F.A.L.L. Feeling Average Lacking Longevity

Should You Turn Your Hobby Into a Business?
 5 questions to answer before you make the leap from hobbyist to full-time entrepreneur
Posted by Asheesh Advani | May 10, 2004

URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/70640

Q: I am considering whether to take the plunge and make a business out of one of my hobbies. How do I know if I have what it takes to be a full-time entrepreneur?

A: There is obviously no aptitude test that can tell you if you are suited to entrepreneurship. However, after you've evaluated the feasibility of turning your hobby into a business, it is worth asking yourself a few questions to determine if you have the characteristics of an entrepreneur.

1. How committed are you? Successful entrepreneurs are committed to their businesses. This is simple to understand, but difficult to put in practice. Are you the type of person who has many hobbies and likes to dabble without commitment? Would you be easily distracted by the next business idea that strikes your fancy? When faced with a task, successful entrepreneurs are generally committed to excel and will not waver when the going gets tough.

2. Is your glass half full or half empty? Not all optimistic people are entrepreneurs, but almost all entrepreneurs are optimistic people. From the owner of the local florist to the founder of a Fortune 500 company, the common thread that runs through the fabric of entrepreneurship is the ability to see a positive opportunity in an otherwise challenging situation. Without confident optimism, it is very difficult to motivate employees, persevere in downtimes and keep your business growing.

3. Do you like to make decisions? Very few of us enjoy making decisions. Decisions mean commitment. Bad decisions lead to problems and can mean losing the respect of one's peers. Owning a business-particularly an undercapitalized startup-is all about making decisions with limited market research and imperfect information. Should you locate the business in your home or incur the costs of a separate office? Should you hire a marketing consultant or a full-time salesperson? How should you price your new products? What should be your first target market for your products? One of the main differences between having a hobby and having a business is the need to make real decisions with financial implications. Will you enjoy it?

4. Do you have the money to make it happen? Once you've written a business plan and established that your hobby can indeed be a sustainable business, the next step is to finance its execution. Unless you thrive on adversity, don't quit your day job until you know that you have sufficient money to fund your business plan. Getting financing is not easy and requires personal sacrifice-whether it involves borrowing from your family's savings, your relatives and friends, credit cards or professional investors. If things don't work out exactly as mapped out in your business plan, will you be able to support a contingency plan to ensure that the business survives? If you don't have the money from your personal network, will you be willing to sacrifice ownership and control to outside investors?

5. Do you like to sell? When I interview candidates for a position at my company, I ask them how they feel about selling. Some of them inevitably shift in their seats and give a half-hearted answer that they do not mind selling when they are asked to do so. Other candidates brighten up and persuade me that selling is a natural part of any job-even if they have never had a sales job. As an entrepreneur, you work in sales. You will have to sell your products, sell your vision for the company and sell yourself. And you will have to do this every day, multiple times. And you will enjoy it-that is, if you are suited to be an entrepreneur.

If you answered yes to most of the questions listed above, you are ready to shift from hobbyist to business owner. If you answered no to most of these questions, and you still want to turn your hobby into a full-time business endeavor, you may want to consider getting a business partner to help you make your plan a reality
www.uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com

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10 Tips on How to Make the Most of your Time without Wasting your Time

1. Get enough rest,   eight hours is needed so that your body can handle the day.


2. Use a calendar to plan your day ahead of time.  Here is a couple google www.google.com/calendar and Cozi http://www.cozi.com/


3. Synchronize your calendar to your email and your mobile phone to send you alerts to remind you of your "to do list".


4.Put clients number in your mobile phone and put a "C" or "client" beside their name so that you will grab that important call.


5. Make symbols to prioritize your calendar for  those things that have the highest importance.


6. Keep these acronyms to stay focused. P-postpone E-eliminate R-reduce K-keep when you are planning your calendar.


7. Block off time for family, family is always important.


8.If you want your status updates and/ or blog posts to be sent out quickly to your social networks try ping.fm, www.ping.fm, they can be sent from your mobile and/or from the web.


9. If you are out and something comes across your mind as a "to do item" use your mobile phone to record it.


10.Forward your office phone to your mobile phone catch your office calls.


From: U.N.O. Uniquic Networking Online "Your Business is Our Business".

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http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/01/10-tips-on-how-to-make-most-of-your.html
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10 Ways to Get Your Business Organized for 2011

                                   (thesomedayblog.files.wordpress.com)


  With 2011 soon approaching, we as small business owners are thinking of new ideas, concepts and plans that we want to make but before all that we need to get organized.  Getting organized is key to accomplishing your new ideas, concepts and plans in the new year.  Here are some tips that will help you to schedule your time for effectively and efficiently so that you aren't wasting your time and not accomplishing much.



1. Get iGoogle (or an application that is similar): is a web portal that puts almost everything into a single location so that they can easily access it without having to leave or browse another site. (www.differencebetween.net)
www.igoogle.com

2. Get an online calender: Online email providers like Google and Yahoo offer free online calenders when you sign-up to their free email services. Some of the features include:
     a. Sharing you calender with co-workers to communicate.
     b. Accessing your calender from your mobile and/ or laptop.
     c. Receiving mobile SMS notifications of the schedule events
http://www.calender.yahoo.com/

3. Get a "toolbar": Many search engines have "toolbars", these are downloadable toolbars that allows a user to do a Google, Yahoo, Ask etc. search without having to visit the site itself.
www.about.ask.com/en/docs/toolbar/index.php

4. Use your mobile (SMS notifications): SMS' are short messages between fixed lines or mobile phone devices, it's used by 2.4 billion or 74% of mobile phone subscribers. Get SMS notifications to stay connected on what is going on, on most social networks and email notifications.

* It is an especially helpful tool when you don't have internet on your mobile.

5. Use your "favorites": On your internet toolbar is a "favorites" button. It can be a useful tool when properly organized properly to fit your needs when working online.

6. Don't just save contacts: In your mobile, save them in your email accounts as well.  Email's can be just as difficult to remember as phone numbers.

7. There is a reason that social networks have a "Forgot Username and /or forgot password link": They know that more than likely your are on many social networks including possibly having your own.  So to stop racking your brain trying to remember them all including email accounts; create a reference to hold all; your account user names and /or emails and passwords.

8. Get rid of trash: No unwanted solicitations that may flood your email accounts.  If you don't read them then unscubscribe to free up your email for business content.

9. Sync your social network accounts: When you post to one account it will send out the same posts to all others.

10. Always be on the look out for new features that Google, Yahoo, Ask, MSN, Bing and others are offering to make you business is more effective and efficient through organization.

See other related articles:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/05/6-tips-for-wahms-to-spring-clean-their.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/01/10-tips-on-how-to-make-most-of-your.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/7-tips-to-great-profile-picture-your.html