Every week as @SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wed on Twitter from 8-9pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with Darnyelle A. Jervey @darnyellejervey is a sought after speaker, certified business coach, award winning author and consultant. Darnyelle is the founder of Incredible One Enterprises, LLC, http://www.incredibleoneenterprises.com, a full service empowerment firm that specializes in helping women to unleash the Incredible Factor within their small businesses. She works through clients, keynotes, coaching, seminars and workshops. Darnyelle is known for her enthusiasm, contagious energy and being the catalyst for transformational change and goal achievement with her coaching clients.
Smallbizlady: If you want to start a business, how should you determine what your passions are?
Darnyelle A. Jervey: Get to a quiet place where you can hear yourself think and complete a self-assessment and write down all the things that you love and the skills that you have that you receive compliments on. What do you love to do? What would you do all day long, 30 days a month, barefoot? When given a team project at work, where do you naturally gravitate and where are you frequently assigned. What did you go to school for? And questions like this. I call this process “Inspecting the Incredible.” Inspecting the Incredible also includes completing a life description and assessing the skills that you possess to actually get the life you desire. Of those skills, designate what you already have, what is required and what is preferred.
In listing what you love, you must know that just because you love it, it doesn’t mean that it can be a viable business yet, each passion that you have can and should be used in helping you to develop a business that gives you the life of your dreams.
Smallbizlady: How can you narrow down your passions into one you can build a business model around?
Darnyelle A. Jervey: Business models work very well when your passion is based in service to another, meaning you provide a service or product that is a true love for you AND it also solves a problem for others in the marketplace. Examples of profitable passions include coaching, speaking, writing, planning, consulting, training whether educationally or physically, organizing, cooking (in the form of catering), healthy living, etc. Start by assessing all of your passions and designate the ones that serve others by solving a problem that they have AND are ready to pay for a solution to.
Smallbizlady: How will I know if I have a profitable passion?
Darnyelle A. Jervey: When your passion solves a definitive problem for other people and you love doing it so much that you will do it for hours on end as you develop your client base, you will know that your passion will bring you profit. When you can determine at least 3 ways to solve that problem doing something you love — you’re golden.
Smallbizlady: What is the most important thing I must do to prepare to turn my passion into a profit?
Darnyelle A. Jervey: The most important thing is to shift your mindset. 95% of everything is your attitude or mindset. Only 5% is skills so if you have the right mindset, I can teach you how to turn a passion into a profit.
Many of us want to leave our job or turn something we love that serves others into a business but our subconscious mind along with self-sabotaging thoughts and self-limiting beliefs lead us to believe that we are not worthy, have enough credentials, etc. And so we do nothing. When your conscious mind and your subconscious mind disagree, your subconscious mind always wins. Your thoughts = your feelings/beliefs and they = your actions AND results. The best way to do this, the most important thing to do is to hire a mentor or coach to show you how to alter your beliefs, because they can be changed and when they are changed, you will be free to turn your passion into a profit with proven steps and guidance as you build your business with a qualified mentor or coach.
Smallbizlady: Why is a SHIFT in the way I work in my passion essential?
Darnyelle A. Jervey: Here’s where a lot of small business owners get messed up as soon as they make the switch to working for themselves. They immediately take on every task in their business. I teach my clients to shift the way they do business by focusing on profit producing activities. Basically as a small business owner, there are only two tasks you should complete — working with your clients and doing marketing activities that allow you to attract more clients. Everything else should be delegated. And with the existence of virtual assistants, this can be done at reasonable rates that free you up to make more doing what you love. For example, if your passion is worth $200 an hour in the marketplace and you need to have some data entry completed that you’d normally do yet you can pay someone $20 an hour to do it, it is worth it to you to pay them. This takes a big shift because most don’t see it that way and they instead spend their precious hours doing tasks that are outside of their passion.
Smallbizlady: I hear a lot of talk about knowing your ideal client, why is this important to the process?
Darnyelle A. Jervey: Most small business people start their business living in the bubble of “I can help everyone.” Well, that’s not true. And if you operate your business like you can help everyone you will quickly find that you are not really helping anyone. Think about it like this. You are in a crowded room and you try to talk to everyone but everyone is operating their own agenda, nobody’s listening. The same is true when your business focus is not clear. Working through the process of getting clear on the type of person’s problem that your passion solves is key and once you clarify this, you can begin to market in a compelling way so that they (your ideal client) hear you every time you say something, even if you are in a crowded room.
Smallbizlady: What are the strategies I should use in pricing my passion?
Darnyelle A. Jervey: I personally recommend that you do not look at what others are doing. Instead, I suggest that you list every service you offer, I mean everything that you can do to add value to your clients and you prepare yourself to give them options — at least three. A small, medium, and a large. Your large includes everything you offer and then you price it where you are comfortable giving all of that away to each client, at a premium, should they enroll in that package. Then you slowly remove value and options as you build your other two options to offer a service in a different budget area — that way you offer something for everyone in your ideal market because some people will not buy your large package, no matter how much they like you. If you need help determining where to start pricing your options, assess what you must make for all overhead expenses, etc and the amount of cash flow you desire and then the number of clients you can reasonably work with in a month’s time. Also, when you are personally vested in one to one time with a client, you must charge for your time and expertise because your time is not being leveraged. As you grow, it becomes essential that you learn how to leverage your time and begin to look at passive revenue streams in your business.
Smallbizlady: Do I need to build a team to make my passion profitable?
Darnyelle A. Jervey: Yes, a resounding yes. As I described earlier, you should only be performing your passion or marketing to attract more clients. EVERYTHING else should be done by a team member — whether in person or virtual. When you again shift your mind and learn the power of delegation and outsourcing, profit will be the results. Look for assistance from college and/or high school business students as well as virtual assistants. Remember, you are the talent and the talent needs a manager, an agent, an accountant, an attorney, public relations, etc I think you get my point.
Smallbizlady: There may be others who have the same passion as I, how can I ensure that I stand out in the crowd?
Darnyelle A. Jervey: The key is in your marketing materials and how you let your ideal client know that you have exactly what they need to solve the current problem that they are ready to pay for a solution to. It is important to get clear on your ideal client as I said earlier and then to market to them in a compelling way, a way that pulls them in instead of you having to beg and plead to get their business. If you can clearly illustrate that not only do your understand their problem but you can solve it via your marketing materials (business card, website, brochure, social media profiles, etc), they will be calling you to find out how they can work with you.
I also believe that it is important to identify your HUG (Hot Undeniable Gift) for the marketplace — this is also known as a USP or secret sauce, I call it the Incredible Factor and ensure that it is positioned to make it clear that you are the ONLY solution to your ideal client’s problem. The universal law of business says “to find a group of people who have the exact problem that you solve and are ready RIGHT NOW to pay for a solution.” When your marketing message incites this reaction, your passion will produce a profit.
Smallbizlady: What exactly is a passion plan and why do I need one?
Darnyelle A. Jervey: Your passion plan is your marketing plan and I believe it should be written before you write your business plan. Let’s be clear; you are not in the business you think you are in — you are in the business of marketing your products and services in a manner that invokes your ideal clients to take action. A well written passion plan that covers the 10 marketing streams and has plans and strategies in place to work them effectively is key if you want to your passion to product a profit that will allow you to live the life you dream of.
Smallbizlady: What are some of the systems I must have in place if I want to focus on my passion?
Darnyelle A. Jervey: A Marketing System, which is complex, is key. Your marketing systems must include what you have done to systematize each one of the 10 marketing streams. Your goal must be for them to run like clock-work so that you always have a steady stream of clients and a waiting list. A full operations manual, which is outsourced to a group of virtual assistants, is also important. It should include frequently written emails, how to handle all administrative tasks, etc. I also recommend a weekly schedule that includes time EACH DAY for profit producing activities.
Smallbizlady: How Do I Perform my passion in a big way?
Darnyelle A. Jervey: First and foremost, you must make a plan. You must get to where your ideal clients hang out — face to face networking, social media groups on Facebook, linked in, etc, join groups and associations, get free speaking engagements, ensure that your website is optimized for the search engines, participate in joint ventures (people who do not compete with you but also service your ideal clients) and get an unpaid sales force or ambassadors as I like to call them (previous clients and current clients) — create a referral program where they get rewarded if you get a new client because of their lead.
If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9pm ET follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter.
For more tips on how start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog http://www.succeedasyourownboss.com.
Melinda Emerson, known to many as “SmallBizLady,” is a Veteran Entrepreneur, Small Business Coach and Social Media Strategist who hosts #SmallBizChat weekly on Twitter for emerging entrepreneurs. #Smallbizchat is the trusted resource on Twitter to discuss everything entrepreneurs need to know about launching and running a profitable small business. Her first book Become Your Own Boss in 12 Months was released in March 2010.
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