Episode 1: Transcript
Welcome to the Idea to Income Podcast!
Today, we are going to be talking all about the Idea to Income Podcast, a little about me and give you a heads up on what to expect and dive into the first 2 things every entrepreneur should do before starting their business.
For the last four years, I have wanted to start a podcast that empowered women to step into their boss role and start a business. The other day, I was killing time on social media as we all do and came across one of those motivational quotes that said, “A year from now, you would have wished you started today.” and it hit me. It has been 4 years since I started toying with the idea of starting my very own podcast. 4 YEARS of me thinking about it! Do you know what else happens every 4 years?
- There is a leap year every 4 years.
- The Olympics are every 4 years.
- The World Cup – and I don’t even watch soccer.
- And apparently, it takes that long for me to get off my butt to stop dreaming and start doing…
So – here we are! This podcast has been created and is based on my Idea to Income System, which is a group coaching program I offer through my coaching business to aspiring entrepreneurs. So, in season 1, I will be bringing you that system directly. I will be providing actionable tasks on how to start your own business. I will be providing you with some great insights and letting you know mistakes to avoid. Each week, I will be sharing practical lessons and having candid conversations about everything you need when you are going from Idea to Income.
Where should we start? This is the most common question I get from aspiring entrepreneurs and I think it is the one question that actually prevents many from getting started. That question really packs a punch because it isn’t just one question – it is actually a LOT of questions packed into one tiny little package. Today, I am going to share my answer to where to get started, and it is actually a lot simpler than you think. It isn’t building your website, it is not harassing everyone you know to start buying stuff from you. It is taking a realistic assessment of yourself and your idea – ensuring your idea targets a paying market.
Now, let me tell you why it is important to start here.
When I made the decision to start my second business, I figured I was already a success in my first company, this should be easy. After all, I had a large network of friends, I have colleagues that are all entrepreneurs, this was going to be a piece of cake!
Boy, was I wrong!
I jumped in, head first, created a website, emailed everyone I knew telling them about my new passion project and all the amazing stuff I to offer because I had taken the time to create them.
The response was astounding. I got a lot of ‘Congratulations’ – “sounds exciting’ and my personal favourite, “you go, girl.” BUT NO ONE wanted to buy from me. This made zero sense, I have so much to offer, YEARS of experience, I’ve mentored dozens of now successful entrepreneurs…Where did I go wrong? Why is nobody willing to pay me for what I am doing? I am going to get to that but first – let me tell you a story.
When I was about 5 or 6 years old, we lived across the street from one of those inner-city parks, where it was like, the center of the block was actually just a playground. Where, parents could kick their kids outside for the entire day, and be able to keep an eye on them by just looking out the front window or hollering out the front door (which is how my mom always got my attention). This green space had a playground, a tetherball a few trees, a picnic table, it was just a place where kids could go and hang out all the time.
Well, one day after a few days of rain and being trapped inside, my brother and I went to the park to play. Now, I am a puddle jumper – even to this day. So, when I saw that a tree was sitting in the middle of, what looked like to me, a great puddle. I was excited. Floating in this puddle was a piece of Styrofoam, no idea where it came from but me being me I jumped right onto that piece of foam, not caring. Just having the drive to jump in and make it sink. Well, let me tell you…It didn’t sink, it slipped right out from under me and I was the one that sunk. Next thing I knew I was waist-deep in a mud pit! I couldn’t move and every time I put my hands down to push myself out, they would sink too. I started crying for my brother to come to save me, he couldn’t pull me out and had to go get Mom – who, from the beginning, told me to stay away from the puddles, so I didn’t ruin my corduroy pants…and we all know how fancy those pants were back in the day…I knew this was not going to end well and I was right. It did not end well.
How does this have anything to do with starting a business? Well, where do YOU think I went wrong when I was five and again when I started my second company? At the age of 5 – I didn’t know any better. 5-year old logic told me I would float on that piece of Styrofoam.…as an adult, my excitement and lack of logical thinking told me I had something to offer – and people to offer it too…I wasn’t starting my business because I didn’t like my current life, I wasn’t in it for the money. I was driven by the idea of helping as many women as I could. Once again, I jumped in feet first, without thinking and once again – I didn’t land well.
So, as a kid, I learned not to jump in if there is no visible bottom. As an entrepreneur, I learned that the smart entrepreneur would always take two simple, steps before heading into the water. This is what I am going to tell you all about today, so you don’t have to sink. Like I did.
Taking a realistic assessment of your idea.
The first thing you need to do is to take a realistic assessment of your idea. You have probably heard it said time and time again, you should only put your time into a business you are absolutely passionate about—your life’s mission. While that’s the ideal scenario, it’s actually kind of like that bible verse that gets misquoted all the time (“money is the root of all evil”). If you read the verse, in its entirety, you’ll see that it’s not money that is the root of all evil-It is
“The LOVE of money is the root of all evil”, meaning that those who place undue emphasis on acquiring it are likely to trip up and make horrible mistakes out of greed. IN other words – if you are only in it for the money, you are probably not going to get anywhere – and that money isn’t so bad after all.
So, before you get started, take a step back and reflect, why are you starting your business? I’m hoping you are starting a business because:
- You love the idea of helping others it completely excites you.
- You know it will make a difference – both to yourself AND your clients for customers.
- Lives will be transformed for the better – again, both yours and your customers.
- And of course – I hope it’s so you can make money and start building the life of your dreams. Without money being your main priority.
I get it, it sounds corny. Especially if you are looking at starting a Multi-level Marketing business or making custom jewelry – for example – but even with product-based companies, it is the serving of others that is going to bring on success.
Finding out if there is a paying market for your idea.
Now, the second one requires a little bit of research and leg work. It is to find out if there is even a paying market for your idea. Whatever your business idea is, it could be selling software as a service, professional training services, coaching, info-products…anything in any type of industry – none of it is going to matter if there isn’t a paying market for it.
Remember my email, that I sent out telling everyone I knew about my new business – the mistake I made there was that I sent it to my entire network of friends – who either – have already been in business long enough they didn’t require what I had to offer 2. Already had what I was offering. Obviously, they were not the paying market I was looking for but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a paying market out there. I just had to actually do some research.
And that is the challenge I want you to do this week, I want you to go out and find out if there is a current need for your idea? Is it something people always need (like plumbing or tax help) or is it a hot new trend right now where there is a giant gap and you can fill it? There is only one way to do that – and that is through research.
Here are a couple of ways to find out.
First – Are people writing about it?
- Go to com or Amazon.ca, click “Departments” then scroll down to “Books,” or “Kindle Store.”
- The search bar will change to search that department automatically for you, search for your idea, product or specific niche.
- Choose a book that appeals to you, and scroll down the book’s listing page until you find the “Amazon Best-Seller’s Rank.”
- If that number is LESS than 150k, you know it’s selling quite frequently.
- If you can find at least 3 books with low ranks, you can assume you’ve hit a hot topic.
Second – Just ASK! Yes, just ask, seriously. How many communities are you a part of? Join a few more and ask around.
- Create a free Survey Monkey account at surveymonkey.com. Click on create survey. Choose a title.
- Create these # comment/essay questions:
- In your own words, what is your biggest frustration with (Insert your topic)?
- What problems is this frustration causing you and your (life/family/work/business)?
- What do feel is missing with available solutions for (insert your topic) in helping you overcome the struggles you have with (insert your topic)?
- How would your life be different if you were able to overcome the struggles and frustrations have with (Insert your product or service)?
- Click “Done” once you have added your questions and edit your buttons and save.
- On the Bottom right-click “Collect Responses” and SHARE YOUR NEW SURVEY!
- Share your survey across all your social media accounts and groups that you belong too, that allow it. Don’t forget to share it in the 12 Weeks to Freedom Private Group and the TVS Network too!
- After 24 hours, start analyzing your results. What is the common thread? What are their pain points? How can you help them through their struggles and end their frustration?
Because if you break it down, there isn’t a single business out there, big, small, or even micro companies whose purpose isn’t to solve a problem for their customers. Which is exactly what you are going to do!
So, be sure to take a step back and assess your business idea and make sure there is a paying market before you jump in feet first.
Be sure to check out the show notes for a FREE checklist, to help you to ensure your business idea is solid and that there is a paying market for it! And a direct link to the episode’s webpage for a complete list of the suggested questions to ask in your survey.
