Tips on how to start a business in your spare time.

So you say you have a passion, and you would love to turn it into a business but you don’t know where to begin? I hear ya, I was the same way! I was always day dreaming and just letting others pass me by while watching their dreams come true.

Stop beating yourself up and roll up your sleeves and get to work. Here are a few tips on how I began Landon Lane Candle Company (from scratch) —

HAVE A VISION— After all, you have to have a vision of what you are trying to turn into a business. Are you an artist who wants to sell your art, or a party planner looking to offer your planning skills to others for a fee, or do you love animals and want extra income helping others take care of their pets? It may just be a side hustle now, but maybe it has potential for more… but you have to have a vision to begin. Write down your vision. Take out a poster board and start brainstorming ideas. Soon, you will start to see your vision on your “vision board.” It’s ok if it is a complete mess (with chicken scratch), the key is to get it down on paper so you can read it all over and soak it all in.
DO YOUR RESEARCH — A little bit of internet surfing goes a long way. I began my candle company with an amazon gift card (thanks, Mom!)! I just purchased a candle making kit to see if I even liked making candles and to see exactly how hard of a process it actually was. Once I was hooked, I researched many suppliers to find answers. I viewed tons of videos over at “YouTube University”. I mean, gah, you can learn a ton from others who are willing to share their passions!
WRITE A BUDGET — Write down all the materials you will need for a start up. Materials to include supplies, marketing materials (another subject!), subscriptions & fees, etc. Remember Rome was not built in a day, so budget for a small start. You can always grow, and besides you don’t want to invest all your money in your side hustle. You are trying to make money, after all!
MAKE A PLAN — GOSH, now this is a tricky part… failing to plan is planning to fail, so you gotta make a plan. Things to consider: Logo – how will you brand your business? Launch date – when will you launch into the public? Marketing – how will you market your business: social media, advertising, blog posts, word of mouth, etc. Banking – how will you accept payment and do you need an EIN number, etc. Don’t beat yourself up if your plans take a fork in the road along the way. Having a plan helps you reach your goals. Which leads me to my last point:
SET GOALS — I get it, setting goals is a bit scary. I mean, what if I don’t reach them…then I will be a failure, right… NOPE! That just means you will be learning along the way. And learning brings more knowledge and knowledge is power! (remember the old Saturday morning School House Rock, “knowledge is power” — ok, I am showing my age!) But really, setting goals is a good thing and once you begin checking them off, things really will start to fall into place for your new venture.

Spare time, yea right, who has that? We all do, we just have to recognize it and make it work for us instead of it getting away from us. Try to carve out 30 min a day to focus on your dream business. Or carve out an entire weekend, stay in your PJs, sip on coffee and solely focus on your business plan and goals (like I did), and you will be off to a good start. You can do it one small step at a time. Enjoy the process and know that dreams do work if you do the work!

If you are a candle lover, be sure to take a peek at Landon Lane Candle Company