Where did you find your confidence?

[Eoineo]

I've got a business idea. I'm completely sure that there is no company offering the product anywhere on the Island and that there is a market for the product. All I need to do is to make enough to pay the bills so that I can stay at home with my small child. The business idea would enable me to do that.

The problem is that I keep on having doubts. Normally I'm quite a confident person and I have proven business skills in a company/team environment. Not as an entrepreneur.

So would any of you care to share your confidence boosts or where you get your confidence from please? I'd love to hear your experiences. Thanks!

[conman]

Originally Posted by Eoineo

I've got a business idea. I'm completely sure that there is no company offering the product anywhere on the Island and that there is a market for the product. All I need to do is to make enough to pay the bills so that I can stay at home with my small child. The business idea would enable me to do that.

The problem is that I keep on having doubts. Normally I'm quite a confident person and I have proven business skills in a company/team environment. Not as an entrepreneur.

So would any of you care to share your confidence boosts or where you get your confidence from please? I'd love to hear your experiences. Thanks!

to research my idea i emailed over 100 companies worldwide that offer a similar service. the research here proved that there is money to be made.

then i contacted irish businesses and got advice on different aspects of their business and how many units they sold, some of them were helpful and replied, but it was better to ask in conversation than email to the irish people, as they would view approaches from within the country as a threat, where as my angle with the international emailing was that i am no threat to their business, im just looking for some information to validate mine.

so when you have this info, it gives you a solid mindframe that the numbers do add up. add to that that customers are looking for value, and there is value to be had in setting up a business, i think you will find confidence in yourself as you have justified the business, and taken the upperhand on your doubts.

[the wine guy]

Hi Eoineo,

When I quit my well paid job to set up on my own a few years ago I was worried sh**less, a good freind of mine said to me not to worry that there is no such thing as a homeless entrepreneur, I suppose what I am getting at is that fear is worse than the worst of truths. Go for it and if it does not work out try something else, many people keep themselves locked in misery for 2-3k after tax per month, if you are prepared to be flexible and not care what other people think there is no reason why you cant do something like part time work at the weekend to pay the bills while you develop the idea during the week,

Cheers and best of luck,

TWG
www.startups.ie

[Eoineo]

Thank you both.

I've organised myself a FETAC "Start your own business" course. I may be bored stiff but at least I can be sure I've covered all bases so that I will qualify for Back to Work Enterprise Allowance.

Going on your experiences I'm getting the impression that being scared s*less is typical of most entrepreneurs!

[conman]

Originally Posted by Eoineo

Thank you both.

I've organised myself a FETAC "Start your own business" course. I may be bored stiff but at least I can be sure I've covered all bases so that I will qualify for Back to Work Enterprise Allowance.

Going on your experiences I'm getting the impression that being scared s*less is typical of most entrepreneurs!

i am almost completed with the Enterprise board "start your own business course", and it is very much worth it..

[FusionNet]

Hey there,

For me it was simple, no company in my county had a job in the industry I wanted to work in. Also I reckon Im one of the best at this job and what gives me that confidence and all is seeing my competitors sloppy work and knowing I can do so much better. You should make a list,

what have you to lose and what have you to gain by going into this business?

What is the minimum you can survive on financially and for how long?

Will this effect anyone close to you, do you have good support?

Are you prepared in your own mind to succeed but also fail?

Will you love doing this work?

For me I was made redundant but got no money as the company was broke so that helped me to get up and get out there. Business is not that scary just stressful at times so good support is essential in my opinion..

[Eoineo]

Originally Posted by conman

i am almost completed with the Enterprise board "start your own business course", and it is very much worth it..

Sorry I forgot to mention in my OP - my husband did the same course last year when he was working on his business model. I did a huge amount of work with him so I know it inside out. That's why I mentioned the possibility of being bored, even though I know it is exactly what I need to do.

[PhatPiggins]

Surround yourself wth confident,succesful people of like mind to yourself.

Losers will drag you down to there level. How many times have you heard 'never do well's' say "That'll never work".

There are tons of networking, entrepreneurial meets and business support groups out there. There's plenty of them on this forum.

You'll find their enthusiasm and confidence infectious

[happyharmony]

I have run a number of biz's and acted as a coach/mentor. The courses are worthwhile but rarely provide real insight. To be absolutely honest, every successful entrepreur I know never completed a course! If you know of somebody in a similiar business ask for a few minutes of their time and really pick their brains. Most people love to share their story and will give you real insight. As a starting point make sure you are taking this leap for the right reason - if it is the thought of being your own boss or making more money then you might struggle. The basis for your new business must be sound. This is the most common mistake I see.

[Andy_Black]

Confidence comes from actually knowing there is a demand for the products/services you're selling, and knowing that you can profit from it. You start with gut instinct but need to prove there is a real market out there.

I've just added my two-pennies worth on another thread where someone was asking how to setup their dog grooming business. It is the strategy I use to help determine if there is an actual demand for a businesses products/services. I've included the content below. I hope this helps! Apologies for duplicating content... I hope that's not disallowed?

>>>>>>>

Your primary aim is to get real market info as quickly and cheaply as possible. If your business idea is going to fail because of lack of demand then you want to FAIL FAST and move onto another idea.

In a nutshell, here's what you need to do:
1) Find out what people are looking for.
2) Find out how to give it to them.
3) Find out if you can make a profit doing it.
4) Create and implement a plan to act upon this knowledge.


My advice:

1) Got to https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

2) Make sure the region is set to Ireland.

3) Enter a phrase that someone might use to find your services/products ("dog grooming" for the case of someone thinking of setting up their dog grooming business).

4) Google will tell you how many searches there were in Ireland that had the words in that phrase on the line, and for similar phrases.

I've just done it and the results for Sep-09 are:

dog grooming 9900
grooming dog 9900
dog groomers 1000
dog grooming courses 1000
dog groomer 720
dog grooming ireland 590
dogs grooming 590
mobile dog grooming 480
dog grooming equipment 260
dog grooming course 210
dog grooming supplies 210
dog grooming in ireland 140
a dog grooming 110
dog grooming jobs 110
grooming a dog 110
dog grooming clippers 91
dog grooming services 91
mobile dog groomers 91
professional dog grooming 91
dog grooming business 73
dog grooming parlour 73
dog grooming salon 73
dog grooming table 73
dog grooming kit 58
grooming for dogs 58
mobile dog groomer 58
pet dog grooming 58
dog groomed 46
dog grooming classes 46
dog grooming prices 46
dog grooming products 46
dog grooming tables 46
dog grooming tips 46
dog grooming training 46
dog grooming vans 46
paws dog grooming 46
dog grooming books 36
dog grooming salons 36
dog grooming school 36
dog grooming scissors 36
dog grooming career 28
dog grooming kits 28
dog grooming service 28
cheap dog grooming 22
dog grooming schools 22
dog grooming suppliers 22
dog grooming tools 22
top dog grooming 22
all breed dog grooming 16
christies dog grooming 16
dog grooming parlours 16
dog grooming shop 16
dog grooming brushes 12
dog grooming tool 12

5) Determine which are the best phrases to indicate people are actually looking for you, and have a reasonable volume of searches (don't get too excited about volumes... remember it's for the whole of Ireland).

6) Put those search phrases into Google yourself and see what pops up. Are there lots of Sponsored Links (on the right hand side)? If there are then people are probably making money from those Ads. If there isn't but there is a high search volume then maybe it's ripe for you to go in there and be the first to have Ads up.

7) Check out your main competition (the ones with Ads in the top positions over a few weeks). Reverse engineer their sales funnels for free by pretending you're a shopper and visit their website and see how they lead you into becoming a customer.

8) If you think there is enough traffic out there and you can compete with (or better) the competition create a simple 4-5 page website such as [YourCounty]DogGrooming.com. The 5 pages would be:
Home | Services | Testimonials (optional) | About Us | Contact Us

A simple one I've done for a client is www.dublin-electrical.com
Nothing fancy, but it works.

9) Create a Google Adwords campaign to run only for people who type in the search phrases you identified within your county or within, say, 75km of your location.

10) Analyse the traffic stats over a month and see how many times your Ads are triggered. Hopefully you'll also be getting a few sales leads too.

11) After a month use this info to help decide whether you have a viable business idea.


I hope that helps!

Best of luck.
Andy

Grow Your Business With Digital Insight
www.digitalinsight.ie

[dhayz2000]

Originally Posted by Andy_Black

My advice:

1) Got to https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal

Fair play Andy_Black, very interesting advice there.

[Andy_Black]

Thanks for your kind words dhayz2000.

There's plenty more where that came from! I've starting brain-dumping into my blog at www.digitalinsight.ie if you found that interesting.


Cheers, Andy


Grow Your Business With Digital Insight
www.digitalinsight.ie

[Maccattack]

Sometimes you just gotta say "**** it" and go for it.

[xxlplease]

Originally Posted by Eoineo

I've got a business idea. I'm completely sure that there is no company offering the product anywhere on the Island and that there is a market for the product. All I need to do is to make enough to pay the bills so that I can stay at home with my small child. The business idea would enable me to do that.

The problem is that I keep on having doubts. Normally I'm quite a confident person and I have proven business skills in a company/team environment. Not as an entrepreneur.

So would any of you care to share your confidence boosts or where you get your confidence from please? I'd love to hear your experiences. Thanks!

Believe in yourself! make a plan of action and stick with it, if you need to do a research - do it incognito - don't give your idea away too easily When you are comitted and live your dream sooner or later you will succed, and last but not least: don't share your visions with people who are sceptical and will inject you with their own fears rather then support you - it happens all the time I am in the research part of my first business set-up and I know that there are good days and bad days but if you really want something, you will get it.

[Nigel Sage]

I sat down with my family told them what i wanted to do and asked them if they thought i was crazy. They all said no.

That was nine years ago