This week on the blog I’ll be discussing entrepreneurship. I get a lot of “How did you …” questions from women who want to start their own businesses. I believe in having multiple streams of income and being more intentional about our passions. As a writer, I’ve not only discovered that it is the key to my sanity daily, but it has also helped me monetize the passion I have for it. Years ago, I founded a domestic violence foundation and even today as a lifestyle blogger and playwright, I’ve used these simple tips that has contributed to my success throughout the years and I want to share them with you.

Here are 5 tips to becoming a successful entrepreneur:

1. Determine what is your “Why”: You will need to know as much in details, why do you want to start your own business? Determine what problem, does your business solve for your customers? If you’re not sure of your “Why” just yet, set goals and create an outline and that will give you some direction on what it is that you want to accomplish for your business.

For example, years ago, I started a foundation to provide resources for victims and survivors of domestic violence and I created volunteer-based activities for people, to help educate them and raise awareness on domestic violence. The problem I solved was that too many of my closest friends and family knew someone who was being abused but didn’t have an emergency contact (me) to help their loved one seek help and/or shelter if needed. That was my “Why.”

2. Find your niche/industry: What are you passionate about? Who’s doing what you want to do?

My niche is lifestyle blogging. I love and I am passionate about sharing my life experiences with others to help inspire people to live better lives daily. I could almost write blogs in my sleep, that’s how passionate I am about being a storyteller through my blog posts weekly. I’m passionate about creating a platform that is inviting, safe and funny to “talk” to my readers who are either causally browsing through my website, social media or my faithful subscribers. For inspiration, I also follow on social media various bloggers in my industry as well as others to stay up to date on the trends that are always changing. I also reach out and connect with them to brainstorm ideas and I know that they will possibly understand some of the things I experience as a blogger.

3. Educate yourself: Read books, take online courses (ex. webinars), research your industry, attend workshops, conferences, trainings and seminars. Going back to school? Consider majoring in Business Management or whatever field of work you plan on becoming an entrepreneur in.

I spend HOURS researching my blog topics, people I want to be guest contributors, blog trends and news, latest technology updates to make blogging as easy for me as possible and so much more. I find free webinars to attend through the people I follow on Instagram and I am a lover of books, so my Amazon cart stays full of books that I have in cue to purchase to study from (I read a lot of books). I’m always searching the internet for upcoming seminars and conferences in my industry or the things that I’m interested in (ex. hair care products, food, wine, skin care products, etc), so that I can not only connect with like-minded people, but it also helps me create content to write about.

4. Build relationships: Speaking of attending seminars and conferences, you have to build relationships. YOU CAN NOT DO EVERYTHING ALONE. My sisters, we have to get out of the mindset that we can’t trust other women and therefore, we work ourselves into an early grave because we’re stressed out from trying to do things on our own.

In everything that I do in life, I’m always building relationships and adding to my contact list. Ideas will come to me about a blog topic or a play to write and instantly, I can think of people who I can reach out to, to collaborate with them. That’s from building relationships with people and maintaining those relationships.

5. Hire the experts: STAY IN YOUR LANE. You will need to spend some coins and hire the experts when starting your business.

I hired several consultants and other professionals to create anything from my business plan, strategic plans, lawyer for my incorporation, graphic designers to create my website and logos, photographer for photos for my blog, etc. Hiring experts helped me do the things that I needed to be doing and not stressing over other tasks that I was not particularly the smartest in doing or was not my talent to do. Sure some things you can save money by doing yourself, but in other areas where you know you are clueless, hire the experts!

Hopefully these 5 tips to becoming a successful entrepreneur has motivated you to get started on your dream today and not continue to be stagnant and let another day pass you by. Don’t let fear or lack of resources stop you from solving problems for your potential consumers.

If you’re an entrepreneur, please share other tips in the comments. If you’re considering starting a business, and want a personalized action plan, please contact me and let’s talk!