Thirty seventh week-Making the connections

This week I started making the connections I needed to start my business. I realized that I had been doing it all along in regards to gaining information for my recently published book. Now I know that I have to utilize that new skill to gain stable employment and/or start this business. I started writing a rough draft of what I will say once I start promoting the business. When you start from scratch like I'm doing now, there are a lot of variables you need to keep in mind. Some of these variables will "sink" you before you even get started, while others will creep up on you unaware.

Luckily for many of us unemployment benefits are not going away. This is a big factor to consider when you start. Are you going to have a buffer to see you through? If not, then you may want to consider other options in regards to revenue and resources. You can find most of these resources on the Internet. Two of them are what I'm starting to use now. I know that I need to focus on:

1) What services I will offer-writing and document management

2) What rates I will charge for each service and broken down into subcategories

3)How people will know about services and how they can contact you.

Some of this "leg work" you have already done. Using social media like Facebook and Linkedin to promote your services will help. Having a website will also help, but I'm learning that I need to be careful with expenses. So I ask myself the following questions:

1) What expenses will I run into as I start this business? You need to have at least an excel spreadsheet that is tracking the expenses such as Internet usage and mileage. Then there's the social media expenses to consider if you're serious about marketing your services.

2) How will I track these expenses-broken down into individual services or as a whole?

3) How do I want to promote the services? Broken down costs (if any) of sites utilized for promotion.

I do have a lot to think about in regards to this. Number one priority for me is to find out if there is a real need for my services here. If that need isn't present, then the business stalls or dies.