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Making the Jump From Hobbyist to Small Business (Part I)
® Andy White (
andy@...)
Like many others, I was told early on that real success would come
when I could "fire my salaried job." And like many others, I also
found that easier said than done. Thus the discovery of the very
first requirement for starting a small business: Motivation!
Motivation comes in all shapes and sizes. Mine came in the form of a
realization that my family needed me home more than my bi-coastal job
was allowing. For others, it's the loss of a steady job. And for
others, it's the stress of workplace politics. Whatever it may be,
mark it well... because starting a small business absolutely requires
a very strong commitment. It may be possible to do without true
motivation; but I doubt it!
So... there I was, a motivated corporate wage-slave, needing to make
a change. What then? I needed a business idea. Something that I
really liked, I thought to myself. For me, this translated into
immediate fantasies of taking my very meager woodworking skills and
turning out masterful pieces of furniture that would fetch thousands
(okay, hundreds) per piece. Well, it was a nice fantasy while it
lastedà and it lasted right up through the day I took my
severance deal and quit my job.
Then reality set in.
The second requirement for starting a small business? Forming a
sound business idea! "Sound" means sanity-checked. Do you have the
skills to tackle not only Production, but Planning? Never mind
actual bookkeeping and sales abilities; do you know how to recognize
a market and analyze where you MIGHT be able to make a profit?
I'm blessed with a uniquely sane spouse, and just enough courage to
continue the process of bouncing dumb ideas off of her. Over a
period of months (no instant gratification here, alas!), we shook out
several things. Not the least of which was the third requirement: A
knowledge of how much we needed to make at this business.
Wow. As scary as it sounds now... I started out this trek not even
knowing how much I absolutely HAD to clear for my business to be
viable. Not viable to the IRS, or my banker... but to my family.
So much for the easy part: the conceptual stage. Armed with actual
goals (and more than a few unrealistic business plans that I
discarded along the way), I did two things. I put my resume out on
the street, to buy myself some more time. And I also started
networking, to see if I could start getting some marketing
intelligence as well as moral support within my local community
around one business notion that I just couldn't kill off... turning
up the volume on my home coffee-roasting hobby and becoming a pro.
(In part two, I'll cover the more nuts-and-bolts requirements,
planning and execution foibles I uncovered along the way to the
business launch.)
® Andy White, Roastmaster / Proprietor for Coudy Coffee,
Coudersport,
Pennsylvania. To see more of this entrepreneurial odyssey and for
great fresh-roasted coffees, espressos and coffee information and
resources, visit
http://www.coudycoffee.com.
