Donna Hann
As business owners, we are problem seekers and solution makers. I say that all the time. Which means if you're anything like me, you come up with new ideas all the time. So how can you make fast progress on a new business idea, we'll hold on to your seats because that's exactly what I'm talking about today.
Donna Hann
Hello, I'm Donna Hann, a business coach, and an online course creator. And this is the She's in Business podcast. You can think of me as your business bestie, who's a few steps ahead of where you are right now. As a month fueled with ambition and determination. I've created and sold three businesses. I've learned the lessons made mistakes, and I understand the daily juggle in the hustle. I also know what it's like when relationships fray and burnout taps you on the shoulder. That was my world until I reshaped and transformed the way I ran my six figure business. Today I help women to transform their businesses and go from being the overwhelmed entrepreneur to becoming the thriving entrepreneur feeling energized, empowered and fulfilled within their business lifestyle. I want to inspire your business journey, and help you to stop spinning your wheels, because I want you to burn bright instead of burning out. And I'll invite other entrepreneurs to share their real life stories too, because I want you to know that you're not alone. You can be the savvy entrepreneur that you are born to be, and enjoy the freedom to do the things and be present with the people that mean the most to you. So if you're ready to rise to the next level, and build a business by design, this is the shears in business podcast for moms who are made for more
Donna Hann
Welcome to the she's in business podcast, I am your business buddy, Donna Hann, and I am so grateful that you're taking the time to tune in today. Because I know that if you're anything like me, on any given day, you could come up with a mountain of new ideas. And once those creative juices start flowing, you can have the whole thing mapped out and making big bucks in your head. But in reality, there needs to be a whole lot of planning and strategy and testing and measuring to make sure that those dollars flow into your bank account. So today, I am sharing ways to make fast progress on a business idea whether that be a brand new business that you haven't yet started, or an idea that you want to introduce into your existing business as an extra revenue stream.
Donna Hann
Where people get stuck. And what I get asked by my clients all the time is how do I know if my idea will work? Most business ideas are generated from a problem that you've experienced. Remember, I say all the time, we are problem seekers and solution makers, right. And when I think about Julie, a client of mine who recently joined me in the ready to rise program. She started her business 16 years ago because she was looking for sensory clothing for neurodiverse kids and adults. There was nothing on the market at that time. Now she runs two businesses that cater to the needs of her ideal clients, which helped with sensory and emotional regulation needs and she's developed a whole range of clothing and products that provides a solution for 1000s of families. How incredible is that? I also think about Yanna, another client of mine who started her business almost 12 months ago, she wanted to create a decadent Danish dessert and coffee van because she couldn't find somewhere to go to enjoy those kinds of foods. So she decided to fill the gap in the market. She refurbished a catering van she researched the best place to basis sell for optimal foot traffic, which turned out to be get this at the front of a very popular family caravan park opposite a stunning beach, in a beautiful part of Queensland, Australia has that for a workplace. She positioned herself to serve traveling families grey nomads, as well as local residents, mothers groups, morning walkers, or with great coffee and delicious treats to warm your soul. So when people ask me, How do I know if my idea will work? The answer is let's get clear about what it is who it's for. If there's a market demand, and the point of difference that separates it from the competition. So here's my five steps to help you to make progress on a business idea. The first step is to do your research.
Donna Hann
Make sure that you understand what you're getting yourself into by researching your target market and your industry. In the ready to rise program, we have a feasibility study that helps you to get really clear on what the new or refined offer is, who it's for, what purpose it serves, what price point do you think you can apply, and what resources you'll need to make it happen? So rather than going in blindly, this really helps you to do your research before you're investing money, and significant time into this idea to ensure that it's going to fly. I also recommend testing your ideas by launching a small scale version of your product or service and get feedback from a test group of customers ironed out the gremlins.
Donna Hann
Get your processes you know fairly well ironed out before you go big with the idea, it's always great to test it first in a smaller, smaller audience, and then take it and grow it from there. The second tip that I have for you today is to set a timeline, outline a timeline for yourself breaking the project down into manageable chunks, and set deadlines for each of those steps. Procrastination and fear can sit in when we look at the size of the overall big goal or big idea that we're aiming for. So rather than just focusing on the whole thing, which can be super overwhelming and can stop us in our tracks, we can focus on what the next step is. Small Steps equate to big progress when you put them all together. So work completion backwards, figure out when it is that you want to release this beautiful, amazing idea into the world. And then work backwards from there as to all the things that you need to do in order for that to happen successfully. My third tip for you today is to utilize your resources. Take advantage of the resources that are available to you, such as local business support services, online Reese sources to research and market your new offering. Use as many resources that you have available to you. Because you know you're going to need all of those things to get this idea off the ground.
Donna Hann
My fourth tip for you today in making fast progress on a business idea is networking. Tap into your network, reach out to mentors, potential partners, maybe other professionals who have knowledge and experience in the area that you're looking to get into, can they shed light on the idea, perhaps they might have thought of things that you hadn't considered yet, they might be able to point you in the right direction. So think about what kind of people you already have in your network to help you out with those kinds of things. If you find that, perhaps is an area that you don't necessarily have someone in your network, I'm just thinking, you know, if you need to be drawing up contracts, or making sure that you are abiding by health and safety laws and things like that, that might be where you need to reach out and actually engage in the services of somebody or somebody in that professional sector, and actually pay them for their services. But I tell you what, those are the kinds of investments that you want to be making because it will absolutely protect you and your business, especially when it comes to legal matters. In establishing key partnerships, you might want to think about who you can align yourself with that can help you make the most of your business idea. Now I'm all about collaboration over competition. So look around your area, look around your industry. Find complementary industries that are not in direct competition with you to uncover the potential to expand your reach by sharing your audiences. You see this happen a lot with savvy business owners jumping on Instagram lives together. The idea behind that is when two Instagram profiles come together in a live session. Audience members from both sides will tune in to watch the live and rediscover the other person that they don't know. This is how people discover you. So think about ways that you can use the network that you already have not just in your local area and your industry but also online.
Donna Hann
Very soon I'll be opening the doors to my signature hybrid program ready to rise. An online course combined with eight weeks of small group coaching With me as your business coach, designed for women just like you, who have taken the step to leap into business, and now you're ready to step into your potential, and shift your business to the next level, feeling energized, confident and empowered with a plan to intentionally grow your ideal business. Over eight weeks, you'll level up your business skills, get essential business systems and strategic guidance for success. You'll finally let go of the mom guilt for wanting to live out your other purpose, a business that lights you up and brings you added financial freedom for the life you want to lead. Plus, you'll embrace self care to avoid burnout, now's the time to join the waitlist. So you can scoop up the extra bonus and get early access. Go to Donna hann.com forward slash course, for all the details.
Donna Hann
My fifth step in making fast progress on a business idea is identifying funding options that are available to you. So this is a little bit, you can think outside the box a little bit here. In researching different funding options available to you such as grants grants are a great one to research and look into. There are at any one time hundreds of grants available to small business owners. So whether it be local, state or national grants, research into it, see which ones would be applicable to you and throw your hat in the ring and put an application in, the more times you try, the better the chances you are for being successful in getting a grant. So definitely do that.
Donna Hann
I would also look in your area as to whether there are any big companies that actually offer finance or loans, sometimes they're very low interest rate loans, or even sponsorship to small businesses in the local area. And that is often one of the KPIs for big industries in smaller regional communities that they need to be working with the community in stimulating things such as small business growth. So also have a look for that in your in your area as well. With any of these things, I would be getting professional advice from an accountant, especially if you're going down the road of working with private investors, you want to be getting advice from a professional lawyers, accountants, financial planners to make sure that you are considering all of the different things when you are looking for financial backing.
Donna Hann
Now, once you've done your due diligence, and you're feeling confident with your new offering, be it a product or a service, what you do next is give it a go. It's scary as hell sometimes. But sometimes you just got to put your big girl pants on and jump in there and give it a go. You know, running an experiment, running a business is like a curious experiment. Of course, you could have mapped out the whole budget and the timeframe and done all of the nitty nitty gritty. Now that you've done all of that stuff, it's time to get your idea off the ground, and have fun with it. Enjoy the process, right, because if you are in the position, to start a business, or grow your current business with a new offering, you're in a really privileged position. Not everyone has the ability, the ideas, the confidence, the mindset, the financial backing, to get in there and bring your idea to life. So acknowledge that it's a privilege, and have fun with it, enjoy it. And you know, even if it fails, you'll have learned so, so much. And it might be just the thing that you needed to lead you to the next thing that will be wildly successful. So even if it fails, you 100% get so much out of it. Now it goes without saying that you need to promote your business.
Donna Hann
So promoting your business through online and offline channels, such as social media, email, word of mouth, they're really important thing. So don't be the world's best kept secret. You've put all this energy and effort into creating this new thing. You need to effectively market your business and tell the world about it. There are quite a few episodes on marketing in this podcast because I love it. It's one of my favorite topics alongside mindset and money. So if you want to dig into effective marketing techniques and strategies there There are plenty of episodes to go and binge on. And that's it. That's my tips for making fast progress on a business idea. Now, I always like to go the extra mile for you.
Donna Hann
And so I have another tip. One last tip that I think is so important, and that is to invest in your own professional development. And always grow your business skills, knowledge and network. Your greatest business asset is the one who looks back at you in the mirror. It's you. So back yourself back to business, by always challenging yourself to learn and increase your business knowledge and your mindset. Taking a new idea and either starting a new business or developing that new revenue stream and your existing business, it takes courage and confidence and a strong dose of resilience to fall forwards, get back up. And try again, if it fails. Each and every time that you do it. You'll get stronger, you'll learn new things about yourself and your business. And you'll surprise yourself of how much you can achieve and the potential that you have to do great things. So I say if you've got a business idea, go for it. And if you haven't checked out the ready to rise hybrid group coaching program, you want to step into your potential and thrive as a business owner with me in your pocket as your business coach. You absolutely should go and check it out. Doors open very soon. For more info you can go to Donna Hann.com. I will see you next week with another episode of the shoes in business podcast. Have a great day. Bye
Donna Hann
Thank you for listening to this episode of the She's in Business podcast. If you enjoyed it, please share it on Instagram and Facebook and I'd be so grateful if you could leave me a review on iTunes. Be sure to include your business name and Insta handle so I can give you a shout out to if you want to know more about what I do the programs that I offer, then head over to www dot Donna hann.com and follow me on Instagram at Donna underscore Hann underscore SIB. I hope this podcast inspires you to be courageous and take action in carving out your very own business by design where you can avoid burnout and shine like the universe is yours.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
