Lifestyle 5 Things You Need to Do Before You Dive

5 Things You Need to Do Before You Dive Into a “Business in Blue Jeans”

1. Have a clear vision and a plan.

Before you ever transition out of a job, you must have a
clear vision for what your life will be like and what you plan to do
when you make the switch. You should never leave a job without
knowing exactly what you’re going to do and how it’s going to work! If
you don’t know what business

to start or how to turn your knowledge into income, but you know you
really want to do this, read a book, take a class, hire an expert to
guide you and help you figure it out.

Then, depending on the kind of business you decide upon, create a
plan. This could be as formal as a business plan — a must if you’re
embarking on a business that requires financing (which, frankly, most
“businesses in blue jeans” absolutely don’t need) — but it could also
be a less formal plan that includes what you’re going to do, a clear
description of your target market, and a marketing plan. And make sure
you scope out the competition!

The point is, have a very clear plan so you hit the ground running on Day One of your Big Adventure.

2. Save.

This is a big one: money. This is probably the most important out of the five I’ll talk about today. If
you don’t plan ahead with your money and have enough saved up to live
on while you’re building your “business in blue jeans,” you’ll get to a
point where you panic and start operating out of that scarcity
conversation I talked about a few weeks ago (“Are You Having A Scarcity Conversation?”).
You’ll want to save up enough to cover living expenses for at least six
months, which gives you a nice cushion and some emergency money.

When you’re figuring out how much you’ll need to live on, make sure
you factor in what happens to things like your health insurance when
you make the transition. At the least, do some research with a
qualified insurance agent who can give you the lowdown on the pricing
for some decent self-insurance plans.

You’ll also want to figure in enough money to start your business —
and with a “business in blue jeans,” you don’t need THAT much, but you
do need enough to pay certain professionals along the way. I work with
clients all the time to help them figure out how much they need to sock
away for their Big Startup Moment. This is a little different for
everyone, but I can tell you that a “business in blue jeans” can be
quite affordable to start — probably more so than you’d ever imagine.

How do you save up all that money? The truth is, you work. Yep, the chick who’s constantly telling you that you don’t have
to work all the time is telling you to get a part-time job. Remember,
this is a temporary measure that you’re implementing so you can buy
yourself the dream life. There are several ways to do this, including
freelance work that you do in your spare time and getting a part-time
job, but however you decide to do it, make sure you put all the income from that part-time work into an account designated for this purpose.

My husband worked at his full-time job plus an additional part-time
job for eleven months to save up enough money to live on so he could
have his dream life. It wasn’t always easy and it required sacrifices.
He got tired sometimes and didn’t get to do all the fun things he
always wanted to do. But because his vision was clear and he knew
exactly what he wanted to do, he was always able to stay motivated and
on-track,  and persevere when he didn’t always feel like working.

A couple of tips for people contemplating the part-time job method:

• If you can, keep your weekends free for rest and relaxation.
• Figure out approximately how long you’ll need to work part-time to
  save up enough to live on and then make sure you take a little vacation
  about halfway in to rejuvenate.

3. Communicate with your friends and family.

When you work from home, especially immediately following your
transition, friends and family think you’re on holiday. They may call
in the middle of your work day, they might think you’re available for
afternoon hang-out time, they may even ask you to do favors for them
that they can’t seem to manage because they have a “real job.”

It’s crucial when you make a transition like this that your family and friends know what you’re doing. If
you choose to set regular working hours, communicate that to the people
in your life and let them know that during those hours, you’re “at the
office.” And let them know that as a small business owner, you wear a
lot of hats and have to do a lot of different kinds of work. For
example, some of my friends think I spend an inordinate amount of time
on social media sites instead of working, and I have to
explain to them that the time I spend on Facebook, Twitter, and other
similar sites (which actually isn’t nearly as substantial as it seems,
I just happen to keep a browser open all the time) is actually work
time for me.

You’ll find that some people in your life will be more understanding and supportive than others, but communication is absolutely key, especially when you’re doing administrative tasks where the income-generation isn’t always as easy to see.

When I work with a client who is in a relationship, I encourage the
client to bring his/her partner to our initial meetings and
consultations. In my books, I specifically encourage readers to read
certain sections of the book to their spouses and partners, so everyone
is on the same page. I find that this creates a stronger foundation for
success, as it creates understanding and even “buy-in” from the
partner. You’ll find that success is easier to achieve when you aren’t
fighting a battle on all fronts.

4. Learn self-discipline.

While #3 is about external influences, this one is about internal
influences. Non-traditional work requires one skill above all others:
self-discipline.

I’ve had a few clients who were a bit overwhelmed by the freedom of
a “business in blue jeans” at first. They go run errands or see movies
in the middle of a weekday, hang out with friends, watch TV… it can be
slightly maddening to have this new freedom. So before you head out on your own, you have to decide how you’re going to handle the flexibility.

At first, when you start a new venture, you do work a lot. You’re
building systems, getting things set up properly, working with
professionals on various aspects of your business, and it can take a
lot of time. Sometimes it takes even more time than you’d work at a
regular job. But there are a couple of things to remember about this:
1) you’re working for you now, so every single thing you do and every hour you put in is something you
will benefit from, 2) you’re now working at something that matters to
you, something you’re passionate about, and something you enjoy. Work
becomes a very different thing when you’re doing something you love and
knowing you’re going to benefit from everything you do.

That said, as one of my readers pointed out last week, you’ll still find that there are things you won’t like to do. This is where self-discipline comes in.
Often, you can outsource the things you don’t like to do. Outsourcing
is far more affordable than most people imagine. But even with the
magic of outsourcing, there are still things you’ll do for your
business for which you’ll need some self-discipline. In my case,
writing is one of the things I’m really passionate about, because it
allows me to share what I know with others. But as much as I enjoy
doing it, it’s something that requires some self-discipline on my part.
I could easily find about ten other things to do right now than
writing. But I have a deadline and if I want to get this material out
to you (and I really do), I have to have the self-discipline to finish
this article, as well as the others I’ve agreed to write for other
publications.

Sometimes, if you’re a free spirit and you know
self-discipline is an issue for you, you just have to build in a
structure to take advantage of your strengths. I have one
client who has certain days when she wakes up and knows she just isn’t
in a “working mood.” If she tries to push herself to work, she just
wastes time and doesn’t accomplish a thing. So we built in a structure
that takes advantage of the days when she IS in a working mood — she
can work to hear heart’s content on those days, and stores up enough
material and content so that her automated systems
release that content on days when she doesn’t feel like working.
Although this type of work style isn’t for everyone, this is where you
can really see the power of the flexibility inherent in a “business in
blue jeans.” One size and one style doesn’t fit all, but you can tailor
a “business in blue jeans” to fit how you operate.

5. Be in the right mindset.

Before you embark on your adventure, you want to be in the right
mindset. This includes a couple of things. First, you need to be in a
“design your life” mindset. That means you have to be aware that every action you take is a part of crafting a life that you desire.
So you must be aware and awake, because every action has a consequence.
Decide to watch a movie this afternoon instead of ensuring you meet a
client deadline, and you’ve just made a decision that may not craft the
lifestyle you want (actually, by making that decision, you’re also making a clear action statement about what life you really
want). So going back to #1, make sure your vision is clear, and be in
the frame of mind to take actions to make that vision a reality.

Second, you need a mindset geared toward success. That means more
than just waking up in the morning and thinking, “I would like to be
successful,” and then going about your day. A success mindset
is about envisioning your success and acting on that vision without
hesitation, without excuses, without wavering.

Getting your ducks in a row before you make the transition to a
“business in blue jeans” is absolutely critical to your success.
Keeping at least these five things in mind and covering all the bases
will give you a great head start and a foundation for success.