We live in the land of opportunity…still. America is still a great place to start a business! If you’re reading this and have decided to do just that, I have some words of encouragement and support for you.
First, what you’re doing is hard! But if you believe in the business and put in the effort it’s going to take, you CAN be successful. I don’t have a secret recipe for success, but I do know a good bit about owning my own business. I started Mighty Mouse Productions in 1997 and have never looked back! Working for myself, setting my own schedule and not having a boss looking over my shoulder has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made professionally. But it hasn’t come with its own set of challenges., including self discipline and hard work.
All business requires two essential ingredients: time and money. You must be able to put in the time and take some financial risk. If you’re “keeping your day job”, just know that you’re going to be working a lot of long hours to make your dream a reality. And remember, at some point, you’re going to have to take a real risk and quit your secure job. That also goes along with the financial investment. I borrowed money to buy a computer and the software I needed when I started Mighty Mouse Productions. It wasn’t a huge amount of money, but I knew that it was necessary. All business ventures require money. If you’re not willing to put some in, don’t expect to get anything out of it. After your initial investment be sure to plan ahead and be ready for expected and unexpected expenses.
The next thing almost all companies have to have is some kind of marketing plan. Even if you’re not prepared to spend a bunch of money on advertising, it’s really easy these days to do it yourself through social media and word of mouth. If you don’t have the money, then you’ll have to spend the time. If you don’t really have to time, one of the best initial investments I think you should make is a good logo. I call it “putting a face on your baby.” With a strong, solid logo and brand, you can really launch your company and either align yourself with larger companies or beat even your competition! A lot of people try to create logos themselves, which of course I think is a mistake (LOL!), but hey, maybe you have hidden talents. Another option is to hire a professional like Mighty Mouse Productions to do what I do and I can promise you that you won’t be disappointed. My goal is for you to love your logo and be excited about using it on everything! Here are a few I designed just this past year…
My next piece of advise is in the arena of other people. If you’ve decided to go into a partnership, please think long and hard about who that partner is. I will say from experience that it’s like a marriage. You need to really know the other person/people you’re going into business with. And you all need to bring gifts and talents, plus money to the table. You MUST have a partnership agreement and a long range agreed upon plan for growth. I’ve had another business where I had a partner and I learned a lot about what NOT to do. We were not well matched and it was a painful process. But as far as Mighty Mouse Production, I’ve kept this business to just myself. But I do have “people”. Instead of a formal partnership, I have aligned myself with other equally talented people in the industry who are better at what they do than I am (hire a professional). For creative copywriting, I use the talented Valerie Bickley of Bickley Creative. And for web development, I have the intelligent and skilled people over at Tekli. Together we make a powerful marketing team, in an uncomplicated partnership! We’re like a virtual advertising agency but at a fraction of the cost of a traditional one.
The other side of the “people” conversation is employees. Are you planning on eventually hiring people to work for you? I decided years ago to keep my business a one person shop. I like my life simple and uncomplicated and so I’ve never attempted to grow to the point of needing help. I have had the occasional intern over the summer, but no other full time employees. As in any business, you need to make sure your bottom line is going to grow in bringing in more employees. It’s not always the case. You could end up working hard and managing people only to draw the same salary.
Lastly, hang in there. It takes time to grow a business and there will be lean times, but if you love what you’re doing it will all be worth it. The American Dream is still alive and kicking!!