GrasshopperAcademy

Tips on how to turn yourhobby into a business

Brainstorming YourCompany & Culture

Small Business and Startup Stats

Approximately 543,000 new businesses getstarted each month … but more employerbusinesses shut down than start up each month

50% of all new businesses failwithin 5 years

- Forbes

- Inc.

How do you know if your businessidea will work?

The success of a startup dependson two things:

1) The Founder2) The Market

Founder & CEOSpinGo

Kreg Peeler

The most important aspect of creating asuccessful business comes from makingsure you do what you love. If you don't dothat, you will be miserable because it takesa lot of time and a lot of money.

The Founder

I encourage anyone who is passionate about his/herhobby to explore it as a possibility, but I have alsolearned that it is not all fun and games. Once I turnedmy hobbies into my work, they lost their therapeuticvalue. There was now pressure on me to deliver …Be clear that you may lose your love for the hobby asit becomes a job.”

The Founder

Founder & PresidentTridentDesign, LLC

Chris Hawker

Founder & PresidentTridentDesign, LLC

Chris Hawker

Be sure that you want to spend a lot of time in theindustry of your hobby. If your hobby is beerbrewing, do you want to spend all your days andnights dealing with all of the logistics of running abrewery? If the answer is yes, then go for it. If youaren't sure, I recommend staying away.

The Founder

10 qualities/talents of successful entrepreneurs*

Business Focus

Confidence

Creative Thinker

Delegator

Determination

Independent

Knowledge-seeker

Promoter

Relationship-builder

Risk-taker

The Founder

*10 Talents That Drive Entrepreneurial Success, Gallup

The #1 reason that startups fail isthe the lack of a market need fortheir product

- Fortune

The Market

While it's still in its infancy, test out differentaspects of your business and be flexible.Don't invest too much in one product orservice without testing the market first.Take what you learn and adjust yourproduct/service.

The Market

Founder & CEOSpinGo

Kreg Peeler

How to test the market online

Search social mediasites for your product,

industry, or need.

Set up a "coming soon"landing page to collect

emails

Crowdfund some ofyour initial startup costs

The Market

Scout any possiblecompetitors

We got to the point that the household hobby was takingover our home, but there was still some question as towhether it could be a viable business. As a way to judgethe market interest and also keep from having to spend alot of our own capital, we ran a Kickstarter campaign. Wedecided if crowdfunding could pay for manufacturedproducts, we could probably move from hobby tobusiness successfully.

The Market

Co-OwnerLyla Tov Monsters

Eric Black

Founder & PresidentTridentDesign, LLC

Chris Hawker

You can evaluate interest in an idea by creating a landingpage to see how easily you can acquire email addressesfrom potentially interested parties. For consumer products,I use Facebook PPC ads to drive people to the landingpage where we describe the product as forthcoming andinvite people to give us their email so they can be kept upto date on the release.

The Market

How to test a local or niche market in real life

Use the product in public

Attend local events—craft fairs, community events,

charity fundraisers.

Give away samples toinfluencers in your industry

The Market

FounderScrubzbody Natural Skincare

Roberta Perry

It was my sister who suggested I start selling, sowe set up an eBay store and sold at some homeparties. When I randomly met the owner of a chainof hair salons, and he was willing to bring in myline, I knew I had something more than a hobby

The Market

FounderBad Pickle Tees

Cyndi Grasman

I had a pretty good idea that it would [work], since in thebeginning my company grew very fast, very organically. I was in the restaurant business—surrounded by chefsand foodies all the time (my target customer in thebeginning)—and I was able to wear my product, so Iwas constantly getting feedback.

The Market

How to turn your hobbyinto your day job

Fasten your seatbelt …and then secure the personsitting next to you.

FounderBad Pickle Tees

Cyndi Grasman

Just as important is to talk to those around you tosee if they are ready to make the sacrifices too,because believe me: you are not going on thisjourney alone. You will need a strong supportsystem on board and be ready to make somesacrifice.

Step 1

Conduct thoroughonline research.

Founder & PresidentTridentDesign, LLC

Chris Hawker

Start by doing some very thorough researchonline to carefully evaluate the competitivelandscape. Where does your idea fit in, and is iteasy to see (and explain) how it can compete?What is your proposed advantage? What are thebarriers to entry that may not be obvious?

Step 2

Then, interview experts in the field. Entrepreneurs love to talkabout their businesses. Get the inside scoop on the industry,what it's really like, and what it takes to succeed there.

Adjust

FounderBad Pickle Tees

Cyndi Grasman

We can be so passionate about what we love that wesometimes don't listen to important feedback. I found itimportant to find my focus group of customers, talk tothem face to face, and more importantly to listen andimplement changes. It can be hard to be honest when ourproduct and passion is such a personal part of us, but onceI did this I went from a very small group of potentialcustomers to a much larger one.

Step 3

Do the math

Founder & PresidentTridentDesign, LLC

Chris Hawker

Do some napkin math on your idea before you docareful cash flow projections. You want to makesure that your business makes sense usingrealistic numbers, based on feedback from pros.Make some assumptions about investment, salesand expenses and see if it plays out. A lot of ideasonly work at massive scale, and you have to besure you can afford to get to that scale with youravailable resources.

Step 4

Don't quit yourday job

Start off with your new business as a sideproject. You don't have to throw away yourcurrent job to start your new project. Spendsome hours at night working on it anddeveloping it small.

Step 5

Founder & CEOSpinGo

Kreg Peeler

This comprehensive, online guide will walk you throughproving your idea, confronting problems, building your

brand, networking, and more!

How to Transform Your SideProject into Your Only Project

Caution: Obstacles on Road

The Market

The biggest obstacle we've faced is that you need topersonally run every aspect of the business. We'renot able to hire a staff, so we need to be managingsales, marketing, finances, legal, shipping, and everyother department. That means we've needed tostudy and learn subjects we knew absolutelynothing about before starting this business.

Caution: Obstacles on Road

Co-ownerLyla Tov Monsters

Eric Black

How to overcome common startup obstacles

Remind yourself thatobstacles are normal.

The Market

Remind yourself that obstacles are normal.Bill Gates’ first business failed. Steve Jobs was fired fromApple. J.K. Rowling lived off government aid while writingHarry Potter. Walt Disney was fired because he, “lackedimagination.” Dr. Seuss’ first book was rejected by 27publishers.

How to overcome common startup obstacles

Abandon what isnot working

The Market

To sustain success, you have to be willing toabandon things that are no longer successful.

What Matters Now: How to Win in a World of Relentless Change, Ferocious Competition and Unstoppable Innovation

     ­ Gary Hamel,

How to overcome common startup obstacles

Get creative

The Market

Get your team together. Think outside the box.Write down every idea. Come up with 20 solutions(no matter how ridiculous) for every problem.

How to overcome common startup obstacles

Take a break

The Market

It seems counterintuitive, but most entrepreneurs end upspending every waking moment on the business—especially in the first year. Eventually your brain needs abreak to refresh and recharge, so you can come back toface the obstacle with creativity and energy.

How to overcome common startup obstacles

Stay one stepahead

The Market

Scaling up is hard. Hiring your first employee is hard. Expandingyour marketing efforts into new channels is hard. Start thinkingabout those things before you have to do them. If you don’tlearn how to scale before business takes off, you won’t beready to do it when scaling up can mean making or breakingyour business.

How do you know if your ideawill work?

It depends on two things:

1) The Founder2) The Market

Review

Review

1) Make sure all seatbelts are fastened2) Conduct thorough online research3) Adjust4) Do the math5) Don't quit your day job (yet)

How to get started:

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How to overcome obstacles

1) Remember you're in good company2) Abandon what's not working3) Get creative4) Take a break5) Stay one step ahead

Next Steps:

Brainstorming Your

Business Idea Potential