Mark Choon

So you’ve decided to take the step to be an entrepreneur. Here is a short how-to on what you can do to make the experience much more enjoyable and at the same time, make money.

1. Have passion to do the things that you want.
This is one key point to have a more fulfilling time while making money. You will find it a chore if what you’re doing is not your passion. You will loathe it. Hate yourself for it until you reach a point that it affects your life negatively. So start identifying what drives you other than making lots of money fast.

2. Do not be too bothered with money.
Yes you need money to run your business but that should not be the driving force though. The issue is not to lose sight of your passion, the reason why you’re doing this instead of working for a monthly pay from someone else. Lose sight of that and your work will be tedious. What’s worse is that your customers can sense that you’re not doing it for the passion but rather for the money. That is greed. And greed is the path to the dark side….

3. Reflect and identify ideas that you are passionate about.
Ask yourself if it can be used as a product or a service. Write it down. In fact keep a journal or a small notebook (or PDA if you’re a techie) wherever you go because you do not know when inspiration hits. For each idea, give it a rating from 1 to 10 to see if you will enjoy doing that activity for the next two to five years.

4. Do the things that other people do not want to do.
If you find yourself unable to define a passion in doing something, you can identify the things that other people do not want to do. Why? People will pay you to do it. It might not be the best of situations, but it teaches a person very valuable qualities such as perseverance and determination.

5. Monetize the processes of that passionate thing that you are doing.
Now you’ve got the idea. How do you make money out of it? Are there any processes that are very tedious? Are other people having trouble doing it? Can you do it better? If you can identify certain pain areas in that idea, and you can offer a solution or better way to do things, make it a service and be good at it! People in the industry will take note of you and use your services. If it can be productized all the better! This is highly evident in the tons of internet marketing products such as Adsense empire building tools, eBook selling packages that are being sold and making tons of money for the creators (not necessarily the user though – keep that in mind).

For example, gardening. An activity that many people enjoy including you. Then you have a really amazing shovel. You make shovels of that design and sell it and people buy it and exclaim, “Wow this is really helpful and wonderful!” At the same time, share your passion of gardening with other gardeners. Get the drift? Check out this article on a person’s passion for fish and how he turned his passion into a business through fish tank making

6. Keep on improving the idea you are passionate about.
Improving efficiency and merging ideas from different or related industries would increase productivity and reduce stagnancy. Don’t forget that if you’re doing something really good, other people will play “copycat” and try to be like you. In fact, many people out there can also do things better than you at any point in time. So keep on evolving. Be mindful not to switch sails too quickly though. Always keep to a proper plan of development or improvements.

7. Have a positive difference in what you do.
It makes you stand out from your nearest competitor. This can be as simple as just your customer service. Good service brings back customers. However if the industry you’re in is already well known for good service, you need to further identify what your unique selling point is and what it can do to improve your customers life. Be as unique as possible and make it well known.

8. You don’t need to come out with a fantabulous, high-tech idea.
If you can, good for you! Not everyone is born a techie or schooled in technology. In fact, sometimes technology is too overrated. Think of this scenario, if every new entrepreneur is going into high tech stuff, who is left to run the low tech stuff? Opportunities can be found in the old, low tech stuff. However, don’t just enter in and do what they’ve always been doing. That is just copying and not being an entrepreneur. You will be an entrepreneur when you successfully transform a boring old school idea by injecting today’s technology into it. This leads me to my next point.

9. Take an old idea and give it a refreshing update with the new advancements in technology.
With the internet, many different ways of doing business can be opened up. Look around for ideas. Compare these ideas and match it with that old idea. Can a combination be successful? Can this new revolutionizing marketing method work for this business? Now if you need an example, read about Paul and how he started a transportation business, old school, and grew it mainly through internet advertising on forums, new technology.

10. Following a set template will not do you good.
Not everybody can do the same thing, or cookie-cutter businesses, such as selling ebooks or building an Adsense empire. Do not be fooled by the countless websites, advertisements selling you easy to use setups or packs that can make money fast. If this is not your passion you will not last long doing it.

11. Identify what environment suits you best.
Is it indoors working with your hands in a workshop or indoors on a computer linked to the Internet? Or is it outdoors meeting tons of people or outdoors just sweating it out? The more suited you are to the environment, the more efficient you become and the more comfortable you will be and that will translate to better work.

12. Plan it out.
Once you’ve identified an initial idea, put it in writing. Make it your business plan. Identify what is of value in that idea. Find out what tools you need, what action must be undertaken. Map out your marketing strategy. Calculate the costs involved and put it in. Next put in the return of investment figures. Investors always want to see what the outcome is in terms of money. This is just a brief idea of a business plan or proposal. There are tons of how-tos out there that talk about writing one. One thing to note, the business plan is not a do once and its done. As you meet more people, exchange your ideas, incorporate them into your plan. Thus your business plan grows. Be mindful to include only the necessary stuff and not the things that make your plans deviate far from your goals.

13. Do not be afraid to share your ideas.
Network and get to know people. Most of the time, your ideas have already been thought of already, but not implemented due to varying circumstances. Or if it has already been implemented, find out what you can do to improve on it. Learn from those who are already experienced in that area. It catapults your progress by leaps and bounds! This little activity can also hook you up with partners. Some ideas need a team to be successful. Finding like-minded and right-minded people will make your development a lot easier. Who knows, you might find willing investors who can see potential in your idea. A group of three guys started their fish concept bar this way. Read all about it here.

14. Be aware of your own self-development.
Improve your own soft skills and management skills. You need to grow. Your company needs to grow. As the initial partner or sole proprietor, you need to improve yourself first. Then build the people around you in your team. Learning to manage other people is critical as you need to hire employees to do the more mundane tasks that running a business entails. This keeps you free to concentrate on your passion.

15. The final and all important step of this how-to. DO IT! (that doesn’t need any explanation now does it?)
p.s. I wrote this and am taking part in a blogger project on How-to posts. Check it out here