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GrasshopperAcademyCOURSE 1
Tips on how to turn yourhobby into a business
Creating a Business Idea
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:
Review
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