Starting a business out of your home comes with many advantages — no commute, lower overhead costs, and flexibility chief among them. However, just like with any type of business, getting a home-based business off the ground and achieving long-term success is both difficult and rewarding. To put yourself in the best position for success,…Read More
Although the pandemic has had major impacts on every industry, digital businesses are at a distinct advantage. For starters, it’s often easier for these businesses to turn to a fully remote model; in fact, many were remote before the pandemic began. Moreover, digital services such as online marketing and network security are more in demand…Read More
Finding your path in the tech field can be daunting if you don’t know where to start. This can be either a full time job, freelancing, or consulting. Chanita Simms is helping build up the tech community around people of color with empowerment and resources to help find that techie job.
Everyone’s got a great idea or has heaps of ambition to become the “Next Steve Jobs of [insert industry]”. A lot of people get caught up on where to start and sometimes need a guide or a map to get started. Freelancing or being an entrepreneur is an exciting and fun adventure. If you’re wonder about where to find clients, how to validate an idea, or generally how to run a freelancing business, you’re in the right places! Lets talk about the different ways you can start your journey.
I don’t want to talk about Freelancing and Consulting without talking about the gotchas of Freelancing and Consulting. Its not all rose colored glasses and sailing off into the sunset. Working for yourself takes a lot of hard work and dedication that some people may ignore. So if you’re reading tons of blog posts of the happy and fun and great sides of working for yourself, you may be overlooking the downside all together….
The awesomeness of being a freelancer or entrepreneur is that you decide how you want to work to get the job done. There are dozens of applications and freelancer tools out there that help you become more efficient and effective at whatever you need to do. They can range from free to pay-to-use but we cant seen to live without them. Freelancer tools wont make or break your company, but here are a few tools that you may find using over and over again.
Win higher proposals with a Roadmapping Session. A Roadmapping Session focuses on what a home run looks like for your client, the expected outcomes, the different parts of the project, expected/wanted ROI, and helps identify potential obstacles that we may encounter. The session includes reviewing the business goals behind the project and helping to plan steps to reach these goals. You want to figure out where the client is now and find a path to where they want to be.
For a lot of people, we get caught up on the “How” of a new business venture. In reality, the “what” is a lot harder to think about or figure out. We’ll get charged up with a new business idea, but then get discouraged by the details of how to execute. The ‘analysis paralysis’ effect comes out and shuts down out ideas or dreams.
We need to push through those doubts and realize that focusing on the “how’s” is the easier part. Getting your idea off the ground and past the “what” is the real challenge.
The quickest way to launching a successful product is to take the time to do some market research. Don’t go into a new adventure blindly with a “if I build it they will come” mentality. Get an idea of that ‘expensive problem’ that you can fix for future potential customers and clients. From there, you can pivot, revise, or evolve your product the resonate a LOT better. Actually working on a product and validating your idea by talking to experts, getting feedback, and learning what might work can teach you a lot about success.
Don’t let your doubts hold you back from your potential. Turning “what if…” into reality can take you down a path that find you success. Having that courage to go out and TRY is a huge step forward. I chat with Lisa Treadwell, a Senior Business Analyst who then went to trucking school, on how she takes those big strides in her life to find that success.