Fed up of your 9-5 job? We hear you: being a wage slave is no fun. Time then to stop sitting in office management meetings trying to look like you care, ditch the desk and do something different! The Sybarite shows you the way to go.
Identify your passions
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.” So said the late, great Steve Jobs.
The Apple CEO wasn’t wrong. If you love what you do, it won’t feel like work – even at 9am on Monday morning. Think about what pushes your buttons – perhaps it’s painting or photography or it could be cooking or cleaning.
Finding it hard to identify your passions? Ask yourself this: if money wasn’t an issue, what would you do with your time? Furthermore, what do friends and family say you are good at?
Do your homework
Congratulations: you’ve figured out what you love in life! Now it’s time to work out whether your passions are profitable. For instance, you may love writing and travelling but travel writing is a over-crowded, not to mention poorly paid, market. Copywriting on the other hand is much more lucrative and can – theoretically – be filed from anywhere in the world.
Got an idea for a business? Identify a gap in the market, find out everything you can about that gap and go for it! If you’re not reinventing the wheel, how can you ensure that you stand out from the crowd?
Be prepared
You won’t start making money from your passions overnight so make sure you have enough money set aside to see you through the first year and know that – like anything related to love – you will need to make sacrifices along the way. This might mean forgoing that fortnight in Cannes, in favour of attending a trade show or seminar in your industry.
It’s also a good idea to produce a business plan, clearly identifying your aims and goals, so as to stay focused and on track.
Get out there
Don’t wait for customers and clients to come knocking at your door. Fortunately these days it’s easy to attract business through social media channels (think Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and all).
Make sure you attract media attention too: write a compelling press release about your product/business/service and send it to the relevant editors and journalists. Tip: you can usually obtain their contact details online, for free). Keep lead times in mind though: glossy magazine and supplements typically work three months in advance so, if you’re launching say a special Christmas service ,your story will need to have reached the journalist’s inbox by the beginning of September at the latest.
Reflect and review
Unleashed your business idea on the world? Keep track of whether it’s actually working or not. If people aren’t interested in your product, ask yourself why the demand isn’t there. Is the quality up-to scratch or can it be improved? Have you got the price point, right? Do you need to spice up your marketing strategy? At the same time, recognise what is working and the ways in which you can capitalise on this, in order to help your business prosper.
