Thursday 20 January 2011

Taking Control of Your Life - Just Get Started

By K. MacKillop

You know how when you buy a new car you suddenly see other cars just like that everywhere you go? Before you bought it, you never noticed them at all...but now they seem to be all over the place! The same sort of thing happens once you take the first step into entrepreneurship. That is, seeking out the first opportunity and taking steps to pursue it very often expose a multitude of other opportunities as well. All you have to do is take the first step!
Most wealthy, successful entrepreneurs will tell you that they changed direction a number of times from their first startup idea. For some, the final result is just a variation of the original idea, such as a real estate agent jumping into the house flipping industry. One entrepreneur started out with an online car part retail store. A few months after launching, a former metal worker contacted her about partnering to market customized parts. A few months after that, an interested investor financed the launch of a full garage for fabricating specialty parts and customizing street racers!
For others, the change is far more dramatic. Another entrepreneur started out with a dog training business but ended up a regional flooring distributor! The training company was doing just fine, but the income was limited by the number of hours he could train. A client mentioned an open distributorship in the flooring industry and he jumped at the opportunity. Less than one year later, the training facility is run by a staff of employees and the distributorship is rockin' along as well.
Stories like these are very common in the world of entrepreneurship. A recent documentary called Lemonade is about the different paths that laid off ad folks have taken. The guy who made the documentary? He started out launching an advertising industry job board, but when the opportunity to make the documentary came along, he grabbed it and ran. Now, he is focusing his work efforts on creating more documentaries...and loving every minute of it!
The key to really taking control of your work life and financial future is twofold. First, just get started in the right direction. Second, be ready to seize opportunities as they come along. The more hooks you have in the water, the more likely you are to snag a few fish. Don't limit yourself to the ideas you have right now. Entrepreneurship is a learning process. No matter how much schooling or work experience you have, there will be hard lessons and realities that surprise you on your path to success. The trick is to take advantage of every situation and always be looking for the next foothold up the cliff.
Whatever your goals for taking control of your life, just get started. Look for the obvious business ideas, pay attention to what the people around you need. Figure out what you know and what you don't know about entrepreneurship and take steps to fill in the gap. Don't wait for the perfect idea, get going now with a good enough idea! The first one may not make you rich, but it will get you on track to find the right opportunities that will change your life!
About the Author- K. MacKillop, a serial entrepreneur, is co-founder of LaunchX, a company designed to develop and train potential entrepreneurs to succeed. The LaunchX System, delivered through seminar format or at-home study, helps entrepreneurs start a business based on their own idea. It includes step-by-step business startup instructions, key software, business tools, comprehensive entrepreneurial skills training, and more. Visit LaunchX.com to learn more about this revolutionary way to become an entrepreneur.

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