7 Questions To Ask Before You Launch A Business

September 11, 2008

Before you launch a business, aside from doing thorough research, there’s a few questions you need to ask yourself. Don’t skip these questions. I ignored the first one once and actually sank one of my businesses.

Am I Truly Passionate About This Business? Passion really is far more important than anything. If you’re not passionate about the business you’re about to launch, find something you are passionate about. Otherwise, you’ll wind up wasting a lot of time and money, or stuck in a business
you don’t enjoy.

Do I Know Enough About This Business To Get Started? If you can’t truthfully answer yes, go out and learn some more about the business first, even if it means delaying your launch.

Am I Self Motivated Enough? Some people seem to find it easier to motivate themselves than others. Are you the type of person who would be more likely to watch tv than work on their business, if you based your business at home? If you’re not sure, it might be worthwhile starting your business on a part-time basis to begin with.

Do I Have A Decent Amount Of General Business Knowledge? Do you have a basic understanding of how to run a business? Do you know enough about sales, marketing, accounts etc to get started? You can and will learn a lot as you go, but it will be far easier if you improve your knowledge before you launch your business. You can do this through reading books and taking courses.

Is The Business A Good Fit For The Type Of Lifestyle I Want To Lead? Think about this one carefully. Will you be able to carry on doing the things you enjoy doing now, if you start this business? If you’re an outdoor person, you may not enjoy running a business that keeps you indoors all day. And if you’re not a morning person, starting a business that requires you to get up at 4am may not work out.

Do I Know What My Business Is Going To Look Like When It’s Complete? This may not sound relevant - especially if you think you might want to keep your business forever and never sell it. But you really want to know what your business is going to look like when it’s complete, before you even launch it. That way, you can plan to reach that point and you’ll also know what you need to do to get there.

Will I Be Able To Raise The Start Up Capital Needed For My Business Launch?

Even if your start up costs are low, you’ll still need money set aside to live on. And how much you need will depend on many factors. For instance, if you need to employ people from the beginning it may take longer to break even than it would if you are working alone.

If you don’t have at least enough cash, on top of your start up costs, to meet your daily living expenses for one year, you might want to launch your business on a part-time basis to begin with. Unless you can come up with other ways to meet those expenses.

In a future post, I’m going to cover ways you can raise cash to help with the launch of your business. If you’d like to learn about this, click here to subscribe in a reader.

Can you think of other things you might want to consider before you launch a business?

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Image Credit: Steve Jurvetson

Posted by cathlawson | Filed Under Misc | 30 Comments

A Kick Ass Way To Get Your Novel Published

September 8, 2008

For me, writing a whole novel is a huge challenge, never mind actually getting it published. But other folk I know are zooming ahead.

My friend Rita, over at Rita’s Digest didn’t follow the traditional route to get her novel published - she used a real kick ass approach. Her way isn’t for the timid, but it certainly got her noticed. She explains it better than I could in this article: My Novel Is Going To Be Published.

And Kelly over at She Power is also making great progress with her novel. For a while, Kelly has shared her short fiction online and now she’s on the third draft of her book, she’s posted an extract on her blog. I think this is a brave move and definitely one which will pay off for her. You can read her extract of “Running With The Dead” here.

As someone who has struggled with novel writing for years, I am in awe of these two. Often, I get bored with the story, or the character’s problems leave me feeling emotionally drained.

Have you written a novel, or are you writing one? What challenges did you experience?

Posted by cathlawson | Filed Under Misc | 17 Comments

6 Favourite Places To Have Fun Online

September 6, 2008

Barbara Ling has tagged me to share my six favourite places to have fun online. This is difficult because I have fun in so many places and I don’t do favourites. But here’s some of the ones I’ve been having a lot of fun at lately:

I don’t watch Big Brother, but recently, I’ve been glued to the Internet’s own version, over at Someday Syndrome. Alex Fayle has his “Lab Rats” exposing all, on their mission to achieve their goals.

Momgrind is another place I’ve been enjoying hanging out. Vered asks some great questions about toothpaste and stuff, shares some hilarious ads and is generally an all round entertaining girl.

Wat Da Wat is the online home of Chris - father of five crazy children and teacher. Lately, he’s had me on the age of my seat with his serial story about a time when he hit rock bottom.

Right now, I’m in the middle of reading a 10,000 word article on how to improve my creativity. And I’m thanking Mark for introducing it to me. He also has a great blog too: Broadcasting Brain.

Also, I’m really enjoying Robin’s posts, over at Lets Live Forever. Robin’s blog is unique. Sure there’s lot so places out there claiming that our soul lives on forever - but Robin believes that our physical bodies can live for hundreds of years. She writes some interesting stuff - you should check it out.

If I didn’t include you - don’t be offended, I do like lots of blogs. But the rules said 6. Ok - so I included 7, it was just a little cheat.

More Memes

Swimming Naked, Biscuits and Sex On A Plane
8 Random Things About Me - I’m Into Plastic In Bed
Rita You’ll Make A Lot Of People Rich

Posted by cathlawson | Filed Under Misc | 16 Comments

10 Stockmarket Investment Tips For Beginners

September 5, 2008

Stockmarket investment is one of the best ways to beat inflation and achieve an excellent return on your money. Obviously, if you have your own business, you’ll want to invest in that first but if you’re thinking of additional long term investments, you’re far better off investing in the stockmarket than putting your money in the bank.

Stockmarket Investment Isn’t Gambling: Don’t look at the stockmarket as a way to make short term cash. You need to be prepared to invest your money for at least five years.

Be Prepared To Study: Learning about the stockmarket requires quite a bit of study. If you don’t have the time and interest to learn, consider investing in a managed fund.

Learn The Basics First: Get a basic book, so you understand the market in general first, before plunging into something complicated.

Reduce Risk By Spreading Your Investment: Don’t invest in individual stocks until you have enough available cash to make it worthwhile to invest in at least half a dozen. You could use a managed fund to build up this sum.

Stock Tips Suck: Don’t take stock tips from anyone - especially folks on investment forums, or from magazines. I’ve visited forums in the past and I reckon a good 90% either don’t know what they’re talking about, or they’re simply there to ramp up shares they already own. And most shares recommended in magazines, have increased in price before the publication hits the stands.

Make Sure You Understand What You’re Investing In: Don’t invest in sectors you don’t understand, or have no interest in learning about. If you do, you won’t understand factors which could affect that whole sector and the company you own shares in.

Reduce Your Risk: Never put all your eggs in one basket - even if you think it is going to be the next Microsoft. I prefer to invest in 5 or 6 different shares at a time. Some people choose more. This will depend on your own attitude to risk. And no matter how great you think a company is, never become emotionally attached to it.

Focus On The Complete Portfolio: Don’t get stressed or upset if you have to cut your losses on a particular share. It’s the whole picture that’s important. I’ve always found that out of 6 shares - two will do well, two will be mediocre and two will do badly.

Don’t Invest And Forget: Some people will tell you not to watch the stockmarket - just invest and forget. I don’t completely agree on this point. While there’s no point in obsessing over the price fluctuations of one particular share, you do need to keep reading the news for changes in the industry, or changes that may affect the company. This applies to both large and small companies - even huge companies can and do go bust.

Don’t Sell The Prize Pig: If you’re in a position where you need to sell - always get rid of your worst performing shares first. And never sell your best shares to loan anybody money, especially if they want to invest it in a business that’s struggling. (*This was the worst ever investment mistake I made)

Do you have any tips to add? Have you invested in the stockmarket before, or would you consider it in the future. Or are you one of those people who find the idea of stockmarket investment way too risky? Please share in the comments section and feel free to ask any questions relating to stockmarket investment.