Steps to Starting a Business: DO THESE FIRST!

The first steps to starting a business are the hardest. It’s not because they necessarily require the most work… and it’s not because you have to jump through some crazy governmental loops, or come up with a bunch of money.

The first steps to starting a business are the hardest BECAUSE there’s so little education on this one topic, and while the market is oversaturated with self-help books telling you to “find your purpose” and “live your passion”, there is little to no solid, step-by-step education on how to start your business, successfully merging the right mindset (internal process) with the technical (legal) process.

Steps to Starting a Business #1: Define Your Intention

Step #1 in the steps to starting a business is this: figure out who you want to be. Decide what person you’re going to become, and who you’ll be to the audience you will serve.

What that means is this: every business has a purpose, or a mission statement. This simple statement gives the business direction, and gives every facet of the business a common goal to move towards. It enables the business to stay on course, and not to lose track when setbacks and opportunities arise.

Similarly, you need a mission statement for your business, and who you’re going to become for your market. Starting a business requires change. You’re not going to be the same person a year from now that you are today. You’re going to learn how to serve more people, how to work harder, and how to overcome difficult challenges. You can easily throw all this away if you don’t start with your intention in mind.

Steps to Starting a Business #2: Stay Focused, and Approach Your Goals Realistically

I may stir some debates here, so be sure to leave a comment if you feel obliged. If you’ve fallen victim to the overabundance of watered-down new age self-help philosophy, you may trick yourself into thinking that you’re “not in spiritual alignment” with your goals if everything doesn’t go as smoothly as you originally imagined. With this philosophy of giving up as soon as you encounter hardship, you’ll NEVER succeed, not even at writing another self-help book teaching what you’ve already been taught.

Not to say that self-help isn’t valid, and it’s CERTAINLY an important part of maintaining the proper mindset. In fact, I consider myself part of the Self-Help Industry. However, at the end of the day, the truth is that Self-Help teachers are business people, too. They’re saying what they’ve learned makes the most money, like a smart business person does. Now, due to the fact that they’re business owners, and the purpose of a business is to make money, they’re saying what makes them money – not what you need to hear, which is this:

• Starting a Business Requires a Lot of Hard Work
• Most Businesses Fail
• Most People Aren’t Ready to Start a Business
• Most People Haven’t Learned What’s Needed to Start a Business

Steps to Starting a Business #3: Tie It All Together By Doing This Exercise

Ok… here’s where the steps to starting a business get a little weird. I’m going to ask you do to do some “voodoo”, except this is the good, money-making, pro-business kind of voodoo-

Sorry to disappoint you. You can put away your freaky voodoo dolls and pin needles now.

Here’s the deal: we’re going to do a little exercise, a little something to get your “mental mojo” flowing in the right direction. The exercise you’re about to experience is going to help you align with what exactly it is that you want to be doing, why exactly you’re going to do it, and what the end results are.

Bottom line is this: after you do this one simple exercise you’re going to have clarity and focus on your business, and you’ll know why you’re doing it so the CARROT dangling in front of you is much bigger than the STICK, ie your “fear of failing”, or “fear of loss” when you don’t hop on the next opportunity right away. The truth is, you’re going to succeed, but not before you learn to stick with one opportunity, and really see a plan to fruition before you give up.

Rather than preaching my refined style of self-help rhetoric, I’m going to pass this lesson on to one of my greatest mentors, Frank Kern. Frank’s going to walk you through this exercise where you create your “average perfect day” as part of his Core Influence Module.

Suckers like me around the world paid $2000 or more to get Core Influence as part of the Mass Control 2 course, but now you can get it for free by following this link right here: http://getcoreinfluence.com

Please note, it’s over an hour long, and I think Frank bribes you to add a couple friends to his list before he gives it to you. However, the value here is unprecedented and this one FREE video alone helped me quickly escalate from borrowing money while I lived on my friend’s couch to generating $15,500 in sales with my first online product launch, so if you have some time to kill and want to work on your business, refer yourself a couple times and start enjoying the good business lessons (and debauchery) immediately.

Once again, here’s the link: http://getcoreinfluence.com – please note that this is not in any way, shape, or form an affiliate link, OR a sponsorship from Frank (or anyone for that manner), and I’m sharing this with you today only because I think it will have that great of an impact on your business. I am receiving NO direct compensation for sharing that link with you today, so put it to use like I did – I really mean this from the bottom of my heart.

And for the rest of you, here’s the final step in this definitive and all-comprehensive list of steps to starting a business:

Steps to Starting a Business #4: Figure Out the Details

Now this step, the FINAL step in this blog post on the steps to starting a business, is actually what most people do FIRST: learn the details and implementation of your business.

Here’s what I mean: USUALLY, when people start a business, they tend to get wrapped up in the details. They ask questions, such as:

• What legal structure do I need? LLC? C-Corp? Sole Proprietorship?
• How do I get traffic to my web page?
• Do I know any web designers?
• How am I going to afford this?
• What about Bob’s Body Shop, down the road? He has an excellent referral program where I earn $250 for each new customer I send his way. How can I implement that with my beauty shop? All I need to do is send Bob 5 new clients every day, and I’ll be rich!

As you can see, there are a million questions you can ask yourself. And you should! But not until after you’ve set yourself upon a solid focus, you have a very clear intention, and you know what you’re doing. Otherwise you’ll end up like far too many entrepreneurs before you, and switch from opportunity to opportunity before you ever really have a chance to really make one successful (do you know anybody like this?).

When you’re ready to move on, here’s a great resource: legal advice on starting a business

What do you think is the most important step in starting a business?

_{(special thanks to http://www.flickr.com/photos/robandstephanielevy/4616960925/for the cool tattoo to-do list photo)}