Dreaming up and building YES (Your Education Solutions) has been the fun part.
I loved taking a few classes and getting certificates. I loved choosing the business name, designing the logo, and forming the LLC. I loved building the website. I purchased some domains, a planner, and joined a few organizations. All of this was very fun, and helped me get my mind in the right place.
But it’s not the real work, is it?
This is the first time I’m really going out on my own as a career – responsible, not just for building the infrastructure, but for finding and doing the work.
Reality strikes.
As I looked at where I am, and where I needed to go, it all seemed a little daunting.
But being the action-oriented girl that I am, I decided to break it down into manageable steps. And I ended up with a 30-day plan of action. And that is what this blog is about – it’s about The Next 30 Days.
Where did I start? Learning from people and organizations who know what it takes to build a business felt like a solid foundation.
To build a 30-day plan, I leaned on the following resources:
- From the U.S. Small Business Administration:
- I learned How to Write a Business Plan,
- I read about Market Research and how to compete,
- and I considered How to Choose a Business Structure.
- For all of my tax-related information, I went straight to the source with the IRS. They have a page of resources for: Starting a Business.
- Alan Weiss Consulting is another great place to find information.
- Check out his blog for a wealth of resources,
- And his book provided so much insight into how to set Value-Based Fees.
- SCORE provided a Startup Roadmap.
- LLC University offers step-by-step instructions to form an LLC in any state. Just choose your state, then explore topics like: forming an LLC, Operating Agreements, and Business Banking.
- For Business strategy, the Harvard Review has a podcast that is packed with advice on things like “24 Steps to Launch a Start-Up”, and “Choosing a Strategy for Your Startup.”
Take all those ingredients (a cup of planning, a tablespoon of tax info, and a sprinkle of strategy), and Voila: I cooked up a plan for The Next 30 Days.
This plan is tailored to fit my life and my business, but the main ideas are relevant to many small businesses (especially a service-oriented business).
Then I added a daily task to each day in my planner. These needed to be small chunks – I am still working full-time as the Head of School at a rapidly growing private school. So, my daily tasks needed to be something that I could get done outside of the regular work day.
Many of the tasks are things I’ve done before:
- Create service inventories (what problems am I solving?)
- Create pricing structures (hourly rates, project rates, etc)
- Create templates that I can use with clients
- Draft contracts for the work
These tasks require research, writing, and revising – skills I have used most of my life and feel confident applying here.
Then there are the tasks that are new to me:
- Identify people who should know that YES exists and reach out to them.
- Send 3 messages in week 3 and schedule 1 real conversation.
And, that is when I paused. That is when I could feel my pulse increase and my ears go hot. Will I be ready to reach out to clients? Will I be ready to provide the services they need?
Will I be ready…?
So I searched. I asked Google how I would know I was ready, and there were some useful answers and arrows that pointed toward readiness.
I found these Business Readiness Indicators:
- ability to answer “what do you charge?”
- ability to explain process in < 1 minute
- ability to onboard first client without scrambling
- at least 2 real conversations
Then this quote popped onto my screen when I googled, “How will I know I’m ready?”
And so, while I may not feel 100% comfortable and confident in my new role, this is probably the perfect time to start anyway.