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Have you always dreamed of calling all the shots at your job? Do you have an inspired idea for a new product or service? Do you have a lot to offer to the business world and your local community?
Entrepreneurship is a wonderful career path to take! And yet, it’s also the trickiest, because there are a lot of extra considerations to keep in mind, even before your idea can take wing.
But don’t worry, because you’ve got us Systems Queens to support you as the bad-ass CEO we know you are deep down.
Entrepreneurs, this one’s for you. Here’s how to set yourself up as an entrepreneur and rock the world of business.
Step 1: Have these essentials in place
When it comes to starting a business, everyone needs to start with these big essentials first:
- A CRM for invoicing, contractings, schedulers, lead tracking, and making quote and email templates.
- A time tracker.
- A password keeper.
- Canva.
You definitely need something to send your invoices and receive payment, something to send contracts and receive signatures, something to send scheduler links to people for setting up meetings, and something to track your leads and your lead pipeline and sending quotes. It might as well all be one program!
A time tracker will help you track your time on different clients’ projects, and also so you can track how much time you spend on certain areas and different tasks of your business.
This will come in handy more later, as you scale and start to develop SOPs and to think about which pieces of your work could be offloaded to someone else, like a VA.
If you already have the data of how much time it takes you to do a certain task, then you have a much better picture of how many hours you may have to pass on to a consultant or a VA.
You NEED a password keeper. As you take on more and more clients, you will definitely need somewhere to safely keep all of their passwords in addition to all of the passwords that you need for your own systems.
The amount of time that can be lost doing a ‘Forgot Password?’ every time you need to log into something can really add up!
Lastly, Canva is a given. If you want to present your business visually from the get-go, and have all the materials you need ASAP, Canva is the way to do it.
With Canva you can create the logos, proposal images, and graphics for social media, business cards, and stationery needed to market your new entrepreneurial efforts.
You can build your brand within your version and have the colours and fonts pre-set, so that when you’re making the graphics for your social media or website, the brand info is ready for it.
Keep in mind, there are limitations to using the free version. That’s why the pro version of Canva is absolutely worth it, because it gives you access to way more custom options for these features.
Step 2: Watch for this one thing all entrepreneurs overlook
I mean it, there really is only one that every single entrepreneur seems to overlook when they’re starting their business.
I’ll tell you what that is right now.
Your client journey.
This is something you have to have in place, even as you’re just starting out.
You need to know what your leads and clients are experiencing in their journey with your business in order to be able to scale and improve. You also need to identify this early so that you know which systems you will need to have in place to support it.
I have seen so many entrepreneurs that have just taken a handful of spaghetti (their business processes, in whatever format they are) and thrown it against the wall (signed up/paid for a bunch of different systems) to see what sticks. This is a costly and time-consuming mistake.
And if you need help ironing out your client journey, we’re offering a Client Journey Mapping Session for 25% off, for a limited time!
We will map all of this out with you, using our tried and true Client Journey Template, and then give you a comprehensive review of ways in which you could up-level and improve your systems to meet all of the different needs of your Client Journey.
You can click here to book now!
Step 3: Figure out your pricing and packages
In addition to the client journey, it’s worthwhile to iron out your packages and pricing. Decide which services you’re going to offer, what those look like, and what’s involved in each package and then price it accordingly.
As the business owner, you need to know everything involved in each service in order to package it and price it accordingly, and the client needs to see what they are paying for, so this is why it’s important to do upfront.
Even if these packages need to change later (and they will), it’s okay. The main thing is you get started with *something*, and from there see how it goes and apply feedback (from the client and yourself) accordingly.
We have a really handy guide and template, that includes a calculator, to help business owners make sure they are getting paid what they are worth. You can find our guide here.
Step 4: Make room for testimonials
Having a testimonial procedure of some kind early will make a huge difference. Getting those testimonials is going to be essential to your growing business.
Obviously the best kinds are going to be from new clients, that being said you can always start with asking the first people you served to provide one. The important thing is to have that procedure in place in the first place. Otherwise, the lack of them will be noticeable and it won’t look good online.
One good idea when you’re starting out and needing testimonials is to do what’s called a service swap. For example, maybe you need branding photographs taken for your new business, and you happen to find a photographer who needs whatever you’re offering. This makes for the perfect opportunity to do a service and testimonial swap!
Step 5: Call for help when you need to
If you’re ever feeling stuck on your business growth journey, it never hurts to reach out to your community for help. There are so many like-minded people out there. We’ve found Facebook groups to be especially helpful.
Find a group of either entrepreneurs or people in their specific industry and get involved. Post your questions, interact with others in the group as well. Maybe there are ways you can help them too!
Another place we’ve found the most support would be BNI (Business Networking International)—a group of business owners, all in various stages of their careers.
Us Systems Queens catapulted after joining a local BNI chapter. We met and formed solid business relationships as a result, and you can view our trusted partners here!
If BNI sounds like a great place for you to start and you’re not quite sure how, we’re happy to answer any questions you may have on BNI! Maryanne in particular has a great deal of knowledge on the subject, and you can reach her with any questions about it via email.
In the meantime, are you ready to use a CRM that will get your business dream flying in no time? If not, we can help with that!