Start Your Business Now!

“I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it.”—ESTÉE LAUDER Let the countdown begin, future business owner! You’re about to turn your dreams into reality and inspire people along the way. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even change the world. Starting your own business is exciting and rewarding and exhausting and challenging, and a whole lot more, all at once. Our blueprint for building your business is designed to help entrepreneurs understand the opportunities, risks, legalities, and hard work and decisions that lie ahead, to help you get the doors open faster. In this comprehensive guide you’ll find the best resources and expert advice from the business world to help you plan for the smoothest and most successful journey possible, no matter your…

● THE CIRCLE ON THE LEFT IS WHAT YOU’RE GOOD AT. Identify your skills, talents, and all your unique abilities, whether you were born with them or mastered them over time. ● THE TOP CIRCLE IS WHAT YOU LOVE. Consider the things you’re passionate about. What brings you joy and motivates you to get out of bed in the morning? ● THE CIRCLE ON THE RIGHT IS WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS. What would people love but doesn’t exist yet? Pinpoint the market for your idea or the need for your product. ● THE BOTTOM CIRCLE IS WHAT MAKES MONEY. Take inventory of what products or services you could offer that people would actually pay for—otherwise, your idea is just a hobby. ● THE CENTER, WHERE THOSE FOUR CIRCLES OVERLAP, IS…

One thing we learned during the pandemic is that the internet is always open for business. That’s why an online marketplace like Etsy is so important for creators. It’s one of the top destinations for buying and selling anything handmade, vintage, and/or personalized—a global platform for artisans and entrepreneurs. Etsy provides plenty of user-friendly resources to help people like you launch their own shops effortlessly. The best places to start are Etsy’s Seller Handbook (etsy.com/seller-handbook) and Help Center (help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015672808-How-to-Open-an-Etsy-Shop?segment=selling). Here’s a quick summary of the steps you’ll learn from these resources about launching your Etsy shop. 1 CREATE YOUR OWN ETSY CUSTOMER ACCOUNT, so you can get to know the site from a consumer’s point of view. Click “Sign In,” then click “Register” to create a username and password. Try…

Food trucks are moving up in the world! These mobile kitchens are booming all across the country. They’re popping up on streets, in parking lots, and grouped into food festivals—sometimes in conjunction with breweries and other businesses. The food service industry is notoriously competitive, and launching a traditional brick-and-mortar restaurant is an expensive and laborious undertaking that’s often beyond the reach of the entrepreneurial foodie. A food truck may be a more viable and affordable bet for someone trying to get a restaurant off the ground. Here are four questions to get your wheels turning about what it takes to launch your own food truck. 1 WHAT KIND OF FOOD ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE? This is the fun part: What do you want to serve, and why do you think…

● Korean-Mexican fusion may sound like an unlikely culinary mash-up, but for David Choi it’s been a recipe for success in the food truck industry. David told foodtruckoperator.com he was first inspired to become a food entrepreneur in 2007, while attending Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri. “I gained a passion for food…I wanted to be independent and work for myself,” he said. The son of Korean immigrants, David dreamed of cooking up dishes based on his family’s traditional cuisine, but the marketplace in St. Louis was already flooded with Korean barbecue restaurants. “There were too many Korean options,” as David put it. That’s when he got the idea to combine Korean and Mexican cuisines, which share a number of similarities in their flavor profiles. Starting with his savings of $18,000,…

Pop culture is filled with references to the life of a standup comic, from “Seinfeld,” one of the most popular sitcoms of all time, to “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” a hit TV show that tells the story of a 1950s housewife who takes her natural flair for humor and turns it into an unlikely career in standup. But how realistic is this as a career choice—and how could you make this work in real life? There’s no single path to a career in comedy, but if you think you’ve got what it takes, there are some common steps and considerations worth taking a look at. 1 HAVE AN ORIGINAL ANGLE. Standard fare brick-wall comedians are a dime a dozen—to break through professionally and make this a career you’ll need a…