Melinda Emerson is one of American’s leading small business experts, a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and social media strategist. She’s written the bestseller Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months and is an industry expert on the new CNBC show Crowd Rules. Her blog Succeed as Your Own Boss is syndicated by The Huffington Post, and she hosts #SmallBizChat, a weekly live Twitter show. Melinda also writes a regular column on social media for the New York Times’ You’re the Boss blog.
Kelly » You have a system that you refer to as the Emerson Planning System that prepares people to make a successful transition from having a job to starting a business. Let’s talk about a few of the steps in that plan. For example, you say you have to have a life plan first. Why?
Melinda » You have to develop a life plan before you ever write a business plan. You need to know what you want out of life, and then you need to build a business that aligns with your personal and professional goals. Too often I see people start businesses that might even be good businesses, but just not good businesses for them. If you don’t have a plan
and agenda, you’re going to be on somebody else’s agenda instead of your own.
Kelly » Your plan also includes some financial advice.
Melinda » The money to start your business is going to come from your right or left pocket. There are no grants or super fairies out there that are going to give you money to become a millionaire. People who have assets have options. Your ability to save has everything to do with your ability to start a business. So if you’ve got a $3,000 or $4,000 a month mortgage and two brand new cars outside and a retail therapy habit, you probably need to keep your job.
Kelly » Where do skills factor into the plan?
Melinda » You’ve got to look at the skills you have and what skills you need to run your particular type of business. I worked for a year part time for another production company before I started mine. I recommend that people do that. Don’t start a restaurant because you like to eat—go work in one so you understand what it is to run a restaurant. Try to do all of the different functions. It is very important for you to be honest and realistic about what your personal skill set is.
Kelly » You also focus on customers in your plan.
Melinda » Figure out who your paying customer is. So often I see small businesses get fixated on their logo or their location or the invitations to their grand opening event, but if their life depended on it, they could not tell you who their niche target customer is. Mistake, mistake, mistake.
Kelly » You talked about having a life plan. How essential is a business plan?
Melinda » You cannot have success without planning for success. Yes, you need a business plan. It doesn’t have to be 40 pages, it could be 10, but think through how your business is going to run and understand that it’s a hypothetical document, so it’s what you think is going to happen. Once your business actually gets exposed to the market place, update it and use it as a living, breathing document to help you run your business.
Kelly » What’s the final step for making that transition to business ownership?
Melinda » If you can, launch your business while you’re still working. Do not cut your paycheck off prematurely. Because once it’s off, it’s off.
