Entrepreneurship for over 40's - three tips from the last 5 years at Social Star

Happy 5th year anniversary!! That was the tone of 70+ messages of support from my fellow entrepreneurs in my LinkedIn community when I awoke. (The LinkedIn app prompts work anniversaries, even when the person in question forgot this was a special day, kinda like Facebook for birthdays...)

On seeing those messages my first thought - where did the last 5 years go!! Then the slightly nervous self evaluation of 'have I achieved what I wanted' and the down right scary 'where am I going now??'

So what better way to celebrate the last 5 years than to write a blog to recap the adventure so far and what the future holds. If you are over 40 and have thought about starting your own business, these tips are for you!

Getting Started

For the last five years I have been working on building Social Star. We focus on helping people better Understand, Build and Leverage their online brands to get into the careers they have true passion for through out unique e-ttraction process. When I first started Social Star I was working full time at IBM, lecturing at Swinburne University and doing quite nicely, thanks very much. It was a part time business, loads of fun and made some beer money thrown in on top of my wage. Life was pretty good.

But then 18 months later the shite hit the fan - I managed to get myself fired from my last corporate job, get divorced and give my house away. So why not start Social Star full time and drop my income by 70% - YAY! I figured if you are going to suffer, might as well do it properly :) Five years on when I Iook back on those times, I realise all those challenges were 'on the way, not in the way' of chasing my dreams. Tough but worth it.

What did I learn from the last five year? Plenty. For my friends considering the same journey to your own passion business consider these three tips before you jump:

Fordy's 3 tips for over 40 entrepreneurship

Tip 1 - Don't quit your day job...yet.

I know what it's like. You have a billion dollar idea that will change the world and are so passionate about it that you want to do it all day! Not go to that boring day job with a boss like Bill Lumbergh from Office Space. Before you quite your day job remember this, mortgages are not paid with passion. It will likely take 3 years to make sustainable profits enough to pay you a reasonable wage. Most ideas fade. If the passion lasts a few years, you are onto the right idea.

I started heaps of businesses that I lost interest in or discarded after closer examination. Closest Beer, Tribe, MeeTooYoo, Coffee Club and more. Some of these are great ideas, but just not close enough to my passion for me to put all my heart into them.

Tip 2 - Sell something.

I strongly urge you to start your business part time. I'm not talking about planning or discussing your business. I mean actually doing it. Selling real products. It's not a real business until you have paying clients.

Save all that money until you have generated at least six months of your monthly expenses and have it in the bank. Then you could consider the transition out of your day job. If you can't make a product and sell it for a profit on a small scale, it's unlikely to work on a big scale. We generated $80,000 before I I managed to get fired. Unfortunately, we spent most of it on toys and parties, the rest of it we wasted.

Tip 3 - Start your endurance training.

It's tough to find the time to run your part time business with family, full time work and just life. But you will get use to the longer hours over time. It's endurance training preparing you for your own business where you will need to work 12 hour days. As Gary V says 'you work 8 hours a day. How cute, I remember my first part time job'. Find the time.

Finally, for all my friends who feel stuck in their jobs and can't get out due to financial commitments and time. Listen to me - THERE IS MORE TIME - be patient. Get over the hump, stay passionate, learn the skills you need and do it later!

Thanks for all the congratulations on the first 5 years of Social Star and I'm as passionate about helping people in their careers as all those years ago. In fact we are excited to be launching our new Social Star University platform in a matter of months! First part of the dream realised.

Keep passionate and stay tuned...

P.S. If you want to read the whole journey, you can read all about it in my book 'Creating a Powerful Brand'. Get a free copy here.

Everyone tries and Fails the first time. But why?

This morning I was talking to a business coach and friend that I respect. We were chatting about some mutual clients of ours who were struggling in their business and wanted to quit so we were exploring solutions to help them. After our chat he sent me a text message that got me thinking, it said 'everyone tries and fails'. What he meant was everyone tries to do it alone and without support and coaching they often fail the first time they try. This got me thinking - why do people not seek help and invest a little money and time in coaching when the difference could be success or failure? I'm hoping that the professional coaches out there can give me some tips.

I know from my own experience that I am reluctant to pay for coaching in certain areas of my life but will happily invest in others. For instance I don't ever get a Personal Trainer at the gym, but happy to pay for running advice. I have never had a life coach, but recently employed a business coach. For my kids I will pay for all sorts of coaches! Swimming, music lessons, sport and reading - basically anything they need. So perhaps I am not reluctant to pay for coaching, it just depends on my values to where I invest the money and time.

Values 

In my business coaching I work with clients to analyse their core values. That means prioritising; business, money, family, friends, spirituality, health and learning to discover what is driving their behaviour. It's important to understand where are they are currently investing their time, money and effort. Then we compare that to where they would like to spend their time and look to fill the gaps. Often we find many clients are prioritising their values according to someone else's agenda. Partners, kids, family, work or society can all impose their values on you which creates angst and dissatisfaction. Then we work to change this situation.

Ask for Help

So in regards to coaching and asking for help, I believe people will ask and invest in help when it relates to their highest values, but they don't if it doesn't. I will hire anyone for my kids that will help them for instance, but not for me personally unless it relates to something I find important, like my business.  

Therefore, my team who are facing challenge and wanting to give up in their business is not a question of should they ask me or others for help. The real question is does this business matching to their highest values. Sometimes it simply isn't a great fit, but other times they haven't connected how this will assist them in getting what they really want. For instance, working hard might seem to be the opposite of spending time with family, but if the greater goal is a long term better lifestyle, then it is easier to put the time in now. 

Coaching would help them see the bigger picture, connect the value dots and help them persist and get where they are wanting to go. The dilemma is only when they feel that this activity will reach their goals will they seek and respond to coaching and advice, but they need the coaching to see how it connects to their values! Chicken and egg situation right there.

Advise from the expert coaches welcome!

Regards,

Andrew

Don't dream it, do it! Start your passion business today with me...

Today is a special day!

For two years I have dreamt of helping people like me who want to take the path less travelled and start their own passion business. It's a tough road and one where you need a quality map and tools to make it work.You will want to give up and take the easy way. But trust me, it's worth it and with the right team around you, much easier.

So with this in mind today I am proud to launch my 12 week program to help awesome people who dream of more than a grey cubicle to begin their journey.

I have helped dozens of businesses get their first breath (see below) 
- Run Well http://www.runwell.net.au/
- Floral Impressions http://www.floralimpressions.com.au/
- Colin Barr Advisory http://www.colinbarr.com.au/
- GKS Product Development Solutions http://www.georgegekas.com.au/
- Rachel Lawrie Real Estate http://realestateklemzig.com.au/
- Dr Melissa Harte http://www.hartefeltcentre.com/
- Paul Wilson http://www.paul-wilson.net.au/
- Rohan Klopfer http://www.eastcoastkayaking.com.au/
...and heaps more!

If you know of an aspiring entrepreneur or someone with a passion project they want to get off the ground then this could be for them.

Just tag them below or share this link so they can get the knowledge, team and support they need. Don't let them wait another year wondering, go to the link now as we only have 12 spots and two are already gone! (congrats Jane and Carol)

Click here > https://socialstar.leadpages.co/turnpassionintoprofits/

PS yes it includes a website, LinkedIn and all the stuff you need to get going...