first. The Power of Belief as this is truly an amazing episode. Lewis goes through 8 ways to build confidence and the power of belief during this episode. I share this episode because having the right mindset is crucial during entrepreneurship. It’s the difference between succeeding versus struggling.
The next crucial part of the first 4 months is diving into the best entrepreneurial books. The following is a checklist of the best business books that you should read. Not a big reader, maybe this recent report from Dave Ramsey on 20 Things The Rich Do Every Day might convince you otherwise. 86% of wealthy love to read vs. 26% for poor and each of these books I’m sure is available by Audible.
The First 3 books you should read are as follows:
1 – The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy
2 – The Passion Test by Janet and Chris Attwood
3 – Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker
Each of these books are similar to the Lewis Howe Podcast on mindset. Having the right mindset will really help you succeed.
The Final step of the first 4 months is going out and networking 2 nights a week after work. Go onto Meetup and find entrepreneurial networking events to attend. Associating with other entrepreneurs will have a huge benefit on your entrepreneurial future. Back to that Dave Ramsey study, 79% of wealthy people network. Not only will you learn and come up with ideas, you’ll build lasting relationships that can be there to assist you when you launch your business.
When networking it is imperative that you build relationships by connecting. I could go on for hours on this topic, though I’d suggest reading this great post by Derek Halpern of Social Triggers named: How to Meet New People Who Want to Help Your Business and Career. Take 3 minutes before your first networking event and watch this video also:
To recap for the first 4 months you’re to devour a Podcast whenever you’re moving around, read from entrepreneurial leaders and network like crazy. This isn’t difficult but you’ll notice a transformation in your life.
Part 2
First continue doing everything you did in months 1-4. Continue to network, read and listen to podcast.
In part one we recommended reading The Passion Test. Begin researching your passions that you discovered. The best way to research is by talking to the market you want to serve. Begin cold calling or meeting with whatever market you plan to serve. Let them know that you’re in the process of developing a business and you’d like their help in market research to assure that you provide the best product or service.
Don’t be afraid to do this step. Many people rush into playing business by making business cards, filing tax paperwork or other non-essential tasks. Your only goal should be to study your potential market and here are 2 reasons why:
1 – When developing your product or service you’ll learn exactly what your market demands by speaking to them. You’ll learn what they currently dislike about the competition and what they like about them. This information is key to helping you create the best business possible.
2 – During your market research speak to your competition and validate the business. You’ll have perceptions of what to expect that very well may not be reality. Learn what a typical day is like, the problems that arise, the challenges, the cycles and every other part of what its like in running the business. By validating you’re making yourself more prepared to succeed. Franchises do this step very well as they typically require interested franchises to talk with existing owners to make sure they’re really interested and aware of what to expect.
Now that you’ve researched and talked to your market, sketch out what the business should be based on all the feedback from your discussions.
Dane Maxwell founder of The Foundation teaches average people how to build software businesses with no ideas, no experience and no money. In this process he has his students go back after researching a niche and get them to pay for you to develop the solution to the problems they shared. If you’ve really discovered a pain and are developing a solution, your market is more than willing to prepay. The process is tremendous, though doesn’t need to be for software only.
If you’re about to open a hair salon, restaurant or other type of non-software business, you can also do this exact approach. If you’re creating a service, product or establishment that answers all your markets concerns, you can set up a special V.I.P list that they can pre-pay to be part of. For instance if you’re looking to open a hair salon that will cost you $20,000, get 80 people to pay $250 to become V.I.P’s. Make it special for them like lifetime discounts, an invitation to a grand opening and lifetime other amenities. This will help you assure that the market really wants what you’re about to start and will also reduce the financial risk.
PART 3
This is the best part. Take Action!
“There comes a time when one must risk something or sit forever with one’s Dreams.” – Trever Peterson
Part 1 is really all about setting the right foundation and making sure you have the right mindset. The fact is most people retreat when faced with obstacles versus successful entrepreneurs learning to find ways to continue. If you really work on a great mindset, disassociate yourself from negativity, associate with other positive entrepreneurs, you’ll be able to successfully complete step 2.
PHAM = Success
PHAM stands for: Passion + Hustle + Action + Mindset = Success
If you truly validated your market in step 2 by asking the right questions, discovering the markets pain points, conceptualized a solution and anchoring it by getting pre-paid to create the product, service or establishment, there is no reason why you shouldn’t succeed.
