#3: Starting your business before you're ready

Starting your business before you’re ready is terrifying. But, similar to parenthood, marriage, and adulthood in general, you’ll never be 100% ready.

Nobody ever has each and every detail worked out. Many of the greatest business owners and entrepreneurs began with little more than a wing and a prayer.

For example, I once read that Richard Branson started his entire Virgin Atlantic airline to get to his girlfriend in the Virgin Islands. He came up with the entire concept in the airport out of frustration after his flight to the Caribbean was canceled. He sold his first Virgin Atlantic tickets that same day.

Branson's flight to the Virgin Islands was canceled, so he charted a private airplane to get to his baddie in the Caribbean. He had no $, so he wrote a "Virgin Airlines. $29" sign and sold seats to his flight-mates on the earlier canceled flights. Talk about not being ready… pic.twitter.com/rgD5y7Ztrm
— SHONTAVIA Johnson (@ShontaviaJEsq) November 11, 2019

Who could have less of a plan than that?!?

No matter how uncomfortable it may feel, at some point you just have to take the leap. Lots of folks are stumbling their way through and failing their way forward.

In this week’s episode of The Shontavia Show, I provide some tips and strategies for what you can do right now to start that business you’ve been dreaming about, even if you aren’t ready.

Check it out below.

To summarize the video, I suggest that you do three things to start your business before you’re ready:

Make your business official by: (a) registering it with the state; (b) getting a tax ID number; and (c) opening a business bank account.
Identify your ideal customer.
Create products, services, or content that your ideal customer needs and will buy.

These simple steps will get you on the fast track to business ownership. No more analysis by paralysis-––it is time to take some action!

Questions & Action

After you’ve had a chance to watch the video, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section!

Please answer these questions for me:

How long have you been thinking about your business idea?
Why haven’t you taken the next steps to start it yet? What has been the most difficult hurdle to overcome?

Please give as much information as you can in response to these questions. I’d be happy to share more tools and resources that help you get what you want. And, I know the other folks reading this can learn from your experiences! We are all in this together.

Finally, I always say that I’m on a mission to help people build the brands, businesses and lives that they love. We can learn from each other on this journey, particularly when we have accountability partners. This is why I am building a whole nation of side-hustlers, creatives and business owners who keep each other––and me––accountable.

You can join my support network online and via app. Check us out at programs.shontavia.com or via the Mighty Networks App.

First, download the Mighty Network app by clicking here. Second, once it downloads, click “Find a Mighty Network” and search for Shontavia Johnson. You’ll find content there that I may not share elsewhere.

Thank you so much for joining me on this roller coaster of an experience.

I am eternally grateful that I get to do this work with wonderful people like you each day.

Let’s make it happen,