Making the Jump: Starting a Business on a Wing and a Prayer
photo credit: el__vaquero
This guest post by Amber Riviere really exemplifies how to start a business during a recession. She fell into entrepreneurship naturally because she had a talent that other people were willing to pay money for. She didn’t spend months planning her business and crafting a business plan. She just started.
Do you have a story like this to tell? Send it to me.
To be quite frank, I started my web design business on a whim. I had experience starting businesses before…the “right way,” but this time was much different.
I had been designing my own sites for quite some time, years in fact, and had heard many compliments about my work from friends, family members, and business associates. They’d ask if I’d ever considered doing it for a living, and I’d always say, “No, I only do my own.” They’d ask why, and I’d answer without hesitation, “Because I don’t want to turn a hobby into a job and end up hating it.”
Things went on like this for a while, until it literally got to the point where people were frustrated with me for not pursuing it. They’d say, “You have talent, and you’re not using it, and you have the business sense to make this work. What are you doing?”
Finally, my accountability partner asked me if I’d consider helping a friend of hers with her site as a favor and that the friend was willing to pay for my time. “She’d gladly write that check,” she said. I can remember it like it was yesterday.
I said that I wouldn’t even know what to charge. My accountability partner and I came up with what we both figured was a reasonable fee. I said, “Okay, present it to her and see what she says.” (The friend was allowing her to be middleman, since they were really having to twist my arm to get me to do it – really.) The friend gladly accepted my fee.
I did the work in a day. She was ecstatic, and she asked me to promise her that going forward I would, at a minimum, charge double for what I had done for her. A day’s work, and she was willing to pay me $500?! I was beside myself with disbelief. (”People are willing to pay me for this?!”)
In the meantime, she and my accountability partner were trying to convince me to do web design professionally. She said she had three other people who needed my help, but that she’d wait for me to give her the go-ahead. I said that I’d think about it for a few days and get back with her.
That weekend, I built my website and sent off the paperwork to create my LLC. Once the LLC was set up, I opened a business account at my bank, and that was it.
I didn’t have any funding. I didn’t have a business plan. I didn’t even have a logo. Two months later, I had $7500 worth of work lined up, and the rest is history.
Bottom line for me, I guess, was that I had gone the traditional route – planning, meticulously planning until…well, until nothing got done. This time, I was doing something I loved, I was having fun at it, and people were actually willing to pay me for it! I jumped and didn’t hesitate, and that has made more difference for me than any business plan ever could. Sure, I still have to treat this like a business, but it’s the action, the forward movement that makes it a success.
And in case you’re wondering, it’s still like a hobby to me!
Amber Riviere is a web designer with BrownBugProject.com. You can follow her work through her blog and through her newsletter, Inside Brown’s Brain.
Adam Bertram on June 15th, 2009 6:14 pm
This is a great post! It is very similar to how I am now. I’m currently selling books online and also teaching people how to sell books online, but still have a full time job. I love doing it and I’m beginning to hate my full time job because I want to start out on my own so bad at this point! It’s the best full time job I’ve had, but every day when I spend 8 hours/day at my day job, I cringe when I think how much I could have gotten done with my side business.
RedHotFranchises on June 15th, 2009 6:18 pm
That’s a very inspirational story. A professional webmaster that didn’t know her own value and i’m pretty sure there are more people out there that have yet to realize their full potential. Some people have a hobby for blogging, some have a hobby for creating websites, programming, graphic design etc… Discern through the Spirit your divinely given capacities then follow your bliss.
Jaclyn on June 16th, 2009 6:00 pm
This was a very inspirational post. When you think about it, i think that most likely a lot of businesses are started on a wing and a prayer. Because lets face it, you can have all of the capital required, all of the awesome employees with experience in the field, a great business plan, etc…but no one truly knows 100% without a doubt that their business will make it. There are no guarantees in life including in business.
Amber Riviere on June 16th, 2009 7:24 pm
@ Adam – I understand your frustration. It’s such a leap of faith to launch out on your own, and in times like these especially, it can be hard to let go of a sure thing (the day job) to try to make a go of it. For some reason, I think of a quote by Julie Morgenstern in “Never Check Email in the Morning” (even though she was referring to maintaining balance between working and taking care of ourselves). “You have everything to gain and nothing to lose from letting go of that ledge and grabbing hold of that rock above you.” Best of luck to you!
@ RedHotFranchises – I still have doubts at times, but I guess it’s about learning to accept your strengths and find people who can help you make up for your weaknesses. I agree completely that we all have God-given talents, and if we learn to embrace them (instead of fighting them, like I did for a long time), we’ll find contentment a whole lot faster.
@ Jaclyn – Absolutely right, big or small, plan in place or not, we take a chance anytime we launch a business, and even though I consider mine an overall success, I still fail at it sometimes. We have to just keep pushing forward and keep working at it.
Thanks for the comments on the post, everyone! I’m glad to hear that it was a source of inspiration for some of you.
An Bui on June 17th, 2009 10:59 am
Amber – thank you so much for sharing your story. It’s good to know that I’m not the only one like this out there. Sometimes the lack of planning is good because you have more freedom and flexibility to figure out what you’re interested in, which projects make the most sense.
Thanks again for providing a much needed example. :)
Amber Riviere on June 17th, 2009 11:00 am
@ An Bui – I’m glad it helped, and no, I don’t think you’re the only one out there! Good luck to you in your endeavors! Thanks for commenting.
Mimi in NC on June 17th, 2009 12:50 pm
I liked this, and found it helpful, too. I have an internet business, and don’t have as much time to spend building it as many folks here have said. There is much to be said for planning, or the lack of, but it takes time, in any case.
Thanks for putting good information and advice out there! One to look at is:
freedombusinessytem.com
Amber Riviere on June 17th, 2009 1:04 pm
@ Mimi – Thanks! I’m glad you found it helpful. Good luck to you with your business, and thanks for commenting.
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